,,expositions ,,of ,,holy ,,scripture ,,st4 ,,luke ,,alexander ,,maclaren1 ,d4 ,d41 ,litt4 ,d4 ,,volume ,i3 ,,st4 ,,luke ,chaps4 ,i to ,,xii ,,contents ,,elijah ,,come ,,again 7,luke i4 #e-ag7 ,,true ,,greatness 7,luke i4 #ae7 ,,the ,,magnificat 7,luke i4 #df-ee7 ,,zacharias',s ,,hymn 7,luke i4 #fg-hj7 ,,the ,,dayspring ,,from ,,on ,,high 7,luke i4 #gh1gi7 ,,shepherds ,,and ,,angels 7,luke ii4 #h-bj7 ,,was1 ,,is1 ,,is ,,to ,,come 7,luke ii4 #af2 ,luke xxiv4 #ea2 ,acts i4 #aa7 ,,simeon',s ,,swan-,,song 7,luke ii4 #bi1cj7 ,,the ,,boy ,,in ,,the ,,temple 7,luke ii4 #di7 ,,john ,,the ,,preacher ,,of ,,repentance 7,luke iii4 #a-ad7 ,,john',s ,,witness ,,to ,,jesus1 ,,and ,,god',s 7,luke iii4 #ae-bb7 ,,the ,,temptation 7,luke iv4 #a-ac7 ,,preaching ,,at ,,nazareth 7,luke iv4 #ba7 ,a ,,sabbath ,,in ,,capernaum 7,luke iv4 #cc-dd7 ,,instructions ,,fob ,,fishermen 7,luke v4 #d7 ,,fear ,,and ,,faith 7,luke v4 #h2 ,john xxi4 #g7 ,,blasphemer1 ,,or--,,who8 7,luke v4 #ag-bf7 ,,laws ,,op ,,the ,,kingdom 7,luke vi4 #bj-ca7 ,,three ,,condensed ,,parables 7,luke vi4 #da-di7 ,,worthy--,,not ,,worthy 7,luke vii4 #d1 #f1 #g7 ,,jesus ,,at ,,the ,,bier 7,luke vii4 #ac-ae7 ,,john',s ,,doubts ,,and ,,christ',s ,,praise 7,luke vii4 #ah-bh7 ,,greatness ,,in ,,the ,,kingdom 7,luke vii4 #bh7 ,,thwarting ,,god',s ,,purpose 7,luke vii4 #cj7 ,a ,,gluttonous ,,man ,,and ,a ,,winebibber 7,luke vii4 #cd7 ,,the ,,two ,,debtors 7,luke vii4 #da-dc7 ,,love ,,and ,,forgiveness 7,luke vii4 #dg7 ,,go ,,into ,,peace 7,luke vii4 #ej7 ,,the ,,ministry ,,op ,,women 7,luke viii #b1c7 ,,one ,,seed ,,and ,,diverse ,,soils 7,luke viii4 #d-ae7 ,,seed ,,among ,,thorns 7,luke viii4 #ad7 ,a ,,miracle ,,within ,a ,,miracle 7,luke viii4 #dc-dh7 ,,christ ,,to ,,jairus 7,luke viii4 #ej7 ,,bread ,,from ,,heaven 7,luke ix4 #aj-ag7 ',,the ,,lord ,,that ,,healeth ,,thee' 7,luke ix4 #aa7 ,,christ',s ,,cross ,,and ,,ours 7,luke ix4 #ah-bg7 ,,prayer ,,and ,,transfiguration 7,luke ix4 #bi7 ',,in ,,the ,,holy ,,mount' 7,luke ix4 #cj1 #ca7 ,,christ ,,hastening ,,to ,,the ,,cross 7,luke ix4 #ea7 ,,christ',s ,,messengers3 ,,their ,,equipment ,,and ,,work 7,luke x4 #a-aa2 #ag-bj7 ,,neighbours ,,far ,,off 7,luke x4 #be-cg7 ,,how ,,to ,,pray 7,luke xi4 #a-ac7 ,,the ,,praying ,,christ 7,luke xi4 #a7 ,,the ,,rich ,,fool 7,luke xii4 #ac-bc7 ,,anxious ,,about ,,earth1 ,,or ,,earnest ,,about ,,the ,,kingdom 7,luke xii4 #bb-ca7 ,,stillness ,,in ,,storm 7,luke xii4 #bi7 ,,the ,,equipment ,,of ,,the ,,servants 7,luke xii4 #ce-cf7 ,,the ,,servant-,,lord 7,luke xii4 #cg7 ,,servants ,,and ,,stewards ,,here ,,and ,,hereafter 7,luke xii4 #cg1 #dc1 #dd7 ,,fire ,,on ,,earth 7,luke xii4 #di7 ,,elijah ,,come ,,again ',there was1 in the days of ,herod the king of ,judea1 a certain priest named ,zacharias1 of the course of ,abia3 and his wife was of the daughters of ,aaron1 and her name was ,elisabeth4 #f4 ,and they were both righteous before ,god1 walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the ,lord blameless4 #g4 ,and they had no child1 because that ,elisabeth was barren2 and they both were now well stricken in years4 #h4 ,and it came to pass1 that1 while he executed the priest's office before ,god in the order of his course1 #i4 ,according to the custom of the priest's office1 his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the ,lord4 #aj4 ,and the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense4 #aa4 ,and there appeared unto him an angel of the ,lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense4 #ab4 ,and when ,zacharias saw him1 he was troubled1 and fear fell upon him4 #ac4 ,but the angel said unto him1 ,fear not1 ,zacharias3 for thy prayer is heard2 and thy wife ,elisabeth shall bear thee a son1 and thou shalt call his name ,john4 #ad4 ,and thou shalt have joy and gladness2 and many shall rejoice at his birth4 #ae4 ,for he shall be great in the sight of the ,lord1 and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink2 and he shall be filled with the ,holy ,ghost1 even from his mother's womb4 #af4 ,and many of the children of ,israel shall he turn to the ,lord their ,god4 #ag4 ,and he shall go before ,him in the spirit and power of ,elias1 to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children1 and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just2 to make ready a people prepared for the ,lord4' --,,luke i4 #e-ag4 ,the difference between the style of ,luke's preface 7vs4 #a-d7 and the subsequent chapters relating to the ,nativity suggests that these are drawn from some ,hebrew source4 ,they are saturated with ,old ,testament phraseology and constructions1 and are evidently translated by ,luke4 ,it is impossible to say whence they came1 but no one is more likely to have been their original narrator than ,mary herself4 ,elisabeth or ,zacharias must have communicated the facts in this chapter1 for there is no indication that those contained in this passage1 at all events1 were known to any but these two4 ,if we were considering a fictitious story1 we should note the artistic skill which prepared for the appearance of the hero by the introduction first of his satellite2 but the order of the narrative is due1 not to artistic skill1 but to the divinely ordered sequence of events4 ,it was fitting that ,john's office as ,forerunner should begin even before his birth4 ,so the story of his entrance into the world prepares for that of the birth which hallows all births4 ,i4 ,we have first a beautiful outline picture of the quiet home in the hill country4 ,the husband and wife were both of priestly descent1 and in their modest lives1 away among the hills1 were lovely types of ,old ,testament godliness4 ,that they are pronounced 'blameless' militates against no doctrine of universal sinfulness4 ,it is not to be taken as dogma at all1 but as the expression of ,god's merciful estimate of ,his servants' characters4 ,these two simple saints lived1 as all married believers should do1 yoked together in the sweet exercise of godliness1 and helping each other to all high and noble things4 ,hideous corruption of wedlock reigned round them4 ,such profanations of it as were shown later by ,herod and ,herodias1 ,agrippa and ,bernice1 were but too common2 but in that quiet nook these two dwelt 'as heirs together of the grace of life1' and their prayers were not hindered4 ,the most of the priests who appear in the ,gospels are heartless formalists1 if not worse2 yet not only ,annas and ,caiaphas and their spiritual kindred ministered at the altar1 but there were some in whose hearts the ancient fire burned4 ,in times of religious declension1 the few who still are true are mostly in obscure corners1 and live quiet lives1 like springs of fresh water rising in the midst of a salt ocean4 ,john thus sprang from parents in whom the old system had done all that it could do4 ,in his origin1 as in himself1 he represented the consummate flower of ,judaism1 and discharged its highest office in pointing to the coming ,one4 ,this 'blameless' pair had a crook in their lot4 ,childlessness was then an especial sorrow1 and many a prayer had gone up from both that their solitary home might be gladdened by children's patter and prattle4 ,but their disappointed hope had not made them sour1 nor turned their hearts from ,god4 ,if they prayed about it1 they would not murmur at it1 and they were not thereby hindered from 'walking in all ,god's commandments and ordinances blameless4' ,let us learn that unfulfilled wishes are not to clog our devotion1 nor to silence our prayers1 nor to slacken our running the race set before us4 ,,ii4 ,we are carried away from the home among the hills to the crowded ,temple courts4 ,the devout priest has come up to the city1 leaving his aged wife in solitude1 for his turn of service has arrived4 ,details of the arrangements of the sacerdotal 'courses' need not detain us4 ,we need only note that the office of burning incense was regarded as an honour1 was determined by lot1 and took place at the morning and evening sacrifice4 ,so ,zacharias1 with his censer in his hand1 went to the altar which stood in front of the veil1 flanked on the right hand by the table of shewbread1 and on the left by the great lamp-stand4 ,the place1 his occupation1 the murmur of many praying voices without1 would all tend to raise his thoughts to ,god2 and the curling incense1 as it ascended1 would truly symbolise the going up of his heart in aspiration1 desire1 and trust4 ,such a man could not do his work heartlessly or formally4 ,mark the manner of the angel's appearance4 ,he was not seen as in the act of coming1 but was suddenly made visible standing by the altar1 as if he had been stationed there before2 and what had happened was not that he came1 but that ,zacharias's eyes were opened4 ,so1 when ,elisha's servant was terrified at the sight of the besiegers1 the prophet prayed that his eyes might be opened1 and when they were1 he saw what had been there before1 'the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire4' ,not the ,temple courts only1 but all places are full of divine messengers1 and we should see them if our vision was purged4 ,but such considerations are not to weaken the supernatural element in the appearance of this angel with his message4 ,he was sent1 whatever that may mean in regard to beings whose relation to place must be different from ours4 ,he had an utterance of ,god's will to impart4 ,it has often been objected to these chapters that they are full of angelic appearances1 which modern thought deems suspicious4 ,but surely if the birth of ,jesus was what we hold it to have been1 the coming into human life of the ,incarnate ,son of ,god1 it is not legend that angel wings gleam in their whiteness all through the story1 and angel voices adore the ,lord of men as well as angels1 and angel eyes gaze on ,his cradle1 and learn new lessons there4 ,,iii4 ,we have next the angel's message4 ,the devoutest heart is conscious of shrinking dread when brought face to face with celestial brightness that has overflowed into our darkness4 ,so ',fear not' is the first word on the messenger's lips1 and one can fancy the accent of sweetness and the calm of heart which followed4 ,it has often been thought that ,zacharias had been praying for offspring while he was burning incense2 but the narrative does not say so1 and besides the fact that he had ceased to hope for children 7as is shown by his incredulity71 surely it casts a slur on his religious character to suppose that personal wishes were uppermost at so sacred a moment4 ,prayers that he had long ago put aside as finally refused1 now started to life again4 ,god delays often1 but ,he does not forget4 ,blessings may come to-day as the result of old prayers which have almost passed from our memory and our hope4 ,observe how brief is the announcement of the child's birth1 important as that was to the father's heart1 and how the prophecy lingers on the child's future work1 which is important for the world4 ,his name1 character1 and work in general are first spoken1 and then his specific office as the ,forerunner is delineated at the close4 ,the name is significant4 ',john' means ',the ,lord is gracious4' ,it was an omen1 a condensed prophecy1 the fulfilment of which stretched beyond its bearer to ,him as whose precursor alone was ,john a token of ,god's grace4 ,his character 7ver4 #ae7 puts first 'great in the sight of the ,lord4' ,then there are some whom ,god recognises as great1 small as we all are before ,him4 ,and ,his estimate of greatness is not the world's estimate4 ,how ,herod or ,pilate or ,caesar1 or philosophers at ,athens1 or rabbis in ,jerusalem would have scoffed if they had been pointed to the gaunt ascetic pouring out words which they would have thought wild1 to a crowd of ,jews1 and been told that that was the greatest man in the world 7except ,one76 ,the elements of greatness in the estimate of ,god which is truth1 are devotion to ,his service1 burning convictions1 intense moral earnestness1 superiority to sensuous delights1 clear recognition of ,jesus1 and humble self-abnegation before ,him4 ,these are not the elements recognised in the world's ,pantheon4 ,let us take ,god's standard4 ,john was to be a ,nazarite1 living not for the senses1 but the soul1 as all ,god's great ones have to be4 ,the form may vary1 but the substance of the vow of abstinence remains for all ,christians4 ,to put the heel on the animal within1 and keep it well chained up1 is indispensable1 if we are ever to know the buoyant inspiration which comes from a sacreder source than the fumes of the wine-cup4 ,like ,john1 we must flee the one if we would have the other1 and be 'filled with the ,holy ,ghost4' ,the consequence of his character is seen in his work1 as described generally in verse #af4 ,only such a man can effect such a change1 in a time of religious decay1 as to turn many to ,god4 ,it needs a strong arm to check the downward movement and to reverse it4 ,no one who is himself entangled in sense1 and but partially filled with ,god's ,spirit1 will wield great influence for good4 ,it takes a ,hercules to stop the chariot racing down hill1 and ,god's ,herculeses are all made on one pattern1 in so far that they scorn delights1 and empty themselves of self and sense that they may be filled with the ,spirit4 ,john's specific office is described in verse #ag1 with allusion to the closing prophecy of ,malachi4 ,that prophecy had kindled an expectation that ,elijah1 in person1 would precede ,messias4 ,john was like a reincarnation of the stern prophet4 ,he came in a similar epoch4 ,his characteristic1 like ,elijah's1 was 'power1' not gentleness4 ,if the earlier prophet had to beard ,ahab and ,jezebel1 the second ,elijah had ,herod and ,herodias4 ,both haunted the desert1 both pealed out thunders of rebuke4 ,both shook the nation1 and stirred conscience4 ,no two figures in ,scripture are truer brethren in spirit than ,elijah the ,tishbite and ,john the ,baptist4 ,his great work is to go before the ,messiah1 and to prepare ,israel for its ,king4 ,observe that the name of the coming ,one is not mentioned in verse #ag4 ',him' is enough4 ,zacharias knew who ',he' was4 ,but observe1 too1 that the same mysterious person is distinctly called ',the ,lord1' which in this connection1 and having regard to the original prophecy in ,malachi1 can only be the divine name4 ,so1 in some fashion not yet made plain1 ,messiah's advent was to be the ,lord's coming to ,his people1 and ,john was the ,forerunner1 in some sense1 of ,jehovah ,himself4 ,but the way in which ,israel was to be prepared is further specified in the middle clauses of the verse1 which are also based on ,malachi's words4 ,the interpretation of 'to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children' is very doubtful2 but the best explanation seems to be that the phrase means to bring back to the descendants of the ancient fathers of the nation the ancestral faith and obedience4 ,they are to be truly ,abraham's seed1 because they do the works and cherish the faith of ,abraham4 ,the words imply the same truth which ,john afterwards launched as a keen-edged dart1 ',think not to say1 ,we have ,abraham to our father4' ,descent after the flesh should lead to kindred in spirit4 ,if it does not1 it is nought4 ,to turn 'the disobedient to the wisdom of the just' is practically the same change1 only regarded from another point of view4 ,john was sent to effect repentance1 that change of mind and heart by which the disobedient to the commands of ,god should be brought to possess and exercise the moral and religious discernment which dwells only in the spirits of the righteous4 ,disobedience is folly4 ,true wisdom cannot be divorced from rectitude4 ,real rectitude cannot live apart from obedience to ,god4 ,such was ,god's intention in sending ,john4 ,how sadly the real effects of his mission contrast with its design6 ,so completely can men thwart ,god1 as ,jesus said in reference to ,john's mission1 ',the ,pharisees and lawyers frustrated the counsel of ,god against themselves1 being not baptized of him4' ,let us take heed lest we bring to nothing1 so far as we are concerned1 ,his gracious purpose of redemption in ,christ6 ,,true ,,greatness ,he shall be great in the sight of the ,lord4'--,,luke i4 #ae4 ,so spake the angel who foretold the birth of ,john the ,baptist4 ',in the sight of the ,lord'--then men are not on a dead level in ,his eyes4 ,though ,he is so high and we are so low1 the country beneath ,him that ,he looks down upon is not flattened to ,him1 as it is to us from an elevation1 but there are greater and smaller men in ,his sight1 too4 ,no epithet is more misused and misapplied than that of 'a great man4' ,it is flung about indiscriminately as ribbons and orders are by some petty ,state4 ,every little man that makes a noise for a while gets it hung round his neck4 ,think what a set they are that are gathered in the world's ,valhalla1 and honoured as the world's great men6 ,the mass of people are so much on a level1 and that level is so low1 that an inch above the average looks gigantic4 ,but the tallest blade of grass gets mown down by the scythe1 and withers as quickly as the rest of its green companions1 and goes its way into the oven as surely4 ,there is the world's false estimate of greatness and there is ,god's estimate4 ,if we want to know what the elements of true greatness are1 we may well turn to the life of this man1 of whom the prophecy went before him that he should be 'great in the sight of the ,lord4' ,that is gold that will stand the test4 ,we may remember1 too1 that ,jesus ,christ1 looking back on the career to which the angel was looking forward1 endorsed the prophecy and declared that it had become a fact1 and that 'of them that were born of women there had not arisen a greater than ,john the ,baptist4' ,with the illumination of ,his eulogium we may turn to this life1 then1 and gather some lessons for our own guidance4 ,i4 ,first1 we note in ,john unwavering and immovable firmness and courage4 ',what went ye out into the wilderness for to see8 ,a reed shaken with the wind8' ,nay6 an iron pillar that stood firm whatsoever winds blew against it4 ,this1 as ,i take it1 is in some true sense the basis of all moral greatness--that a man should have a grip which cannot be loosened1 like that of the cuttle-fish with all its tentacles round its prey1 upon the truths that dominate his being and make him a hero4 ',if you want me to weep1' said the old artist-poet1 'there must be tears in your own eyes4' ,if you want me to believe1 you yourself must be aflame with conviction which has penetrated to the very marrow of your bones4 ,and so1 as ,i take it1 the first requisite either for power with others1 or for greatness in a man's own development of character1 is that there shall be this unwavering firmness of grasp of clearly-apprehended truths1 and unflinching boldness of devotion to them4 ,i need not remind you how magnificently1 all through the life of our typical example1 this quality was stamped upon every utterance and every act4 ,it reached its climax1 no doubt1 in his bearding ,herod and ,herodias4 ,but moral characteristics do not reach a climax unless there has been much underground building to bear the lofty pinnacle2 and no man1 when great occasions come to him1 develops a courage and an unwavering confidence which are strange to his habitual life4 ,there must be the underground building2 and there must have been many a fighting down of fears1 many a curbing of tremors1 many a rebuke of hesitations and doubts in the gaunt1 desert-loving prophet1 before he was man enough to stand before ,herod and say1 ',it is not lawful for thee to have her4' ,no doubt there is much to be laid to the account of temperament1 but whatever their temperament may be1 the way to this unwavering courage and firm1 clear ring of indubitable certainty1 is open to every ,christian man and woman2 and it is our own fault1 our own sin1 and our own weakness1 if we do not possess these qualities4 ,temperament6 what on earth is the good of our religion if it is not to modify and govern our temperament8 ,has a man a right to jib on one side1 and give up the attempt to clear the fence1 because he feels that in his own natural disposition there is little power to take the leap8 ,surely not4 ,jesus ,christ came here for the very purpose of making our weakness strong1 and if we have a firm hold upon ,him1 then1 in the measure in which ,his love has permeated our whole nature1 will be our unwavering courage1 and out of weakness we shall be made strong4 ,of course the highest type of this undaunted boldness and unwavering firmness of conviction is not in ,john and his like4 ,he presented strength in a lower form than did the ,master from whom his strength came4 ,the willow has a beauty as well as the oak4 ,firmness is not obstinacy2 courage is not rudeness4 ,it is possible to have the iron hand in the velvet glove1 not of etiquette-observing politeness1 but of a true considerateness and gentleness4 ,they who are likest ,him that was 'meek and lowly in heart1' are surest to possess the unflinching resolve which set ,his face like a flint1 and enabled ,him to go unhesitatingly and unrecalcitrant to the ,cross itself4 ,do not let us forget1 either1 that ,john's unwavering firmness wavered2 that over the clear heaven of his convictions there did steal a cloud2 that he from whom no violence could wrench his faith felt it slipping out of his grasp when his muscles were relaxed in the dungeon2 and that he sent 'from the prison'--which was the excuse for the message--to ask the question1 ',after all1 art ,thou ,he that should come8' ,nor let us forget that it was that very moment of tremulousness which ,jesus ,christ seized1 in order to pour an unstinted flood of praise for the firmness of his convictions1 on the wavering head of the ,forerunner4 ,so1 if we feel that though the needle of our compass points true to the pole1 yet when the compass-frame is shaken1 the needle sometimes vibrates away from its true direction1 do not let us be cast down1 but believe that a merciful allowance is made for human weakness4 ,this man was great2 first1 because he had such dauntless courage and firmness that1 over his headless corpse in the dungeon at ,machaerus1 might have been spoken what the ,regent ,moray said over ,john ,knox's coffin1 ',here lies one that never feared the face of man4' ,,ii4 ,another element of true greatness that comes nobly out in the life with which ,i am dealing is its clear elevation above worldly good4 ,that was the second point that our ,lord's eulogium signalised4 ',what went ye out into the wilderness for to see8 ,a man clothed in soft raiment8' ,but you would have gone to a palace1 if you had wanted to see that1 not to the reed-beds of ,jordan4 ,as we all know1 in his life1 in his dress1 in his food1 in the aims that he set before him1 he rose high above all regard for the debasing and perishable sweetnesses that appeal to flesh1 and are ended in time4 ,he lived conspicuously for the ,unseen4 ,his asceticism belonged to his age1 and was not the highest type of the virtue which it expressed4 ,as ,i have said about his courage1 so ,i say about his self-denial--,christ's is of a higher sort4 ,as the might of gentleness is greater than the might of such strength as ,john's1 so the asceticism of ,john is lower than the self-government of the ,man that came eating and drinking4 ,but whilst that is true1 ,i seek1 dear brethren1 to urge this old threadbare lesson1 always needed1 never needed more than amidst the senselessly luxurious habits of this generation1 needed in few places more than in a great commercial centre like that in which we live1 that one indispensable element of true greatness and elevation of character is that1 not the prophet and the preacher alone1 but every one of us1 should live high above these temptations of gross and perishable joys1 should ',scorn delights and live laborious days4' ,no man has a right to be called 'great' if his aims are small4 ,and the question is1 not as modern idolatry of intellect1 or1 still worse1 modern idolatry of success1 often makes it out to be1 ,has he great capacities8 or has he won great prizes8 but has he greatly used himself and his life8 ,if your aims are small you will never be great2 and if your highest aims are but to get a good slice of this world's pudding--no matter what powers ,god may have given you to use--you are essentially a small man4 ,i remember a vigorous and contemptuous illustration of ,st4 ,bernard's1 who likens a man that lives for these perishable delights which ,john spurned1 to a spider spinning a web out of his own substance1 and catching in it nothing but a wretched prey of poor little flies4 ,such a one has surely no right to be called a great man4 ,our aims rather than our capacity determine our character1 and they who greatly aspire after the greatest things within the reach of men1 which are faith1 hope1 charity1 and who1 for the sake of effecting these aspirations1 put their heels upon the head of the serpent and suppress the animal in their nature1 these are the men 'great in the sight of the ,lord4' ,,iii4 ,another element of true greatness1 taught us by our type1 is fiery enthusiasm for righteousness4 ,you may think that that has little to do with greatness4 ,i believe it has everything to do with it1 and that the difference between men is very largely to be found here1 whether they flame up into the white heat of enthusiasm for the things that are right1 or whether the only things that can kindle them into anything like earnestness and emotion are the poor1 shabby things of personal advantage4 ,i need not remind you how1 all through ,john's career1 there burned1 unflickering and undying1 that steadfast light2 how he brought to the service of the plainest teaching of morality a fervour of passion and of zeal almost unexampled and magnificent4 ,i need not remind you how ,jesus ,christ ,himself laid ,his hand upon this characteristic1 when ,he said of him that 'he was a light kindled and shining4' ,but ,i would lay upon all our hearts the plain1 practical lesson that1 if we keep in that tepid region of lukewarmness which is the utmost approach to tropical heat that moral and religious questions are capable of raising in many of us1 good-bye to all chance of being 'great in the sight of the ,lord4' ,we hear a great deal about the 'blessings of moderation1' the 'dangers of fanaticism1' and the like4 ,i venture to think that the last thing which the moral consciousness of ,england wants today is a refrigerator1 and that what it needs a great deal more than that is1 that all ,christian people should be brought face to face with this plain truth--that their religion has1 as an indispensable part of it1 'a ,spirit of burning1' and that if they have not been baptized in fire1 there is little reason to believe that they have been baptized with the ,holy ,ghost4 ,i long that you and myself may be aflame for goodness1 may be enthusiastic over plain morality1 and may show that we are so by our daily life1 by our rebuking the opposite1 if need be1 even if it take us into ,herod's chamber1 and make ,herodias our enemy for life4 ,,iv4 ,lastly1 observe the final element of greatness in this man-absolute humility of self-abnegation before ,jesus ,christ4 ,there is nothing that ,i know in biography anywhere more beautiful1 more striking1 than the contrast between the two halves of the character and demeanour of the ,baptist2 how1 on the one side1 he fronts all men undaunted and recognises no superior1 and how neither threats nor flatteries nor anything else will tempt him to step one inch beyond the limitations of which he is aware1 nor to abate one inch of the claims which he urges2 and on the other hand how1 like some tall cedar touched by the lightning's hand1 he falls prone before ,jesus ,christ and says1 ',he must increase1 and ,i must decrease'3 ',a man can receive nothing except it be given him of ,god4' ,he is all boldness on one side2 all submission and dependence on the other4 ,you remember how1 in the face of many temptations1 that attitude was maintained4 ,the very message which he had to carry was full of temptations to a self-seeking man to assert himself4 ,you remember the almost rough ',no6' with which1 reiteratedly1 he met the suggestions of the deputation from ,jerusalem that sought to induce him to say that he was more than he knew himself to be1 and how he stuck by that infinitely humble and beautiful saying1 ',i am a voice'--that is all4 ,you remember how the whole nation was in a kind of conspiracy to tempt him to assert himself1 and was ready to break into a flame if he had dropped a spark1 for all men were musing in their heart whether he was the ,christ or not1' and all the lawless and restless elements would have been only too glad to gather round him1 if he had declared himself the ,messiah4 ,remember how his own disciples came to him1 and tried to play upon his jealousy and to induce him to assert himself3 ',master1 ,he whom thou didst baptize'--and so didst give ,him the first credentials that sent men on ,his course--'has outstripped thee1 and all men are coming to ,him4' ,and you remember the lovely answer that opened such depths of unexpected tenderness in the rough nature3 ',he that hath the bride is the bridegroom2 the friend of the bridegroom heareth the voice2 and that is enough to fill my cup with joy to the very brim4' ,and what conceptions of ,jesus ,christ had ,john1 that he thus bowed his lofty crest before ,him1 and softened his heart into submission almost abject8 ,he knew ,him to be the coming ,judge1 with the fan in ,his hand1 who could baptize with fire1 and he knew ,him to be 'the ,lamb of ,god which taketh away the sin of the world4' ,therefore he fell before ,him4 ,brethren1 we shall not be 'great in the sight of the ,lord' unless we copy that example of utter self-abnegation before ,jesus ,christ4 ,thomas a ,kempis says somewhere1 ',he is truly great who is small in his own sight1 and thinks nothing of the giddy heights of worldly honour4' ,you and ,i know far more of ,jesus ,christ than ,john the ,baptist did4 ,do we bow ourselves before ,him as he did8 ,the ,source from which he drew his greatness is open to us all4 ,let us begin with the recognition of the ,lamb of ,god that takes away the world's sin1 and with it ours4 ,let the thought of what ,he is1 and what ,he has done for us1 bow us in unfeigned submission4 ,let it shatter all dreams of our own importance or our own desert4 ,the vision of the ,lamb of ,god1 and it only1 will crush in our hearts the serpent's eggs of self-esteem and self-regard4 ,then1 let our closeness to ,jesus ,christ1 and our experience of ,his power1 kindle in us the fiery enthusiasm with which ,he baptizes all ,his true servants1 and let it because we know the sweetnesses that excel1 take from us all liability to be tempted away by the vulgar and coarse delights of earth and of sense4 ,let us keep ourselves clear of the babble that is round about us1 and be strong because we grasp ,christ's hand4 ,i have been speaking about no characteristic which may not be attained by any man1 woman1 or child amongst us4 ',the least in the kingdom of heaven' may be greater than ,john4 ,it is a poor ambition to seek to be called 'great4' ,it is a noble desire to be 'great in the sight of the ,lord4' ,and if we will keep ourselves close to ,jesus ,christ that will be attained4 ,it will matter very little what men think of us1 if at last we have praise from the lips of ,him who poured such praise on ,his servant4 ,we may1 if we will4 ,and then it will not hurt us though our names on earth be dark and our memories perish from among men4 ',of so much fame in heaven expect the meed4' ,,the ,,magnificat ',and ,mary said1 ,my soul doth magnify the ,lord1 #dg4 ,and my spirit hath rejoiced in ,god my ,saviour4 #dh4 ,for ,he hath regarded the low estate of ,his hand-maiden3 for1 behold1 from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed4 #di4 ,for ,he that is mighty hath done to me great things2 and holy is ,his name1 #ej4 ,and ,his mercy is on them that fear ,him from generation to generation4 #ea4 ,he hath shewed strength with ,his arm3 ,he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts4 #eb4 ,he hath put down the mighty from their seats1 and exalted them of low degree4 #ec4 ,he hath filled the hungry with good things2 and the rich ,he hath sent empty away4 #ed4 ,he hath holpen ,his servant ,israel1 in remembrance of ,his mercy2 #ee4 ,as ,he spake to our fathers1 to ,abraham1 and to his seed for ever4' --,,luke i4 #df-ee4 ,birds sing at dawn and sunrise4 ,it was fitting that the last strains of ,old ,testament psalmody should prelude the birth of ,jesus4 ,to disbelievers in the ,incarnation the hymns of ,mary and ,zacharias are1 of course1 forgeries2 but if it be true nothing can be more 'natural' than these4 ,the very features in this song1 which are appealed to as proof of its being the work of some unknown pious liar or dishonest enthusiast1 really confirm its genuineness4 ,critics shake their heads over its many quotations and allusions to ,hannah's song and to other poetical parts of the ,old ,testament1 and declare that these are fatal to its being accepted as ,mary's4 ,why8 must the simple village maiden be a poetess because she is the mother of our ,lord8 ,what is more likely than that she should cast her emotions into forms so familiar to her1 and especially that ,hannah's hymn should colour hers8 ,these old psalms provided the mould into which her glowing emotions almost instinctively would run1 and the very absence of 'originality' in the song favours its genuineness4 ,another point may be noticed as having a similar bearing2 namely1 the very general and almost vague outline of the consequences of the birth1 which is regarded as being the consummation to ,israel of the mercy promised to the fathers4 ,could such a hymn have been written when sad experience showed how the nation would reject their ,messiah1 and ruin themselves thereby8 ,surely the anticipations which glow in it bear witness to the time when they were cherished1 as prior to the sad tragedy which history unfolded4 ,little does ,mary as yet know that 'a sword shall pierce through' her 'own soul also1' and that not only will 'all generations' call her 'blessed1' but that one of her names will be ',our ,lady of ,sorrows4' ,for her and for us1 the future is mercifully veiled4 ,only one eye saw the shadow of the ,cross stretching black and grim athwart the earliest days of ,jesus1 and that eye was ,his own4 ,how wonderful the calmness with which ,he pressed towards that 'mark' during all ,his earthly life6 ,the hymn is sometimes divided into four strophes or sections3 first1 the expression of devout emotion 7vs4 #df-dh;a72 second1 the great fact from which they arise 7vs4 #dh;b-#ej72 third1 the consequences of the fact 7vs4 #ea-ec72 fourth1 its aspect to ,israel as fulfilment of promise4 ,this division is1 no doubt1 in accordance with the course of thought1 but is perhaps somewhat too artificial for our purposes2 and we may rather simply note that in the earlier part the personal element is present1 and that in the later it fades entirely1 and the mighty deeds of ,god alone fill the meek singer's eye and lips4 ,we may consider the lessons of these two halves4 ,i4 ,the more personal part extends to the end of verse #ej4 ,it contains three turnings or strophes1 the first two of which have two clauses each1 and the third three4 ,the first is verses #df and #dg1 the purely personal expression of the glad emotions awakened by ,elisabeth's presence and salutation1 which came to ,mary as confirmation of the angel's annunciation4 ,not when ,gabriel spoke1 but when a woman like herself called her 'mother of my ,lord1' did she break into praise4 ,there is a deep truth there4 ,god's voice is made more sure to our weakness when it is echoed by human lips1 and our inmost hopes attain substance when they are shared and spoken by another4 ,we need not attribute to the maiden from ,nazareth philosophical accuracy when she speaks of her 'soul' and 'spirit4' ,her first words are a burst of rapturous and wondering praise1 in which the full heart runs over4 ,silence is impossible1 and speech a relief4 ,they are not to be construed with the microscopic accuracy fit to be applied to a treatise on psychology4 ',all that is within' her praises and is glad4 ,she does not think so much of the stupendous fact as of her own meekly exultant heart1 and of ,god1 to whom its outgoings turn4 ,there are moods in which the devout soul dwells on its own calm blessedness and on ,god1 its source1 more directly than on the gift which brings it4 ,note the twofold act--magnifying and rejoicing4 ,we magnify ,god when we take into our vision some fragment more of the complete circle of ,his essential greatness1 or when1 by our means1 our fellows are helped to do so4 ,the intended effect of all ,his dealings is that we should think more nobly--that is1 more worthily--of ,him4 ,the fuller knowledge of ,his friendly greatness leads to joy in ,him which makes the spirit bound as in a dance--for such is the meaning of the word 'rejoice'--and which yet is calm and deep4 ,note the double name of ,god--,lord and ,saviour4 ,mary bows in lowly obedience1 and looks up in as lowly1 conscious need of deliverance1 and beholding in ,god both ,his majesty and ,his grace1 magnifies and exults at once4 ,verse #dh is the second turn of thought1 containing1 like the former1 two clauses4 ,in it she gazes on her great gift1 which1 with maiden reserve1 she does not throughout the whole hymn once directly name4 ,here the personal element comes out more strongly4 ,but it is beautiful to note that the 'lowliness' is in the foreground1 and precedes the assurance of the benedictions of all generations4 ,the whole is like a murmur of wonder that such honour should come to her1 so insignificant1 and the 'behold' of the latter half verse is an exclamation of surprise4 ,in unshaken meekness of steadfast obedience1 she feels herself 'the handmaid of the ,lord4' ,in undisturbed humility1 she thinks of her 'low estate1' and wonders that ,god's eye should have fallen on her1 the village damsel1 poor and hidden4 ,a pure heart is humbled by honour1 and is not so dazzled by the vision of future fame as to lose sight of ,god as the source of all4 ,think of that simple young girl in her obscurity having flashed before her the certainty that her name would be repeated with blessing till the world's end1 and then thus meekly laying her honours down at ,god's feet4 ,what a lesson of how to receive all distinctions and exaltations6 ,verses #di and #ej end this part1 and contain three clauses1 in which the personal disappears1 and only the thought of ,god's character as manifested in ,his wonderful act remains4 ,it connects indeed with the preceding by the 'to me' of verse #di2 but the main subject is the new revelation1 which is not confined to ,mary1 of the threefold divine glory fused into one bright beam1 in the ,incarnation4 ,power1 holiness1 eternal mercy1 are all there1 and that in deeper and more wondrous fashion than ,mary knew when she sang4 ,the words are mostly quotations from the ,old ,testament1 but with new application and meaning4 ,but even ,mary's anticipations fell far short of the reality of that power in weakness1 that holiness mildly blended with tenderest pity and pardoning love2 that mercy which for all generations was to stretch not only to 'them that fear ,him1' but to rebels1 whom it would make friends4 ,she saw but dimly and in part4 ,we see more plainly all the rays of divine perfection meeting in1 and streaming out to1 the whole world1 from her ,son 'the effulgence of the ,father's glory4' ,,ii4 ,the second part of the song is a lyric anticipation of the historical consequences of the appearance of the ,messiah1 cast into forms ready to the singer's hand1 in the strains of ,old ,testament prophecy4 ,the characteristics of ,hebrew poetry1 its parallelism1 its antitheses1 its exultant swing1 are more conspicuous here than in the earlier half4 ,the main thought of verses #ea to #ec is that the ,messiah would bring about a revolution1 in which the high would be cast down and the humble exalted4 ,this idea is wrought out in a threefold antithesis1 of which the first pair must have one member supplied from the previous verse4 ,those who 'fear ,him' are opposed to 'the proud in the imagination of their hearts4' ,these are thought of as an army of antagonists to ,god and ,his anointed1 and thus the word 'scattered' acquires great poetic force1 and reminds us of many a psalm1 such as the ,second and ,one hundred and tenth1 where ,messiah is a warrior4 ,the next pair represent the antithesis as being that of social degree1 and in it there may be traced a glance at ',herod the ,king' and the depressed line of ,david1 to which the singer belonged1 while the meaning must not be confined to that4 ,the third pair represent the same opposites under the guise of poverty and riches4 ,mary is not to be credited with purely spiritual views in these contrasts1 nor to be discredited with purely material ones4 ,she1 no doubt1 thought of her own oppressed nation as mainly meant by the hungry and lowly2 but like all pious souls in ,israel1 she must have felt that the lowliness and hunger which ,messiah was to ennoble and satisfy1 meant a condition of spirit conscious of weakness and sin1 and eagerly desiring a higher good and food than earth could give4 ,so much she had learned from many a psalm and prophet4 ,so much the ,spirit which inspired psalmist and prophet spoke in her lowly and exultant heart now4 ,but the future was only revealed to her in this wide1 general outline4 ,details of manner and time were all still blank4 ,the broad truth which she foretold remains one of the salient historical results of ,christ's coming1 and is the universal condition of partaking of ,his gifts4 ,he has been1 and is1 the most revolutionary force in history2 for without ,him society is constituted on principles the reverse of the true1 and as the world1 apart from ,jesus1 is down-side up1 the mission of ,his gospel is to turn it upside-down1 and so bring the right side uppermost4 ,the condition of receiving anything from ,him is the humble recognition of emptiness and need4 ,if princes on their thrones will come to ,him just in the same way as the beggar on the dunghill does1 they will very probably be allowed to stay on them2 and if the rich man will come to ,him as poor and in need of all things1 he will not be 'sent empty away4' ,but ,christ is a discriminating ,christ1 and as the prophet said long before ,mary1 ',i 444 will bind up that which was broken1 and will strengthen that which was sick2 and the fat and the strong ,i will destroy4 ,i will feed them with judgment4' ,the last turn in the song celebrates the faithfulness of ,god to ,his ancient promises1 and ,his help by ,his ,messiah to ,israel4 ,the designation of ,israel as ',his servant' recalls the familiar name in ,isaiah's later prophecies4 ,mary sees in the great wonder of her ,son's birth the accomplishment of the hopes of ages1 and an assurance of ,god's mercy as for ever the portion of the people4 ,we cannot tell how far she had learned that ,israel was to be counted1 not by descent but disposition4 ,but1 in any case1 her eyes could not have embraced the solemn facts of her ,son's rejection by ,his and her people4 ,no shadows are yet cast across the morning of which her song is the herald4 ,she knew not the dark clouds of thunder and destruction that were to sweep over the sky4 ,but the end has not yet come1 and we have to believe still that the evening will fulfil the promise of the morning1 and 'all ,israel shall be saved1' and that the mercy which was promised from of old to ,abraham and the fathers1 shall be fulfilled at last and abide with their seed for ever4 ,,zacharias',s ,,hymn ',and his father ,zacharias was filled with the ,holy ,ghost1 and prophesied1 saying1 #fh4 ,blessed be the ,lord ,god of ,israel2 for ,he hath visited and redeemed ,his people1 #fi4 ,and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of ,his servant ,david2 #gj4 ,as ,he spake by the mouth of ,his holy prophets1 which have been since the world began2 #ga4 ,that we should be saved from our enemies1 and from the hand of all that hate us2 #gb4 ,to perform the mercy promised to our fathers1 and to remember ,his holy covenant1 #gc4 ,the oath which ,he sware to our father ,abraham1 #gd4 ,that ,he would grant unto us1 that we1 being delivered out of the hand of our enemies1 might serve ,him without fear1 #ge4 ,in holiness and righteousness before ,him1 all the days of our life4 #gf4 ,and thou1 child1 shalt be called the ,prophet of the ,highest3 for thou shalt go before the face of the ,lord to prepare ,his ways2 #gg4 ,to give knowledge of salvation unto ,his people1 by the remission of their sins1 #gh4 ,through the tender mercy of our ,god2 whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us1 #gi4 ,to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death1 to guide our feet into the way of peace4 #hj4 ,and the child grew1 and waxed strong in spirit1 and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto ,israel4'--,,luke i4 #fg-hj4 ,zacharias was dumb when he disbelieved4 ,his lips were opened when he believed4 ,he is the last of the ,old ,testament prophets1 ,footnote3 ,in the strictest sense1 ,john the ,baptist was a prophet of the ,old dispensation1 even though he came to usher in the ,new4 7,see ,matt4 xi4 #i-aa47 ,in the same sense1 ,zacharias was the last prophet of the ,old dispensation1 before the coming of his son to link the ,old with the ,new4 and as standing nearest to the ,messiah1 his song takes up the echoes of all the past1 and melts them into a new outpouring of exultant hope4 ,the strain is more impassioned than ,mary's1 and throbs with triumph over 'our enemies1' but rises above the mere patriotic glow into a more spiritual region4 ,the complete subordination of the personal element is very remarkable1 as shown by the slight and almost parenthetical reference to ,john4 ,the father is forgotten in the devout ,israelite4 ,we may take the song as divided into three portions3 the first 7vs4 #fh-ge7 celebrating the coming of ,messiah1 with special reference to its effect in freeing ,israel from its foes2 the second 7vs4 #gf1 #gg71 the highly dramatic address to his unconscious 'child'2 the third 7vs4 #gh1 #gi7 returns to the absorbing thought of the ,messiah1 but now touches on higher aspects of ,his coming as the ,light to all who sit in darkness4 ,i4 ,if we remember that four hundred dreary years1 for the most part of which ,israel had been groaning under a foreign yoke1 had passed since the last of the prophets1 and that during all that time devout eyes had looked wearily for the promised ,messiah1 we shall be able to form some faint conception of the surprise and rapture which filled ,zacharias's spirit1 and leaps in his hymn at the thought that now1 at last1 the hour had struck1 and that the child would soon be born who was to fulfil the divine promises and satisfy fainting hopes4 ,no wonder that its first words are a burst of blessing of 'the ,god of ,israel4' ,the best expression of joy1 when long-cherished desires are at last on the eve of accomplishment1 is thanks to ,god4 ,how short the time of waiting seems when it is past1 and how needless the impatience which marred the waiting6 ,zacharias speaks of the fact as already realised4 ,he must have known that the ,incarnation was accomplished2 for we can scarcely suppose that the emphatic tenses 'hath visited1 hath redeemed1 hath raised' are prophetic1 and merely imply the certainty of a future event4 ,he must have known1 too1 ,mary's royal descent2 for he speaks of 'the house of ,david4' ',a horn' of salvation is an emblem taken from animals1 and implies strength4 ,here it recalls several prophecies1 and as a designation of the ,messiah1 shadows forth ,his conquering might1 all to be used for deliverance to ,his people4 ,the vision before ,zacharias is that of a victor king of ,davidic race1 long foretold by prophets1 who will set ,israel free from its foreign oppressors1 whether ,roman or ,idumean1 and in whom ,god ,himself 'visits and redeems ,his people4' ,there are two kinds of divine visitations--one for mercy and one for judgment4 ,what an unconscious witness it is of men's evil consciences that the use of the phrase has almost exclusively settled down upon the latter meaning6 ,in verses #ga-ge1 the idea of the ,messianic salvation is expanded and raised4 ,the word 'salvation' is best construed1 as in the ,revised ,version1 as in apposition with and explanatory of 'horn of salvation4' ,this salvation has issues1 which may also be regarded as ,god's purposes in sending it4 ,these are threefold3 first1 to show mercy to the dead fathers of the race4 ,that is a striking idea1 and pictures the departed as1 in their solemn rest1 sharing in the joy of ,messiah's coming1 and perhaps in the blessings which ,he brings4 ,we may not too closely press the phrase1 but it is more than poetry or imagination4 ,the next issue is ,god's remembrance of ,his promises1 or in other words1 ,his fulfilment of these4 ,the last is that the nation1 being set free1 should serve ,god4 ,the external deliverance was in the eyes of devout men like ,zacharias precious as a means to an end4 ,political freedom was needful for ,god's service1 and was valuable mainly as leading to that4 ,the hymn rises far above the mere impatience of a foreign yoke4 ',freedom to worship ,god1' and ,god worshipped by a ransomed nation1 are ,zacharias's ideal of the ,messianic times4 ,note his use of the word for priestly 'service4' ,he1 a priest1 has not forgotten that by original constitution all ,israel was a nation of priests2 and he looks forward to the fulfilment at last of the ideal which so soon became impracticable1 and possibly to the abrogation of his own order in the universal priesthood4 ,he knew not what deep truths he sang4 ,the end of ,christ's coming1 and of the deliverance which ,he works for us from the hand of our enemies1 cannot be better stated than in these words4 ,we are redeemed that we may be priests unto ,god4 ,our priestly service must be rendered in 'holiness and righteousness1' in consecration to ,god and discharge of all obligations2 and it is to be no interrupted or occasional service1 like ,zacharias's1 which occupied but two short weeks in the year1 and might never again lead him within the sanctuary1 but is to fill with reverent activity and thankful sacrifice all our days4 ,however this hymn may have begun with the mere external conception of ,messianic deliverance1 it rises high above that here1 and will still further soar beyond it4 ,we may learn from this priest-prophet1 who anticipated the wise men and brought his offerings to the unborn ,christ1 what ,christian salvation is1 and for what it is given us4 ,,ii4 ,there is something very vivid and striking in the abrupt address to the infant1 who lay1 all unknowing1 in his mother's arms4 ,the contrast between him as he was then and the work which waited him1 the paternal wonder and joy which yet can scarcely pause on the child1 and hurries on to fancy him in the years to come1 going herald-like before the face of the ,lord1 the profound prophetic insight into ,john's work1 are all noteworthy4 ,the ,baptist did 'prepare the way' by teaching that the true 'salvation' was not to be found in mere deliverance from the ,roman yoke1 but in 'remission of sin4' ,he thus not only gave 'knowledge of salvation1' in the sense that he announced the fact that it would be given1 but also in the sense that he clearly taught in what it consisted4 ,john was no preacher of revolt1 as the turbulent and impure patriots of the day would have liked him to be1 but of repentance4 ,his work was to awake the consciousness of sin1 and so to kindle desires for a salvation which was deliverance from sin1 the only yoke which really enslaves4 ,zacharias the 'blameless' saw what the true bondage of the nation was1 and what the work both of the ,deliverer and of ,his herald must be4 ,we need to be perpetually reminded of the truth that the only salvation and deliverance which can do us any good consist in getting rid1 by pardon and by holiness1 of the cords of our sins4 ,,iii4 ,the thoughts of the ,forerunner and his office melt into that of the ,messianic blessings from which the singer cannot long turn away4 ,in these closing words1 we have the source1 the essential nature1 and the blessed results of the gift of ,christ set forth in a noble figure1 and freed from the national limitations of the earlier part of the hymn4 ,all comes from the 'bowels of mercy of our ,god1' as ,zacharias1 in accordance with ,old ,testament metaphor1 speaks1 allocating the seat of the emotions which we attribute to the heart4 ,conventional notions of delicacy think the ,hebrew idea coarse1 but the one allocation is just as delicate as the other4 ,we can get no deeper down or farther back into the secret springs of things than this--that the root cause of all1 and most especially of the mission of ,christ1 is the pitying love of ,god's heart4 ,if we hold fast by that1 the pain of the riddle of the world is past1 and the riddle itself more than half solved4 ,jesus ,christ is the greatest gift of that love1 in which all its tenderness and all its power are gathered up for our blessing4 ,the modern civilised world owes most of its activity to the quickening influence of ,christianity4 ,the dayspring visits us that it may shine on us1 and it shines that it may guide us into 'the way of peace4' ,there can be no wider and more accurate description of the end of ,christ's mission than this--that all ,his visitation and enlightenment are meant to lead us into the path where we shall find peace with ,god1 and therefore with ourselves and with all mankind4 ,the word 'peace1' in the ,old ,testament1 is used to include the sum of all that men require for their conscious well-being4 ,we are at rest only when all our relations with ,god and the outer world are right1 and when our inner being is harmonised with itself1 and supplied with appropriate objects4 ,to know ,god for our friend1 to have our being fixed on and satisfied in ,him1 and so to be reconciled to all circumstances1 and a friend of all men--this is peace2 and the path to such a blessed condition is shown us only by that ,sun of ,righteousness whom the loving heart of ,god has sent into the darkness and torpor of the benighted wanderers in the desert4 ,the national reference has faded from the song1 and though it still speaks of 'us' and 'our1' we cannot doubt that ,zacharias both saw more deeply into the salvation which ,christ would bring than to limit it to breaking an earthly yoke1 and deemed more worthily and widely of its sweep1 than to confine it within narrower bounds than the whole extent of the dreary darkness which it came to banish from all the world4 ,,the ,,dayspring ,,from ,,on ,,high ',the day-spring from on high hath visited us1 #gi4 ,to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death1 to guide our feet into the way of peace4'--,,luke i4 #gh1 #gi4 ,as the dawn is ushered in by the notes of birds1 so the rising of the ,sun of ,righteousness was heralded by song1 ,mary and ,zacharias brought their praises and welcome to the unborn ,christ1 the angels hovered with heavenly music over ,his cradle1 and ,simeon took the child in his arms and blessed it4 ,the human members of this choir may be regarded as the last of the psalmists and prophets1 and the first of ,christian singers4 ,the song of ,zacharias1 from which my text is taken1 is steeped in ,old ,testament allusions1 and redolent of the ancient spirit1 but it transcends that4 ,its early part is purely national1 and hails the coming of the ,messiah chiefly as the deliverer of ,israel from foreign oppressors1 though even in it their deliverance is regarded mostly as the means to an end1 and the end one very appropriate on the lips of a priestly prophet---viz4 sacerdotal service by the whole nation 'in holiness and righteousness all their days4' ,but in this latter portion1 which is separated from the former by the pathetic1 incidental1 and slight reference to the singer's own child1 the national limits are far surpassed4 ,the song soars above them1 and pierces to the very heart and kernel of ,christ's work4 ',the dayspring from on high hath visited us1 to give light to them that sit in darkness and the shadow of death1 to guide our feet into the way of peace4' ,nothing deeper1 nothing wider1 nothing truer about the mission and issue of ,christ's coming could be spoken4 ,and thus we have to look at the three things that lie in this text1 as bearing upon our conceptions of ,christ and ,his work--the darkness1 the dawn1 and the directing light4 ,i4 ,the darkness4 ,zacharias1 as becomes the last of the prophets1 and a man whose whole religious life was nourished upon the ancient ,scriptures1 speaks almost entirely in ,old ,testament phraseology in this song4 ,and his description of 'them that sit in darkness and the shadow of death' is taken almost verbally from the great words from the ,book of the ,prophet ,isaiah1 who speaks1 in immediate connection with his prophecy of the coming of the ,christ1 of 'the people that walk in darkness and them that dwell1' or sit1 'in the shadow of death1 upon whom the light hath shined4' ,the picture that rises before us is that of a group of travellers benighted1 bewildered1 huddled together in the dark1 afraid to move for fear of pitfalls1 precipices1 wild beasts1 and enemies2 and so sighing for the day and compelled to be inactive till it comes4 ,that is the picture of humanity apart from ,jesus ,christ1 a darkness so intense1 so tragic1 that it is1 as it were1 the very shadow of the ultimate and essential darkness which is death1 and in it men are sitting torpid1 unable to find their way and afraid to move4 ,now darkness1 all the world over1 is the emblem of three things--ignorance1 impurity1 sorrow4 ,and all men who are rent away from ,jesus ,christ1 or on whom ,his beams have not yet fallen1 this text tells us1 have that triple curse lying upon them4 ,ignorance4 ,think of what1 without ,jesus ,christ1 the world has deemed of the unseen1 and of the ,god1 if there be a ,god1 that may inhabit there4 ,he has been to them a great ,peradventure1 a great ,terror1 a great ,inscrutable1 a stone-eyed ,fate1 a thin1 nebulous ,nothing1 with no emotion1 no attributes1 no heart1 no ear to hear1 the nearest approach to nonentity1 according to the despairing saying of a master of philosophy1 that 'pure ,being is equal to pure ,nothing4' ,and if all men do not rise to such heights of melancholy abstraction as that1 still how little there is of blessed certainty1 how little clearness of conception of a ,divine ,person that turns to us with love and tenderness in ,his heart1 apart from ,christ and ,his teaching6 ,if you take away from civilised men all the knowledge of ,god that they owe to ,jesus ,christ1 what have you left8 ,the ladder by which they climbed is kicked away by a great many people nowadays1 but it is to ,him that they owe the very conceptions in the name of which some of them turn round and deny ,him4 ,ignorance of ,god1 ignorance of one's own self and of one's deepest duties1 and ignorance of that solemn future1 the fact of which is plain to most men1 but the how of which is such a blank mystery but for ,jesus ,christ--these things are elements of the darkness that wraps the world4 ,go to heathendom if you want to see the problem worked out1 as to what men know outside of the revelation which culminates in ,jesus ,christ4 ,and take your own hearts1 dear friends who stand aside from that sweet ,lord and light of our lives1 and ask yourselves1 ,what do ,i know1 with a certainty which is to me as valid1 as--yea6 more valid than that given by sense and outward perceptions8 ,what do ,i know of ,god that ,i do not owe to ,jesus ,christ8 ,nothing4 ,you may guess much1 you may hope a little1 you may dread a great deal1 you may question more than all1 but you will know nothing4 ,well1 then1 further1 this solemn emblem stands for impurity4 ,and we have only to consult our own hearts to feel how true it is about us all1 that we dwell in a region all darkened1 if not by the coarse transgressions which men consent to call sins1 yet darkened more subtly and oftentimes more hopelessly by the obscuration of pure selfishness and living to myself and by myself4 ,wherever that comes1 it is like the mists that steal up from some poisonous marsh1 and shut out stars and sky1 and drape the whole country in a melancholy veil4 ,it is white but it is poisonous1 it is white but it is darkness all the same4 ,there are other kinds of sin than the sins that break the ,ten ,commandments2 there are other kinds of sin than the sins that the world takes cognisance of4 ,the worst poisons are the tasteless ones1 and colourless gases are laden with fatal power4 ,we may walk in a darkness that may be felt1 though there be nothing in our lives that men call sin1 and little there of which our consciences are as yet educated enough to be ashamed4 ,rent from ,god1 man lives to himself1 and so is sunk in darkness4 ,and what shall ,i say about the third of the doleful triad of which this pregnant emblem is the recognised symbol all the world over8 ,surely1 though earth be full of blessing1 and life of possibilities of joy1 no man travels very far along the road without feeling that the burden of sorrow is a burden that we all have to carry4 ,there are blessings in plenty1 there is mirth more than enough4 ,there is 'the laughter' which is 'the crackling of thorns' under a pot4 ,there are plenty of distractions and amusements1 'blessings more plentiful than hope'2 but yet the ground tone of every human life1 when the first flush of inexperience and novelty has worn off1 apart from ,god1 is sadness1 conscious of itself sometimes1 and driven to all manner of foolish attempts at forgetfulness1 unconscious of itself sometimes1 and knowing not what is the disease of which it languishes4 ,there it is1 like some persistent minor in a great piece of music1 wailing on through all the embroidery and lightsomeness of the cheerfuller and loftier notes4 ',every heart knoweth its own bitterness1' and every heart has a bitterness of its own to know4 ,i do not understand how it is that men who have no religion in them can bear their own sorrows and see their neighbours' and not go mad4 ,sometimes the world seems to me to be moving round its central sun with a doleful atmosphere of sighs wherever it goes1 and all the mirth and stir and bustle are but like a thin crust of grass with flowers upon it1 cast across the sulphurous depths of some volcano that may slumber for a while1 but is there all the same4 ,brother6 you and ,i1 away from ,jesus ,christ1 have to face the certainties of ignorance1 of sin1 of sorrow--ignorance unenlightened1 sin unconquered1 sorrow uncomforted4 ,and then comes the other tragic1 and yet most picturesque emblem in the representation here3 ',they sit in darkness4' ,yes6 what can they do1 poor creatures8 ,they know not where to go4 ,the light has left them1 inactivity is a necessity4 ,and so1 with folded hands1 they wish for the day1 or try to forget the night by lighting some little torch of their own that only serves to make darkness visible1 and dies all too soon1 leaving them to lie down in sorrow4 ,but1 you say1 ',what nonsense6 ,inactivity6 look at the fierce energy of life in our ,western lands4' ,well1 grant it all1 there may be plenty of material activity attendant upon inward stagnation and torpor4 ,but1 again1 ,i would like to ask how much of the most godless1 commercial1 artistic1 intellectual activity of so-called civilised and ,christian countries is owing to the stimulus and ferment that ,jesus ,christ brought4 ,if you want to see how true it is that men without ,him sit in the darkness1 go to heathen lands1 and see the stagnation1 the torpor1 there4 ,now1 dear brethren1 all this is true about us1 in the measure in which we do not participate by faith and love1 welcoming ,him into our hearts in the illumination that ,jesus ,christ brings4 ,and what ,i want to do is to lay upon the hearts and consciences of each of us here this thought1 that the solemn1 tragic picture of my text is the picture of me1 separate from ,christ1 however ,i may try to conceal it from myself1 and to mask it from other people by busying myself with inferior knowledges1 by avoiding to listen to the answer that conscience gives to the question as to my moral character1 and by befooling myself with noisy joys and tumultuous pleasures1 in which there is no pleasure4 ,,ii4 ,now1 note secondly1 the dayspring1 or dawn4 ,my text1 in the part on which ,i have just been speaking1 links itself with ancient ,messianic prophecy1 and this expression1 'the dayspring from on high4' also links itself with other prophecies of the same sort4 ,almost the last word of prophecy before the four centuries of silence which ,mary and ,zacharias broke1 was1 ',unto you that fear ,his name shall the ,sun of ,righteousness arise with healing in ,his beams4' ,there can be little doubt1 ,i think1 that the allusion of my text is to these all but the last words of the prophet ,malachi4 ,for that final chapter of the ,old ,testament colours the song both of ,mary and of ,zacharias4 ,and it is to be observed that the ,greek translation of the ,hebrew uses the same verb1 of which the cognate noun is here employed1 for the rising of the ,sun of ,righteousness4 ,the picturesque old ,english word 'dayspring' means neither more nor less than sunrising4 ,and it is here used practically as a name for ,jesus ,christ1 who is ,himself the ,sun1 represented as rising over a darkened earth1 and yet1 with a singular neglect of the propriety of the metaphor1 as descending from on high1 not to shine on us from the sky1 but to 'visit us' on earth4 ,jesus ,christ ,himself1 over and over again1 said by implication1 and more than once by direct claim1 ',i am the ,light of the world4' ,and my text is the anticipation1 perhaps from lips that did not fully understand the whole significance of the prophecy which they spoke1 of these later declarations4 ,i have said that the darkness is the emblem of three baleful things1 of the converse of which light is the symbol4 ,as the darkness speaks to us of ignorance1 so ,christ1 as the ,sun illumines us with the light of 'the knowledge of the glory of ,god in the face of ,jesus ,christ4' ,for doubt we have blessed certainty1 for a far-off ,god we have the knowledge of ,god close at hand4 ,for an impassive will or a stony-eyed fate we have the knowledge 7and not only the wistful yearning after the knowledge7 of a loving heart1 warm and throbbing4 ,our ,god is no unemotional abstraction1 but a living ,person who can love1 who can pity1 and we are speaking more than poetry when we say1 ,god is compassion1 and compassion is ,god4 ,this we know because ',he that hath seen ,me hath seen the ,father4' ,and the solid certainty of a loving ,god1 tender1 pitying1 mighty to help1 quick to hear1 ready to forgive1 waiting to bless1 is borne into our hearts1 and comes there1 sweet as the sunshine1 when we turn ourselves to the light of ,christ4 ,in like manner the darkness1 born of our own sin1 which wraps our hearts1 and shuts out so much that is fair and sweet and strong1 will pass away if we turn ourselves to ,him4 ,his light pouring into our souls will hurt the eye at first1 but it will hurt to cure4 ,the darkness of sin and alienation will pass1 and the true light will shine4 ,the darkness of sorrow--well6 it will not cease1 but ,he will 'smooth the raven down of darkness till it smiles1' and ,he will bring into our griefs such a spirit of quiet submission as that they shall change into a solemn scorn of ills1 and be almost like gladnesses4 ,peace1 which is better than exuberant delight1 will come to quiet the sorrow of the soul that trusts in ,jesus ,christ4 ,the day which is knowledge1 purity1 gladsomeness1 the cheerful day will be ours if we hold by ,him4 ,we 'are all the children of the light and of the day'2 we 'are not of the night nor of darkness4' ,brother1 it is possible to grope at noontide as in the dark1 and in all the blaze of ,christ's revelation still to be left in the ,cimmerian folds of midnight gloom4 ,you can shut your eyes to the sunshine2 have you opened your hearts to its coming8 ,i cannot dwell 7your time will not allow of it7 upon the other points connected with this description of the day spring1 except just to point out in passing the singular force and depth of the words--which ,i suppose are more forcible and deep than he who spoke them understood at the time that visitation was described4 ,the dayspring is 'from on high4' ,this ,sun has come down on to the earth4 ,it has not risen on a far-off horizon1 but it has come down and visited us1 and walks among us4 ,this ,sun1 our life-star1 'hath had elsewhere its setting1 and cometh from afar4' ,for ,he that rises upon us as the ,light of life1 hath descended from the heavens1 and was1 before ,he appeared amongst men4 ,and ,his coming is a divine visitation4 ,the word here 'hath visited us' 7or 'shall visit us1' as the ,revised ,version varies it71 is chiefly employed in the ,old ,testament to describe the divine acts of self-revelation1 and these1 mostly redemptive acts4 ,zacharias employs it in that sense in the earlier portion of the song1 where he says that ',god hath visited and redeemed ,his people4' ,and so from the use of this word we gather these two thoughts--,god comes to us when ,christ comes to us1 and ,his coming is wondrous1 blessed nearness1 and nearness to each of us4 ',what is man that ,thou shouldst be mindful of him1 or the son of man that ,thou shouldst visit him8' said the old ,psalmist4 ,we say ',what is man that the ,dayspring from on high should come down upon earth1 and round ,his immortal beams1 should1 as it were1 cast the veil and obscuration of a human form2 and so walk amongst us1 the embodied ,light and the ,incarnate ,god8' ',the dayspring from on high hath visited us4' ,,iii4 ,lastly1 note the directing by the light4 ',to guide our feet into the way of peace4' ,this ,sun stoops to the office of the star that moved before the wise men and hovered over ,his cradle1 and becomes to each individual soul a guide and director4 ,the picture of my text1 ,i suppose1 carries us on to the morning1 when the benighted travellers catch the first gleams of the rising sun and resume their activity1 and there is a cheerful stir through the encampment and the way is open before them once more1 and they are ready to walk in it4 ,the force of the metaphor1 however1 implies more than that1 for it speaks to us of the wonder that this universal ,light should become the special guide of each individual soul1 and should not merely hang in the heavens1 to cast the broad radiance of its beams over the whole surface of the earth1 but should move before each man1 a light unto his feet and a lamp to his path1 in special manifestation to him of his duty and his life's pilgrimage4 ,there is only one way of peace1 and that is to follow ,his beams and to be directed by ,his preceding us4 ,then we shall realise the most indispensable of all the conditions of peace--,christ brings you and me the reconciliation which puts us at peace with ,god1 which is the foundation of all other tranquillity4 ,and ,he will guide docile feet into the way of peace in yet another fashion--in that the following of ,his example1 the cleaving to ,him1 the holding by ,his skirts or by ,his hand1 and the treading in ,his footsteps1 is the only way by which the heart can receive the solid satisfaction in which it rests1 and the conscience can cease from accusing and stinging4 ,the way of wisdom is a path of pleasantness and a way of peace4 ,only they who walk in ,christ's footsteps have quiet hearts and are at amity with ,god1 in concord with themselves1 friends of mankind1 and at peace with circumstances4 ,there is no strife within1 no strained relations or hostile alienation to ,god1 no gnawing unrest of unsatisfied desires1 no pricks of accusing conscience2 for the man who puts his hand into ,christ's hand1 and says1 ',order ,thou my footsteps by ,thy word'2 ',where ,thou goest ,i will go1 and what ,thou commandest ,i will do4' ,brother1 put thy hand out from the darkness and clasp ,his1 and 'the darkness shall be light about thee'2 and ,he will fulfil ,his own promise when ,he said1 ',i am the ,light of the world4 ,he that followeth ,me shall not walk in darkness1 but shall have the ,light of life4 ,,shepherds ,,and ,,angels ',and there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field1 keeping watch over their flock by night4 #i4 ,and1 lo1 the angel of the ,lord came upon them1 and the glory of the ,lord shone round about them2 and they were sore afraid4 #aj4 ,and the angel said unto them1 ,fear not3 for1 behold1 ,i bring you good tidings of great joy1 which shall be to all people4 #aa4 ,for unto you is born this day1 in the city of ,david1 a ,saviour1 which is ,christ the ,lord4 #ab4 ,and this shall be a sign unto you2 ,ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes1 lying in a manger4 #ac4 ,and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising ,god1 and saying1 #ad4 ,glory to ,god in the highest1 and on earth peace1 good will toward men4 #ae4 ,and it came to pass1 as the angels were gone away from them into heaven1 the shepherds said one to another1 ,let us now go even unto ,bethlehem1 and see this thing which is come to pass1 which the ,lord hath made known unto us4 #af4 ,and they came with haste1 and found ,mary and ,joseph1 and the babe lying in a manger4 #ag4 ,and when they had seen it1 they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child4 #ah4 ,and all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds4 #ai4 ,but ,mary kept all these things1 and pondered them in her heart4 #bj4 ,and the shepherds returned1 glorifying and praising ,god for all the things that they had heard and seen1 as it was told unto them4'--,,luke ii4 #h-bj4 ,the central portion of this passage is1 of course1 the angels' message and song1 the former of which proclaims the transcendent fact of the ,incarnation1 and the latter hymns its blessed results4 ,but1 subsidiary to these1 the silent vision which preceded them and the visit to ,bethlehem which followed are to be noted4 ,taken together1 they cast varying gleams on the great fact of the birth of ,jesus ,christ4 ,why should there be a miraculous announcement at all1 and why should it be to these shepherds8 ,it seems to have had no effect beyond a narrow circle and for a time4 ,it was apparently utterly forgotten when1 thirty years after1 the carpenter's ,son began ,his ministry4 ,could such an event have passed from memory1 and left no ripple on the surface8 ,does not the resultlessness cast suspicion on the truthfulness of the narrative8 ,not if we duly give weight to the few who knew of the wonder2 to the length of time that elapsed1 during which the shepherds and their auditors probably died2 to their humble position1 and to the short remembrance of extraordinary events which have no immediate consequences4 ,joseph and ,mary were strangers in ,bethlehem4 ,christ never visited it1 so far as we know4 ,the fading of the impression cannot be called strange1 for it accords with natural tendencies2 but the record of so great an event1 which was entirely ineffectual as regards future acceptance of ,christ's claims1 is so unlike legend that it vouches for the truth of the narrative4 ,an apparent stumbling-block is left1 because the story is true4 ,why then1 the announcement at all1 since it was of so little use8 ,because it was of some2 but still more1 because it was fitting that such angel voices should attend such an event1 whether men gave heed to them or not2 and because1 recorded1 their song has helped a world to understand the nature and meaning of that birth4 ,the glory died off the hillside quickly1 and the music of the song scarcely lingered longer in the ears of its first hearers2 but its notes echo still in all lands1 and every generation turns to them with wonder and hope4 ,the selection of two or three peasants as receivers of the message1 the time at which it was given1 and the place1 are all significant4 ,it was no unmeaning fact that the 'glory of the ,lord' shone lambent round the shepherds1 and held them and the angel standing beside them in its circle of light4 ,no longer within the secret shrine1 but out in the open field1 the symbol of the ,divine ,presence glowed through the darkness2 for that birth hallowed common life1 and brought the glory of ,god into familiar intercourse with its secularities and smallnesses4 ,the appearance to these humble men as they 'sat simply chatting in a rustic row 'symbolised the destination of the ,gospel for all ranks and classes4 ,the angel speaks by the side of the shepherds1 not from above4 ,his gentle encouragement ',fear not6' not only soothes their present terror1 but has a wider meaning4 ,the dread of the ,unseen1 which lies coiled like a sleeping snake in all hearts1 is utterly taken away by the ,incarnation4 ,all messages from that realm are thenceforward 'tidings of great joy1' and love and desire may pass into it1 as all men shall one day pass1 and both enterings may be peaceful and confident4 ,nothing harmful can come out of the darkness1 from which ,jesus has come1 into which ,he has passed1 and which ,he fills4 ,the great announcement1 the mightiest1 most wonderful word that had ever passed angels' immortal lips1 is characterised as 'great joy' to 'all the people1' in which designation two things are to be noted--the nature and the limitation of the message4 ,in how many ways the ,incarnation was to be the fountain of purest gladness was but little discerned1 either by the heavenly messenger or the shepherds4 ,the ages since have been partially learning it1 but not till the 'glorified joy' of heaven swells redeemed hearts will all its sorrow-dispelling power be experimentally known4 ,base joys may be basely sought1 but ,his creatures' gladness is dear to ,god1 and if sought in ,god's way1 is a worthy object of their efforts4 ,the world-wide sweep of the ,incarnation does not appear here1 but only its first destination for ,israel4 ,this is manifest in the phrase 'all the people1' in the mention of 'the city of ,david' and in the emphatic 'you1' in contradistinction both from the messenger1 who announced what he did not share1 and ,gentiles1 to whom the blessing was not to pass till ,israel had determined its attitude to it4 ,the titles of the ,infant tell something of the wonder of the birth1 but do not unfold its overwhelming mystery4 ,magnificent as they are1 they fall far short of ',the ,word was made flesh4' ,they keep within the circle of ,jewish expectation1 and announce that the hopes of centuries are fulfilled4 ,there is something very grand in the accumulation of titles1 each greater than the preceding1 and all culminating in that final ',lord4' ,handel has gloriously given the spirit of it in the crash of triumph with which that last word is pealed out in his oratorio4 ',saviour' means far more than the shepherds knew2 for it declares the ,child to be the deliverer from all evil1 both of sin and sorrow1 and the endower with all good1 both of righteousness and blessedness4 ,the ',christ' claims that ,he is the fulfiller of prophecy1 perfectly endowed by divine anointing for ,his office of prophet1 priest1 and king--the consummate flower of ancient revelation1 greater than ,moses the law-giver1 than ,solomon the king1 than ,jonah the prophet4 ',the ,lord' is scarcely to be taken as the ascription of divinity1 but rather as a prophecy of authority and dominion1 implying reverence1 but not unveiling the deepest secret of the entrance of the divine ,son into humanity4 ,that remained unrevealed1 for the time was not yet ripe4 ,there would be few children of a day old in a little place like ,bethlehem1 and none but one lying in a manger4 ,the fact of the birth1 which could be verified by sight1 would confirm the message in its outward aspect1 and thereby lead to belief in the angel's disclosure of its inward character4 ,the 'sign' attested the veracity of the messenger1 and therefore the truth of all his word--both of that part of it capable of verification by sight and that part apprehensible by faith4 ,no wonder that the sudden light and music of the multitude of the heavenly host' flashed and echoed round the group on the hillside4 ,the true picture is not given when we think of that angel choir as floating in heaven4 ,they stood in their serried ranks round the shepherds and their fellows on the solid earth1 and 'the night was filled with music1' not from overhead1 but from every side4 ,crowding forms became all at once visible within the encircling 'glory1' on every face wondering gladness and eager sympathy with men1 from every lip praise4 ,angels can speak with the tongues of men when their theme is their ,lord become man1 and their auditors are men4 ,they hymn the blessed results of that birth1 the mystery of which they knew more completely than they were yet allowed to tell4 ,as was natural for them1 their praise is first evoked by the result of the ,incarnation in the highest heavens4 ,it will bring 'glory to ,god' there2 for by it new aspects of ,his nature are revealed to those clear-eyed and immortal spirits who for unnumbered ages have known ,his power1 ,his holiness1 ,his benignity to unfallen creatures1 but now experience the wonder which more properly belongs to more limited intelligences1 when they behold that depth of condescending ,love stooping to be born4 ,even they think more loftily of ,god1 and more of man's possibilities and worth1 when they cluster round the manger1 and see who lies there4 ',on earth peace4' ,the song drops from the contemplation of the heavenly consequences to celebrate the results on earth1 and gathers them all into one pregnant word1 ',peace4' ,what a scene of strife1 discord1 and unrest earth must seem to those calm spirits6 ,and how vain and petty the struggles must look1 like the bustle of an ant-hill6 ,christ's work is to bring peace into all human relations1 those with ,god1 with men1 with circumstances1 and to calm the discords of souls at war with themselves4 ,every one of these relations is marred by sin1 and nothing less thorough than a power which removes it can rectify them4 ,that birth was the coming into humanity of ,him who brings peace with ,god1 with ourselves1 with one another4 ,shame on ,christendom that nineteen centuries have passed1 and men yet think the cessation of war is only a 'pious imagination'6 ,the ringing music of that angel chant has died away1 but its promise abides4 ,the symmetry of the song is best preserved1 as ,i humbly venture to think1 by the old reading as in the ,authorised ,version4 ,the other1 represented by the ,revised ,version1 seems to make the second clause drag somewhat1 with two designations of the region of peace4 ,the ,incarnation brings ,god's 'good will' to dwell among men4 ,in ,christ1 ,god is well pleased2 and from ,him incarnate1 streams of divine complacent love pour out to freshen and fertilise the earth4 ,the disappearance of the heavenly choristers does not seem to have been so sudden as their appearance4 ,they 'went away from them into heaven1' as if leisurely1 and so that their ascending brightness was long visible as they rose1 and attestation was thereby given to the reality of the vision4 ,the sleeping village was close by1 and as soon as the last gleam of the departing light had faded in the depths of heaven1 the shepherds went 'with haste1' untimely as was the hour4 ,they would not have much difficulty in finding the inn and the manger4 ,note that they do not tell their story till the sight has confirmed the angel message4 ,their silence was not from doubt2 for they say1 before they had seen the child1 that 'this thing' is 'come to pass1' and are quite sure that the ,lord has told it them4 ,but they wait for the evidence which shall assure others of their truthfulness4 ,there are three attitudes of mind towards ,god's revelation set forth in living examples in the closing verses of the passage4 ,note the conduct of the shepherds1 as a type of the natural impulse and imperative duty of all possessors of ,god's truth4 ,such a story as they had to tell would burn its way to utterance in the most reticent and shyest4 ,but have ,christians a less wonderful message to deliver1 or a less needful one8 ,if the spectators of the cradle could not be silent1 how impossible it ought to be for the witnesses of the ,cross to lock their lips6 ,the hearers of the story did what1 alas6 too many of us do with the ,gospel4 ',they wondered1' and stopped there4 ,a feeble ripple of astonishment ruffled the surface of their souls for a moment2 but like the streaks on the sea made by a catspaw of wind1 it soon died out1 and the depths were unaffected by it4 ,the antithesis to this barren wonder is the beautiful picture of the ,virgin's demeanour4 ,she 'kept all these sayings1 and pondered them in her heart4' ,what deep thoughts the mother of the ,lord had1 were hers alone4 ,but we have the same duty to the truth1 and it will never disclose its inmost sweetness to us1 nor take so sovereign a grip of our very selves as to mould our lives1 unless we too treasure it in our hearts1 and by patient brooding on it understand its hidden harmonies1 and spread our souls out to receive its transforming power4 ,a non-meditative religion is a shallow religion4 ,but if we hide ,his word in our hearts1 and often in secret draw out our treasure to count and weigh it1 we shall be able to speak out of a full heart1 and like these shepherds1 to rejoice that we have seen even as it was spoken unto us4 ,,was1 ,,is1 ,,is ,,to ,,come '444 ,the babe lying in a manger444'--,,luke ii4 #af4 '444 ,while ,he blessed them1 ,he was parted from them1 and carried up into heaven444'--,,luke xxiv4 #ea4 ',this same ,jesus444 shall so come in like manner as ye have seen ,him go444'--,,acts ,i4 #aa4 ,these three fragments1 which ,i have ventured to isolate and bring together1 are all found in one author's writings4 ,luke's biography of ,jesus stretches from the cradle in ,bethlehem to the ,ascension from ,olivet4 ,he narrates the ,ascension twice1 because it has two aspects4 ,in one it looks backward1 and is necessary as the completion of what was begun in the birth4 ,in one it looks forward1 and makes necessary1 as its completion1 that coming which still lies in the future4 ,these three stand up1 like linked summits in a mountain4 ,we can understand none of them unless we embrace them all4 ,if the story of the birth is true1 a life so begun cannot end in an undistinguished death like that of all men4 ,and if the ,ascension from ,olivet is true1 that cannot close the history of ,his relations to men4 ,the creed which proclaims ,he was 'born of the ,virgin ,mary' must go on to say '444 ,he ascended up into heaven'2 and cannot pause till it adds '444,from thence ,he shall come to judge the quick and the dead4' ,so we have then three points to consider in this sermon4 ,i4 ,note first1 the three great moments4 ,the thing that befell at ,bethlehem1 in the stable of the inn1 was a commonplace and insignificant enough event looked at from the outside3 the birth of a child to a young mother4 ,it had its elements of pathos in its occurring at a distance from home1 among the publicity and discomforts of an inn stable1 and with some cloud of suspicion over the mother's fair fame4 ,but the outside of a fact is the least part of it4 ,a little film of sea-weed floats upon the surface1 but there are fathoms of it below the water4 ,men said1 ',a child is born4' ,angels said1 and bowed their faces in adoration1 ',the ,word has become flesh'4 ,the eternal1 self-communicating personality in the ,godhead1 passed voluntarily into the condition of humanity4 ,jesus was born1 the ,son of ,god came4 ,only when we hold fast by that great truth do we pierce to the centre of what was done in that poor stable1 and possess the key to all the wonders of ,his life and death4 ,from the manger we pass to the mountain4 ,a life begun by such a birth cannot be ended1 as ,i have said1 by a mere ordinary death4 ,the ,alpha and the ,omega of that alphabet must belong to the same fount of type4 ,a divine conformity forbids that ,he who was born of the ,virgin ,mary should have ,his body laid to rest in an undistinguished grave4 ,and so what ,bethlehem began1 ,olivet carries on4 ,note the circumstances of this second of these great moments4 ,the place is significant4 ,almost within sight of the city1 a stone's throw probably from the home where ,he had lodged1 and where ,he had conquered death in the person of ,lazurus2 not far from the turn of the road where the tears had come into ,his eyes amidst the shouting of the rustic procession1 as ,he had looked across the valley2 just above ,gethsemane1 where ,he had agonised on that bare hillside to which ,he had often gone for communion with the ,father in heaven4 ,there1 in some dimple of the hill1 and unseen but by the little group that surrounded ,him1 ,he passed from their midst4 ,the manner of the departure is yet more significant than the place4 ,here were no whirlwind1 no chariots and horses of fire1 no sudden rapture2 but1 as the narrative makes emphatic1 a slow1 leisurely1 self-originated floating upwards4 ,he was borne up from them1 and no outward vehicle or help was needed2 but by ,his own volition and power ,he rose towards the heavens4 ',and a cloud received ,him out of their sight'--the ,shechinah cloud1 the bright symbol of the ,divine ,presence which had shone round the shepherds on the pastures of ,bethlehem1 and enwrapped ,him and the three disciples on the ,mount of ,transfiguration4 ,it came not to lift ,him on its soft folds to the heavens1 but in order that1 first1 ,he might be plainly seen till the moment that ,he ceased to be seen1 and might not dwindle into a speck by reason of distance2 and secondly1 that it might teach the truth1 that1 as ,his body was received into the cloud1 so ,he entered into the glory which ,he 'had with the ,father before the world was4' ,such was the second of these moments4 ,the third great moment corresponds to these1 is required by them1 and crowns them4 ,the ,ascension was not only the close of ,christ's earthly life which would preserve congruity with its beginning1 but it was also the clear manifestation that1 as ,he came of ,his own will1 so ,he departed by ,his own volition4 ',i came forth from the ,father1 and am come into the world4 ,again1 ,i leave the world and go unto the ,father4' ,thus the earthly life is1 as it were1 islanded in a sea of glory1 and that which stretches away beyond the last moment of visibility1 is like that which stretched away beyond the first moment of corporeity2 the eternal union with the eternal ,father4 ,but such an entrance on and departure from earth1 and such a career on earth1 can only end in that coming again of which the angels spoke to the gazing eleven4 ,mark the emphasis of their words4 ',this same ,jesus1' the same in ,his manhood1 'shall so come1 in like manner1 as ye have seen ,him go4' ,how much the 'in like manner' may mean we can scarcely dogmatically affirm4 ,but this1 at least1 is clear1 that it cannot mean less than corporeally visible1 locally surrounded by angel-guards1 and perhaps1 according to a mysterious prophecy1 to the same spot from which ,he ascended4 ,but1 at all events1 there are the three moments in the manifestation of the ,son of ,god4 ,,ii4 ,look1 in the second place1 at the threefold phases of our ,lord's activity which are thus suggested4 ,i need not dwell1 in more than a sentence or two1 on the first of these4 ,each of these three moments is the inauguration of a form of activity which lasts till the emergence of the next of the triad4 ,the birth at ,bethlehem had1 for its consequence and purpose1 a threefold end3 the revelation of ,god in humanity1 the manifestation of perfect manhood to men1 and the rendering of the great sacrifice for the sins of the world4 ,these three--showing us ,god2 showing ourselves as we are and as we may be2 as we ought to be1 and1 blessed be ,his name1 as we shall be1 if we observe the conditions2 and the making reconciliation for the sins of the whole world--these are the things for which the ,babe lying in the manger was born and came under the limitations of humanity4 ,turn to the second of the three1 and what shall we say of it8 ,that ,ascension has for its great purpose the application to men of the results of the ,incarnation4 ,he was born that ,he might show us ,god and ourselves1 and that ,he might die for us4 ,he ascended up on high in order that the benefits of that ,revelation and ,atonement might be extended through1 and appropriated by1 the whole world4 ,one chief thought which is enforced by the narrative of the ,ascension is the permanence1 the eternity of the humanity of ,jesus ,christ4 ,he ascended up where ,he was before1 but ,he who ascended is not altogether the same as ,he who had been there before1 for ,he has taken up with ,him our nature to the centre of the universe and the throne of ,god1 and there1 'bone of our bone1 and flesh of our flesh1' a true man in body1 soul1 and spirit1 ,he lives and reigns4 ,the cradle at ,bethlehem assumes even greater solemnity when we think of it as the beginning of a humanity that is never laid aside4 ,so we can look confidently to all that blaze of light where ,he sits1 and feel that1 howsoever the body of ,his humiliation may have been changed into the body of ,his glory1 ,he still remains corporeally and spiritually a true ,son of man4 ,thus the face that looks down from amidst the blaze1 though it be 'as the sun shineth in his strength1' is the old face2 and the breast which is girded with the golden girdle is the same breast on which the seer had leaned his happy head2 and the hand that holds the sceptre is the hand that was pierced with the nails2 and the ,christ that is ascended up on high is the ,christ that loved and pitied adulteresses and publicans1 and took the little child in ,his gracious arms--',the same yesterday1 and to-day1 and for ever4' ,christ's ,ascension is as the broad seal of heaven attesting the completeness of ,his work on earth4 ,it inaugurates ,his repose which is not the sign of ,his weariness1 but of ,his having finished all which ,he was born to do4 ,but that repose is not idleness4 ,rather it is full of activity4 ,on the ,cross ,he shouted with a great voice ere ,he died1 ',it is finished4' ,but centuries1 perhaps millenniums1 yet will have to elapse before the choirs of angels shall be able to chant1 ',it is done3 the kingdoms of the world are the kingdoms of ,god and of ,his ,christ4' ,all the interval is filled by the working of that ascended ,lord whose session at the right hand of ,god is not only symbolical of perfect repose and a completed sacrifice1 but also of perfect activity in and with ,his servants4 ,he has gone--to rest1 to reign1 to work1 to intercede1 and to prepare a place for us4 ,for if our ,brother be indeed at the right hand of ,god1 then our faltering feet may travel to the ,throne1 and our sinful selves may be at home there4 ,the living ,christ1 working to-day1 is that of which the ,ascension from ,olivet gives us the guarantee4 ,the third great moment will inaugurate yet another form of activity as necessary and certain as either of the two preceding4 ,for if ,his cradle was what we believe it to have been1 and if ,his sacrifice was what ,scripture tells us it is1 and if through all the ages ,he1 crowned and regnant1 is working for the diffusion of the powers of ,his ,cross and the benefits of ,his ,incarnation1 there can be no end to that course except the one which is expressed for us by the angels' message to the gazing disciples3 ,he shall so come in like manner as ye have seen ,him go4 ,he will come to manifest ,himself as the ,king of the world and its ,lord and ,redeemer4 ,he will come to inaugurate the great act of ,judgment1 which ,his great act of ,redemption necessarily draws after it1 and ,himself be the ,arbiter of the fates of men1 the determining factor in whose fates has been their relation to ,him4 ,no doubt many who never heard ,his name upon earth will1 in that day be1 by ,his clear eye and perfect judgment1 discerned to have visited the sick and the imprisoned1 and to have done many acts for ,his sake4 ,and for us who know ,him1 and have heard ,his name1 the way in which we stand affected in heart and will to ,christ reveals and settles our whole character1 shapes our whole being1 and will determine our whole destiny4 ,he comes1 not only to manifest ,himself so as that 'every eye shall see ,him1' and to divide the sheep from the goats1 but also in order that ,he may reign for ever and gather into the fellowship of ,his love and the community of ,his joys all who love and trust ,him here4 ,these are the triple phases of our ,lord's activity suggested by the three great moments4 ,,iii4 ,lastly1 notice the triple attitude which we should assume to ,him and to them4 ,for the first1 the cradle1 with its consequence of the ,cross1 our response is clinging faith1 grateful memory1 earnest following1 and close conformity4 ,for the second1 the ,ascension1 with its consequence of a ,christ that lives and labours for us1 and is with us1 our attitude ought to be an intense realisation of the fact of ,his present working and of ,his present abode with us4 ,the centre of ,christian doctrine has1 amongst average ,christians1 been far too exclusively fixed within the limits of the earthly life1 and in the interests of a true and comprehensive grasp of all the blessedness that ,christianity is capable of bringing to men1 ,i would protest against that type of thought1 earnest and true as it may be within its narrow limits1 which is always pointing men to the past fact of a ,cross1 and slurs over and obscures the present fact of a living ,christ who is with us1 and in us4 ,one difference between ,him and all other benefactors and teachers and helpers is this1 that1 as ages go on1 thicker and ever-thickening folds of misty oblivion wrap them1 and their influence diminishes as new circumstances emerge1 but this ,christ's power laughs at the centuries1 and is untinged by oblivion1 and is never out of date4 ,for all others we have to say--'having served his generation1' or a generation or two more1 'according to the will of ,god1 he fell on sleep4' ,but ,christ knows no corruption1 and is for ever more the ,leader1 and the ,companion1 and the ,friend1 of each new age4 ,brethren6 the ,cross is incomplete without the throne4 ,we are told to go back to the historical ,christ4 ,yes1 ,amen1 ,i say6 ,but do not let that make us lose our grasp of the living ,christ who is with us to-day4 ,whilst we rejoice over the ',christ that died1' let us go on with ,paul to say1 ',yea6 rather1 that is risen again1 and is even at the right hand of ,god1 who also maketh intercession for us4' ,for that future1 discredited as the thought of the second corporeal coming of the ,lord ,jesus in visible fashion and to a locality has been by the fancies and the vagaries of so-called ,apocalyptic expositors1 let us not forget that it is the hope of ,christ's ,church1 and that 'they who love ,his appearing' is1 by the ,apostle1 used as the description and definition of the ,christian character4 ,we have to look forwards as well as backwards and upwards1 and to rejoice in the sure and certain confidence that the ,christ who has come is the ,christ who will come4 ,for us the past should be full of ,him1 and memory and faith should cling to ,his ,incarnation and ,his ,cross4 ,the present should be full of ,him1 and our hearts should commune with ,him amidst the toils of earth4 ,the future should be full of ,him1 and our hopes should be based upon no vague anticipations of a perfectibility of humanity1 nor upon any dim dreams of what may lie beyond the grave2 but upon the concrete fact that ,jesus ,christ has risen1 and that ,jesus ,christ is glorified4 ,does my faith grasp the ,christ that was--who died for me8 ,does my heart cling to the ,christ who is--who lives and reigns1 and with whom my life is hid in ,god8 ,do my hopes crystallise round1 and anchor upon1 the ,christ that is to come1 and pierce the dimness of the future and the gloom of the grave1 looking onwards to that day of days when ,he1 who is our life1 shall appear1 and we shall appear also with ,him in glory8 ,,simeon',s ,,swan-,,song ',lord1 now lettest ,thou ,thy servant depart in peace1 according to ,thy word3 #cj4 ,for mine eyes have seen ,thy salvation4'--,,luke ii4 #bi1cj4 ,that scene1 when the old man took the ,infant in his withered arms1 is one of the most picturesque and striking in the ,gospel narrative4 ,simeon's whole life appears1 in its later years1 to have been under the immediate direction of the ,spirit of ,god4 ,it is very remarkable to notice how1 in the course of three consecutive verses1 the operation of that divine ,spirit upon him is noted4 ',it was revealed unto him by the ,holy ,ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the ,lord's ,christ4' ',and he came by the ,spirit into the ,temple4' ,i suppose that means that some inward monition1 which he recognised to be of ,god1 sent him there1 in the expectation that at last he was to 'see the ,lord's ,christ4' ,he was there before the ,child was brought by ,his parents1 for we read ',he came by the ,spirit into the ,temple1 and when the parents brought in the ,child ,jesus 444 he took ,him in his arms4' ,think of the old man1 waiting there in the ,sanctuary1 told by ,god that he was thus about to have the fulfilment of his life-long desire1 and yet probably not knowing what kind of a shape the fulfilment would take4 ,there is no reason to believe that he knew he was to see an infant2 and he waits4 ,and presently a peasant woman comes in with a child in her arms1 and there arises in his soul the voice ',anoint ,him6 for this is ,he6' ,and so1 whether he expected such a vision or no1 he takes the ,child in his arms1 and says1 ',lord6 ,now1 now 6--after all these years of waiting--lettest ,thou ,thy servant depart in peace4' ,now1 it seems to me that there are two or three very interesting thoughts deducible from this incident1 and from these words4 ,i take three of them4 ,here we have the ,old recognising and embracing the ,new2 the slave recognising and submitting to his ,owner2 and the saint recognising and welcoming the approach of death4 ,i4 ,the ,old recognising and embracing the ,new4 ,it is striking to observe how the description of ,simeon's character expresses the aim of the whole ,old ,testament ,revelation4 ,all that was meant by the preceding long series of manifestations through all these years was accomplished in this man4 ,for hearken how he is described--'just and devout1' that is the perfection of moral character1 stated in the terms of the ,old ,testament2 'waiting for the ,consolation of ,israel1' that is the ideal attitude which the whole of the gradual manifestation of ,god's increasing purpose running through the ages was intended to make the attitude of every true ,israelite--an expectant1 eager look forwards1 and in the present1 the discharge of all duties to ,god and man4 ',and the ,holy ,ghost was upon him'2 that1 too1 in a measure1 was the ultimate aim of the whole ,revelation of ,israel4 ,so this man stands as a bright1 consummate flower which had at last effloresced from the roots2 and in his own person1 an embodiment of the very results which ,god had patiently sought through millenniums of providential dealing and inspiration4 ,therefore in this man's arms was laid the ,christ for whom he had so long been waiting4 ,and he exhibits1 still further1 what ,god intended to secure by the whole previous processes of ,revelation1 in that he recognises that they were transcended and done with1 that all that they pointed to was accomplished when a devout ,israelite took into his arms the ,incarnate ,messiah1 that all the past had now answered its purpose1 and like the scaffolding when the top stone of a building is brought forth with shouting1 might be swept away and the world be none the poorer4 ,and so he rejoices in the ,christ that he receives1 and sings the swan-song of the departing ,israel1 the ,israel according to the ,spirit4 ,and that is what ,judaism was meant to do1 and how it was meant to end1 in an euthanasia1 in a passing into the nobler form of the ,christian ,church and the ,christian citizenship4 ,i do not need to remind you how terribly unlike this ideal the reality was1 but ,i may1 though only in a sentence or two1 point out that that relation of the ,new to the ,old is one that recurs1 though in lees sharp and decisive forms1 in every generation1 and in our generation in a very special manner4 ,it is well for the ,new when it consents to be taken in the arms of the ,old1 and it is ill for the ,old when1 instead of welcoming1 it frowns upon the ,new1 and instead of playing the part of ,simeon1 and embracing and blessing the ,infant1 plays the part of a ,herod1 and seeks to destroy the ,child that seems to threaten its sovereignty4 ,we old people who are conservative1 if not by nature1 by years1 and you young people who are revolutionary and innovating by reason of your youth1 may both find a lesson in that picture in the ,temple1 of ,simeon with the ,infant ,christ in his arms4 ,,ii4 ,further1 we have here the slave recognising and submitting to his ,owner4 ,now the word which is here employed for ',lord' is one that very seldom occurs in the ,new ,testament in reference to ,god2 only some four or five times in all4 ,and it is the harshest and hardest word that can be picked out4 ,if you clip the ,greek termination off it1 it is the ,english word 'despot1' and it conveys all that that word conveys to us1 not only a lord in the sense of a constitutional monarch1 not only a lord in the polite sense of a superior in dignity1 but a despot in the sense of being the absolute owner of a man who has no rights against the owner1 and is a slave4 ,for the word 'slave' is what logicians call the correlative of this word 'despot1' and as the latter asserts absolute ownership and authority1 the former declares abject submission4 ,so ,simeon takes these two words to express his relation and feeling towards ,god4 ',thou art the ,owner1 the ,despot1 and ,i am ,thy slave4' ,that relation of owner and slave1 wicked as it is1 when subsisting between two men--an atrocious crime1 'the sum of all villainies1' as the good old ,english emancipators used to call it--is the sum of all blessings when regarded as existing between man and ,god4 ,for what does it imply8 ,the right to command and the duty to obey1 the sovereign will that is supreme over all1 and the blessed attitude of yielding up one's will wholly1 without reserve1 without reluctance1 to that infinitely mighty1 and--blessed be ,god6--infinitely loving ,will ,absolute authority calls for abject submission4 ,and again1 the despot has the unquestioned right of life and death over his slave1 and if he chooses1 can smite him down where he stands1 and no man have a word to say4 ,thus1 absolutely1 we hang upon ,god1 and because ,he has the power of life and death1 every moment of our lives is a gift from ,his hands1 and we should not subsist for an instant unless1 by continual effluence from ,him1 and influx into us1 of the life which flows from ,him1 the ,fountain of life4 ,again1 the slave-owner has entire possession of all the slave's possessions1 and can take them and do what he likes with them4 ,and so1 all that ,i call mine is ,his4 ,it was ,his before it became mine2 it remains ,his whilst it is mine1 because ,i am ,his1 and so what seems to belong to me belongs to ,him1 no less truly4 ,what1 then1 do you do with your possessions8 ,use them for yourselves8 ,dispute ,his ownership8 ,forget ,his claims8 ,grudge that ,he should take them away sometimes1 and grudge still more to yield them to ,him in daily obedience1 and when necessary1 surrender them8 ,is such a temper what becomes the slave8 ,what reason has he to grumble if the master comes to him and says1 ',this little bit of ground that ,i have given you to grow a few sugar-canes and melons on1 ,i am going to take back again4' ,what reason have we to set up our puny wills against ,him1 if ,he exercises ,his authority over us and demands that we should regard ourselves not only as sons but also as slaves to whom the owner of it and us has given a talent to be used for ,him8 ,now1 all that sounds very harsh1 does it not8 ,let in one thought into it1 and it all becomes very gracious4 ,the ,apostle ,peter1 who also once uses this word 'despot1' does so in a very remarkable connection4 ,he speaks about men's 'denying the despot that bought them4' ,ah1 ,peter6 you were getting on very thin ice when you talked about denial4 ,perhaps it was just because he remembered his sin in the judgment hall that he used that word to express the very utmost degree of degeneration and departure from ,jesus4 ,but be that as it may1 he bases the slave-owner's right on purchase4 ,and ,jesus ,christ has bought us by ,his own precious blood2 and so all that sounds harsh in the metaphor1 worked out as ,i have been trying to do1 changes its aspect when we think of the method by which ,he has acquired ,his rights and the purpose for which ,he exercises them4 ,as the ,psalmist said1 ',oh1 ,lord6 truly ,i am ,thy slave4 ,thou hast loosed my bonds4' ,,iii4 ,so1 lastly1 we have here the saint recognising and welcoming the approach of death4 ,now1 it is a very singular thing1 but ,i suppose it is true1 that somehow or other1 most people read these words1 ',lord6 now lettest ,thou ,thy servant depart in peace1' as being a petition2 ',lord6 now let ,thy servant depart4' ,but they are not that at all4 ,we have here not a petition or an aspiration1 but a statement of the fact that ,simeon recognises the appointed token that his days were drawing to an end1 and it is the glad recognition of that fact4 ',lord6 ,i see now that the time has come when ,i may put aside all this coil of weary waiting and burdened mortality1 and go to rest4' ,look how he regards approaching death4 ',thou lettest ,thy servant depart' is but a feeble translation of the original1 which is better given in the version that has become very familiar to us all by its use in a musical service1 the ,nunc ,dimittis2 ',now ,thou dost send away' ,it is the technical word for relieving a sentry from his post4 ,it conveys the idea of the hour having come when the slave who has been on the watch through all the long1 weary night1 or toiling through all the hot1 dusty day1 may extinguish his lantern1 or fling down his mattock1 and go home to his little hut4 ',lord6 ,thou dost dismiss me now1 and ,i take the dismission as the end of the long watch1 as the end of the long toil4' ,but notice1 still further1 how ,simeon not only recognises1 but welcomes the approach of death4 ',thou lettest ,thy servant depart in peace4' ,yes1 there speaks a calm voice tranquilly accepting the permission4 ,he feels no agitation1 no fluster of any kind1 but quietly slips away from his post4 ,and the reason for that peaceful welcome of the end is 'for mine eyes have seen ,thy salvation4' ,that sight is the reason1 first of all1 for his being sure that the curfew had rung for him1 and that the day's work was done4 ,but it is also the reason for the peacefulness of his departure4 ,he went 'in peace1' because of what8 ,because the weary1 blurred1 old eyes had seen all that any man needs to see to be satisfied and blessed4 ,life could yield nothing more1 though its length were doubled to this old man1 than the sight of ,god's salvation4 ,can it yield anything more to us1 brethren8 ,and may we not say1 if we have seen that sight1 what an unbelieving author said1 with a touch of self-complacency not admirable1 ',i have warmed both hands at the fire of life1 and ,i am ready to depart4' ,we may go in peace1 if our eyes have seen ,him who satisfies our vision1 whose bright presence will go with us into the darkness1 and whom we shall see more perfectly when we have passed from the sentry-box to the home above1 and have ceased to be slaves in the far-off plantation1 and are taken to be sons in the ,father's house4 ',thou lettest ,thy servant depart in peace4' ,,the ,,boy ,,in ,,the ,,temple ',and ,he said unto them1 ,how is it that ye sought ,me6 wist ye not that ,i must be about ,my ,father's business8' --,,luke ii4 #di4 ,a number of spurious gospels have come down to us1 which are full of stories1 most of them absurd and some of them worse1 about the infancy of ,jesus ,christ4 ,their puerilities bring out more distinctly the simplicity1 the nobleness1 the worthiness of this one solitary incident of ,his early days1 which has been preserved for us4 ,how has it been preserved8 ,if you will look over the narratives there will be very little difficulty1 ,i think1 in answering that question4 ,observing the prominence that is given to the parents1 and how the story enlarges upon what they thought and felt1 we shall not have much doubt in accepting the hypothesis that it was none other than ,mary from whom ,luke received such intimate details4 ,notice1 for instance1 ',joseph and ,his mother knew not of it4' ',they supposed ,him to have been in the company4' ',and when they1' i4e4 ,joseph and ,mary1 'saw ,him1 they were astonished'2 and then that final touch1 ',he was subject to them1' as if ,his mother would not have ,luke or us think that this one act of independence meant that ,he had shaken off parental authority4 ,and is it not a mother's voice that says1 ',his mother kept all these things in her heart1' and pondered all the traits of boyhood8 ,now it seems to me that1 in these words of the twelve-year-old boy1 there are two or three points full of interest and of teaching for us4 ,there is-- ,i4 ,that consciousness of ,sonship4 ,i am not going to plunge into a subject on which certainly a great deal has been very confidently affirmed1 and about which the less is dogmatised by us1 who must know next to nothing about it1 the better2 viz4 the inter-connection of the human and the divine elements in the person of ,jesus ,christ4 ,but the context leads us straight to this thought--that there was in ,jesus distinct growth in wisdom as well as in stature1 and in favour with ,god and man4 ,and now1 suppose the peasant boy brought up to ,jerusalem1 seeing it for the first time1 and for the first time entering the sacred courts of the ,temple4 ,remember1 that to a ,jewish boy1 his reaching the age of twelve made an epoch1 because he then became 'a son of the ,law1' and took upon himself the religious responsibilities which had hitherto devolved upon his parents4 ,if we will take that into account1 and remember that it was a true manhood which was growing up in the boy ,jesus1 then we shall not feel it to be irreverent if we venture to say1 not that here and then1 there began ,his consciousness of ,his ,divine ,sonship1 but that that visit made an epoch and a stage in the development of that consciousness1 just because it furthered the growth of ,his manhood4 ,further1 our ,lord in these words1 in the gentlest possible way1 and yet most decisively1 does what ,he did in all ,his intercourse with ,mary1 so far as it is recorded for us in ,scripture--relegated her back within limits beyond which she tended to advance4 ,for she said1 ',thy father and ,i have sought ,thee sorrowing1' no doubt thus preserving what had been the usual form of speech in the household for all the previous years2 and there is an emphasis that would fall upon her heart1 as it fell upon none other1 when ,he answered3 ',wist ye not that ,i must be about ,my ,father's business8' ,we are not warranted in affirming that the ,child meant all which the ,man afterwards meant by the claim to be the ,son of ,god2 nor are we any more warranted in denying that ,he did4 ,we know too little about the mysteries of ,his growth to venture on definite statements of either kind4 ,our sounding-lines are not long enough to touch bottom in this great word from the lips of a boy of twelve2 but this is clear1 that as ,he grew into self-consciousness1 there came with it the growing consciousness of ,his ,sonship to ,his ,father in heaven4 ,now1 dear brethren1 whilst all that is unique1 and parts ,him off from us1 do not let us forget that that same sense of ,sonship and ,fatherhood must be the very deepest thing in us1 if we are ,christian people after ,christ's pattern4 ,we1 too1 can be sons through ,him1 and only through ,him4 ,i believe with all my heart in what we hear so much about now--'the universal ,fatherhood of ,god4' ,but ,i believe that there is also a special relation of ,fatherhood and ,sonship1 which is constituted only1 according to ,scripture teaching in my apprehension1 through faith in ,jesus ,christ1 and the reception of ,his life as a supernatural life into our souls4 ,god is ,father of all men--thank ,god for it6 ,and that means1 that ,he gives life to all men2 that in a very deep and precious sense the life which ,he gives to every man is not only derived from1 but is kindred with1 ,his own2 and it means that ,his love reaches to all men1 and that ,his authority extends over them4 ,but there is an inner sanctuary1 there is a better life than the life of nature1 and the ,fatherhood into which ,christ introduces us means1 that through faith in ,him1 and the entrance into our spirits of the ,spirit of adoption1 we receive a life derived from1 and kindred with1 the life of the ,giver1 and that we are bound to ,him not only by the cords of love1 but to obey the parental authority4 ,sonship is the deepest thought about the ,christian life4 ,it was an entirely new thought when ,jesus spoke to ,his disciples of their ,father in heaven4 ,it was a thrilling novelty when ,paul bade servile worshippers realise that they were no longer slaves1 but sons1 and as such1 heirs of ,god4 ,it was the rapture of pointing to a new star flaming out1 as it were1 that swelled in ,john's exclamation3 ',beloved1 now are we the sons of ,god6' ,for even though in the ,old ,testament there are a few occasional references to ,israel's ,king or to ,israel itself as being ',god's son1' as far as ,i remember1 there is only one reference in all the ,old ,testament to parental love towards each of us on the part of ,god1 and that is the great saying in the #ajcrd ,psalm3 ',like as a father pitieth his children1 so the ,lord pitieth them that fear ,him4' ,for the most part the idea connected in the ,old ,testament with the ,fatherhood of ,god is authority3 ',if ,i be a ,father1 where is ,mine honour8' says the last of the prophets4 ,but when we pass into the ,new1 on the very threshold1 here we get the germ1 in these words1 of the blessed thought that1 as ,his disciples1 we1 too1 may claim sonship to ,god through ,him1 and penetrate beyond the awe of ,divine ,majesty into the love of our ,father ,god4 ,brethren1 notwithstanding all that was unique in the ,sonship of ,jesus ,christ1 ,he welcomes us to a place beside ,himself1 and if we are the children of ,god by faith in ,him1 then are we 'heirs of ,god1 and joint heirs with ,christ4' ,now the second thought that ,i would suggest from these words is-- ,,ii4 ,the sweet 'must' of filial duty4 ',how is it that ye sought ,me8' ,that means3 ',did you not know where ,i should be sure to be8 ,what need was there to go up and down ,jerusalem looking for ,me8 ,you might have known there was only one place where you would find ,me4 ,wist ye not that ,i must be about ,my ,father's business8' ,now1 the last words of this question are in the ,greek literally1 as the margin of the ,revised ,version tells us1 'in the things of ,my ,father'2 and that idiomatic form of speech may either be taken to mean1 as the ,authorised ,version does1 'about ,my ,father's business1' or1 with the ,revised ,version1 'in ,my ,father's house4' ,the latter seems the rendering most relevant in this connection1 where the folly of seeking is emphasised--the certainty of ,his place is more to the point than that of ,his occupation4 ,but the locality carried the occupation with it1 for why must ,he be in the ,father's house but to be about the ,father's business1 'to behold the beauty of the ,lord and to inquire in ,his ,temple'8 ,do people know where to find us8 ,is it unnecessary to go hunting for us8 ,is there a place where it is certain that we shall be8 ,it was so with this child ,jesus1 and it should be so with all of us who profess to be ,his followers4 ,all through ,christ's life there runs1 and occasionally there comes into utterance1 that sense of a divine necessity laid upon ,him2 and here is its beginning1 the very first time that the word occurs on ,his lips1 ',i must4' ,there is as divine and as real a necessity shaping our lives because it lies upon and moulds our wills1 if we have the child's heart1 and stand in the child's position4 ,in ,jesus ,christ the 'must' was not an external one1 but ,he 'must be about ,his ,father's business1' because ,his whole inclination and will were submitted to the ,father's authority4 ,and that is what will make any life sweet1 calm1 noble4 ',the love of ,christ constraineth us4' ,there is a necessity which presses upon men like iron fetters2 there is a necessity which wells up within a man as a fountain of life1 and does not so much drive as sweetly incline the will1 so that it is impossible for him to be other than a loving1 obedient child4 ,dear friend1 have we felt the joyful grip of that necessity8 ,is it impossible for me not to be doing ,god's will8 ,do ,i feel myself laid hold of by a strong1 loving hand that propels me1 not unwillingly1 along the path8 ,does inclination coincide with obligation8 ,if it does1 then no words can tell the freedom1 the enlargement1 the calmness1 the deep blessedness of such a life4 ,but when these pull in two different ways1 as1 alas6 they often do1 and ,i have to say1 ',i must be about my ,father's business1 and ,i had rather be about my own if ,i durst1' which is the condition of a great many so-called ,christian people--then the necessity is miserable2 and slavery1 not freedom1 is the characteristic of such ,christianity4 ,and there is a great deal of such to-day4 ,and now one last word4 ,on this sweet 'must1' and blessed compulsion to be about the ,father's business1 there follows3 ,,iii4 ,the meek acceptance of the lowliest duties4 ',he went down to ,nazareth1 and was subject to them4' ,that is all that is told us about eighteen years1 by far the largest part of the earthly life of ,christ4 ,legend comes in1 and for once not inappropriately1 and tells us1 what is probably quite true1 that during these years1 ,jesus worked in the carpenter's shop1 and as one story says1 'made yokes1' or as another tells1 made light implements of husbandry for the peasants round ,nazareth4 ,be that as it may1 ',he was subject unto them1' and that was doing the ,father's will1 and being 'about the ,father's business1' quite as much as when ,he was amongst the doctors1 and learning by asking questions as well as by hearkening to their instructions4 ,everything depends on the motive4 ,the commonest duty may be 'the ,father's business1' when we are doing manfully the work of daily life4 ,only we do not turn common duty into the ,father's business1 unless we remember ,him in the doing of it4 ,but if we carry the hallowing and quickening influence of that great 'must' into all the pettinesses1 and paltrinesses1 and wearinesses1 and sorrows of our daily trivial lives1 then we shall find1 as ,jesus ,christ found1 that the carpenter's shop is as sacred as the courts of the ,temple1 and that to obey ,mary was to do the will of the ,father in heaven4 ,what a blessed transformation that would make of all lives6 ,the psalmist long ago said3 ',one thing have ,i desired of the ,lord1 and that will ,i seek after1 that ,i may dwell in the house of the ,lord all the days of my life4' ,we may dwell in the house of the ,lord all the days of our lives4 ,we may be in one or other of the many mansions of the ,father's house where-ever we go1 and may be doing the will of the ,father in heaven in all that we do4 ,then we shall be at rest2 then we shall be strong2 then we shall be pure2 then we shall have deep in our hearts the joyous consciousness1 undisturbed by rebellious wills1 that now 'we are the sons of ,god1' and the still more joyous hope1 undimmed by doubts or mists1 that 'it doth not yet appear what we shall be'2 but that wherever we go1 it will be but passing from one room of the great home into another more glorious still4 ',i must be about my ,father's business'2 let us make that the motto for earth1 and ,he will say to us in ,his own good time ',come home from the field1 and sit down beside ,me in ,my house1' and so we 'shall dwell in the house of the ,lord for ever4' ,,john ,,the ,,preacher ,,of ,,repentance ',now1 in the fifteenth year of the reign of ,tiberius ,cesar1 ,pontius ,pilate being governor of ,judea1 and ,herod being tetrarch of ,galilee1 and his brother ,philip tetrarch of ,iturea and of the region of ,trachonitis1 and ,lysanias the tetrarch of ,abilene1 #b4 ,annas and ,caiaphas being the high priests1 the word of ,god came unto ,john1 the son of ,zacharias1 in the wilderness4 #c4 ,and he came into all the country about ,jordan1 preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins2 #d4 ,as it is written in the book of the words of ,esaias the prophet1 saying1 ,the voice of one crying in the wilderness1 ,prepare ye the way of the ,lord1 make ,his paths straight4 #f4 ,every valley shall be filled1 and every mountain and hill shall be brought low2 and the crooked shall be made straight1 and the rough ways shall be made smooth2 #f4 ,and all flesh shall see the salvation of ,god4 #g4 ,then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him1 ,o generation of vipers1 who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come6 #h4 ,bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance2 and begin not to say within yourselves1 ,we have ,abraham to our ,father3 for ,i say unto you1 ,that ,god is able of these stones to raise up children unto ,abraham4 #i4 ,and now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees3 every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down1 and cast into the fire4 #aj4 ,and the people asked him1 saying1 ,what shall we do then8 #aa4 ,he answereth and saith unto them1 ,he that hath two coats1 let him impart to him that hath none2 and he that hath meat1 let him do likewise4 #ab4 ,then came also publicans to be baptized1 and said unto him1 ,master1 what shall we do8 #ac4 ,and he said unto them1 ,exact no more than that which is appointed you4 #ad4 ,and the soldiers likewise demanded of him1 saying1 ,and what shall we do8 ,and he said unto them1 ,do violence to no man1 neither accuse any falsely2 and be content with your wages4'--,,luke iii4 #add4 ,why does ,luke enumerate so carefully the civil and ecclesiastical authorities in verses #a and #b8 ,not only to fix the date1 but1 in accordance with the world-wide aspect of his ,gospel1 to set his narrative in relation with secular history2 and1 further1 to focus into one vivid beam of light the various facts which witnessed to the sunken civil and darkened moral and religious condition of the ,jews4 ,what more needed to be said to prove how the ancient glory had faded1 than that they were under the rule of such a delegate as ,pilate1 of such an emperor as ,tiberius1 and that the bad brood of ,herod's descendants divided the sacred land between them1 and that the very high-priesthood was illegally administered1 so that such a pair as ,annas and ,caiaphas held it in some irregular fashion between them8 ,it was clearly high time for ,john to come1 and for the word of ,god to come to him4 ,the wilderness had nourished the stern1 solitary spirit of the ,baptist1 and there the consciousness of his mission and his message 'came to him'--a phrase which at once declares his affinity with the old prophets4 ,out of the desert he burst on the nation1 sudden as lightning1 and cleaving like it4 ,luke says nothing as to his garb or food1 but goes straight to the heart of his message1 ',the baptism of repentance unto remission of sins1' in which expression the 'remission' depends neither on 'baptism' alone1 nor on 'repentance' alone4 ,the outward act was vain if unaccompanied by the state of mind and will2 the state of mind was proved genuine by submitting to the act4 ,in verses #g to #ad ,john's teaching as the preacher of repentance is summarised4 ,why did he meet the crowds that streamed out to him with such vehement rebuke8 ,one would have expected him to welcome them1 instead of calling them 'offspring of vipers1' and seeming to be unwilling that they should flee from the wrath to come4 ,but ,luke tells why4 ,they wished to be baptized1 but there is no word of their repentance4 ,rather1 they were trusting to their descent as exempting them from the approaching storm1 so that their baptism would not have been the baptism which ,john required1 being devoid of repentance4 ,just because they thought themselves safe as being 'children of ,abraham1' they deserved ,john's rough name1 'ye offspring of vipers4' ,rabbinical theology has much to say about 'the merits of the fathers4' ,john1 like every prophet who had ever spoken to the nation of judgments impending1 felt that the sharp edge of his words was turned by the obstinate belief that judgments were for the ,gentile1 and never would touch the ,jew4 ,do we not see the same unbelief that ,god can ever visit ,england with national destruction in full force among ourselves8 ,not the virtues of past generations1 but the righteousness of the present one1 is the guarantee of national exaltation4 ,john's crowds were eager to be baptized as an additional security1 but were slow to repent4 ,if heaven could be secured by submitting to a rite1 'multitudes' would come for it1 but the crowd thins quickly when the administrator of the rite becomes the vehement preacher of repentance4 ,that is so to-day as truly as it was so by the fords of ,jordan4 ,john demanded not only repentance1 but its 'fruits1' for there is no virtue in a repentance which does not change the life1 were such possible4 ,repentance is more than sorrow for sin4 ,many a man has that1 and yet rushes again into the old mire4 ,to change the mind and will is not enough1 unless the change is certified to be real by deeds corresponding4 ,so ,john preached the true nature of repentance when he called for its fruits4 ,and he preached the greatest motive for it which he knew1 when he pressed home on sluggish consciences the close approach of a judgment for which everything was ready1 the axe ground to a fine edge1 and lying at the root of the trees4 ,if it lay there1 there was no time to lose2 if it still lay1 there was time to repent before it was swinging round the woodman's head4 ,we have a higher motive for repentance in 'the goodness of ,god' leading to it4 ,but there is danger that modern ,christianity should think too little of 'the terror of the ,lord1' and so should throw away one of the strongest means of persuading men4 ,john's advice to the various classes of hearers illustrates the truth that the commonest field of duty and the homeliest acts may become sacred4 ,not high-flying1 singular modes of life1 abandoning the vulgar tasks1 but the plainest prose of jog-trot duty will follow and attest real repentance4 ,every calling has its temptations--that is to say1 every one has its opportunities of serving ,god by resisting the ,devil4 ,,john',s ,,witness ,,to ,,jesus1 ,,and ,,god',s ',and as the people were in expectation1 and all men mused in their hearts of ,john1 whether he were the ,christ1 or not2 #af4 ,john answered1 saying unto them all1 ,i indeed baptize you with water2 but one mightier than ,i cometh1 the latchet of whose shoes ,i am not worthy to unloose3 ,he shall baptize you with the ,holy ,ghost1 and with fire3 #ag4 ,whose fan is in ,his hand1 and ,he will thoroughly purge ,his floor1 and will gather the wheat into ,his garner2 but the chaff ,he will burn with fire unquenchable4 #ah4 ,and many other things1 in his exhortation1 preached he unto the people4 #ai4 ,but ,herod the tetrarch1 being reproved by him for ,herodias his brother ,philip's wife1 and for all the evils which ,herod had done1 #bj4 ,added yet this above all1 that he shut up ,john in prison4 #ba4 ,now1 when all the people were baptized1 it came to pass1 that ,jesus also being baptized1 and praying1 the heaven was opened1 #bb4 ,and the ,holy ,ghost descended in a bodily shape1 like a dove1 upon ,him2 and a voice came from heaven1 which said1 ,thou art ,my beloved ,son2 in ,thee ,i am well pleased4'--,,luke iii4 #ae-bb4 ,this passage falls into three parts3 ,john's witness to the coming ,messiah 7vs4 #ae-ag72 ,john's undaunted rebuke of sin in high places1 and its penalty 7vs4 #ah-bj72 and ,god's witness to ,jesus 7vs4 #ba1 #bb74 ,i4 ,luke sharply parts off the ,baptist's work as a preacher of repentance and plain morality from his work as the herald who preceded the king4 ,the former is delineated in verses #g-ad1 and its effect was to set light to the always smouldering expectation of the ,messiah4 ,the people were ready to rally round him if he would say that he was the coming deliverer4 ,it was a real temptation1 but his unmoved humility1 which lay side by side with his boldness1 brushed it aside1 and poured an effectual stream of cold water on the excitement4 ',john answered' the popular questionings1 of which he was fully aware1 and his answer crushed them4 ,in less acute fashion1 the same temptation comes to all who move the general conscience4 ,disciples always seek to hoist their teacher higher than is fitting4 ,adherence to him takes the place of obedience to his message1 and1 if he is a true man1 he has to damp down misdirected enthusiasm4 ,mark ,john's clear apprehension of the limitations of his work4 ,he baptized with water1 the symbol and means of outward cleansing4 ,he does not depreciate his position or the importance of his baptism1 but his whole soul bows in reverence before the coming ,messiah1 whose great office was to transcend his1 as the wide ,mediterranean surpassed the little lake of ,galilee4 ,his outline of that work is grand1 though incomplete4 ,it is largely based upon ,malachi's closing prophecy1 and the connection witnesses to ,john's consciousness that he was the ,elijah foretold there4 ,he saw that the ,messiah would surpass him in his special endowment4 ,strong as he was1 that other was to be stronger4 ,probably he did not dream that that other was to wield the divine might1 nor that ,his perfect strength was to be manifested in weakness1 and to work its wonders by the might of gentle1 self-sacrificing love4 ,but1 though he dimly saw1 he perfectly adored4 ,he felt himself unworthy 7literally1 insufficient7 to be the slave who untied 7or1 according to ,matthew1 'bore'7 his lord's sandals4 ,how beautiful is the lowliness of that strong nature6 ,he stood erect in the face of priests and tetrarchs1 and furious women1 and the headsman with his sword1 but he lay prostrate before his ,king4 ,strength and royal authority were not all that he had to proclaim of ,messiah4 ',he shall baptize you in the ,holy ,ghost and fire4' ,we observe that the construction here is different from that in verse #af 7'with water'71 inasmuch as the preposition 'in' is inserted1 which1 though it is often used 'instrumentaly1' is here1 therefore1 more probably to be taken as meaning simply 'in4' ,the two nouns are coupled under one preposition1 which suggests that they are fused together in the speaker's mind as reality and symbol4 ,fire is a frequently recurrent emblem of the ,holy ,spirit1 both in the ,old and ,new ,testament4 ,it is not the destructive1 but the vitalising1 glowing1 transforming1 energy of fire1 which is expressed4 ,the fervour of holy enthusiasm1 the warmth of ardent love1 the melting of hard hearts1 the change of cold1 damp material into its own ruddy likeness1 are all set forth in this great symbol4 ,john's water baptism was poor beside ,messiah's immersion into that cleansing fire4 ,fire turns what it touches into kindred flame4 ,the refiner's fire melts metal1 and the scum carries away impurities4 ,water washes the surface1 fire pierces to the centre4 ,but while that cleansing by the ,spirit's fire was to be ,messiah's primary office1 man's freedom to accept or reject such blessing necessarily made ,his work selective1 even while its destination was universal4 ,so ,john saw that ,his coming would part men into two classes1 according as they submitted to ,his baptism of fire or not4 ,the homely image of the threshing-floor1 on some exposed1 windy height1 carries a solemn truth4 ,the ,lord of the harvest has an instrument in ,his hand1 which sets up a current of air1 and the wheat falls in one heap1 while the husks are blown farther1 and lie at the edge of the floor4 ,mark the majestic emphasis on the ,christ's ownership in the two phrases1 ',his floor' and ',his garner4' ,notice1 too1 the fact which determines whether a man is chaff or wheat--namely1 his yielding to or rejecting the fiery baptism which ,christ offers4 ,ponder that awful emblem of an empty1 rootless1 fruitless1 worthless life1 which ,john caught up from ,psalm ,i4 ,thankfully think of the care and safe keeping and calm repose shadowed in that picture of the wheat stored in the garner after the separating act4 ,and let us lay on awed hearts the terrible doom of the chaff4 ,there are two fires1 to one or other of which we must be delivered4 ,either we shall gladly accept the purging fire of the ,spirit which burns sin out of us1 or we shall have to meet the punitive fire which burns up us and our sins together4 ,to be cleansed by the one or to be consumed by the other is the choice before each of us4 ,,ii4 ,verses #ah-bj show ,john as the preacher and martyr of righteousness4 ,luke tells his fate out of its proper place1 in order to finish with him1 and1 as it were1 clear the stage for ,jesus4 ,similarly the ,baptist's desert life is told by anticipation in chapter i4 #hj4 ,that treatment of his story marks his subordination4 ,his martyrdom is not narrated by ,luke1 though he knew of it 7,luke ix4 #g-i71 and this brief summary is all that is said of his heroic vehemence of rebuke to sin in high places1 and of his suffering for righteousness' sake4 ,john's message had two sides to it1 as every gospel of ,god's has4 ,to the people he spoke good tidings and exhortations2 to lordly sinners he pealed out stern rebukes4 ,it needs some courage to tell a prince to his face that he is foul with corruption1 and1 still more1 to put a finger on his actual sins4 ,but he is no prophet who does not lift up his voice like a trumpet1 and speak to hardened consciences4 ,king ,demos is quite as impatient of close dealing with his immorality as ,herod was4 ,london and ,new ,york get as angry with the ,christian men who fight against their lust and drunkenness as ever he did1 and would not be sorry if they could silence these persistent 'fanatics' as conveniently as he could4 ,the need for courage like ,john's1 and plain speech like his1 is not past yet4 ,the 'good tidings' has rebuke as part of its substance4 ,the sword is two-edged4 ,,iii4 ,the narrative now turns to ,jesus1 and does not even name ,john as having baptized ,him4 ,the peculiarities of ,luke's account of the baptism are instructive4 ,he omits the conversation between ,jesus and ,john1 and the fact of ,john's seeing the dove and hearing the voice4 ,like ,mark1 he makes the divine voice speak directly to ,jesus1 whereas ,matthew represents it as spoken concerning ,him4 ,the baptism itself is disposed of in an incidental clause 7having been baptized74 ,the general result of these characteristics is that this account lays emphasis on the bearing of the divine witness as borne to ,jesus ,himself4 ,it does not deny1 but simply ignores1 its aspect as a witness borne to ,john4 ,another striking point is ,luke's mention of ,christ's prayer1 which is thus represented as answered by the opened heavens1 the descending dove1 and the attesting voice4 ,we owe most of our knowledge of ,christ's prayers to this ,evangelist1 whose mission was to tell of the ,son of man4 ,mysteries beyond our plummets are contained in this story2 but however unique it is1 it has this which may be reproduced1 that prayer unveiled heaven1 and brought down the dove to abide on the bowed head1 and the divine attestation of sonship to fill the waiting heart4 ,we need not dwell on the beautiful significance of the emblem of the dove4 ,it symbolised both the nature of that gracious1 gentle ,spirit1 and the perpetuity and completeness of its abode on ,jesus4 ,others receive portions of that celestial fullness1 but itself1 as if embodied in visible form1 settled down on ,him1 and1 with meekly folded wings1 tarried there unscared4 ',god giveth not the ,spirit by measure unto ,him4' ,our ,evangelist does not venture into the deep waters1 nor attempt to tell what was the relation between the ,incarnate ,word1 as it dwelt in ,jesus before that descent1 and the ,spirit which came upon ,him4 ,we shall be wise if we refrain from speculating on such points1 and content ourselves with knowing that there has been one manhood capable of receiving and retaining uninterruptedly the whole ,spirit of ,god2 and that ,he will fill us with the ,spirit which dwelt in ,him1 in measure and manner corresponding to our need and our faith4 ,the heavenly voice spoke to the heart of the man ,jesus4 ,what was ,his need of it1 and what were its effects on ,him1 we do not presume to affirm4 ,but probably it originated an increased certitude of the consciousness which dawned1 in ,his answer to ,mary1 of ,his unique divine sonship4 ,to us it declares that ,he stands in an altogether unexampled relation of kindred to the ,father1 and that ,his whole nature and acts are the objects of ,god's complacency4 ,but ,he has nothing for ,himself alone1 and in ,him we may become ,god's beloved sons1 well pleasing to the ,father4 ,,the ,,temptation #d ,and ,jesus1 being full of the ,holy ,ghost1 returned from ,jordan1 and was led by the ,spirit into the wilderness1 #b4 ,being forty days tempted of the devil4 ,and in those days ,he did eat nothing3 and when they were ended1 ,he afterward hungered4 #c4 ,and the devil said unto ,him1 ,if ,thou be the ,son of ,god1 command this stone that it be made bread1 #d4 ,and ,jesus answered him1 saying1 ,it is written1 ,that man shall not live by bread alone1 but by every word of ,god4 #e4 ,and the devil1 taking ,him up into an high mountain1 showed unto ,him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time4 #f4 ,and the devil said unto ,him1 ,all this power will ,i give ,thee1 and the glory of them3 for that is delivered unto me2 and to whomsoever ,i will ,i give it4 #g4 ,if ,thou therefore wilt worship me1 all shall be ,thine4 #h4 ,and ,jesus answered and said unto him1 ,get thee behind ,me1 ,satan3 for it is written1 ,thou shalt worship the ,lord thy ,god1 and ,him only shalt thou serve4 #i4 ,and he brought ,him to ,jerusalem and set ,him on a pinnacle of the temple1 and said unto ,him1 ,if ,thou be the ,son of ,god1 cast ,thyself down from hence3 #aj4 ,for it is written1 ,he shall give ,his angels charge over ,thee1 to keep ,thee2 #aa4 ,and in their hands they shall bear ,thee up1 lest at any time ,thou dash ,thy foot against a stone4 #ab4 ,and ,jesus answering1 said unto ,him1 ,it is said1 ,thou shalt not tempt the ,lord ,thy ,god4 #ac4 ,and when the devil had ended all the temptation1 he departed from ,him for a season4' --,,luke iv4 #a-ac4 ,if we adopt the ,revised ,version's reading and rendering1 the whole of the forty days in the desert were one long assault of ,jesus by ,satan1 during which the consciousness of bodily needs was suspended by the intensity of spiritual conflict4 ,exhaustion followed this terrible tension1 and the enemy chose that moment of physical weakness to bring up his strongest battalions4 ,what a contrast these days made with the hour of the baptism6 ,and yet both the opened heavens and the grim fight were needful parts of ,christ's preparation4 ,as true man1 ,he could be truly tempted2 as perfect man1 suggestions of evil could not arise within1 but must be presented from without4 ,he must know our temptations if ,he is to help us in them1 and ,he must 'first bind the strong man' if ,he is afterwards 'to spoil his house4' ,it is useless to discuss whether the tempter appeared in visible form1 or carried ,jesus from place to place4 ,the presence and voice were real1 though probably if any eye had looked on1 nothing would have been seen but the solitary ,jesus1 sitting still in the wilderness4 ,i4 ,the first temptation is that of the ,son of man tempted to distrust ,god4 ,long experience had taught the tempter that his most taking baits were those which appealed to the appetites and needs of the body1 and so he tries these first4 ,the run of men are drawn to sin by some form or other of these1 and the hunger of ,jesus laid ,him open to their power--if not on the side of delights of sense1 yet on the side of wants4 ,the tempter quotes the divine voice at the baptism with almost a sneer1 as if the hungry1 fainting ,man before him were a strange ',son of ,god4' ,the suggestion sounds innocent enough2 for there would have been no necessary harm in working a miracle to feed ,himself4 ,but its evil is betrayed by the words1 ',if ,thou art the ,son of ,god1' and the answer of our ,lord1 which begins emphatically with 'man1' puts us on the right track to understand why ,he repelled the insidious proposal even while ,he was faint with hunger4 ,to yield to it would have been to shake off for ,his own sake the human conditions which ,he had taken for our sakes1 and to seek to cease to be ,son of man in acting as ,son of ,god4 ,he takes no notice of the title given by ,satan1 but falls back on ,his brotherhood with man1 and accepts the laws under which they live as ,his conditions4 ,the quotation from ,deuteronomy1 which ,luke gives in a less complete form than ,matthew1 implies1 even in that incomplete form1 that bread is not the only means of keeping a man in life1 but that ,god can feed ,him1 as ,he did ,israel in its desert life1 with manna2 or1 if manna fails1 by the bare exercise of ,his divine will4 ,therefore ,jesus will not use ,his power as ,son of ,god1 because to do so would at once take ,him out of ,his fellowship with man1 and would betray ,his distrust of ,god's power to feed ,him there in the desert4 ,how soon ,his confidence was vindicated ,matthew tells us4 ,as soon as the devil departed from ,him1 'angels came and ministered unto ,him4' ,the soft rush of their wings brought solace to ,his spirit1 wearied with struggle1 and once again 'man did eat angels' food4' ,this first temptation teaches us much4 ,it makes the manhood of our ,lord pathetically true1 as showing ,him bearing the prosaic but terrible pinch of hunger1 carried almost to its fatal point4 ,it teaches us how innocent and necessary wants may be the devil's levers to overturn our souls4 ,it warns us against severing ourselves from our fellows by the use of distinctive powers for our own behoof4 ,it sets forth humble reliance on ,god's sustaining will as best for us1 even if we are in the desert1 where1 according to sense1 we must starve2 and it magnifies the ,brother's love1 who for our sakes waived the prerogatives of the ,son of ,god1 that ,he might be the brother of the poor and needy4 ,,ii4 ,the second temptation is that of the ,messiah1 tempted to grasp ,his dominion by false means4 ,the devil finds that he must try a subtler way4 ,foiled on the side of the physical nature1 he begins to apprehend that he has to deal with ,one loftier than the mass of men2 and so he brings out the glittering bait1 which catches the more finely organised natures4 ,where sense fails1 ambition may succeed4 ,there is nothing said now about ',son of ,god4' ,the relation of ,jesus to ,god is not now the point of attack1 but ,his hoped--for relation to the world4 ,did ,satan actually transport the body of ,jesus to some eminence8 ,probably not4 ,it would not have made the vision of all the kingdoms any more natural if he had4 ,the remarkable language 'showed 444 all 444 in a moment of time' describes a physical impossibility1 and most likely is meant to indicate some sort of diabolic phantasmagoria1 flashed before ,christ's consciousness1 while ,his eyes were fixed on the silent1 sandy waste4 ,there is much in ,scripture that seems to bear out the boast that the kingdoms are at ,satan's disposal4 ,but he is 'the father of lies' as well as the 'prince of this world1' and we may be very sure that his authority loses nothing in his telling4 ,if we think how many thrones have been built on violence and sustained by crime1 how seldom in the world's history the right has been uppermost1 and how little of the fear of ,god goes to the organisation of society1 even to-day1 in so-called ,christian countries1 we shall be ready to feel that in this boast the devil told more truth than we like to believe4 ,note that he acknowledges that the power has been 'given1' and on the fact of the delegation of it rests the temptation to worship4 ,he knew that ,jesus looked forward to becoming the world's ,king1 and he offers easy terms of winning the dignity4 ,very cunning he thought himself1 but he had made one mistake4 ,he did not know what kind of kingdom ,jesus wished to establish4 ,if it had been one of the bad old pattern1 like ,nebuchadnezzar's or ,caesar's1 his offer would have been tempting1 but it had no bearing on ,one who meant to reign by love1 and to win love by loving to the death4 ,worshipping the devil could only help to set up a devil's kingdom4 ,jesus wanted nothing of the 'glory' which had been 'given' him4 ,his answer1 again taken from ,deuteronomy1 is ,his declaration that ,his kingdom is a kingdom of obedience1 and that ,he will only reign as ,god's representative4 ,it defines ,his own position and the genius of ,his dominion4 ,it would come to the tempter's ears as the broken law1 which makes his misery and turns all his 'glory' into ashes4 ,this is our ,lord's decisive choice1 at the outset of ,his public work1 of the path of suffering and death4 ,he renounces all aid from such arts and methods as have built up the kingdoms of earth1 and presents ,himself as the antagonist of ,satan and his dominion4 ,henceforth it is war to the knife4 ,for us the lessons are plain4 ,we have to learn what sort of kingdom ,jesus sets up4 ,we have to beware1 in our own little lives1 of ever seeking to accomplish good things by questionable means1 of trying to carry on ,christ's work with the devil's weapons4 ,when churches lower the standard of ,christian morality1 because keeping it up would alienate wealthy or powerful men1 when they wink hard at sin which pays1 when they enlist envy1 jealousy1 emulation of the baser sort in the service of religious movements1 are they not worshipping ,satan8 ,and will not their gains be such as he can give1 and not such as ,christ's kingdom grows by8 ,let us learn1 too1 to adore and be thankful for the calm and fixed decisiveness with which ,jesus chose from the beginning1 and trod until the end1 with bleeding but unreluctant feet1 the path of suffering on ,his road to ,his throne4 ,,iii4 ,the third temptation tempts the worshipping ,son to tempt ,god4 ,luke arranges the temptations partly from a consideration of locality1 the desert and the mountain being near each other1 and partly in order to bring out a certain sequence in them4 ,first comes the appeal to the physical nature1 then that to the finer desires of the mind2 and these having been repelled1 and the resolve to worship ,god having been spoken by ,jesus1 ,luke's third temptation is addressed to the devout soul1 as it looks to the cunning but shallow eyes of the tempter4 ,matthew1 on the other hand1 in accordance with his point of view1 puts the specially ,messianic temptation last4 ,the actual order is as undiscoverable as unimportant4 ,in ,luke's order there is substantially but one change of place--from the solitude of the wilderness to the ,temple4 ,as we have said1 the change was probably not one of the ,lord's body1 but only of the scenes flashed before ,his mind's eye4 ',the pinnacle of the ,temple' may have been the summit that looked down into the deep valley where the enormous stones of the lofty wall still stand1 and which must have been at a dizzy height above the narrow glen on the one side and the ,temple courts on the other4 ,there is immense1 suppressed rage and malignity in the recurrence of the sneer1 ',if ,thou art the ,son of ,god' and in the use of ,christ's own weapon of defence1 the quotation of ,scripture4 ,what was wrong in the act suggested8 ,there is no reference to the effect on the beholders1 as has often been supposed2 and if we are correct in supposing that the whole temptation was transacted in the desert1 there could be none4 ,but plainly the point of it was the suggestion that ,jesus should1 of ,his own accord and needlessly1 put ,himself in danger1 expecting ,god to deliver ,him4 ,it looked like devout confidence2 it was really 'tempting ,god'4 ,it looked like the very perfection of the trust with which1 in the first round of this duel1 ,christ had conquered2 it was really distrust1 as putting ,god to proof whether ,he would keep ,his promises or no4 ,it looked like the very perfection of that worship with which ,he had overcome in the second round of the fight2 it wag really self-will in the mask of devoutness4 ,it tempted ,god1 because it sought to draw ,him to fulfil to a man on self-chosen paths ,his promises to those who walk in ways which ,he has appointed4 ,we trust ,god when we look to ,him to deliver us in perils met in meek acceptance of ,his will4 ,we tempt ,him when we expect ,him to save us from those encountered on roads that we have picked oat for ourselves4 ,such presumption disguised as filial trust is the temptation besetting the higher regions of experience1 to which the fumes of animal passions and the less gross but more dangerous airs from the desires of the mind do not ascend4 ,religious men who have conquered these have still this foe to meet4 ,spiritual pride1 the belief that we may venture into dangers either to our natural or to our religious life1 where no call of duty takes us1 the thrusting ourselves1 unbidden1 into circumstances where nothing but a miracle can save us-these are the snares which ,satan lays for souls that have broken his coarser nets4 ,the three answers with which ,jesus overcame are the mottoes by which we shall conquer4 ,trust ,god1 by whose will we live4 ,worship ,god1 in whose service we get all of this world that is good for us4 ,tempt not ,god1 whose angels keep us in our ways1 when they are ,his ways1 and who reckons trust that is not submission to ,his ways to be tempting ,god1 and not trusting ,him4 ',all the temptation' was ended4 ,so these three made a complete whole1 and the quiver of the enemy was for the time empty4 ,he departed 'for a season1' or rather1 until an opportunity4 ,he was foiled when he tried to tempt by addressing desires4 ,his next assault will be at ,gethsemane and ,calvary1 when dread and the shrinking from pain and death will be assailed as vainly4 ,,preaching ,,at ,,nazareth ',and ,he began to say unto them1 ,this day is this scripture fulfilled ,in your ears4'--,,luke iv4 #ba4 ,this first appearance of our ,lord1 in ,his public work at ,nazareth1 the home of ,his childhood1 was preceded1 as we learn from ,john's ,gospel1 by a somewhat extended ministry in ,jerusalem4 ,in the course of it1 ,he cast the money-changers out of the ,temple1 did many miracles1 had ,his conversation with ,nicodemus1 and on ,his return towards ,galilee met the woman of ,samaria at the well4 ,the report of these things1 no doubt1 had preceded ,him1 and kindled the ,nazarenes' curiosity to see their old companion who had suddenly shot up into a person of importance1 and had even made a sensation in the metropolis4 ,a great man's neighbours are keen critics of1 and slow believers in1 his greatness4 ,so it was natural and very prudent that ,jesus should not begin ,his ministry in ,nazareth4 ,we can easily imagine the scene that morning in the little village1 nestling among the hills4 ,how many memories would occupy ,christ as ,he entered the synagogue1 where ,he had so often sat a silent worshipper6 ,how ,mary's eyes would fill with tears if she was there1 and how the companions of ,his boyhood1 who used to play with ,him1 would watch ,him2 all curious1 some sympathetic1 some jealous1 some contemptuous6 ,the synagogue service began with prayer and praise4 ,then followed two readings1 one from the ,law1 one from the ,prophets4 ,when the latter point was reached1 in accordance with usage1 ,jesus rose1 thereby signifying ,his desire to be reader of the ,prophetic portion4 ,we can understand how there would be a movement of quickened attention as the roll was handed to ,him and ,he turned its sheets4 ,he 'found the place'2 that looks as if ,he sought for it2 that is to say1 that it was not the appointed lesson for the day--if there was such--but that it was a passage selected by ,himself4 ,i need not enter upon the divergences between ,luke's quotation as given in our ,english version and the ,hebrew4 ,they are partly due to the fact that he is quoting from memory the ,greek version of the ,,lxx4 ,he inserts1 for instance1 one clause which is not found in that place in ,isaiah1 but in another part of the same prophet4 ,having read standing1 as was the usage1 in token of reverence for the ,scripture1 ,jesus resumed ,his seat1 not as having finished1 but1 as was the usage1 taking the attitude of the teacher1 which signified authority4 ,and then1 ,his very first sentence was the most unlimited assertion that the great words which ,he had been reading had reached their full accomplishment in ,himself4 ,they are very familiar to our ears4 ,if we would understand their startling audacity we must listen to them with the ears of the ,nazarenes1 who had known ,him ever since ,he was a child4 ',this day is this ,scripture fulfilled in your ears4' ,now1 it seems to me that this first sermon of our ,lord's to ,his old fellow-townsmen brings into striking prominence some characteristics of ,his whole teaching1 to which ,i desire briefly to direct attention4 ,i4 ,i note ,christ's self-assertion4 ,to begin in ,nazareth with such words as these in my text was startling enough1 but it is in full accord with the whole tone of our ,lord's teaching4 ,if you will carefully search for the most essential characteristics and outstanding differentia of the words of ,jesus ,christ1 even if you make all allowance that some make for the non-historical character of the ,gospels1 you have this left as the residuum1 that the impression which ,he made upon the men that were nearest to ,him1 and that caught up most fully the spirit of ,his teaching1 was that the great thing that differentiated it from all other was ,his unhesitating persistence in pushing into the very forefront1 ,his testimony about ,himself4 ,i do not think that there is anything parallel to that anywhere else amongst the men whom the world recognises as being great religious geniuses or great moral teachers4 ,what characterises as perfectly unique our ,lord's teaching is not only the blessed things that ,he said about ,god or the deep truths that ,he said about men and their duty1 or the sad things that ,he said about men and their destiny1 or the radiant hopes that ,he unveiled as to men and their possibility1 but what ,he said about ,himself4 ,his message was not so much ',believe in ,god and do right1' as it was ',believe in ,me and follow ,me4' ,i need only point you to the ,sermon on the ,mount1 which is popularly supposed to contain very little of ,christ's reference to ,himself1 and to remind you how there1 in that authoritative proclamation of the laws of the new kingdom1 ,he calmly puts ,his own utterances as co-ordinate with--nay6 as superior to--the utterances of the ancient law1 and sweeps aside ,moses--though recognising ,moses' divine mission--with an ',i say unto you4' ,i need only remind you1 further1 how1 at the end of that 'compendium of reasonable morality1' ,he lays down this principle--that these sayings of ',mine' are a rock-foundation1 on which whoever builds shall never be put to confusion4 ,this is but a specimen of the golden thread1 if ,i may call it so1 of self-assertion which runs through the whole of our ,lord's teaching4 ,now1 ,i venture to say that this undeniable characteristic is only warranted on the supposition that ,he is the ,son of ,god1 and ,his work the salvation of the world4 ,if ,he is so1 if ',he that hath seen ,me hath seen the ,father1' if the revelation of ,himself which ,he makes is the ,revelation of ,god1 if ,his death is for the life of the world2 and if1 when we honour ,him1 we honour ,god2 when we trust ,him1 we trust ,god2 when we obey ,him we obey ,god2 then ,i can understand ,his persistent self-assertion4 ,but otherwise does ,he not deliberately intercept emotions which are only rightly directed to ,god8 ,does ,he not claim prerogatives1 such as forgiveness of sins1 bestowal of life1 answering of prayer1 which are only possessed by the ,divine ,being8 ,i know that many who will not go with me in my intellectual formularising of the truth about ,christ's nature do bow to ,him with unfeigned reverence4 ,but it seems to me1 ,i humbly confess1 that there is no logical basis for such reverence except the full-toned recognition that the mystery of ,his self-assertion is explained by the mystery of ,his nature1 ,god manifest in the flesh4 ,i1 for my part1 do not see how the moral perfectness of ,jesus ,christ is to be saved1 in view of that unmistakable strand in ,his teaching1 unless by such admission4 ,rather1 ,i feel that the recognition of it brings us face to face with the tremendous alternative1 and that the people who were moved to indignation by ,his self-assertion because they recognised not ,his divine origin1 and said ',this man blasphemeth'2 ',this deceiver said1' have more to say in defence of their conclusion than those who bow before ,him with reverence1 and declare ,him to be the pattern of all human perfectness1 and yet falter when they are asked to join in the great confession1 ',thou are the ,christ1 the ,son of the living ,god4' ,,ii4 ,secondly1 note here our ,lord's sad conception of humanity4 ,there are1 as it were1 two strands running through the prophetic passage which ,he quotes1 one in reference to ,himself1 one in reference to those whom ,he came to help4 ,to the latter ,i now turn1 to get our ,lord's point of view when ,he looked upon the facts of human life4 ,no man will ever do much for the world whose ears have not been opened to hear its sad music4 ,an inadequate conception of its miseries is sure to lead to inadequate prescriptions for their remedy4 ,we must bear upon our own hearts the burdens that we seek to lift off our brothers' shoulders4 ,there is nothing about the ,master's words concerning mankind more pathetic and more plain than the sad1 stern1 and yet pitying view which ,he always took concerning them and their condition4 ,in the passage on which ,jesus based ,his claims1 as given by ,luke1 one of the clauses is probably not in this place genuine1 for 'the healing of the brokenhearted' should be struck out of the true text4 ,there are then four symbols employed3 the poor1 the captives1 the blind1 the bruised4 ,and these four are representations of the result of one fell cause1 and that is--sin4 ,sin impoverishes4 ,our true wealth is ,god4 ,no man that possesses ,him1 by love1 and trust1 and conformity of will and effort to ,his discerned will1 is poor1 whatever else he has1 whatever else he lacks4 ,and no man who has lost this one durable treasure1 the loving communion with1 and possession of1 ,god1 in mind and heart and will and effort1 but is a pauper whatever else he possesses4 ,wherever a man has sold himself to his own will1 and has made himself and his own inclinations and misread good his centre and his aim1 which is the definition of sin1 there bankruptcy and poverty have come4 ,thieves sometimes beset travellers from the gold mines1 as they are bringing down their dust or their nuggets to market1 and empty the pockets of the gold1 and fill them up with sand4 ,that is what sin does for us2 it takes away our true treasure1 and befools us by giving us what seems to be solid till we come to open the bag2 and then there is no power in it to buy anything for us4 ',why will ye spend your labour for that which satisfieth not8' ,the one poverty is the impoverishment that lays hold of every soul that wrenches itself1 in self-will1 apart from ,god4 ,sin makes poor4 ,sin not only impoverishes1 but imprisons 'the captives4' ,ah6 you have only to think of your own experience to find out what that means4 ,is there nothing in the set of your affections1 in the mastery that your passion has over you1 in the habits of your lives1 which you know as well as ,god knows it1 to be wrong and ruinous1 and of which you have tried to get rid8 ,i know the answer1 and every one of us1 if we will look into our own hearts1 knows it3 we are 'tied and bound by the chains of our sin4' ,you do not need to go to inebriate homes1 where there are people that would cut their right hands off if they could get rid of the craving1 and cannot1 to find instances of this bondage4 ,we have only to be honest with ourselves1 and to try to pull the boat against the stream instead of letting it drift with it1 to know the force with which the current runs4 ,a tiny thread like a spider's draws after it a bit of cotton a little thicker1 and knotted to that there is a piece of pack-thread1 and after that a two-stranded cord1 and then a cable that might hold an ironclad at anchor4 ,that is a parable of how we draw to ourselves1 by imperceptible degrees1 an ever-thickening set of manacles that bind our wills and make us the servants of sin4 ',his slaves ye are whom ye obey4' ,sin imprisons4 ,that is1 your sin--do not let us befool ourselves with abstractions--your sin imprisons you4 ,sin blinds4 ,wherever there comes over a soul the mist of self-will and self-regard1 sight fails2 and all the greatest things are blurred and blotted4 ,the man that is immersed in his own evil is like one plunged in the ocean4 ,the cold1 salt waters are about him1 and above him2 and to him the glories of the sky1 and the brightness of the sun1 the tenderness of the colouring1 are all blotted out4 ,he who goes through life as some of us do1 never seeing ,god1 never seeing the loftiest beauty of goodness1 never beholding with any clearness of vision the radiant possibilities of the future and its awful threatenings1 may indeed see the things an inch from the point of his nose2 but he is blind and cannot see afar off1 and can only behold1 and that darkly1 the insignificances that are around him4 ,sin blinds4 ,and sin bruises4 ,it takes all the health out of us1 and makes us1 from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head1 masses of 'wounds and bruises and putrifying sores4' ,the enchantress having worked all this havoc1 then gives us a cup of illusion which1 when we drink1 we know not that there is anything the matter with us4 ,we are like a lunatic in a cell1 who thinks himself a prince in a palace1 and though living on porridge and milk1 fancies that he is partaking of all the dainties of a luxurious table4 ,the deceitfulness of sin is not the least of its tragical consequences4 ,,iii4 ,lastly1 we have here our ,lord's conception of ,himself and of ,his own work4 ,your time will not allow of my dwelling upon this as ,i would fain have done1 but let me point out one or two of the salient features of this initial programme of ,his4 ,he claims to be the theme and the fulfilment of prophecy4 ,now1 whatever influences modern notions about the genesis of the ,old ,testament1 and the characteristics of its prophetic utterances may have done1 they have not touched1 and they never will touch1 this one central characteristic of all that old system1 that embedded in it there was an onward-looking gaze1 anticipatory of a higher fulfilment and a further development of all that it taught4 ,to those of us to whom ,christ's words are the end of all strife ,i need only point out that1 here1 ,he endorses the belief that prophetic utterances1 however they may have had1 and did have1 a lower and immediate meaning1 were only realised in the whole sweep and significance in ,himself4 ,so ,he presents ,himself before ,his acquaintances in the little synagogue at ,nazareth1 and before the whole world to all time1 as the centre-point and pivot on which the history of the world1 so to speak1 revolves2 all that was before converging to ,him1 all that was after flowing down from ,him4 ',they that went before1 and they that followed after1 cried1 ,hosanna6 blessed be ,he that cometh in the name of the ,lord4' ,he claims to possess the whole fullness of the divine ,spirit3 ',the ,spirit of the ,lord is upon ,me4' ,that is a reminiscence1 no doubt1 of the experience by the fords of the ,jordan1 at the ,baptism4 ,but it also opens up a wondrous consciousness1 on ,his part1 of a complete and uninterrupted possession of the divine life in all its fullness1 which involves an entire separation from the miseries and needs of men4 ,he claims to be the ,messiah of the ,old ,covenant1 with all the fullness of meaning1 and loftiness of dignity which clustered round that word and that thought4 ,he claims not only to proclaim1 but to bestow1 the blessings of which ,he speaks4 ,for ,he not only comes to 'preach good tidings to the poor1' but 'to heal the broken-hearted1' and 'to set at liberty all them that are bound4' ,he is the ,gospel which ,he utters4 ,he not merely proclaims the favour of heaven1 but ,he brings 'the acceptable year of the ,lord4' ,this1 in barest outline--which is all that your time will admit--is the summary of what ,jesus ,christ1 in that first sermon in the synagogue at ,nazareth1 asserted ,himself to be4 ,he does not detail the means by which ,he is about to bring the golden year1 the year of ,jubilee1 'the acceptable year of the ,lord4' ,but ,i venture to say that it is hard to find1 in the life of ,jesus ,christ1 that which fulfils ,christ's own programme1 as thus announced1 unless you bring in ,his death on the ,cross for the abolition of sin1 ,his ,resurrection for the abolition of death2 ,his reign in glory for the bestowment on all sinful and bruised souls of the ,spirit of healing and of righteousness4 ,these ,nazarenes listened4 ,their hearts and consciences attested the magnetic power of ,his personality1 and the truth of ,his word4 ,so do the hearts and consciences of most of us4 ,they wondered at the 'words of grace'--whose matter was grace1 whose manner was gracious--that proceeded from ,his mouth4 ,so do most of us4 ,but they let the incipient movement of their hearts be arrested by the cold1 carping question1 ',is not this ,joseph's son8' and all the enthusiasm chilled into indifference2 'indignation' followed1 and some of those who had almost been drawn to ,him1 in an hour's time had their hands on ,his robe1 to cast ,him from the brow of the hill on which their village was built4 ,every man who comes to the point of feeling some emotions towards ,christ as his ,redeemer1 as his ,king1 is at a fork of the road4 ,he may either take to the right1 which will lead him to full communion and acceptance2 or he may go to the left1 which will carry him away out into the desert4 ,the critical hour in the alchemist's laboratory was when the lead in his crucible began to melt4 ,if a cold current got at it1 it resumed its dead solidity1 and no gold could be made4 ,brother6 do not let the world's cold currents get at your heart and freeze it again1 if you feel that in any measure it is beginning to melt into penitence1 and to flow with faith4 ,the same voice that in the synagogue of ,nazareth said1 ',he hath anointed ,me to preach the ,gospel to the poor' speaks to us to-day from heaven1 saying1 ',i counsel thee to buy of ,me gold tried in the fire1 that thou mayest be rich 444 and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve that thou mayest see4' 999999 ,a ,,sabbath ,,in ,,capernaum ',and in the synagogue there was a man which had a spirit of an unclean devil1 and cried out with a loud voice1 #cd4 ,saying1 ,let us alone2 what have we to do with ,thee1 thou ,jesus of ,nazareth8 art ,thou come to destroy us8 ,i know ,thee who ,thou art2 the ,holy ,one of ,god4 #ce4 ,and ,jesus rebuked him1 saying1 ,hold thy peace1 and come out of him4 ,and when the devil had thrown him in the midst1 he came out of him1 and hurt him not4 #cf4 ,and they were all amazed1 and spake among themselves1 saying1 ,what a word is this6 for with authority and power ,he commandeth the unclean spirits1 and they come out4 #cg4 ,and the fame of ,him went out into every place of the country round about4 #ch4 ,and ,he arose out of the synagogue1 and entered into ,simon's house3 and ,simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever2 and they besought ,him for her4 #ci4 ,and ,he stood over her1 and rebuked the fever2 and it left her3 and immediately she arose and ministered unto them4 #dj4 ,now1 when the sun was setting1 all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto ,him2 and ,he laid ,his hands on every one of them1 and healed them4 #da4 ,and devils also came out of many1 crying out1 and saying1 ,thou art ,christ1 the ,son of ,god4 ,and ,he1 rebuking them1 suffered them not to speak3 for they knew that ,he was ,christ4 #db4 ,and when it was day1 ,he departed1 and went into a desert place2 and the people sought ,him1 and came unto ,him1 and stayed ,him1 that ,he should not depart from them4 #dc4 ,and ,he said unto them1 ,i must preach the kingdom of ,god to other cities also3 for therefore am ,i sent4 #dd4 ,and ,he preached in the synagogues of ,galilee4'--,,luke iv4#cc-dd4 ,there are seven references to ,christ's preaching in the synagogues in this chapter1 and only two in the rest of this ,gospel4 ,probably our ,lord somewhat changed ,his method1 and ,luke1 as the ,evangelist of the gospel for ,gentile as well as ,jew1 emphasises the change1 as foreshadowing and warranting the similar procedure in ,paul's preaching4 ,this lesson takes us down from the synagogue at ,nazareth1 among its hills1 to that at ,capernaum1 on the lakeside1 where ,jesus was already known as a worker of miracles4 ,the two ,sabbaths are in sharp contrast4 ,the issue of the one is a tumult of fury and hate2 that of the other1 a crowd of suppliants and an eager desire to keep ,him with them4 ,the story is in four paragraphs1 each showing a new phase of ,christ's power and pity4 ,i4 ,verses #cc-cg present ,christ as the ,lord of that dark world of evil4 ,the hushed silence of the synagogue1 listening to ,his gentle voice1 was suddenly broken by shrieks of rage and fear1 coming from a man who had been sitting quietly among the others4 ,possibly his condition had not been suspected until ,christ's presence roused his dreadful tyrant4 ,the man's voice is at the demon's service1 and only ,jesus recognises who speaks through the wretched victim4 ,we take for granted the reality of demoniacal possession1 as certified for all who believe ,jesus1 by ,his words and acts in reference to it1 as well as forced on us1 by the phenomena themselves1 which are clearly distinguishable from disease1 madness1 or sin4 ,the modern aversion to the supernatural is quite as much an unreasonable prejudice as any old woman's belief in witchcraft and ,professor ,huxley1 making clumsy fun of the 'pigs at ,gadara1' is holding opinions in the same sublime indifference to evidence of facts as the most superstitious object of his narrow-visioned scorn4 ,napoleon called 'impossible' a 'beast of a word4' ,so it is in practical life1--and no less so when glibly used to discredit well-attested facts4 ,we neither aspire to the omniscience which pronounces that there can be no possession by evil spirits1 nor venture to brush aside the testimony of the ,gospels and the words of ,christ1 in order to make out such a contention4 ,note the rage and terror of the demon4 ,the presence of purity is a sharp pain to impurity1 and an evil spirit is stirred to its depths when in contact with ,jesus4 ,monstrous growths that love the dark shrivel and die in sunshine4 ,the same presence which is joy to some may be a very hell to others4 ,we may approach even here that state of feeling which broke out in these shrieks of malignity1 hatred1 and dread4 ,it is an awful thing when the only relief is to get away from ,jesus1 and when the clearest recognition of ,his holiness only makes us the more eager to disclaim any connection with ,him4 ,that is the hell of hells4 ,in its completeness1 it makes the anguish of the demon2 in its rudiments1 it is the misery of some men4 ,observe too1 the unclean spirit's knowledge1 not only of the birthplace and name1 but of the character and divine relationship of ,jesus4 ,that is one of the features of demoniacal possession which distinguish it from disease or insanity1 and is quite incapable of explanation on any other ground4 ,it gives a glimpse into a dim region1 and suggests that the counsels of ,heaven1 as effected on earth1 are keenly watched and understood by eyes whose gleam is unsoftened by any touch of pity or submission4 ,it is most natural1 if there are such spirits1 that they should know ,jesus while men knew ,him not1 and that their hatred should keep pace with their knowledge1 even while by the knowledge the hatred was seen to be vain4 ,observe ,christ's tone of authority and sternness4 ,he had pity for men1 who were capable of redemption1 but ,his words and demeanour to the spirits are always severe4 ,he accepts the most imperfect recognition from men1 and often seems as if labouring to evoke it1 but ,he silences the spirits' clear recognition4 ,the confession which is 'unto salvation' comes from a heart that loves1 not merely from a head that perceives2 and ,jesus accepts nothing else4 ,he will not have ,his name soiled by such lips4 ,note1 still further1 ,christ's absolute control of the demon4 ,his bare word is sovereign1 and secures outward obedience1 though from an unsubdued and disobedient will4 ,he cannot make the foul creature love1 but ,he can make him act4 ,surely ,omnipotence speaks1 if demons hear and obey4 ,their king had been conquered1 and they knew their ,master4 ,the strong man had been bound1 and this is the spoiling of his house4 ,the question of the wondering worshippers in the synagogue goes to the root of the matter1 when they ask what they must think of the whole message of ,one whose word gives law to the unclean spirits2 for the command to them is a revelation to us1 and we learn ,his ,godhead by the power of ,his simple word1 which is but the forth-putting of ,his will4 ,we cannot but notice the lurid light thrown by the existence of such spirits on the possibility of undying and responsible beings reaching1 by continued alienation of heart and will from ,god1 a stage in which they are beyond the capacity of improvement1 and outside the sweep of ,christ's pity4 ,,ii4 ,verses #ch and #ci show us ,christ in the gentleness of ,his healing power1 and the immediate service of gratitude to ,him4 ,the scene in the synagogue manifested 'authority and power1' and was prompted by abhorrence of the demon even more than by pity for his victim2 but now the ,lord's tenderness shines unmingled with sternness4 ,mark gives details of this cure1 which1 no doubt1 came from ,peter--such as his joint ownership of the house with his brother1 the names of the companions of ,jesus1 and the infinitely tender action of taking the sick woman by the hand and helping her to rise4 ,but ,luke1 the physician1 is more precise in his description of the case3 'holden by a great fever4' ,he traces the cure to the word of rebuke1 which1 no doubt1 accompanied the clasp of the hand4 ,here again ,christ puts forth divine power in producing effects in the material sphere by ,his naked word4 ',he spake and it was done4' ,that truly divine prerogative was put forth at the bidding of ,his own pity1 and that pity which wielded ,omnipotence was kindled by the beseechings of sorrowing hearts4 ,is not this miracle1 which shines so lustrously by the side of that terrible scene with the demon1 a picture in one case1 and that the sickness of one poor and probably aged woman1 of the great truth that heartens all our appeals to ,him8 ,he who moves the forces of ,deity still from ,his throne lets us move ,his heart by our cry4 ,luke is especially struck with one feature in the case--the immediate return of usual strength4 ,the woman is lying1 the one minute1 pinned down and helpless with 'great fever1' and the next is bustling about her domestic duties4 ,no wonder that a physician should think so abnormal a case worthy of note4 ,when ,christ heals1 ,he heals thoroughly1 and gives strength as well as healing4 ,what could a woman1 with no house of her own1 and probably a poor dependant on her son-in-law1 do for her healer8 ,not much4 ,but she did what she could1 and that without delay4 ,the natural impulse of gratitude is to give its best1 and the proper use of healing and new strength is to minister to ,him4 ,such a guest made humble household cares worship2 and all our poor powers or tasks1 consecrated to ,his praise and become the offerings of grateful hearts1 are lifted into greatness and dignity4 ,he did not despise the modest fare hastily dressed for ,him2 and ,he still delights in our gifts1 though the cattle on a thousand hills are ,his4 ',i will sup with him1' says ,he1 and therein promises to become1 as it were1 a guest at our humble tables4 ,,iii4 ,verses #dj and #da show us the all-sufficiency of ,christ's pity and power4 ,the synagogue worship would be in the early morning1 and the healing of the woman immediately after1 and the meal she prepared the midday repast4 ,the news had time to spread2 and as soon as the sinking sun relaxed the ,sabbatical restrictions1 a motley crowd came flocking round the house1 carrying all the sick that could be lifted1 all eager to share in ,his healing4 ,the same kind of thing may be seen yet round many a traveller's tent4 ,it did not argue real faith in ,him1 but it was genuine sense of need1 and expectation of blessing from ,his hand2 and the measure of faith was the measure of blessing4 ,they got what they believed ,he could give4 ,if their faith had been larger1 the answers would have been greater4 ,but men are quite sure that they want to be well when they are ill1 and bodily healing will be sought with far more earnestness and trouble than soul-healing4 ,crowds came to ,jesus as ,physician who never cared to come to ,him as ,redeemer4 ,offer men the smaller gifts1 and they will run over one another in their scramble for them2 but offer them the highest1 and they will scarcely hold out a languid hand to take them4 ,but the point made prominent by ,luke is the inexhaustible fullness of pity and power1 which met and satisfied all the petitioners4 ,the misery spoke to ,christ's heart2 and so as the level rays of the setting sun cast a lengthening shadow among the sad groups1 ,he moved amidst them1 and with gentle touch healed them all4 ,to-day1 as then1 the fountain of ,his pity and healing power is full1 after thousands have drawn from it1 and no crowd of suppliants bars our way to ,his heart or ,his hands4 ,he has 'enough for all1 enough for each1 enough for ever more4' ,the reference to demoniacs adds nothing to the particulars in the earlier verses except the evidence it gives of the frequency of possession then4 ,,iv4 ,verses #db-dd show us ,jesus seeking seclusion1 but willingly sacrificing it at men's call4 ,he withdraws in early morning1 not because ,his store of power was exhausted1 or ,his pity had tired1 but to renew ,his communion with the ,father4 ,he needed solitude and silence1 and we need it still more4 ,no work worth doing will ever be done for ,him unless we are familiar with some quiet place1 where we and ,god alone together can hold converse1 and new strength be poured into our hearts4 ,our ,lord is here our pattern1 also1 of willingly leaving the place of communion when duty calls and men implore4 ,we must not stay on the ,mount of ,transfiguration when demoniac boys are writhing on the plain below1 and heart-broken fathers wearying for our coming4 ,a great1 solemn 'must' ruled ,his life1 as it should do ours1 and the fulfilment of that for which ,he 'was sent' ever was ,his aim1 rather than even the blessedness of solitary communion or repose of the silent hour of prayer4 ,,instructions ,,for ,,fishermen ',now when ,he had left speaking1 ,he said unto ,simon1 ,launch out into the deep1 and let down your nets for a draught4'--,,luke v4 #d4 ,the day's work begins early in the ,east4 ,so the sun1 as it rose above the hills on the other side of the lake1 shone down upon a busy scene1 fresh with the dew and energy of the morning1 on the beach by the little village of ,bethsaida4 ,one group of fishermen was washing their nets1 their boats being hauled up on the strand4 ,a crowd of listeners was thus early gathered round the ,teacher2 but the fishermen1 who were ,his disciples1 seem to have gone on with their work1 never minding ,christ or the crowd4 ,it is sometimes quite as religious to be washing nets as to be listening to ,christ's teaching4 ,the incident which follows the words of my text1 and which is called the first miraculous draught of fishes1 is stamped by our ,lord ,himself with a symbolic purpose2 for at the end of it ,he says3 ',fear not6 from henceforth thou shalt catch men4' ,and that flings back a flood of light on the whole story2 and not only warrants but obliges us to take it as being by ,him intended for the instruction in their ,christian work of these four whom ,he has chosen to be ,his workers4 ,however many of our ,lord's miracles may not come under this category of symbolism 7and ,i1 for my part1 do not believe that there are any of them which do not71 this one clearly does4 ,we have ,his own commentary to compel us to interpret its features as meaning something beyond what appears on the surface4 ,i take it1 then1 that we have here a first vivid code of instructions which our ,lord gives to all ,his servants who do work for ,him2 and ,i wish to look at the various stages of this incident from that point of view4 ,if there are any of my hearers who think to themselves1 ',ah1 well6 he is not going to say anything that ,i have anything to do with1' so much the worse for you1 if you are not a ,christian2 or1 so much the worse for you if1 being a ,christian1 you are not an active servant4 ,jesus ,christ had four disciples who were fishermen1 and out of them ,he made four fishers of men4 ,the obligation is universal4 ,i4 ,the ,law of ,service4 ',launch out into the deep1 and let down your nets for a draught4' ,now there is nothing more remarkable in the whole narrative than the matter-of-course fashion in which our ,lord takes the disposal of these men1 and orders them about4 ,it is not explicable unless we fall back upon what ,luke does not tell us1 but ,john does1 in his ,gospel1 that this was by no means the first time that ,he had come across ,peter and ,andrew his brother1 or ,james and ,john his brother4 ,we do not need to trouble ourselves with the chronological question how long before they had been drawn to ,him at the fords of ,jordan by the witness of ,john the ,baptist1 and by the witness of some of them to the others4 ,the relationship had been then commenced which is presupposed by our ,lord's authoritative tone here4 ,it leads in the incident of my text to a closer discipleship1 which did not admit of ,simon and ,john hauling or cleaning their nets any more4 ,they had been disciples before in a certain loose fashion1 a fashion which permitted them to go home and look after their ordinary avocations4 ,hence-forward they were disciples in a much more stringent fashion4 ,it was because they had already said ',rabbi6 ,thou art the ,son of ,god6 ,thou art the ,king of ,israel1' that this strange imperative command1 inexplicable1 except by the supplement of the last of the four ,gospels1 came from ,christ's lips and secured immediate obedience4 ,if we thus understand that ,his authority follows on our discipleship1 and that the words of my text1 first of all1 insist upon and assert ,his right to command and absolutely dispose of the activities1 resources1 and persons of all ,his disciples1 we have learned something that we only need to practise in order to make our lives noble with a strange nobility1 and blessed and sweet with an unearthly sanctity and blessedness4 ,further1 the words of my text not only declare for us thus the absolute authority of ,jesus ,christ over all ,his disciples1 but also reveal ,his sweet promise and gracious assurance that ,he cares to guide1 to direct1 to prescribe spheres1 to determine methods1 to lead those who docilely look to ,him and wait upon ,him1 in paths in which their activity may most profitably be employed for ,him and for ,his ,church4 ,if there is anything that is declared to us plainly in the ,scriptures1 with regard to the relationships between men and ,jesus ,christ1 it is this1 that a docile heart will always be a guided heart1 partly by inward whispers1 which only they disbelieve who limit ,god in ,his relation to men1 beyond what they have a right to do2 and partly by outward providences which only they disbelieve who limit ,god in ,his power over the external world1 beyond what they have a right to do4 ,he will guide1 sometimes with ,his eye1 to which the loving eye flashes back response2 sometimes with ,his whispered word1 when the noises of earth and the pulsations of self-will are stilled2 sometimes with ,his rod1 which the less sensitive of ,his sons do often need2 sometimes by successes in paths that we venture upon tentatively and timidly2 and sometimes by failures in paths into which we rush confidently and presumptuously2 but always1 the waiting heart is a guided heart1 and if we listen we shall hear ',this is the way1 walk ye in it4' ,and sometimes it is ,god's will that we should make mistakes1 for these too help us to learn ,his will4 ,but1 further1 and more particularly1 ,i do not think that ,i am unduly reading too much meaning into this story1 if ,i ask you to put emphasis upon one word1 ',launch out into the deep4' ,as long as you keep pottering along1 a boat's length from the shore1 you will only catch little fishes4 ,the big ones1 and the heavy takes are away out yonder4 ,go out there1 if you want to get them4 ,which1 being translated1 is this--,the same spirit of daring enterprise1 which is a condition of success in secular matters1 is no less potent a factor in the success of ,christian men in their enterprises for ,jesus ,christ4 ,as long as we keep ,him down1 within the limits of use and wont1 and are horribly afraid of anything that our great-grandfathers did not use to do1 there will be very few fish in the bottom of the boat4 ,oh1 brethren6 if one thinks of the world into which it has been ,god's providence to put us1 a world all seething with new aspirations and unrest--if we think of the condition of the great city in which we live1 which is only a specimen of the cities of ,england1 and of the tragical insufficiency of ,christian enterprise and effort1 as compared with the overwhelming masses of the community1 surely1 surely1 there is nothing more wanted to make ,christian people wake up from their old jog-trot habits1 and cast themselves with new earnestness1 new daring and enterprise1 into forms of service which conscience and sober wisdom may approve4 ,of course1 ,i do not forget that any such new methods must each approve themselves at the tribunal of the ,christian consciousness4 ,it is no part of my business here to descend into details and particulars1 but ,i do want to lay on my own heart1 and especially on the hearts of the members of the church of which ,i have the honour to be the pastor1 and also upon all other ,christian people whom my voice may reach1 the solemn responsibility which the conditions of life in our generation lay upon ,christian men and women1 ',launch out into the deep and let down your nets4' ,i believe1 for my part1 that if all the good1 ,god-fearing1 ,christ-loving men and women in ,manchester were to hear this voice sounding in their ears1 and to obey it1 they would change the face of the city4 ,,ii4 ,the ,response4 ,peter1 characteristically1 speaks out1 and says exactly what a fisherman would be likely to say to a carpenter from ,nazareth1 that came down to teach him his business4 ,the landsman would not know what the fisherman knew well enough1 that it was useless to go fishing in the morning if you had not caught anything all night4 ,there was very little chance of getting any better success when the sun's rays were glinting on the surface of the water4 ',we have toiled all the night1 and have taken nothing4' ,experience said1 ',no6 do not4' ,christ said1 ',yes6 do4' ,and so when ,peter has made a clean breast of his objection1 founded on experience1 he goes on with the consent prompted by the devotion and consecration of love1 'nevertheless4' ,a great word that4 ',we have toiled all the night1 and have taken nothing2 nevertheless at ,thy word we will let down the net4 ,so here goes4' ,and away they went1 breakfastless perhaps1 with their nets half cleaned1 and sleepy and tired with the night's work4 ,here1 then1 we see obedience that springs delighted to obey1 because it is impelled by love4 ,that is the spirit which can be trusted to go out into the deep1 which does not ask whether things are recognised and usual or not1 but which1 if once it is sure of the ,lord's will1 takes no counsel of anything else4 ,how should it1 seeing that there is nothing so delightsome to a heart that truly loves as to know and do the will of its beloved8 ,and that1 dear brethren1 is the spirit that all we ,christian people need--a deeper1 more vivid1 more continual1 soul-subduing1 muscle-straining consciousness that ,jesus ,christ 'loved me and gave ,himself for me4' ,then ,his whisper will be like thunder1 and the motto of our lives will be ',at ,thy word1 ,i will6' ,further1 here is obedience that was not in the least degree depressed by the recognition of past failure4 ,all night long they had been dropping the net overboard1 and drawing it in1 and with horny1 wet hands seeking in its meshes1 and finding nothing4 ,then overboard with it again1 and more pulling at the heavy sweeps1 till the dawn began to show1 and all in vain4 ,now the weary task must be done all over again1 though in all the past hours though they were the best1 there has been only failure4 ,i think that our ,christian courage and consecration would be immensely increased1 if we could learn the lesson of my text2 and feel that1 however often in the past ,i may have broken down1 the word of ,christ's command1 which thrills into my will1 is also the word of ,christ's promise which should stay my heart1 and give me the assurance that past defeat shall be converted into future victory4 ,there is an obedience which did not grudge fresh toil before the effect of past toils had been quite got over4 ,the nets1 as ,i said1 were only half cleaned4 ,it was a pity to begin and dirty them again4 ,the fishers had had a very hard night's toil4 ,if they had been like some of us they would have said1 ',oh6 ,i have been working hard all the night4 ,i cannot possibly do any more this morning4' ',i am so very busy with my business all the week1 that it is perfectly absurd to talk about my teaching in a ,sunday-school4' ,that was not their spirit at all4 ,no matter how they had to rub their eyes to get the sleep out of them1 they just bundled the nets into the boat once more1 pushed her down the strand1 and shoved her out into the blue waters at ,christ's bidding4 ,and that is the sort of workmen that ,he wants1 and that you and ,i should be4 ,further1 we have here an obedience that kept the ,master's word sounding in its heart whilst it was at work4 ',at ,thy word will ,i let down the net4' ,ah6 we very often begin working with a very pure motive1 and as we go on1 the motive gradually oozes away1 and what was begun in the spirit is continued in the flesh2 and what was begun with a true devotion to ,jesus ,christ is continued because we were doing it yesterday1 and the day before that1 and the day before that1 and because it is the custom to do it4 ,so we go on4 ,the heart having all gone out of our service1 the blessing is gone out of it too4 ,but if we will keep our hearts near that ,lord and listen to ,his voice calling us1 wearied or not wearied1 beaten before or not beaten before1 and do as ,he bids us1 launch out into the deep1 we shall not toil in vain4 ,,iii4 ,the result4 ,christ's command ever includes ,his promise4 ,work done for ,him is never resultless4 ,true1 ,his most faithful servants have often to say1 if they look at their few sheaves with the eye of sense1 ',i have spent my strength for nought4' ,true1 the ,apostolic experience is1 at the best1 but too exactly repeated1 ',some believed1 and some believed not4' ,christ's ,gospel always produces its twofold effect1 being 'a savour of life unto life1 or of death unto death4' ,if the great ,sower1 when ,he went forth to sow1 expected but a fourth part of the seed to fall into good ground1 ,his servants need look for no larger results4 ,but still it remains true that honest1 earnest work for ,jesus1 wisely planned and prayerfully carried out with self-oblivion and self-surrender1 will not be unblessed4 ,if our labour is 'in the ,lord1' it will not be 'in vain4' ,just as pain is a danger signal1 pointing to mischief at work on the body1 so failure in achieving the results of ,christian service is1 for the most part1 an indication of something wrong in method or spirit4 ,but1 if we are toiling in loving obedience to ,christ's voice1 and seeking ,his direction as to sphere and manner of service1 we may be quite sure of this1 that whether we get1 immediately or no1 the outward and visible results which this incident promises to all who fulfil the conditions1 we shall get the results which were symbolised in the second form of this miraculous draught of fishes4 ,for1 if you remember1 there was another incident at the end of ,christ's life1 modelled upon this one1 and equally significant1 though in a different fashion4 ,on that occasion1 when the disciples had been toiling all the night1 and saw1 in the dim twilight of the morning1 the questionable figure standing on the shore there1 they were bidden to bring of the fish that they had caught1 and when they came to land they saw a fire of coals1 and fish laid thereon1 and bread2 and ,his voice said1 ',come1 and eat6' ,blessed are the workers that work for the ,master1 for living they shall not be left without ,his blessing1 and dying1 'they rest from their labours'--by the side of that mysterious fire1 and ,christ-provided food--'and their works do follow them1 in that they bring of the fish which they have caught4 ,,fear ,,and ,,faith ',when ,simon ,peter saw it1 he fell down at ,jesus' knees1 saying1 ,depart from me2 for ,i am a sinful man1 ,o ,lord4' --,,luke v4 #h4 ',now1 when ,simon ,peter heard that it was the ,lord1 he girt his fisher's coat unto him1444 and did cast himself into the sea4'--,,john xxi4 #g4 ,these two instances of the miraculous draught of fishes on the ,lake of ,gennesareth are obviously intended to be taken in conjunction4 ,their similarities and their differences are equally striking and equally instructive4 ,in the fragment of the incident which ,i have selected for our consideration now1 we have the same man1 in the same scene and circumstances1 in the presence of the same ,lord1 acting under the influences of the same motive1 and doing two exactly opposite things4 ,in the first case1 the miracle at once struck him with the consciousness that he was now1 in some way1 he knew not how1 in the immediate presence of the supernatural4 ,that was immediately followed by a quick spasm and sense of sin1 and that again by a recoil of terror1 and that again by the cry1 ',go out of the boat2 for ,i am a sinful man1 ,o ,lord4' ,in the other instance1 as soon as he saw 7or rather1 by the help of his friend's clearer sight1 learned7 that that dim and questionable figure on the morning beach there1 was the ,lord1 the sight brought back his sin to his mind4 ,but this time the consciousness of sin sent him splashing over the side1 and through the shallow water1 to struggle anyhow to get close to his ,lord1 not because he thought more complacently of himself or less loftily of his ,master1 but because he had learned that the best place for a sinful man was as close to ,christ as ever he could get4 ,and so1 if we put these two incidents together1 we get two or three thoughts that it is worth our while to dwell upon4 ,i4 ,i ask you to notice1 first1 that instinctive and swift awaking of conscience4 ,this was not ,peter's first acquaintance with ,jesus ,christ1 nor his first enrolment in the ranks of disciples4 ,john's ,gospel tells the very beginning1 and how1 long before this incident1 he had recognised ,jesus ,christ to be the ,king of ,israel4 ,this was not his first experience of a miracle4 ,there had been many wrought in ,capernaum of which probably he was an observer2 and he had been at the wedding of ,cana of ,galilee2 and in many ways and at many times1 no doubt had seen manifestations of our ,lord's supernatural power4 ,but here1 in his own boat1 with his own nets1 about his own sort of work1 the thing came home to him as it never had come home before4 ,and although he had long ago recognised ,jesus ,christ as the ,messiah1 there is a new1 tremulous accession of conviction in that ',o ,lord6' ,it means more than ',master1' as he had just called ,jesus4 ,it means more than he knew himself1 no doubt1 but it means at least a great1 sudden illumination as to who and what ,christ was4 ,and so the consciousness of sin flashes upon him at once1 as a consequence of that new vision of the divine1 as manifested in ,jesus ,christ4 ,the links of the process of thought are suppressed4 ,we only see the two ends of it4 ,he passed through a series of thoughts with lightning rapidity4 ,the beginning was the recognition of ,christ as in some sense the manifestation to him of the ,divine ,presence1 and the end of it was the recognition of his own sinfulness4 ,he had no new facts2 but new meaning and vitality were given to the facts that had long been familiar to him4 ,the first result of this was a new conviction of his own hollowness and evil2 and then1 side by side with that sense of demerit and sin1 came this other trembling apprehension of personal consequences4 ,and so1 not thinking so much about the sin as about the punishment that he thought must necessarily come when the holy and the impure collided1 he cried1 ',depart from me1 for ,i am a sinful man1 ,o ,lord6' ,now ,i take it that you get there1 in that one instance1 packed into small and picturesque compass1 just the outlines of what it is reasonable and right that there should always go on in a heart when it first catches a glimpse of the purity1 and holiness1 and nearness of ,god1 and of the awful1 solemn verity that we do1 each of us for himself1 stand in a living1 personal relation to ,him4 ,that sudden conviction may come by a thousand causes4 ,a sunset opening the gates to the infinite distance may do it4 ,a chance word may do it4 ,a phrase in a sermon may do it4 ,some personal sorrow or sickness may do it4 ,any accidental push may touch the spring1 and then the door flies open1 for we all of us carry1 buried deep down in most of us1 and not easily got at1 that hidden conviction1 only needing the letting in of air to flame up1 that we have indeed to do with a living ,god2 that we are sinful and ,he is pure1 and that1 that being the case1 the discord between us1 if we come to close quarters1 must end disastrously for us4 ,you remember the grand vision of ,isaiah1 how1 when he saw the ,king sitting on ,his throne1 'high and lifted up1 and ,his train filled the ,temple1' the first thought was1 not of rapture at the ,apocalypse1 not of adoration of the greatness1 not of aspiration after the purity1 not of any desire to join in the ',holy6 ,holy6 ,holy6' of the burning spirits1 but ',woe is me1 for ,i am undone2 for mine eyes have seen the ,king2 for ,i am a man of unclean lips4' ,ah1 brethren6 whenever the commonplaces of our professed religious belief are turned into realities for us1 and these things that we have all been familiar with from our childhood1 flame before us as true and real1 then there comes something analogous to the experience of that other ,old ,testament character--',i have heard of ,thee by the hearing of the ear1 but now mine eyes see ,thee2 wherefore ,i abhor myself1 and repent in dust and ashes4' ,and then there comes1 in like manner1 and there ought to come1 along with this new vision of a ,god in ,his purity1 and the new sense of my own sinfulness1 the apprehension of personal evil4 ,for1 although it be the lowest of its functions1 it is a function of conscience1 not only to say to me1 ',it is wrong to do what is wrong1' but to say1 too1 ',if you do wrong1 you will have to bear the consequences4' ,i believe that a part of the instinctive voice of conscience is the declaration1 not only of a law1 but of a ,lawgiver1 and that part of its message to me is not only that sin is a transgression of the law1 but that 'the wages of sin is death4' ,now1 let me ask you to ask yourselves whether it is not a strange and solemn and sad testimony to the reality and universality of the fact of sin that the sense of impurity and dread of its issues are the uniform results of any vivid1 thrilling consciousness of nearness to ,god4 ,and let me ask you to ask yourself one other question1 and that is1 whether it is a wise thing to live upon a surface that may be shattered at any moment2 whether that is true peace which needs but a touch to melt away2 whether you are wise with all this combustible material deep down in your conscience1 in paying no regard to it but living and frolicking1 and feasting and trafficking1 and lusting and sinning on the surface1 like those light-hearted1 light-headed fools that build their houses on the slopes of volcanoes when the lava rush may come at any moment8 ,,ii4 ,that brings me to note1 secondly1 the mistaken cry of fear4 ,peter felt uneasy in the presence of that pure eye1 and he also felt1 and was mistaken in feeling1 that somehow or other he would be safer if he was not so near the ,master4 ,well1 if it were true that ,jesus ,christ brought ,god near to him1 and if it were true that the proximity of ,god was the revelation of his blackness and the premonition and prophecy of evil to himself1 would getting ,christ out of the boat help him much8 ,the facts would remain the same4 ,the departure of the physician does not tend to cure the disease2 and thus the cry1' ,go away from me because ,i am sinful1' was all but ludicrous if it had not been so tragical in its misapprehension of the facts of the case and the cure for them4 ,now the parallel to that1 with you and me1 is--what8 ,how do we commit this same error8 ,by trying to get rid of the thoughts which evoke these uncomfortable feelings of being impure and in peril4 ,but does ceasing to remember the facts make any difference in the facts8 ,surely not4 ,just recall for a moment the many ways in which people manage to blind themselves to these plain1 and to some of us unwelcome1 truths4 ,you may do it by availing yourselves of that strange power that we all have1 of not attending to things that we do not like to think about4 ,it is a strange thing that a man should be able to do that2 it is a sad thing that any man should be fool enough to do it4 ,but there are many among my hearers1 ,i have no doubt whatever1 who know that if they were to let their thoughts dwell on the facts of their own characters and relation to ,god they would be uncomfortable1 and who1 therefore1 do their best to keep such thoughts at a safe distance4 ,so1 as soon as the sermon is over1 some of you will begin to criticise me1 or to discuss politics1 or gossip1 and so get rid of the impressions that the truth might produce4 ,or you fling yourselves into business4 ,one of the reasons for the fierce energy which some men throw into their common avocations is their knowledge that if they have leisure1 there may come into their chambers1 and sit down beside them there1 these unwelcome thoughts1 that kill mirth4 ,some of you try to get rid of the ,christ out of your boat by another way4 ,you plunge into sensualism1 and live in the low1 vulgar atmosphere of fleshly delight and sensuous excitements in order to drown thought4 ,and some of you do it by the even simpler process of merely giving no heed to such thoughts when kindled4 ,the fire1 unfed and unstirred1 goes out4 ,that is one way in which people come to have consciences1 to use the dreadful words of the ,new ,testament1 'seared as with a hot iron4' ,if you will only never listen to it1 it will stop speaking after a while1 and then you will have an exemption from all these thoughts4 ,when ,felix first heard about temperance and righteousness and judgment to come he trembled1 but paid no heed to his tremor1 and said1 ',go away for this time1 and when ,i am not busy at anything else1 ,i will have thee back again4' ,he did have ,paul back again many a time1 and communed with him1 but we never read that he trembled any more4 ,the impression is not always reproduced1 although the circumstances that produced it at first may be4 ,the most impenetrable armour in which to clothe oneself against the sword of the ,spirit is hammered out of former convictions that were never acted on4 ,a soul cased in these is very hard to get at4 ,but consider the folly of seeking to get rid of truth1 however unwelcome1 under the delusion that it ceases to be true because we cease to look at it4 ,christ's leaving the boat would not have helped ,peter4 ,the facts remained1 however he refused to look at them4 ,if he could have changed them by getting rid of ,him who reminded him of them1 it might have been worth while to send ,him away--but to dismiss the physician is a new way of curing the disease4 ,pain is an alarm bell for the physical nature to point to something wrong there1 and this sense of evil1 this shrinking from ,god regarded as the judge1 is the alarm bell in the spiritual nature to warn of something wrong there4 ,do you think that you banish the danger for which the alarm bell is rung because you wrap a clout round the clapper so as to prevent it from sounding8 and do you think that you make it less true that 'every transgression and disobedience shall receive its just recompense of reward' by bidding your conscience hold its peace when it tells you so1 or by trying to drown its voice amidst the shouts of revelry1 or the whirr of spindles1 or the roar of traffic8 ,by no means4 ,the facts remain2 and nothing except what deals with the facts is the cure which a wise man will adopt4 ,you remember the old story of the king of ,babylon who sat feasting on the night when the city was captured4 ,when the ,finger came out and wrote upon the wall1 ',mene1 ,mene1 ,tekel1 ,upharsin1' it did not stop the feast4 ,they went on with their rioting1 and whilst they were carousing1 the enemy was creeping up the dried bed of the diverted river1 'and in that night was ,belshazzar slain' amidst his wine-cups1 and the flowers on his temples were dabbled with his blood4 ,no more insane way of curing the consciousness of sin and the dread of judgment than that of stifling the voice that evokes it was ever dreamed of in an asylum4 ,,iii4 ,lastly1 notice the right place for a sinful man4 ,on the second occasion to which our texts refer we have the ,apostle far more deeply conscious of his sin than he was on the first4 ,he remembered his denial1 and no doubt he remembered also the secret interview that ,jesus ,christ had with him on the day of the ,resurrection1 when1 no doubt1 ,he communicated to him ,his frank and full assurance of forgiveness1 ,he knows far more of ,christ's dignity and character and nature after the ,resurrection than he had done on that day1 long ago1 by the banks of the lake4 ,the deeper sense of his own sin1 and the clearer and loftier view of who and what ,jesus ,christ was1 send him struggling to his ,master1 and make him blessed only at ,his feet4 ,ah yes1 brother6 the superficial knowledge of my evil may drive me away from ,jesus ,christ2 the deepest conviction of it will send me right into ,his arms4 ,a partial knowledge of the divine nature as revealed in ,him as judge1 and punitive and necessarily antagonistic to the blackness of my sin1 in the lustrous whiteness of ,his purity1 may drive me away from ,him1 but the deeper knowledge of ,god manifested in ,jesus ,christ1 the long-suffering1 the gentle1 loving1 pardoning1 will send me to ,him in all the depth of my self-abasement and in the confidence in ,his love as covering over my sin and accepting me4 ,where does the child go when it has transgressed against its mother's word8 ,into its mother's arms to hide its face upon her bosom near her heart4 ',against ,thee1 ,thee only have ,i sinned'2 and therefore to ,thee1 ,thee only will ,i go4 ,only in nearness to ,jesus ,christ can we get the anodyne that quiets the conscience--the blessed assurance of forgiveness that lightens us of our burden and dread1 and the power for holiness that will change our impurity into the likeness of ,his own purity4 ,he1 and ,he only1 can forgive4 ,he1 and ,he only1 brings the loving ,god into the midst of unloving men4 ,he1 and ,he only1 hath offered the sacrifice in which all sin is done away4 ,he1 and ,he only1 by the communication of ,his ,spirit and life to me1 will make me pure and deliver me from the burden of my sin4 ,and so the man who knows his own need and ,christ's grace will not say1 ',depart from me for ,i am a sinful man1' but he will say1 ',leave me never1 nor forsake me1 for ,i am a sinful man1 ,o ,lord2 but in ,thee ,i have forgiveness and righteousness4' ,dear friends6 that consciousness of demerit once evoked in a man's heart1 however imperfectly1 as ,i believe it is in some of your hearts now1 must issue in one of two things4 ,either it will send you further into darkness to get away from the light1 as the bats in a cave will flit to the deepest recesses of it in order to escape the torch1 or it will bring you nearer to ,him1 and at ,his feet you will find cleansing4 ,oh1 dear friends6--strangers many of you1 but all friends--let me beseech you that1 if the merciful ,spirit of ,god is in any measure using my poor words to touch your consciences and hearts1 you would not venture to seek escape from the convictions which are stirring in you by any other way than by betaking yourselves to the ,cross4 ,let it not be1 ,i pray you1 that because you know yourselves to be in need of forgiveness1 and to stand in peril of judgment1 you say to ,god1' ,depart from us1 for we desire not the knowledge of ,thy ways4' ,but rather do you cast yourselves into ,christ's arms and keep near ,him2 saying as this same ,peter did1 on another occasion1 ',lord6 to whom shall we go8 ,thou hast the words of eternal life4' ,,blasphemer1 ,,or--,,who8 ',and it came to pass on a certain day1 as ,he was teaching1 that there were ,pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by1 which were come out of every town of ,galilee1 and ,judea1 and ,jerusalem2 and the power of the ,lord was present to heal them4 #ah4 ,and1 behold1 men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy3 and they sought means to bring him in1 and to lay him before ,him4 #ai4 ,and when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude1 they went upon the house-top1 and let him down through the tiling1 with his couch1 into the midst before ,jesus4 #bj4 ,and when ,he saw their faith1 ,he said unto him1 ,man1 thy sins are forgiven thee4 #ba4 ,and the scribes and the ,pharisees began to reason1 saying1 ,who is this which speaketh blasphemies8 ,who can forgive sins but ,god alone8 #bb4 ,but when ,jesus perceived their thoughts1 ,he1 answering1 said unto them1 ,what reason ye in your hearts8 #bc4 ,whether is easier to say1 ,thy sins be forgiven thee2 or to say1 ,rise up and walk6 #bd4 ,but that ye may know that the ,son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins1 7,he said unto the sick of the palsy17 ,i say unto thee1 ,arise1 and take up thy couch1 and go unto thine house4 #be4 ,and immediately he rose up before them1 and took up that whereon he lay1 and departed to his own house1 glorifying ,god4 #bf4 ,and they were all amazed1 and they glorified ,god1 and were filled with fear1 saying1 ,we have seen strange things to-day4'--,,luke v4 #ag-bf4 ,luke describes the composition of the unfriendly observers in this crowd with more emphasis and minuteness than the other ,evangelists do4 ,they were ,pharisees and doctors1 and they were assembled from every part of ,galilee1 and even from ,judea1 and1 what was most remarkable1 from ,jerusalem itself4 ,probably the conflict with the authorities in the capital recorded in ,john v4 had taken place by this time1 and if so1 a deputation from the ,sanhedrim would very naturally be despatched to ,capernaum1 and its members would as naturally summon the local lights to sit with them1 and watch this revolutionary young teacher1 who had no licence from them1 and apparently not much reverence for them4 ,one can easily imagine that these heresy-hunters would be much too superior persons to mix with the crowd about the door of ,peter's house1 and would1 as ,luke says1 be 'sitting by1' near enough to see and hear1 but far enough to show that they had no share in the vulgar enthusiasm of these provincial peasants4 ,they were too holy to mingle with the mob1 so they kept together by themselves1 and waited hopefully for some heresy or breach of their multitudinous precepts4 ,they got more than they expected4 ,we may note the contrast between their cynical watchfulness and the glorious manifestations for which they had no eyes4 ',the power of the ,lord'--that is1 of ,christ--'was' 7operative7 'in ,his healing1' or1 according to another reading1 'to heal them4' ,but the critics took no heed of that4 ,there is a temper of mind which is sharp-eyed as a lynx for faults1 and blind as a bat to evidences of divine power in the ,gospel or its adherents4 ,some noses are keen to smell stenches1 and dull to perceive fragrance4 ,the race of such inquisitors is not extinct4 ,they contrast1 too1 with the earnestness of the four friends who brought the paralysed man4 ,the former sat cool and critical1 because they had no sense of need either for themselves or for others4 ,the latter made all the effort they could to fight through the crowd1 and then took to the roof by some outside stair1 and hastily stripping off enough of the tiling1 lowered their friend1 bed and all1 right down in front of the young ,rabbi4 ,the house would be low1 and the roof slight1 and ,jesus was probably seated in an open inner court or verandah1 ,at any rate1 the description gives a piece of local colour1 and presents no improbability4 ,earnestness in striving to come oneself or to bring a dear one to ,christ's feet seems a supremely absurd waste of energy to a cynical critic1 who feels no need of anything that ,christ can give4 ,it looks rather different to the paralytic on his couch1 and to the friends who long for his healing4 ,the first lesson from this incident is that our deepest need is forgiveness4 ,no doubt1 something in the paralytic's case determined ,christ's method with him4 ,perhaps his sickness had been brought on by dissipation1 and possibly conscience was lashing him with a whip of scorpions1 so that1 while his friends sought for his healing1 he himself was more anxious for pardon4 ,it is very unlikely that ,jesus would have offered forgiveness unless ,he had known that it was yearned for4 ,but whether that is so or not1 we may fairly generalise the order of givings in this miracle1 and draw from it the lesson that what ,jesus then gave first is ,his chief gift4 ,in most of ,his other miracles ,he gave bodily healing first4 ,first or second1 it is always ,christ's chief gift in the beginning of discipleship4 ,his miracles of bodily healing are parables of that higher miracle4 ,this incident brings out what is always the order of relative importance1 whether it is that of chronological sequence or not4 ,and we all need to lay that truth to heart for ourselves4 ,no tinkering with superficial discomforts1 or culture of intellect and taste1 or success in worldly pursuits1 will avail to stanch the deep wound through which our life-blood is ebbing out4 ,we need something that goes deeper than all these styptics4 ,only a power which can deal with our sense of sin1 and soothe that into blessed assurance of pardon1 is strong enough to grapple with our true root of misery4 ,it is useless to give a man dying of cancer medicine for pimples4 ,that is what all attempts to make man happy and restful while sin remains unforgiven1 are doing4 ,social reformers need this lesson4 ,many voices proclaim many gospels to-day4 ,culture1 economical or social reconstruction1 is trumpeted as the panacea4 ,but it matters comparatively little how society is organised4 ,if its individual members retain their former natures1 the former evils will come back1 whatever its organisation4 ,the only thorough cure for social evils is individual regeneration4 ,christ deals with men singly1 and remoulds society by renewing the individual4 ,the most elaborate machinery may be used for filtering the black waters4 ,what will be the good of that if the fountain of blackness is not sealed up1 or rather purified1 at its hidden source8 ,make the tree good1 and its fruit will be good4 ,to make the tree good1 you must begin with dealing with sin4 ,the second lesson from this incident is that ,christ's claim to forgive sins is either blasphemy or the manifest token of divinity4 ,these ,pharisees scented heresy at once4 ,they were blind to the pathos of the story1 and hard as millstones towards the poor sufferer's wistful looks4 ,but they pounced at once gleefully on ,christ's words4 ,they were perfectly right in their premises that forgiveness was a divine prerogative which no man could share4 ,for sin is the name of evil1 when considered in its relation to ,god4 ,he only can forgive it1 for 'against ,thee1 ,thee only1' as ,david confessed1 is it committed4 ,true1 the same act may be full of harmful results to men1 and may be a breach of human law1 but in its character as sin it refers to ,god only4 ,forgiveness is the outpouring of ,god's love on a sinner1 uninterrupted by his sin4 ,only ,god can pour out that love4 ,but the cavillers were quite wrong in their conclusion4 ,he did not 'blaspheme4' ,the fact that ,jesus knew and answered their whispered or unspoken 'reasonings in their hearts' might have taught them that here was more than a rabbi1 or even a prophet4 ,but ,he goes on to reiterate ,his assertion that ,he has power to forgive sins4 ,observe that ,he does not deny their premises4 ,nor does ,he1 as ,he was bound in common honesty to do1 set them right if they were wrong in supposing that ,he had claimed divine power4 ,a wise religious teacher1 who saw himself misunderstood as asserting that he could give what he only meant to assure a penitent that ,god would give1 would have instantly said1 ',do not mistake me4 ,i am only doing what every servant of ,god's should and can do1 telling this poor brother that ,god is ready to forgive4 ,god forbid that ,i should be supposed to do more than to declare his forgiveness6' ,christ's answer is the strongest possible contrast to that4 ,he knew what these ,pharisees supposed ,him to have meant by ,his authoritative words1 and knowing it1 ,he repeats them1 and points to the miracle about to be done as their vindication4 ,is there any possible way of escaping from the conclusion that ,jesus solemnly and deliberately laid claim to exercise the divine prerogative of dispensing pardon8 ,if ,he did1 what shall we say of ,him8 ,surely there is no third judgment of ,him and ,his words possible2 but either the ,pharisees were right1 and 'this man1' this pattern of all meekness and perfect example of humility1 blasphemed1 or else ,peter was right when he said1 ',thou art the ,christ1 the ,son of the living ,god4' ,the third lesson is that the visible effects of ,christ's power attest the reality of ,his claim to produce the invisible effects of peaceful assurance of forgiveness4 ,it was equally easy to say1 ',thy sins are forgiven thee1' and to say1 ',take up thy bed and walk4' ,it was equally impossible for a mere man to forgive1 and to give the paralytic muscular force to move4 ,but the one saying could be tested1 and its fulfilment verified by sight4 ,the other could not2 but if the visible impossibility was done1 it was a witness that the invisible one could be4 ,the striking way in which our ,lord weaves in ,his command to the palsied man to take up his bed with ,his words to the ,pharisees is preserved in all the ,gospels1 and gives vividness to the narrative1 while it brings out the main purpose of the miracle4 ,it was a demonstration in the visible sphere of ,christ's power in the invisible4 ,both were divine acts1 and that which could be verified by sight established the reality of that which could not4 ,the same principle may be widely extended4 ,it includes all the outward effects of ,christ's gospel in the world4 ,there are abundance of these which are patent to fair-minded observers4 ,if one wishes to know what these are1 he has only to contrast heathen lands with those in which1 however imperfectly1 ,jesus is recognised as ,king and ,example4 ,the lives of ,his disciples are full of faults1 but they should1 and in a measure1 do1 witness to the reality of ,his gifts of forgiveness and conquest of sin4 ,he has done more to restore strength to humanity paralysed for good than all other would-be physicians put together have done2 and since ,he has visibly effected such manifest changes on outward lives1 it is no rash conclusion to draw that ,he can change the inward nature4 ,if ,he has healed the palsy1 that is a work surpassing human power1 and it proves that ,he can forgive the sin which brought the paralysis1 and tied the helpless sufferer to his couch of pain4 ,,laws ,,of ,,the ,,kingdom ',and ,he lifted up ,his eyes on ,his disciples1 and said1 ,blessed be ye poor3 for yours is the kingdom of ,god1 #ba4 ,blessed are ye that hunger now3 for ye shall be filled4 ,blessed are ye that weep now3 for ye shall laugh4 #bb4 ,blessed are ye1 when men shall hate you1 and when they shall separate you from their company1 and shall reproach you1 and cast out your name as evil1 for the ,son of man's sake4 #bc4 ,rejoice ye in that day1 and leap for joy2 for1 behold1 your reward is great in heaven3 for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets4 #bd4 ,but woe unto you that are rich6 for ye have received your consolation4 #be4 ,woe unto you that are full6 for ye shall hunger4 ,woe unto you that laugh now6 for ye shall mourn and weep4 #bf4 ,woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you6 for so did their fathers to the false prophets4 #bg4 ,but ,i say unto you which hear1 ,love your enemies1 do good to them which hate you1 #bh4 ,bless them that curse you1 and pray for them which despitefully use you4 #bi4 ,and unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek1 offer also the other2 and him that taketh away thy cloak1 forbid not to take thy coat also4 #cj4 ,give to every man that asketh of thee2 and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again4 #ca4 ,and as ye would that men should do to you1 do ye also to them likewise4'--,,luke vi4 #bj-ca4 ,luke condenses and ,matthew expands the ,sermon on the ,mount4 ,the general outline is the same in both versions4 ,the main body of both is a laying down the law for ,christ's disciples4 ,luke1 however1 characteristically omits what is prominent in ,matthew1 the polemic against ,pharisaic righteousness1 and the contrast between the moral teaching of ,christ and that of the law4 ,these were appropriate in a ,gospel which set forth ,jesus as the crown of earlier revelation1 while ,luke is true to the broad humanities of his ,gospel1 in setting forth rather the universal aspect of ,christian duty1 and gathering it all into the one precept of love4 ,the fragment which forms the present passage falls into two parts--the description of the subjects of the kingdom and their blessedness1 contrasted with the character of the rebels2 and the summing up of the law of the kingdom in the all-including commandment of love4 ,i4 ,the subjects and blessedness of the kingdom1 and the rebels4 ,it is to be well kept in view that the discourse is addressed to ',his disciples4' ,that fact remembered would have saved some critics from talking nonsense about the discrepancy between ,luke and ,matthew1 and supposing that the former meant merely literal poverty1 hunger1 and tears4 ,no doubt he omits the decisive words which appear in ,matthew1 who appends 'in spirit' to 'poor1' and 'after righteousness' to 'hunger and thirst1' but there is no ground for supposing that ,luke meant anything else than ,matthew4 ,notice that in our passage the sayings are directly addressed to the disciples1 while in ,matthew they are cast into the form of general propositions4 ,in that shape1 the additions were needed to prevent misunderstanding of ,christ1 as if ,he were talking like a vulgar demagogue1 flattering the poor1 and inveighing against the rich4 ,matthew's view of the force of the expressions is involved in ,luke's making them an address to the disciples41 ',ye poor' at once declares that our ,lord is not thinking of the whole class of literally needy1 but of such of these as ,he saw willing to learn of ,him4 ,no doubt1 the bulk of them were poor men as regards the world's goods1 and knew the pinch of actual want1 and had often had to weep4 ,but their earthly poverty and misery had opened their hearts to receive ,him1 and that had transmuted the outward wants and sorrows into spiritual ones1 as is evident from their being disciples2 and these are the characteristics which ,he pronounces blessed4 ,in this democratic and socialistic age1 it is important to keep clearly in view the fact that ,jesus was no flatterer of poor men as such1 and did not think that circumstances had such power for good or evil1 as that virtue and true blessedness were their prerogatives4 ,the foundation characteristic is poverty of spirit1 the consciousness of one's own weakness1 the opposite of the delusion that we are 'rich and increased with goods4' ,all true subjection to the kingdom begins with that accurate1 because lowly1 estimate of ourselves4 ,humility is life1 lofty mindedness is death4 ,the heights are barren1 rivers and fertility are down in the valleys4 ,luke makes hunger the second characteristic1 and weeping the third1 while ,matthew inverts that order4 ,either arrangement suggests important thoughts4 ,desire after the true riches naturally follows on consciousness of poverty1 while1 on the other hand1 sorrow for one's conscious lack of these may be regarded as preceding and producing longing4 ,in fact1 the three traits of character are contemporaneous1 and imply each other4 ,outward condition comes into view1 only in so far as it tends to the production of these spiritual characteristics1 and has1 in fact1 produced them1 as it had done1 in some measure1 in the disciples4 ,the antithetical characteristics of the adversaries of the kingdom are1 in like manner1 mainly spiritual2 and their riches1 fullness1 and laughter refer to circumstances only in so far as actual wealth1 abundance1 and mirth tend to hide from men their inward destitution1 starvation1 and misery4 ,but what paradoxes to praise all that flesh abhors1 and to declare that it is better to be poor than rich1 better to feel gnawing desire than to be satisfied1 better to weep than to laugh6 ,how little the so-called ,christian world believes it6 ,how dead against most men's theory and practice ,christ goes6 ,these ,beatitudes have a solemn warning for all1 and if we really believed them1 our lives would be revolutionised4 ,the people who say1 ',give me the ,sermon on the ,mount3 ,i don't care for your doctrines1 but ,i can understand it1' have not felt the grip of these ,beatitudes4 ,note that the blessings and woes are based on the future issues of the two states of mind4 ,these are not wholly in the future life1 for ,jesus says1 ',yours is the kingdom4' ,that kingdom is a state of obedience to ,god1 complete in that future world1 but begun here4 ,true poverty secures entrance thither1 since it leads to submission of will and trust4 ,true hunger is sure of satisfaction1 since it leads to waiting on ,god1 who 'will fulfil the desire of them that fear ,him4' ,sorrow which is according to ,god1 cannot but bring us near ,him who 'will wipe away tears from off all faces4' ,on the other hand1 they who in condition are prosperous and satisfied with earth1 and in disposition are devoid of suspicion of their own emptiness1 and draw their joys and sorrows from this world alone1 cannot but have a grim awaking waiting for them4 ,here they will often feel that earth's goods are no solid food1 and that nameless yearnings and sadness break in on their mirth2 and in the dim world beyond1 they will start to find their hands empty and their souls starving4 ,the fourth of ,luke's ,beatitudes contrasts the treatment received from men by the subjects and the enemies of the kingdom4 ,better to be ,christ's martyr than the world's favourite6 ,alas1 how few ,christians wear the armour of that great saying6 ,they would not set so much store by popularity1 nor be so afraid of being on the unpopular side1 if they did4 ,,ii4 ,the second part of the passage contains the summary of the laws of the kingdom from the lips of the ,king4 ,its keynote is love4 ,the precept follows strikingly on the predictions of excommunication and hatred4 ,the only weapon to fight hate is love4 ',the hate of hate1 the scorn of scorn1' are not ,christian dispositions1 though ,tennyson tells us that they are the poet's4 ,so much the worse for him if they are6 ,first1 the commandment1 so impossible to us unless our hearts are made ,christlike by much dwelling with ,christ1 is laid down in the plainest terms4 ,enmity should only stimulate love1 as a gash in some tree bearing precious balsam makes the fragrant treasure flow4 ,who of us has conformed to that law which in three words sums up perfection8 ,how few of us have even honestly tried to conform to it6 ,but the command becomes more stringent as it advances4 ,the sentiment is worth much1 but it must bear fruit in act4 ,so the practical manifestations of it follow4 ,deeds of kindness1 words of blessing1 and highest of all1 and the best help to fulfilling the other two1 prayer1 are to be our meek answers to evil4 ,why should ,christians always let their enemies settle the terms of intercourse8 ,they are not to be mere reverberating surfaces1 giving back echoes of angry voices4 ,let us take the initiative1 and if men scowl1 let us meet them with open hearts and smiles4 ',a soft answer turneth away wrath4' ',it takes two to make a quarrel4' ,frost and snow bind the earth in chains1 but the silent sunshine conquers at last1 and evil can be overcome with good4 ,our ,lord goes on to speak of another form of love--namely1 patient endurance of wrong and unreasonableness4 ,he puts that in terms so strong that many readers are fain to pare down their significance4 ,non-resistance is commanded in the most uncompromising fashion1 and illustrated in the cases of assault1 robbery1 and pertinacious mendicancy4 ,the world stands stiffly on its rights2 the ,christian is not to bristle up in defence of his1 but rather to suffer wrong and loss4 ,this is regarded by many as an impossible ideal4 ,but it is to be observed that the principle involved is that love has no limits but itself4 ,there may be resistance to wrong1 and refusal of a request1 if love prompts to these4 ,if it is better for the other man that a ,christian should not let him have his way or his wish1 and if the ,christian1 in resisting or refusing1 is honestly actuated by love1 then he is fulfilling the precept when he says ',no' to some petition1 or when he resists robbery4 ,we must live near ,jesus ,christ to know when such limitations of the precept come in1 and to make sure of our motives4 ,the world and the ,church would be revolutionised if even approximate obedience were rendered to this commandment4 ,let us not forget that it is a commandment1 and cannot be put aside without disloyalty4 ,christ then crystallises ,his whole teaching on the subject of our conduct to others into the immortal words which make our wishes for ourselves the standard of our duty to others1 and so give every man an infallible guide4 ,we are all disposed to claim more from others than we give to them4 ,what a paradise earth would be if the two measuring-lines which we apply to their conduct and to our own were exactly of the same length6 ,,three ,,condensed ,,parables ',and why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye1 but perceiveth not the beam that is in thine own eye8 #db4 ,either1 how canst thou say to thy brother1 ,brother1 let me pull out the mote that is in thine eye1 when thou thyself beholdest not the beam that is in thine own eye8 ,thou hypocrite1 cast out first the beam out of thine own eye1 and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy brother's eye4 #dc4 ,for a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit2 neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit4 #dd4 ,for every tree is known by his own fruit3 for of thorns men do not gather figs1 nor of a bramble-bush gather they grapes4 #de4 ,a good man1 out of the good treasure of his heart1 bringeth forth that which is good2 and an evil man1 out of the evil treasure of his heart1 bringeth forth that which is evil2 for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh1 #df4 ,and why call ye ,me1 ,lord1 ,lord1 and do not the things which ,i say8 #dg4 ,whosoever cometh to ,me1 and heareth ,my sayings1 and doeth them1 ,i will shew you to whom he is like3 #dh4 ,he is like a man which built an house1 and digged deep1 and laid the foundation on a rock3 and when the flood arose1 the stream beat vehemently upon that house1 and could not shake it2 for it was founded upon a rock4 #di4 ,but he that heareth1 and doeth not1 is like a man that1 without a foundation1 built an house upon the earth2 against which the stream did beat vehemently1 and immediately it fell2 and the ruin of that house was great4'--,,luke vi4 #da-di4 ,three extended metaphors1 which may almost be called parables1 close ,luke's version of the ,sermon on the ,mount1 and constitute this passage4 ,these are the mote and the beam1 the good and bad trees1 the houses on the rock and on the sand4 ,matthew puts the first of these earlier in the sermon1 and connects it with other precepts about judging others4 ,but whichever order is the original1 that adopted by ,luke has a clear connection of thought underlying it which will come out as we proceed4 ,i4 ,the striking and somewhat ludicrous image of the beam and the mote is found in ,rabbinical writings1 and may have been familiar to ,christ's hearers4 ,but ,his use of it is deeper and more searching than the rabbis' was4 ,he has just been speaking of blind guides and their blind followers4 ,that 'parable1' as ,luke calls it1 naturally images another defect which may attach to the eye4 ,a man may be partly blind because some foreign body has got in4 ,if we might suppose a tacit reference to the ,pharisees in the blind guides1 their self-complacent censoriousness would be in view here2 but the application of the saying is much wider than to them only4 ,verse #da teaches that the accurate measurement of the magnitude of our own failings should precede our detection of our brother's4 ,christ assumes the commonness of the opposite practice by asking 'why' it is so4 ,and we have all to admit that the assumption is correct4 ,the keenness of men's criticism of their neighbour's faults is in inverse proportion to their familiarity with their own4 ,it is no unusual thing to hear some one1 bedaubed with dirt from head to foot1 declaiming with disgust about a speck or two on his neighbour's white robes4 ,satan reproving sin is not an edifying sight1 but ,satan criticising sin is still less agreeable4 ,if only 'he that is without sin among you' would fling stones1 there would be fewer reputations pelted than there are4 ,most men know less about their own faults than about their brother's4 ,they use two pairs of spectacles--one which diminishes1 and is put on for looking at themselves2 one which magnifies1 and is worn for their neighbour's benefit4 ,but when their respective good qualities are to be looked at1 the other pair is used in each case4 ,that is men's way1 all the world over4 ,christ's question asks the reason for this all but universal dishonesty of having two weights and measures for faults4 ,he would have us ponder on the cause1 that we may discover the remedy4 ,he would have us reflect1 that we may get a vivid conviction of the unreasonableness of the practice4 ,there is nothing in the fact that a fault is mine which should make it small in my judgment2 nor1 on the other hand1 in the accident that it is another's1 which should make it seem large4 ,a fault is a fault1 whoever it belongs to1 and we should judge ourselves and others by the same rule4 ,only we should be most severe in its application to ourselves1 for we cannot tell how much our brother has had1 to diminish the criminality of his sin1 and we can tell1 if we will be honest1 how much we have had1 to aggravate that of ours4 ,so the conscience of a true ,christian works as ,paul's did when he said ',of whom ,i am chief1' and is more disposed to make its own motes into beams than to censure its brother's4 ,the reason1 so far as there is a reason1 can only lie in our diseased selfishness1 which is the source of all sin4 ,and the blindness to our 'beams' is partly produced by their very presence4 ,all sin blinds conscience4 ,a man with a beam in his eye would not be able to see much4 ,one device of sin1 practised in order to withdraw the doer's attention from his own deed1 is to make him censorious of his fellows1 and to compound for the sins he is inclined to by condemning other people's4 ,verse #db teaches that the conquest of our own discovered evils must precede efficient attempts to cure other people's4 ,to pose as a curer of them while we are ignorant of our own faults is1 consciously or unconsciously1 hypocrisy1 for it assumes a hatred of evil1 which1 if genuine1 would have found first a field for its working in ourselves4 ,an oculist with diseased eyes would not be likely to be a successful operator4 ',physician1 heal thyself' would fit him well1 and be certainly flung at him4 ,a cleansed eye will see the brother's mote clearly1 but only in order to help its extraction4 ,it is a delicate bit of work to get it out1 and needs a gentle hand4 ,our discernment of others' faults must be compassionate1 not to be followed by condemnation nor self-complacency but by loving efforts to help to a cure4 ,and such will not be made unless we have learned our own sinfulness1 and can go to the wrongdoer in brotherly humility1 and win him to use the 'eye-salve' which our conduct shows has healed us4 ,,ii4 ,the second compressed parable of the two trees springs from the former naturally1 as stating the general law of which verse #db gives one case1 namely1 that good deeds 7such as casting out the mote7 can only come from a good heart 7made good by confession of its own evils and their ejection74 ,it is often said that ,christ's teaching is unlike that of ,his ,apostles in that ,he places stress on works1 and says little of faith4 ,but how does ,he regard works8 ,as fruits4 ,that is to say1 they are of value in ,his eyes only as being products and manifestations of character4 ,he does not tell us in this parable how the character which will effloresce in blossoms and set in fruits of goodness is produced4 ,that comes in the next parable4 ,but here is sufficiently set forth the great central truth of ,christian ethics that the inward disposition is the all-important thing1 and that deeds are determined as to their moral quality by the character from which they have proceeded4 ,our actions are our self-revelations4 ,the words are not to be pressed1 as if they taught the entire goodness of one class of men1 so that all their acts were products of their good character1 nor the unmingled evil of another1 so that no good of any kind or in any degree is in them or comes from them4 ,they must be read as embodying a general truth which is not as yet fully exemplified in any character or conduct4 ,in verse #de the same idea is presented under a different figure--that of a wealthy man who brings his possessions out of his store-house4 ,the application of the figure is significantly varied so as to include the other great department of human activity4 ,speech is act4 ,it1 too1 will be according to the cast of the inner life4 ,of course1 feigned speech of all sorts is not in view4 ,the lazy judgment of men thinks less of words than of deeds4 ,christ always attaches supreme importance to them4 ,intentional lying being excluded1 speech is an even more complete self-revelation than act4 ,when one thinks of the floods of foul or idle or malicious talk which half drown the world as being revelations of the sort of hearts from which they have gushed1 one is appalled4 ,what a black1 seething fountain that must be which spurts up such inky waters6 ,,iii4 ,the third parable1 of the two houses1 shows in part how hearts may be made 'good4' ,it is attached to the preceding by verse #df4 ,speech does not always come from 'the abundance of the heart4' ,many call ,him ,lord who do not act accordingly4 ,deeds must confirm words4 ,if the two diverge1 the latter must be taken as the credible self-revelation4 ,now the first noticeable thing here is ,christ's bold assumption that ,his words are a rock foundation for any life4 ,he claims to give an absolute and all-sufficient rule of conduct1 and to have the right to command every man4 ,and people read such words and then talk about their ,christianity not being the belief of ,his divinity1 but the practice of the ,sermon on the ,mount6 ,his words are the foundation for every firm1 lasting life4 ,they are the basis of all true thought about ,god1 ourselves1 our duties1 our future4 ',that rock was ,christ4' ,every other foundation is as sand4 ,unless we build on ,him1 we build on changeable inclinations1 short-lived desires1 transitory aims1 evanescent circumstances4 ,only the ,christ who ever liveth1 and is ever 'the same yesterday1 and to-day1 and for ever1' is fit to be the foundation of lives that are to be immortal4 ,note the two houses built on the foundations4 ,the metaphor suggests that each life is a whole with a definite character4 ,alas1 how many of our lives are liker a heap of stones tilted at random out of a cart than a house with a plan4 ,but there is a character stamped on every life1 and however the man may have lived from hand to mouth without premeditation1 the result has a character of its own1 be it temple or pig-sty4 ,each life1 too1 is built up by slow labour1 course by course4 ,our deeds become our dwelling-places4 ,like coral-insects1 we live in what we build4 ,memory1 habit1 ever-springing consequences1 shape by slow degrees our isolated actions into our abodes4 ,what do we build8 ,one storm tries both houses4 ,that may refer to the common trials of every life1 but it is best taken as referring to the future judgment1 when ,god 'will lay judgment to the line1 and righteousness to the plummet'2 and whatever cannot stand that test will be swept away4 ,who would run up a flimsy structure on some windy headland in northern seas8 ,the lighthouses away out in ocean are firmly bonded into living rock4 ,unless our lives are thus built on and into ,christ1 they will collapse into a heap of ruin4 ',behold ,i lay in ,zion for a foundation a stone1 a tried stone1 a precious corner stone1 a sure foundation3 he that believeth shall not make haste4' ,,worthy-,,not ,,worthy '444 ,they besought ,him 444 saying1 ,that he was worthy for whom ,he should do this3444 #f4 ,i am not worthy that ,thou shouldest enter under my roof3 #g4 ,wherefore neither thought ,i myself worthy to come unto ,thee4444' --,,luke vii4 #d4 #f4 #g4 ,a ,roman centurion1 who could induce the elders of a ,jewish village to approach ,jesus on his behalf1 must have been a remarkable person4 ,the garrison which held down a turbulent people was not usually likely to be much loved by them4 ,but this man1 about whom the incident with which our texts are connected is related1 was obviously one of the people of whom that restless age had many1 who had found out that his creed was outworn1 and who had been drawn to ,judaism by its lofty monotheism and its austere morality4 ,he had gone so far as to build a synagogue1 and thereby1 no doubt1 incurred the ridicule of his companions1 and perhaps the suspicions of his superiors4 ,what would the ,english authorities think of an ,indian district officer that conformed to ,buddhism or ,brahminism1 and built a temple8 ,that is what the ,roman officials would think of our centurion4 ,and there were other beautiful traits in his character4 ,he had a servant 'that was dear to him4' ,it was not only the nexus of master and servant and cash payments that bound these two together4 ,and very beautiful is this story1 when he himself speaks about this servant4 ,he does not use the rough word which implies a bondservant1 and which is employed throughout the whole of the rest of the narrative1 but a much gentler one1 and speaks of him as his 'boy4' ,so he had won the hearts of these elders so far as to make them swallow their dislike to ,jesus1 and deign to go to ,him with a request which implied ,his powers at which at all other times they scoffed4 ,now1 we owe to ,luke the details which show us that there was a double deputation to our ,lord--the first which approached ,him to ask ,his intervention1 and the second which the centurion sent when he saw the little group coming towards his house1 and a fresh gush of awe rose in his heart4 ,the elders said1 ',he is worthy'2 he said1 ',i am not worthy4' ,the verbal resemblance is1 indeed1 not so close in the original as in our versions1 for the literal rendering of the words put into the centurion's mouth is 'not fit4' ,but still the evident antithesis is preserved3 the one saying expresses the favourable view that partial outsiders took of the man1 the other gives the truer view that the man took of himself4 ,and so1 putting away the story altogether1 we may set these two verdicts side by side1 as suggesting wider lessons than those which arise from the narrative itself4 ,i4 ,and1 first1 we have here the shallow plea of worthiness4 ,these elders did not think loftily of ,jesus ,christ4 ,the conception that we have of ,him goes a long way to settle whether it is possible or not for us to approach ,him with the word 'worthy' on our lips4 ,the higher we lift our thought of ,christ1 the lower becomes our thought of ourselves4 ,these elders saw the centurion from the outside1 and estimated him accordingly4 ,there is no more frequent1 there is no more unprofitable and impossible occupation1 than that of trying to estimate other people's characters4 ,yet there are few things that we are so fond of doing4 ,half our conversation consists of it1 and a very large part of what we call literature consists of it2 and it is bound to be always wrong1 whether it is eulogistic or condemnatory1 because it only deals with the surface4 ,here we have the shallow plea advanced by these elders in reference to the centurion which corresponds to the equally shallow plea that some of us are tempted to advance in reference to ourselves4 ,the disposition to do so is in us all4 ,luther said that every man was born with a ,pope in his belly4 ,every man is born with a ,pharisee in himself1 who thinks that religion is a matter of barter1 that it is so much work1 buying so much favour here1 or heaven hereafter4 ,wherever you look1 you see the working of that tendency4 ,it is the very mainspring of heathenism1 with all its penances and performances4 ,it is enshrined in the heart of ,roman ,catholicism1 with its dreams of a treasury of merits1 and works of supererogation and the like4 ,ay6 and it has passed over into a great deal of what calls itself ,evangelical ,protestantism1 which thinks that1 somehow or other1 it is all for our good to come here1 for instance on a ,sunday1 though we have no desire to come and no true worship in us when we have come1 and to do a great many things that we would much rather not do1 and to abstain from a great many things that we are strongly inclined to1 and all with the notion that we have to bring some 'worthiness' in order to move ,jesus ,christ to deal graciously with us4 ,and then notice that the religion of barter1 which thinks to earn ,god's favour by deeds1 and is1 alas6 the only religion of multitudes1 and subtly mingles with the thoughts of all1 tends to lay the main stress on the mere external arts of cult and ritual4 ',he loveth our nation1 and hath built us a synagogue'2 not1 ',he is gentle1 good1 ,godlike4' ',he has built a synagogue4' ,that is the type of work which most people who fall into the notion that heaven is to be bought1 offer as the price4 ,i have no doubt that there are many people who have never caught a glimpse of any loftier conception than that1 and who1 when they think--which they do not often do--about religious subjects at all1 are saying to themselves1 ',i do as well as ,i can1' and who thus bring in some vague thought of the mercy of ,god as a kind of make-weight to help out what of their own they put in the scale4 ,ah1 dear brethren6 that is a wearying1 an endless1 a self-torturing1 an imprisoning1 an enervating thought1 and the plea of 'worthiness' is utterly out of place and unsustainable before ,god4 ,,ii4 ,now let me turn to the deeper conviction which silences that plea4 ',i am not worthy that ,thou shouldest enter under my roof1 wherefore neither thought ,i myself worthy to come unto ,thee4' ,this man had a loftier conception of who and what ,christ was than the elders had4 ,to them ,he was only one of themselves1 perhaps endowed with some kind of prophetic power1 but still one of themselves4 ,the centurion had pondered over the mystic power of the word of command1 as he knew it by experience in the legion1 or in the little troop of which he1 though a man under the authority of his higher officers1 was the commander2 and he knew that even his limited power carried with it absolute authority and compelled obedience4 ,and he had looked at ,christ1 and wondered1 and thought1 and had come at last to a dim apprehension of that great truth that1 somehow or other1 in this ,man there did lie a power which1 by the mere utterance of ,his will1 could affect matter1 could raise the dead1 could still a storm1 could banish disease1 could quell devils4 ,he did not formulate his belief1 he could not have said exactly what it led to1 or what it contained1 but he felt that there was something divine about ,him4 ,and so1 seeing1 though it was but through mists1 the sight of that great perfection1 that divine humanity and human divinity1 he bowed himself and said1 ',lord6 ,i am not worthy4' ,when you see ,christ as ,he is1 and give ,him the honour due to ,his name1 all notions of desert will vanish utterly4 ,further1 the centurion saw himself from the inside1 and that makes all the difference4 ,ah1 brethren6 most of us know our own characters just as little as we know our own faces1 and find it as difficult to form a just estimate of what the hidden man of the heart looks like as we find it impossible to form a just estimate of what we look to other people as we walk down the street4 ,but if we once turned the searchlight upon ourselves1 ,i do not think that any of us would long be able to stand by that plea1 ',i am worthy4' ,have you ever been on a tour of discovery1 like what they go through at the ,houses of ,parliament on the first day of each session1 down into the cellars to see what stores of explosive material1 and what villains to fire it1 may be lurking there8 ,if you have once seen yourself as you are1 and take into account1 not only actions but base tendencies1 foul1 evil thoughts1 imagined sins of the flesh1 meannesses and basenesses that never have come to the surface1 but which you know are bits of you1 ,i do not think that you will have much more to say about ',i am worthy4' ,the flashing waters of the sea may be all blazing in the sunshine1 but if they were drained off1 what a frightful sight the mud and the ooze at the bottom would be6 ,others look at the dancing1 glittering surface1 but you1 if you are a wise man1 will go down in the diving-bell sometimes1 and for a while stop there at the bottom1 and turn a bull's-eye straight upon all the slimy1 crawling things that are there1 and that would die if they came into the light4 ',i am not worthy that ,thou shouldest enter under my roof4' ,but then1 as ,i have said1 most of us are strangers to ourselves4 ,the very fact of a course of action which1 in other people1 we should describe with severe condemnation1 being ours1 bribes us to indulgence and lenient judgment4 ,familiarity1 too1 weakens our sense of the foulness of our own evils4 ,if you have been in the ,black ,hole all night1 you do not know how vitiated the atmosphere is4 ,you have to come out into the fresh air to find out that4 ,we look at the errors of others through a microscope2 we look at our own through the wrong end of the telescope2 and the one set1 when we are in a cynical humour1 seem bigger than they are2 and the other set always seem smaller4 ,now1 that clear consciousness of my own sinfulness ought to underlie all my religious feelings and thoughts4 ,i believe1 for my part1 that no man is in a position to apprehend ,christianity rightly who has not made the acquaintance of his own bad self4 ,and ,i trace a very large proportion of the shallow ,christianity of this day as well as of the disproportion in which its various truths are set forth1 and the rising of crops of erroneous conceptions just to this1 that this generation has to a large extent lost--no1 do not let me say this generation1 you and ,i--have to a large extent lost1 that wholesome consciousness of our own unworthiness and sin4 ,but on the other hand1 let me remind you that the centurion's deeper conviction is not yet the deepest of all1 and that whilst the ,christianity which ignores sin is sure to be impotent1 on the other hand the ,christianity which sees very little but sin is bondage and misery1 and is impotent too4 ,and there are many of us whose type of religion is far gloomier than it should be1 and whose motive of service is far more servile than it ought to be1 just because we have not got beyond the centurion1 and can only say1 ',i am not worthy2 ,i am a poor1 miserable sinner4' ,,iii4 ,and so ,i come to the third point1 which is not in my text1 but which both my texts converge upon1 and that is the deepest truth of all1 that worthiness or unworthiness has nothing to do with ,christ's love4 ,when these elders interceded with ,jesus1 ,he at once rose and went with them1 and that not because of their intercession or of the certificate of character which they had given1 but because ,his own loving heart impelled ,him to go to any soul that sought ,his help4 ,so we are led away from all anxious questionings as to whether we are worthy or no1 and learn that1 far above all thoughts either of undue self-complacency or of undue self-depreciation1 lies the motive for ,christ's gracious and healing approach in ',his ceaseless1 unexhausted love1 ,unmerited and free4' ,this is the truth to which the consciousness of sinfulness and unworthiness points us all1 for which that consciousness prepares us1 in which that consciousness does not melt away1 but rather is increased and ceases to be any longer a burden or a pain4 ,here1 then1 we come to the very bed-rock of everything1 for ',merit lives from man to man1 ,but not from man1 ,o ,lord1 to ,thee4' ,jesus ,christ comes to us1 not drawn by our deserts1 but impelled by ,his own love1 and that love pours itself out upon each of us4 ,so we do not need painfully to amass a store of worthiness1 nor to pile up our own works1 by which we may climb to heaven4 ',say not1 who shall ascend up into heaven1' to bring ,christ down again1 'but the word is nigh thee1 that if thou wilt believe with thine heart1 thou shalt be saved4' ,worthiness or unworthiness is to be swept clean out of the field1 and ,i am to be content to be a pauper1 to owe everything to what ,i have done nothing to procure1 and to cast myself on the sole1 all-sufficient mercy of ,god in ,jesus ,christ our ,lord4 ,and then comes liberty1 and then comes joy4 ,if the gift is given from no consideration of men's deserts1 then the only thing that men have to do is to exercise the faith that takes it4 ,as the ,apostle says in words that sound very hard and technical1 but which1 if you would only ponder them1 are throbbing with vitality1 ',it is of faith that it might be by grace4' ,since ,he gives simply because ,he loves1 the only requisites are the knowledge of our need1 the will to receive1 the trust that1 in clasping the ,giver1 possesses the gift4 ,the consciousness of unworthiness will be deepened4 ,the more we know ourselves to be sinful1 the more we shall cleave to ,christ1 and the more we cleave to ,christ1 the more we shall know ourselves to be sinful4 ,peter caught a glimpse of what ,jesus was when he sat in the boat1 and he said1 ',depart from me1 for ,i am a sinful man1 ,o ,lord6' ,but ,peter saw both himself and his ,lord more clearly1 that is more truly1 when1 subsequent to his black treachery1 his brother ,apostle said to him concerning the figure standing on the beach in the grey morning1 ',it is the ,lord1' and he flung himself over the side and floundered through the water to get to his ,master's feet4 ,for that is the place for the man who knows himself unworthy4 ,the more we are conscious of our sin1 the closer let us cling to our ,lord's forgiving heart1 and the more sure we are that we have that love which we have not earned1 the more shall we feel how unworthy of it we are4 ,as one of the prophets says1 with profound meaning1 ',thou shalt be ashamed and confounded1 and never open thy mouth any more because of thy transgression1 when ,i am pacified towards thee for all that thou hast done4' ,the child buries its face on its mother's breast1 and feels its fault the more because the loving arms clasp it close4 ,and so1 dear brethren1 deepen your convictions1 if you are deluded by that notion of merit2 deepen your convictions1 if you see your own evil so clearly that you see little else4 ,come into the light1 come into the liberty1 rise to that great thought1 ',not by works of righteousness which we have done1 but by ,his mercy ,he saved us4' ,have done with the religion of barter1 and come to the religion of undeserved grace4 ,if you are going to stop on the commercial level1 'the wages of sin is death'2 rise to the higher ground3 'the gift of ,god is eternal life through ,jesus ,christ our ,lord4' ,,jesus ,,at ,,the ,,bier ',and when the ,lord saw her1 ,he had compassion on her1 and said unto her1 ,weep not4 #ad4 ,and ,he came and touched the bier3 and they that bare him stood still4 ,and ,he said1 ,young man1 ,i say unto thee1 ,arise4 #ae4 ,and he that was dead sat up1 and began to speak4 ,and ,he delivered him to his mother4'--,,luke vii4 #ac-ae4 ,we owe our knowledge of this incident to ,luke only4 ,he is the ,evangelist who specially delights in recording the gracious relations of our ,lord with women1 and he is also the ,evangelist who delights in telling us of unasked miracles which ,christ performed4 ,both of these characteristics unite in this story1 and it may have been these1 rather than the fact of its being a narrative of a resurrection1 that found for it a place in this ,gospel4 ,be that as it may1 it is obvious to remark that this miracle was not wrought with any intention of establishing ,christ's claims thereby4 ,its motive was simply pity2 its purpose was merely to comfort a desolate woman whose hope and love and defence were lying stretched on her boy's bier4 ,was that a sufficient reason for a miracle8 ,people tell us that a test of a spurious miracle is that it is done without any adequate purpose to be served4 ,jesus ,christ thought that to comfort one poor1 sorrowful heart was reason enough for putting ,his hand out1 and dragging the prey from the very jaws of death1 so loftily did ,he think of human sorrow and of the comforting thereof4 ,now ,i think we unduly limit the meaning of our ,lord's miracles when we regard them as specially intended to authenticate ,his claims4 ,they are not merely the evidences of revelation2 they are themselves a large part of revelation4 ,my purpose in this sermon is to look at this incident from that one point of view1 and to try to set clearly before our minds what it shows us of the character and work of ,jesus ,christ4 ,and there are three things on which ,i desire to touch briefly4 ,we have ,him here revealed to us as the compassionate ,drier of all tears2 the life-giving ,antagonist of death2 and as the ,re-uniter of parted hearts4 ,note1 then1 these three things4 ,i4 ,first of all1 look at that wonderful revelation that lies here of ,jesus ,christ as the compassionate ,drier of all tears4 ,the poor woman1 buried in her grief1 with her eyes fixed on the bier1 has no thought for the little crowd that came up the rocky road1 as she and her friends are hurrying down it to the place of graves4 ,she was a stranger to ,christ1 and ,christ a stranger to her4 ,the last thing that she would have thought of would have been eliciting any compassion from those who thus fortuitously met her on her sad errand4 ,but ,christ looks1 and ,his eye sees far more deeply and far more tenderly into the sorrow of the desolate1 childless widow than any human eyes looked4 ,and as swift as was ,his perception of the sorrow1 so swiftly does ,he throw ,himself into sympathy with it4 ,the true human emotion of unmingled pity wells up in ,his heart and moves ,him to action4 ,and just because the manhood was perfect and sinless1 therefore the sympathy of ,christ was deeper than any human sympathy1 howsoever tender it may be2 for what unfits us to feel compassion is our absorption with ourselves4 ,that makes our hearts hard and insensitive1 and is the true1 'witches' mark'--to recur to the old fable--the spot where no external pressure can produce sensation4 ,the ossified heart of the selfish man is closed against divine compassion4 ,since ,jesus ,christ forgot ,himself in pitying men1 and ,himself 'took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses1' ,he must have been what none of us are--free from all taint of selfishness1 and from all insensibility born of sin4 ,but there is another step to be taken4 ,that pitying ,christ1 on the rocky road outside the little ,galilean village1 feeling all the pain and sorrow of the lonely mother--that is ,god6 ',lo6 this is our ,god2 and we have waited for ,him4' ,ay6 waited through all the uncompassionating centuries1 waited in the presence of the false gods1 waited whilst men have been talking about an impassive ,deity careless in the heavens1 over whose serene blessedness no shadow can ever pass4 ,this is our ,god4 ,no impassive monster that no man can love or care for1 but a ,god with a heart1 a ,god that can pity1 a ,god who1 wonderful as it is1 can and does enter1 in the humanity of ,jesus ,christ1 into a fellow-feeling of our infirmities4 ,if ,jesus ,christ in ,his pity was only a perfect and lovely example of unselfish sympathy such as man can exercise1 what in the name of common-sense does it matter to me how much1 or how tenderly1 ,he pitied those past generations8 ,the showers and the sunshine of this summer will do as much good to the springing corn in the fields to-day as the pity of a dead1 human ,christ will do for you and me4 ,in our weaknesses1 in our sorrows great and small1 in our troubles and annoyances1 you and ,i need1 dear brethren1 a living ,jesus to pity us1 there in the heavens1 just as ,he pitied that poor woman outside the gate of ,nain4 ,blessed be ,god61 we have ,him4 ,the human ,christ is the manifestation of the ,divine1 and as we listen to the ,evangelist that says1 ',when ,he saw her ,he had compassion upon her1' we bow our heads and feel that the old psalmist spoke a truth when ,he said1 ',his compassions fail not1' and that the old prophet spoke a truth1 the depth of which his experience did not enable him to fathom1 when he said that 'in all their afflictions ,he was afflicted4' ,then1 note that the pitying ,christ dries the tears before ,he raises the dead4 ,that is beautiful1 ,i think4 ',weep not1' ,he says to the woman--a kind of a prophecy that ,he is going to take away the occasion for weeping2 and so ,he calls lovingly upon her for some movement of hope and confidence towards ,himself4 ,with what an ineffable sweetness of cadence in ,his sympathetic voice these words would be spoken6 ,how often1 kindly and vainly1 men say to one another1 ',weep not1' when they are utterly powerless to take away or in the smallest degree to diminish the occasion for weeping6 ,and how often1 unkindly1 in mistaken endeavour to bring about resignation and submission1 do well-meaning and erring good people say to mourners in the passion of their sorrow1 ',weep not6' ,jesus ,christ never dammed back tears when tears were wholesome1 and would bring blessing4 ,and ,jesus ,christ never said1 ',dry your tears1' without stretching out ,his own hand to do it4 ,how does ,he do it8 ,first of all by the assurance of ,his sympathy4 ,ah6 in that word there came a message to the lonely heart1 as there comes a message1 dear brethren1 to any man or woman among us now who may be fighting with griefs and cares or sorrows1 great or small--the assurance that ,jesus ,christ knows all about your pain and will help you to bear it if you will let ,him4 ,the sweet consciousness of ,christ's sympathy is the true antidote to excessive grief4 ,and ,he dries the tears1 not only by the assurance of ,his sympathy1 but by encouraging expectation and hope4 ,when ,he said1 ',weep not1' ,he was pledging ,himself to do what was needed in order to stay the flow of weeping4 ,and ,he would encourage us1 in the midst of our cares and sorrows and loneliness1 not indeed to suppress the natural emotion of sorrow1 nor to try after a fantastic and unreal suppression of its wholesome signs1 but to weep as though we wept not1 because beyond the darkness and the dreariness we see the glimmering of the eternal day4 ,he encourages expectation as the antagonist of sorrow1 for the curse of sorrow is that it is ever looking backwards1 and the true attitude for all men who have an immortal ,christ to trust1 and an immortality for themselves to claim1 is that not 'backward' should their 'glances be1 but forward to their ,father's home4' ,these are the thoughts that dry our tears1 the assurance of the sympathy of ,christ1 and the joyous expectation of a great good to be ours1 where beyond those voices there is peace4 ,brother6 it may be with all of us--for all of us carry some burden of sorrow or care--as it is with the hedgerows and wet ploughed fields to-day2 on every spray hangs a raindrop1 and in every raindrop gleams a reflected sun4 ,and so all our tears and sorrows may flash into beauty1 and sparkle into rainbowed light if the smile of ,his face falls upon us4 ,and then1 still further1 this pitying ,christ is moved by ,his pity to bring unasked gifts4 ,no petition1 no expectation1 not the least trace of faith or hope drew from ,him this mighty miracle4 ,it came welling up from ,his own heart4 ,and therein it is of a piece with all ,his work4 ,for the divine love of which ,christ is the ,bearer1 the ,agent1 and the ,channel for us men1 'tarries not for men1 nor waiteth for the sons of men1' but before we ask1 delights to bestow itself1 and gives that which no man ever sought1 even the miracles of the ,incarnation and ,crucifixion of ,jesus ,christ our ,lord4 ,if heaven had waited until men's prayers had forced its gates ere it sent forth its greatest gift1 it had waited for ever1 and all mankind had perished4 ,god's love flows out of its own expansive and diffusive nature4 ,its necessity is to impart itself1 and its nature and property is to give4 ,a measureless desire to bestow itself1 and in itself all good1 is the definition of the love of ,god4 ,and ,christ comes 'to the unthankful and to the evil1' bringing a gift which none of us have asked1 and giving as much of ,himself as ,he can give1 undesired1 to every heart1 that thereby we may be led to desire these better gifts which cannot be bestowed unless we seek them4 ,so here we have the compassion of the human ,christ1 which is the divine compassion1 drying all tears and giving unasked blessings4 ,,ii4 ,note1 secondly1 the further revelation of our ,lord here as being the life-giving ,antagonist of ,death4 ,there is something exceedingly picturesque1 and if ,i might use the word1 dramatic1 in the meeting of these two processions outside the city gate1 the little crowd of mourners hurrying1 according to the ,eastern fashion1 down the hill to the place of tombs1 and the other little group toiling up the hill to the city4 ,there ,life and ,death stand face to face4 ,jesus ,christ puts out ,his hand1 and lays it upon the bier1 not to communicate anything1 but simply to arrest its progress4 ,is it not a parable of ,his work in the world8 ,his great work is to stop the triumphant march of ,death--that grim power which broods like a thundercloud over humanity1 and sucks up all brightness into its ghastly folds1 and silences all song4 ,he comes and says ',stop'2 and it stands fixed upon the spot4 ,he arrests the march of ,death4 ,not indeed that ,he touches the mere physical fact4 ,the physical fact is not what men mean by death4 ,it is not what they cower before4 ,what the world shrinks from is the physical fact plus its associations1 its dim forebodings1 its recoilings from the unknown regions into which the soul goes from out of 'the warm precincts of the cheerful day1' and plus the possibilities of retribution1 the certainty of judgment4 ,all these ,christ sweeps away1 so that we may say1 ',he hath abolished ,death1' even though we all have to pass through the mere externals of dying1 for the dread of ,death is gone for ever1 if we trust ,him4 ,and then note1 still further1 we have ,christ here as the ,life-giver4 ',young man1 ,i say unto thee1 ,arise6' ,christ took various methods of imparting ,his miraculous power4 ,these methods varied1 as it would appear1 according to the religious necessities of the subjects or beholders of the miracle4 ,sometimes ,he touched1 sometimes ,he employed still more material vehicles1 such as the clay with which ,he moistened the eyes of the blind man1 and the spittle with which ,he touched the ears of the deaf4 ,but all these various methods were but helps to feeble faith1 and in the case of all the raisings from the dead it is the voice alone that is employed4 ,so1 then1 what is the meaning of that majestic ',i say unto thee1 ,arise'8 ,he claims to work by ,his own power4 ,unless ,jesus ,christ wielded divine authority in a fashion in which no mere human representative and messenger of ,god ever has wielded it1 for ,him to stand by that bier and utter1 ',i say unto thee1 ,arise6' was neither more nor less than blasphemy4 ,and yet the word had force4 ,he assumed to act by ,his own power1 and the event showed that ,he assumed not too much4 ',the ,son quickeneth whom ,he will4' ,further1 ,he acts by ,his bare word4 ,so ,he did on many other occasions--rebuking the fever and it departs1 speaking to the wind and it ceases1 calling to the dead and they come forth4 ,and who is ,he1 the bare utterance of whose will is supreme1 and has power over material things8 ,let that centurion whose creed is given to us in the earlier portion of this chapter answer the question4 ',i say to my servant1 ,go6 and he goeth2 ,come6 and he cometh2 ,do this6 and he doeth it4 ,speak ,thou1 and all the embattled forces of the universe will obey ,thine autocratic and sovereign behest1' they 'hearken to ,his commandments1 and do the voice of ,his word4' ,then note1 still further1 that this voice of ,christ's has power in the regions of the dead4 ,wherever that young man was1 he heard2 in whatsoever state or condition he was1 his personality felt and obeyed the magnetic force of ,christ's will4 ,the fact that the ,lord spake and the boy heard1 disposes1 if it be true1 of much error1 and clears away much darkness4 ,then the separation of body and soul is a separation and not a destruction4 ,then consciousness is not a function of the brain1 as they tell us4 ,then man lives wholly after he is dead4 ,then it is possible for the spirit to come out of some dim region1 where we know not1 in what condition we know not4 ,only this we know--that1 wherever it is1 ,christ's will has authority there2 and there1 too1 is obedience to ,his commandment4 ,and so let me remind you that this ,voice is not only revealing as to ,christ's authority and power1 and illuminative as to the condition of the disembodied dead1 but it is also prophetic as to the future4 ,it tells us that there is nothing impossible or unnatural in that great assurance4 ',the hour is coming when they that are in the graves shall hear ,his voice1 and shall come forth4' ,there shall be for the dead a reunion with a body1 which will bring men again into connection with an external universe1 and be the precursor of a fuller judgment and an intenser retribution4 ,brethren1 that ,voice that raised one poor bewildered boy to sit up on his bier1 and begin to speak--broken exclamations possibly1 and stammering words of astonishment--shall be flung1 like a trumpet that scatters marvellous sounds1 through the sepulchres of the nations and compel all to stand before the throne4 ,you and ,i will hear it2 let us be ready for it4 ,,iii4 ,so1 lastly1 we have here the revelation of our ,lord as the ,reuniter of parted hearts4 ,that is a wonderfully beautiful touch1 evidently coming from an eye-witness--',he delivered him to his mother4' ,that was what it had all been done for4 ,the mighty miracle was wrought that that poor weeping woman might be comforted4 ,may we not go a step further8 ,may we not say1 ,if ,jesus ,christ was so mindful of the needs of a sorrowful solitary soul here upon earth1 will ,he be less mindful of the enduring needs of loving hearts yonder in the heavens8 ,if ,he raised this boy from the dead that his mother's arms might twine round him again1 and his mother's heart be comforted1 will ,he not in that great ,resurrection give back dear ones to empty1 outstretched arms1 and thereby quiet hungry hearts8 ,it is impossible to suppose that1 continuing ourselves1 we should be deprived of our loves4 ,these are too deeply engrained and enwrought into the very texture of our being for that to be possible4 ,and it is as impossible that1 in the great day and blessed world where all lost treasures are found1 hearts that have been sad and solitary here for many a day shall not clasp again the souls of their souls--'and with ,god be the rest4' ,so1 though we know very little1 surely we may take the comfort of such a thought as this1 which should be very blessed and sweet to some of us1 and with some assurance of hope may feel that the risen boy at the gate of ,nain was not the last lost one whom ,christ1 with a smile1 will deliver to the hearts that mourn for them1 and there we 'shall clasp inseparable hands with joy and bliss in over-measure for ever4' ',and so shall we'--they and ,i1 for that is what we means--' so shall we ever be with the ,lord4 ,wherefore comfort one another with these words4' ,,john',s ,,doubts ,,and ,,christ',s ,,praise ',and the disciples of ,john shewed him of all these things4 #ai4 ,and ,john calling unto him two of his disciples1 sent them to ,jesus1 saying1 ,art thou ,he that should come8 or look we for another8 #bj4 ,when the men were come unto ,him1 they said1 ,john ,baptist hath sent us unto ,thee1 saying1 ,art ,thou ,he that should come8 or look we for another8 #ba4 ,and in the same hour ,he cured many of their infirmities and plagues1 and of evil spirits2 and unto many that were blind ,he gave sight4 #bb4 ,then ,jesus1 answering1 said unto them1 ,go your way1 and tell ,john what things ye have seen and heard2 how that the blind see1 the lame walk1 the lepers are cleansed1 the deaf hear1 the dead are raised1 to the poor the gospel is preached4 #bc4 ,and blessed is be1 whosoever shall not be offended in ,me4 #bd4 ,and when the messengers of ,john were departed1 ,he began to speak unto the people concerning ,john4 ,what went ye out into the wilderness for to see8 ,a reed shaken with the wind8 #be4 ,but what went ye out for to see8 ,a man clothed in soft raiment8 ,behold1 they which are gorgeously apparelled1 and live delicately1 are in kings' courts4 #bf4 ,but what went ye out for to see8 ,a prophet8 ,yea1 ,i say unto you1 and much more than a prophet4 #bg4 ,this is he1 of whom it is written1 ,behold1 ,i send ,my messenger before ,thy face1 which shall prepare ,thy way before ,thee4 #bh4 ,for ,i say unto you1 ,among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than ,john the ,baptist2 but he that is least in the kingdom of ,god is greater than he4'--,,luke vii4 #ah-bh4 ,we take three stages in this passage--the pathetic message from the prisoner1 ,christ's double answer to it1 and ,his grand eulogium on ,john4 ,i4 ,the message from the prisoner4 ,had mists of doubt crept over ,john's clear conviction that ,jesus was the ,messiah8 ,some have thought it incredible that the man who had seen the descending dove1 and heard the voice proclaiming ',this is ,my beloved ,son1' should ever have wavered4 ,but surely our own experience of the effect of circumstances and moods on our firmest beliefs gives us parallels to ,john's doubts4 ,a prison would be especially depressing to the desert-loving ,baptist2 compelled inaction would fret his spirit2 he would be tempted to think that1 if ,jesus were indeed the ,bridegroom1 he might have spared a thought for the friend of the ,bridegroom languishing in ,machaerus4 ,above all1 the kind of works that ,jesus was doing did not fill the rle of the ,messiah as he had conceived it4 ,where were the winnowing fan1 the axe laid to the roots of the trees1 the consuming fire8 ,this gentle friend of publicans and sinners was not what he had expected the ,one mightier than himself to be4 ,probably his disciples went farther in doubting than he did1 but his message was the expression of his own hesitations1 as is suggested by the answer being directed to him1 not to the disciples4 ,it may have also been meant to stir ,jesus1 if ,he were indeed ,messiah1 to 'take to ,himself ,his great power4' ,but the most natural explanation of it is that ,john's faith was wavering4 ,the tempest made the good ship stagger4 ,but reeling faith stretched out a hand to ,jesus1 and sought to steady itself thereby4 ,we shall not come to much harm if we carry our doubts as to ,him to be cleared by ,himself4 ,john's gloomy prison thoughts may teach us how much our faith may be affected by externals and by changing tempers of mind1 and how lenient1 therefore1 should be our judgments of many whose trust may falter when a strain comes4 ,it may also teach us not to write bitter things against ourselves because of the ups and downs of our religious experience1 but yet to seek to resist the impression that circumstances make on it1 and to aim at keeping up an equable temperature1 both in the summer of prosperity and the winter of sorrow4 ,,ii4 ,the twofold answer4 ,its first part was a repetition of the same kind of miracles1 the news of which had evoked ,john's message2 and its second part was simply the command to report these1 with one additional fact--that good tidings were preached to the poor4 ,that seemed an unsatisfactory reply1 but it meant just this--to send ,john back to think over these deeds of gracious pity and love as well as of power1 and to ask himself whether they were not the fit signs of the ,messiah4 ,it is to be noted that the words which ,christ bids the disciples speak to their master would recall the prophecies in ,isaiah xxxv4 #e and lxi4 #a1 and so would set ,john to revise his ideas of what prophecy had painted ,messiah as being4 ,the deepest meaning of the answer is that love1 pity1 healing1 are the true signs1 not judicial1 retributive1 destructive energy4 ,john wanted the lightning2 ,christ told him that the silent sunshine exerts energy1 to which the fiercest flash is weak4 ,we need the lesson1 for we are tempted to exalt force above love1 if not in our thoughts of ,god1 yet in looking at and dealing with men2 and we are slow to apprehend the teaching of ,bethlehem and ,calvary1 that the divinest thing in ,god1 and the strongest power among men1 is gentle1 pitying1 self-sacrificing love4 ,rebuke could not be softer than that which was sent to ,john in the form of a benediction4 ,to take offence at ,jesus1 either because ,he is not what we expect ,him to be1 or for any other reason1 is to shut oneself out from the sum of blessings which to accept ,him brings with it4 ,,iii4 ,christ's eulogium on ,john4 ,how lovingly it was timed6 ,the people had heard ,john's message and its answer1 and might expect some disparaging remarks about his vacillation4 ,but ,jesus chooses that very time to lavish unstinted praise on him4 ,that is praise indeed4 ,the remembrance of the ,jordan banks1 where ,john had baptized1 shapes the first question4 ,the streams of people would not have poured out there to look at the tall reeds swaying in the breeze1 nor to listen to a man who was like them4 ,he who would rouse and guide others must have a firm will1 and not be moved by any blast that blows4 ,men will rally round one who has a mind of his own and bravely speaks it1 and who has a will of his own1 and will not be warped out of his path4 ,the undaunted boldness of ,john1 of whom1 as of ,john ,knox1 it might be said that 'he never feared the face of man1' was part of the secret of his power4 ,his imprisonment witnessed to it4 ,he was no reed shaken by the wind1 but like another prophet1 was made 'an iron pillar1 and brazen walls' to the whole house of ,israel4 ,but he had more than strength of character1 he had noble disregard for worldly ease4 ,not silken robes1 like courtiers'1 but a girdle of camels' hair1 not delicate food1 but locusts and wild honey1 were his4 ,and that was another part of his power1 as it must be1 in one shape or other1 of all who rouse men's consciences1 and wake up generations rotting away in self-indulgence4 ,john's fiery words would have had no effect if they had not poured hot from a life that despised luxury and soft ease4 ,if a man is once suspected of having his heart set on material good1 his usefulness as a ,christian teacher is weakened1 if not destroyed4 ,but even these are not all1 for ,jesus goes on to attest that ,john was a prophet1 and something even more2 namely1 the forerunner of the ,messiah4 ,as1 in a royal progress1 the nearer the king's chariot the higher the rank1 and they who ride just in front of him are the chiefest1 so ,john's proximity in order of time to ,jesus distinguished him above those who had heralded him long ages ago4 ,it is always true that1 the closer we are to ,him1 the more truly great we are4 ,the highest dignity is to be ,his messenger4 ,we must not lose sight of the exalted place which ,jesus by implication claims for ,himself by such a thought1 as well as by the quotation from ,malachi1 and by the alteration in it of the original ',my' and ',me' to ',thy' and ',thee4' ,he does not mean that ,john was the greatest man that ever lived1 as the world counts greatness1 but that in the one respect of relation to ,him1 and consequent nearness to the kingdom1 he surpassed all4 ,the scale employed to determine greatness in this saying is position in regard to the kingdom1 and while ,john is highest of those who 7historically7 were without it1 because 7historically7 he was nearest to it1 the least in it is greater than the greatest without4 ,the spiritual standing of ,john and the devout men before him is not in question2 it is their position towards the manifestation of the kingdom in time that is in view4 ,we rejoice to believe that ,john and many a saint from early days were subjects of the ,king1 and have been 'saved into ,his everlasting kingdom4' ,but ,jesus would have us think greatly of the privilege of living in the light of ,his coming1 and of being permitted by faith to enter ,his kingdom4 ,the lowliest believer knows more1 and possesses a fuller life born of the ,spirit1 than the greatest born of woman1 who has not received that new birth from above4 ,,greatness ,,in ,,the ,,kingdom ',he that is least in the kingdom of ,god is greater than he4'--,,luke vii4 #bh4 ,we were speaking in a preceding sermon about the elements of true greatness1 as represented in the life and character of ,john the ,baptist4 ,as we remarked then1 our ,lord poured unstinted eulogium upon the head of ,john1 in the audience of the people1 at the very moment when he showed himself weakest4 ',none born of women' was1 in ,christ's eyes1 'greater than ,john the ,baptist4' ,the eulogium1 authoritative as it was1 was immediately followed by a depreciation as authoritative1 from ,christ's lips3 ',the least in the kingdom is greater than he4' ,greatness depends1 not on character1 but on position4 ,the contrast that is drawn is between being in and being out of the kingdom2 and this man1 great as he was among them 'that are born of women1' stood but upon the threshold2 therefore1 and only therefore1 and in that respect1 was he 'less than the least' who was safely within it4 ,now1 there are two things in these great words of our ,lord to notice by way of introduction4 ,one is the calm assumption which ,he makes of authority to marshal men1 to stand above the greatest of them1 and to allocate their places1 because ,he knows all about them2 and the other is the equally calm and strange assumption of authority which ,he makes1 in declaring that the least within the kingdom is greater than the greatest without4 ,for the kingdom is embodied in ,him1 its ,king1 and ,he claimed to have opened the door of entrance into it4 ',the kingdom of ,god1' or of heaven--an old ,jewish idea--means1 whatever else it means1 an order of things in which the will of ,god is supreme4 ,jesus ,christ says1 ',i have come to make that real reign of ,god1 in the hearts of men1 possible and actual4' ,so ,he presents ,himself in these words as infinitely higher than the greatest within1 or the greatest without the kingdom1 and as being ,himself the sovereign arbiter of men's claims to greatness4 ,greater than the greatest is ,he1 the ,king2 for if to be barely across the threshold stamps dignity upon a man1 what shall we say of the conception of ,his own dignity which ,he formed who declared that ,he sat on the throne of that kingdom1 and was its ,monarch8 ,i4 ,the first thought that ,i suggest is the greatness of the little ones in the kingdom4 ,as ,i have said1 our ,lord puts the whole emphasis of ,his classification on men's position4 ,inside all are great1 greater than any that are outside4 ,the least in the one order is greater than the greatest in the other4 ,so1 then1 the question comes1 ,how does a man step across that threshold8 ,our ,lord evidently means the expression to be synonymous with ,his true disciples4 ,we may avail ourselves1 in considering how men come to be in the kingdom1 of ,his own words4 ,once ,he said that unless we received it as little children1 we should never be within it4 ,there the blending of the two metaphors adds force and completeness to the thought4 ,the kingdom is without us1 and is offered to us2 we must receive it as a gift1 and it must come into us before we can be in it4 ,the point of comparison between the recipients of the kingdom and little children does not lie in any sentimental illusions about the innocence of childhood1 but in its dependence1 in its absence of pretension1 in its sense of clinging helplessness1 in its instinctive trust4 ,all these things in the child are natural1 spontaneous1 unreflecting1 and therefore of no value4 ,you and ,i have to think ourselves back to them1 and to work ourselves back to them1 and to fight ourselves back to them1 and to strip off their opposites which gather round us in the course of our busy1 effortful life4 ,then they become worth infinitely more than their instinctive analogues in the infant4 ,the man's absence of pretension and consciousness of helplessness and dependent trust are beautiful and great1 and through them the kingdom of ,god1 with all its lights and glories1 pours into his heart1 and he himself steps into it1 and becomes a true servant and subject of the ,king4 ,then there is another word of the ,master's1 equally illuminative1 as to how we pass into the kingdom1 when ,he spoke to the somewhat patronising ,pharisee that came to talk to ,him by night1 and condescended to give the young ,rabbi a certificate of approval from the ,sanhedrim1 ',we know that ,thou art a ,teacher come from ,god4' ,christ's answer was1 in effect1 ',knowing will not serve your turn4 ,there is something more than that wanted3 ,except a man be born of water1 and of the ,spirit1 he cannot enter into the kingdom of ,god4' ,so1 another condition of entering the kingdom--that is1 of coming for myself into the attitude of lowly1 glad submission to ,god's will--is the reception into our natures of a new life-principle1 so that we are not only1 like the men whom ,christ compared with ,john1 'born of women1' but by a higher birth are made partakers of a higher life1 and born of the ,spirit of ,god4 ,these are the conditions--on our side the reception with humility1 helplessness1 dependent trust like those of children1 on ,god's side the imparting1 in answer to that dependence and trust1 of a higher principle of life--these are the conditions on which we can pass out of the realm of darkness into the kingdom of the ,son of ,his love4 ,this being so1 then we have next to consider the greatness that belongs to the least of those who thus have crossed the threshold1 and have come to exercise joyous submission to the will of ,god4 ,the highest dignity of human nature1 the loftiest nobility of which it is capable1 is to submit to ,god's will4 ',man's chief end is to glorify ,god4' ,there is nothing that leads life to such sovereign power as when we lay all our will at ,his feet1 and say1 ',break1 bend1 mould1 fashion it as ,thou wilt4' ,we are in a higher position when we are in ,god's hand4 ,his tools and the pawns on ,his board1 than we are when we are seeking to govern our lives at our pleasure4 ,dignity comes from submission1 and they who keep ,god's commandments are the aristocracy of the world4 ,then1 further1 there comes the thought that the greatness that belongs to the least of the little ones within the kingdom springs from their closer relation to the ,saviour1 whose work they more clearly know and more fully appropriate4 ,it is often said that the ,sunday-school child who can repeat the great text1 ',god so loved the world that ,he gave ,his only begotten ,son1 that whosoever believeth in ,him should not perish1 but have everlasting life1' stands far above prophet1 righteous man1 and ,john himself4 ,this is not exactly true1 for knowledge of the truth is not what introduces into the kingdom2 but it is true that the weakest1 the humblest1 the most ignorant amongst us1 who grasps that truth of the ,god-sent ,son whose death is the world's life1 and who lives1 therefore1 nestling close to ,jesus ,christ1 walks in a light far brighter than the twilight that shone upon the ,baptist1 or the yet dimmer rays that reached prophets and righteous men of old4 ,it is not a question of character2 it is a question of position4 ,true greatness is regulated1 by closeness to ,jesus ,christ1 and by apprehension and appropriation of ,his work to myself4 ,the dwarf on the shoulders of the giant sees further than the giant2 and 'the least in the kingdom1' being nearer to ,jesus ,christ than the men of old could ever be1 because possessing the fuller revelation of ,god in ,him1 is greater than the greatest without4 ,they who possess1 even in germ1 that new life-principle which comes in the measure of a man's faith in ,christ1 thereby are lifted above saints and martyrs and prophets of old4 ,the humblest ,christian grasps a fuller ,christ1 and therein possesses a fuller spiritual life1 than did the ancient heroes of the faith4 ,christ's classification here says nothing about individual character4 ,it says nothing about the question as to the possession of true religion or of spiritual life by the ancient saints1 but it simply declares that because we have a completer revelation1 we therefore1 grasping that revelation1 are in a more blessed position1 ',god having provided some better thing for us1 that they without us should not be made perfect4' ,the lowest in a higher order is higher than the highest in a lower order4 ,as the geologist digs down through the strata1 and1 as he marks the introduction of new types1 declares that the lowest specimen of the mammalia is higher than the highest preceding of the reptiles or of the birds1 so ,christ says1 ',he that is lowest in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he4' ,brethren6 these thoughts should stimulate and should rebuke us that having so much we make so little use of it4 ,we know ,god more fully1 and have mightier motives to serve ,him1 and larger spiritual helps in serving ,him than had any of the mighty men of old4 ,we have a fuller revelation than ,abraham had2 have we a tithe of his faith8 ,we have a mightier ,captain of the ,lord's host with us than stood before ,joshua2 have we any of his courage8 ,we have a tenderer and fuller revelation of the ,father than had psalmists of old2 are our aspirations greater after ,god1 whom we know so much better1 than were theirs in the twilight of revelation8 ,a savage with a shell and a knife of bone will make delicate carvings that put our workers1 with their modern tools1 to shame4 ,a ,hindoo1 weaving in a shed1 with bamboos for its walls and palm leaves for its roof1 and a rude loom1 the same as his ancestors used three thousand years ago1 will turn out muslins that ,lancashire machinery cannot rival4 ,we are exalted in position1 let us see to it that ,abraham1 and ,isaac1 and ,jacob1 and all the saints1 do not put us to shame1 lest the greatest should become the guiltiest1 and exaltation to heaven should lead to dejection to hell4 ,,ii4 ,notice the littleness of the great ones in the kingdom4 ,our ,lord here recognises the fact that there will be varieties of position1 that there will be an outer and an inner court in the ,temple1 and an aristocracy in the kingdom4 ',in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver1 but of wood and of clay4' ,when a man passes into the territory1 it still remains an open question how far into the blessed depths of the land he will penetrate4 ,or1 to put away the figure1 if as ,christian people we have laid hold of ,jesus ,christ1 and in ,him have received the kingdom and the new life-power1 there still remains the question1 how much and how faithfully we shall utilise the gifts1 and what place in the earthly experience and manifestation of ,his kingdom we shall occupy4 ,there are great and small within it4 ,so it comes to be a very important question for us all1 how we may not merely be content1 as so many of us are1 with having scraped inside and just got both feet across the boundary line1 but may become great in the kingdom4 ,let me answer that question in three sentences4 ,the little ones in ,christ's kingdom become great by the continual exercise of the same things which admitted them there at first4 ,if greatness depends on position in reference to ,jesus ,christ1 the closer we come to ,him and the more we keep ourselves in loving touch and fellowship with ,him1 the greater in the kingdom we shall be4 ,again1 the little ones in ,christ's kingdom become great by self-forgetting service4 ',he that will be great among you1 let him be your minister4' ,self-regard dwarfs a man1 self-oblivion magnifies him4 ,if ever you come across1 even in the walks of daily life1 traces in people of thinking much of themselves1 and of living mainly for themselves1 down go these men in your estimation at once4 ,whether you have a beam of the same sort in your own eye or not1 you can see the mote in theirs1 and you lower your appreciation of them immediately4 ,it is the same in ,christ's kingdom1 only in an infinitely loftier fashion4 ,there1 to become small is to become great4 ,again1 the little ones in ,christ's kingdom become great1 not only by cleaving close to the ,source of all greatness1 and deriving thence a higher dignity by the suppression and crucifixion of self-esteem and self-regard1 but by continual obedience to their ,lord's commandment4 ,as ,he said on the ,sermon on the ,mount1 ',whoso shall do and teach one of the least of these commandments shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven4' ,the higher we are1 the more we are bound to punctilious obedience to the smallest injunction4 ,the more we are obedient to the lightest of ,his commandments1 the greater we become4 ,thus the least in the kingdom may become the greatest there1 if only1 cleaving close to ,christ1 he forgets himself1 and lives for others1 and does the ,father's will4 ,,iii4 ,lastly1 ,i travel for a moment beyond my text1 and note the perfect greatness of all in the perfected kingdom4 ,the very notion of a kingdom of ,god established in reality1 however imperfectly here on earth1 demands that somewhere1 and some time1 and somehow1 there should be an adequate1 a universal and an eternal manifestation and establishment of it4 ,if1 here and now1 dotted about over the world1 there are men who1 with much hindrance and many breaks in their obedience1 are still the subjects of that realm1 and trying to do the will of ,god1 unless we are reduced to utter bewilderment intellectually1 there must be a region in which that will shall be perfectly done1 shall be continually done1 shall be universally done4 ,the obedience that we render to ,him1 just because it is broken by so much rebellion1 slackened by so much indifference1 hindered by so many clogs1 hampered by so many limitations1 points1 by its attainments and its imperfections alike1 to a region where the clogs and limitations and interruptions shall have all vanished1 and the will of the ,lord shall be the life and the light thereof4 ,so there rises up before us the fair prospect of that heavenly kingdom1 in which all that here is interrupted and thwarted tendency shall have become realised effect4 ,that state must necessarily be a state of continual advance4 ,for if greatness consists in apprehension and appropriation of ,christ and ,his work1 there are no limits to the possible expansion and assimilation of a human heart to ,him1 and the wealth of ,his glory is absolutely boundless4 ,an infinite ,christ to be assimilated1 and an indefinite capacity of assimilation in us1 make the guarantee that eternity shall see the growing progress of the subjects of the kingdom1 in resemblance to the ,king4 ,if there is this endless progress1 which is the only notion of heaven that clothes with joy and peace the awful thought of unending existence1 then there will be degrees there too1 and the old distinction of 'least' and 'greatest' in the kingdom will subsist to the end4 ,the army marches onwards1 but they are not all abreast4 ,they that are in front do not intercept any of the blessings or of the light that come to the rearmost files2 and they that are behind are advancing and envy not those who lead the march4 ,only let us remember1 brother1 that the distinction of least and great in the kingdom1 in its imperfect forms on earth1 is carried onwards into the kingdom in its perfect form into heaven4 ,the highest point of our attainment here is the starting-point of our progress yonder4 ',an entrance shall be ministered'2 it may be 'ministered abundantly1' or we may be 'saved yet so as by fire4' ,let us see to it that1 being least in our own eyes1 we belong to the greatest in the kingdom4 ,and that we may1 let us hold fast by the ,source of all greatness1 ,christ ,himself1 and so we shall be launched on a career of growing greatness1 through the ages of eternity4 ,to be joined to ,him is greatness1 however small the world may think us4 ,to be separate from ,him is to be small1 though the hosannas of the world may misname us great4 ,,thwarting ,,god',s ,,purpose ',the ,pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of ,god against themselves1 being not baptized of ,him4' --,,luke vii4 #cj4 ,our ,lord has just been pouring unstinted praise on the head of ,john the ,baptist4 ,the eulogium was tenderly timed1 for it followed1 and was occasioned by the expression1 through messengers1 of ,john's doubts of ,christ's ,messiahship4 ,lest these should shake the people's confidence in the ,forerunner1 and make them think of him as weak and shifting1 ,christ speaks of him in the glowing words which precede my text1 and declares that he is no 'reed shaken with the wind4' ,but what ,john was was of less moment to ,christ's listeners than was what they had done with ,john's message4 ,so our ,lord swiftly passes from ,his eulogium upon ,john to the sharp thrust of the personal application to ,his hearers4 ,in the context ,he describes the twofold treatment which that message had received2 and so describes it as1 in the description1 to lay bare the inmost characteristics of the reception or rejection of the message4 ,as to the former1 ,he says that the mass of the common people1 and the outcast publicans1 'justified ,god'2 by which remarkable expression seems to be meant that their reception of ,john's message and baptism acknowledged ,god's righteousness in accusing them of sin and demanding from them penitence4 ,on the other hand1 the official class1 the cultivated people1 the orthodox respectable people--that is to say1 the dead formalists--'rejected the counsel of ,god against themselves4' ,now the word 'rejected' would be more adequately rendered 'frustrated1' thwarted1 made void1 or some such expression1 as indeed it is employed in other places of ,scripture1 where it is translated 'disannulled1' 'made void1' and the like4 ,and if we take that meaning1 there emerge from this great word of the ,master's two thoughts1 that to disbelieve ,god's word is to thwart ,god's purpose1 and that to thwart ,his purpose is to harm ourselves4 ,i4 ,and ,i remark1 first1 that the sole purpose which ,god has in view in speaking to us men is our blessing4 ,i suppose ,i need not point out to you that 'counsel' here does not mean advice1 but intention4 ,in regard to the matter immediately in hand1 ,god's purpose or counsel in sending the ,forerunner was1 first of all1 to produce in the minds of the people a true consciousness of their own sinfulness and need of cleansing2 and so to prepare the way for the coming of the ,messiah1 who should bring the inward gift which they needed1 and so secure their salvation4 ,the intention was1 first1 to bring to repentance1 but that was a preparation for bringing to them full forgiveness and cleansing4 ,and so we may fairly widen the thought into the far greater and nobler one which applies especially to the message of ,god in ,jesus ,christ1 and say that the only design which ,god has in view1 in the gospel of ,his ,son1 is the highest blessing--that is1 the salvation--of every man to whom it is spoken4 ,now1 by the gospel1 which1 as ,i say1 has thus one single design in the divine mind1 ,i mean1 what ,i think the ,new ,testament means1 the whole body of truths which underlie and flow from the fact of ,christ's ,death1 ,resurrection1 and ,ascension1 which in brief are these--man's sin1 man's helplessness1 the ,incarnation of the ,son of ,god1 the ,death of ,christ as the sacrifice for the world's sin2 ,faith1 as the one hand by which we grasp the blessing1 and the gift of a ,divine ,spirit which follows upon our faith1 and bestows upon us sonship and likeness to ,god1 purity of life and character1 and heaven at last4 ,that1 as ,i take it1 is in the barest outline what is meant by the gospel of ,jesus ,christ4 ,and now ,i want to press upon you1 dear friends1 that that great and sublime body of truths made known to us1 as ,i believe1 from ,god ,himself1 has one sole object in view and none beside--viz4 that every man who hears it may partake of the salvation and the hope which it brings4 ,it has a twofold effect1 alas6 but the twofold effect does not imply a twofold purpose4 ,there have been schemes of so-called ,christian theology which have darkened the divine character in this respect1 and have obscured the great thought that ,god has one end in view1 and one only1 when ,he speaks to us in all good faith1 desiring nothing else but only that we shall be gathered into ,his heart1 and made partakers of ,his love4 ,he is not willing that any should perish1 but that all should come to the knowledge of the truth4 ,if so1 the question comes very sharp and direct to each of us1 ,is that gospel fulfilling its purpose in me8 ,there are many subordinate good things flowing from the ,christian revelation1 such as blessings for social outward life1 which are as flowers that spring up in its path2 but unless it has effected its one purpose in regard to you and me1 it has failed altogether4 ,god meant ,his word to save your soul4 ,has it done so8 ,it is a question that any man can answer if he--will be honest with himself4 ,further1 this single purpose of the divine speech embraces in its intention each of the hearers of that message4 ,i want to gather the wide-flowing generality1 ',god so loved the world that ,he sent ,his ,son that whosoever believeth1' into this sharp point1 ',god so loved me1 that ,he sent ,his ,son that ,i1 believing1 might have life eternal4' ,we shall never understand the universality of ,christianity until we have appreciated the personality and the individuality of its message to each of us4 ,god does not lose thee in the crowd1 do not thou lose thyself in it1 nor fail to apprehend that thou art personally meant by ,his broadest declarations4 ,it is thy salvation that ,christ had in view when ,he became man and died on the ,cross2 and it is thy salvation that ,he had in view when ,he said to ,his servants1 ',go into all the world'--there is universality--'and preach the ,gospel to every creature'--there is individuality4 ,then1 further1 ,god is verily seeking to accomplish this purpose even now1 by my lips1 in so far as ,i am true to my ,master and my message4 ,the outward appearance of what we are about now is that ,i am trying1 lamely enough1 to speak to you4 ,you may judge this service by rules of rhetoric1 or anything else you like4 ,but you have not got to the bottom of things unless you feel1 as ,i am praying that every one of you may feel1 that even with all my imperfections on my head--and ,i know them better than you can tell me them--,i1 like all true men who are repeating ,god's message as they have caught it1 neither more nor less1 and have sunk themselves in it1 may venture to say1 as the ,apostle said3 ',now1 then1 we are ambassadors for ,god1 as though ,god did beseech by us1 we pray in ,christ's stead4' ,john's voice was a revelation of ,god's purpose1 and the voice of every true preacher of ,jesus ,christ is no less so4 ,,ii4 ,secondly1 this single divine purpose1 or 'counsel1' may be thwarted4 ',they frustrated the counsel of ,god4' ,of all the mysteries of this inexplicable world1 the deepest1 the mother-mystery of all1 is1 that given an infinite will and a creature1 the creature can thwart the infinite4 ,i said that was the mystery of mysteries3 ',our wills are ours we know not how1'--,no6 indeed we don't6--',our wills are ours to make them ,thine4' ,but that purpose necessarily requires the possibility of the alternative that our wills are ours1 and we refuse 'to make them ,thine4' ,the possibility is mysterious2 the reality of the fact is tragic and bewildering4 ,we need no proof except our own consciousness2 and if that were silenced we should have the same fact abundantly verified in the condition of the world around us1 which sadly shows that not yet is ,god's 'will' done 'on earth as it is in heaven1' but that men can and do lift themselves up against ,god and set themselves in antagonism to ,his most gracious purposes4 ,and whosoever refuses to accept ,god's message in ,christ and ,god's salvation revealed in that message is thus setting himself in battle array against the infinite1 and so far as in him lies 7that is to say1 in regard to his own personal condition and character7 is thwarting ,god's most holy will4 ,now1 brethren1 ,i said that there was only one thought in the divine heart when ,he sent ,his ,son1 and that was to save you and me and all of us4 ,but that thought cannot but be frustrated1 and made of none effect1 as far as the individual is concerned1 by unbelief4 ,for there is no way by which any human being can become participant of the spiritual blessings which are included in that great word 'salvation1' except by simple trust in ,jesus ,christ4 ,i cannot too often and earnestly insist upon this plain truth1 which1 plain as it is1 is often obscured1 and by many people is never apprehended at all1 that when the ,apostle says ',it is the power of ,god unto salvation to every one that believeth1' he is laying down no limitation of the universality or of the adequacy of that power1 but is only setting forth the plain condition1 inherent in the very nature of things and in the nature of the blessings bestowed1 that if a man does not trust ,god he cannot get them1 and ,god cannot give him them1 though ,his heart yearns to give him them ,he cannot do it4 ,how can any man get any good out of a medicine if he locks his teeth and won't take it8 ,how can any truth that ,i refuse to believe produce any effect upon me8 ,how is it possible for the blessings of forgiveness and cleansing to be bestowed upon men who neither know their need of forgiveness nor desire to be washed from their sins8 ,how can there be the flowing of the ,divine ,spirit into a heart which is tightly barred against ,his entrance8 ,in a word1 how a man can be saved with the salvation that the ,gospel offers1 except on condition of his simple trust in ,christ the ,giver1 ,i1 for my part1 fail to see4 ,and so ,i remind you that the thwarting of ,god's counsel is the awful prerogative of unbelief4 ,then1 note that1 in accordance with the context1 you do not need to put yourselves to much effort in order to bring to nought ,god's gracious intention about you4 ',they thwarted the counsel of ,god1 being not baptized of ,him4' ,they did not do anything4 ,they simply did nothing1 and that was enough4 ,there is no need for violent antagonism to the counsel4 ,fold your hands in your lap1 and the gift will not come into them4 ,clench them tightly1 and put them behind your back1 and it cannot come4 ,a negation is enough to ruin a man4 ,you do not need to do anything to slay yourselves4 ,in the ocean1 when the lifebelt is within reach1 simply forbear to put out your hand to it1 and down you will go1 like a stone1 to the very bottom4 ',they rejected the counsel1' 'being not'--and that was all4 ,further1 the people who are in most danger of frustrating ,god's gracious purpose are not blackguards1 not men and women steeped to the eyebrows in the stagnant pool of sensuous sin1 but clean1 respectable church-and-chapel-going1 sermon-hearing1 doctrine-criticising ,pharisees4 ,the man or woman who is led away by the passions that are lodged in his or her members is not so hopeless as the man into whose spiritual nature there has come the demon of self-complacent righteousness1 or who1 as is the case with many a man and woman sitting in these pews now1 has listened to1 or at all events1 has heard1 men preaching1 as ,i am trying to preach1 ever since childhood1 and has never done anything in consequence4 ,these are the hopeless people4 ,the ,pharisees--and there are hosts of their great-great-grandchildren in all our congregations--'the ,pharisees 444 frustrated the counsel of ,god4' ,,iii4 ,lastly1 this thwarting brings self-inflicted harm4 ,a little skiff of a boat comes athwart the bows of a six thousand ton steamer1 with triple-expansion engines1 that can make twenty knots an hour4 ,what will become of the skiff1 do you think8 ,you can thwart ,god's purpose about yourself1 but the great purpose goes on and on4 ,and ',who hath hardened himself against ,him and prospered8' ,you can thwart the purpose1 but it is kicking against the pricks4 ,consider what you lose when you will have nothing to do with that divine counsel of salvation4 ,consider not only what you lose1 but what you bring upon yourself2 how you bind your sin upon your hearts2 how you put out your hands1 and draw disease and death nearer to yourselves2 how you cannot turn away from1 or be indifferent to1 the gracious1 sweet1 pleading voice that speaks to you from the ,cross and the ,throne1 without doing damage--in many more ways than ,i have time to enlarge upon now--to your own character and inward nature4 ,and consider how there lie behind dark and solemn results about which it does not become me to speak1 but which it still less becomes me--believing as ,i do--to suppress4 ',after death the judgment'2 and what will become of the thwarters of the divine counsel then8 ,these wounds1 many1 deep1 deadly as they are1 are self-inflicted4 ,there do follow1 on ,god's message and unbelief of it1 awful consequences2 but these are not ,his intention4 ,they are the results of our misuse of ,his gracious word4 ',oh1 ,israel6' wailed the prophet1 'thou hast destroyed thyself' ,man's happiness or woe is his own making1 and his own making only4 ,there is no creature in heaven or earth or hell that is chargeable with your loss but yourself4 ,we are our own betrayers1 our own murderers1 our own accusers1 our own avengers1 and--,i was going to say1 and it is true--our own hell4 ,dear friends6 this message comes to you once more now1 that ,jesus ,christ has died for your sins1 and that if you will trust ,him as your ,saviour1 and obey ,him as your ,sovereign1 you will he saved with an everlasting salvation4 ,even through my lips ,god speaks to you4 ,what are you going to do with ,his message8 ,are you going to receive it1 and 'justify' ,him1 or are you going to reject it1 and thwart ,him8 ,you thwart ,him if you treat my words now as a mere sermon to be criticised and forgotten2 you thwart ,him if you do anything with ,his message except take it to your heart and rest wholly upon it4 ,unless you do you are suicides2 and neither ,god1 nor man1 nor devil is responsible for your destruction4 ,he can say to you1 as ,his servant said3 ',your blood be upon your own heads2 ,i am clean4' ,jesus ,christ is calling to every one of us1 ',turn ye6 turn ye6 ,why will ye die8 ,as ,i live1 ,i have no pleasure in the death of the wicked4' ,a ,,gluttonous ,,man ,,and ,a ,,winebibber ',the ,son of man is come eating and drinking2 and ye say1 ,behold a gluttonous man1 and a winebibber1 a friend of publicans and sinners6'--,,luke vii4 #cd4 ,jesus ,christ very seldom took any notice of the mists of calumny that drifted round ,him4 ',when ,he was reviled ,he reviled not again4' ,if ever ,he did allude to them it was for the sake of the people who were harming themselves by uttering them4 ,so here1 without the slightest trace of irritation1 ,he quotes a malignant charge which was evidently in the popular mouth1 and of which we should never have known if ,he had not repeated it2 not with anger1 but simply in order that ,he might point to the capricious inconsistency of finding fault with ,john and ,himself on precisely opposite grounds4 ,the former did not suit because he came neither eating nor drinking4 ,well1 if ,his asceticism did not please1 surely the geniality of a ,christ who comes doing both will be hailed4 ,but ,he is rejected like the other4 ,what is the cause of this dislike that can look two different ways at once8 ,not the traits that it alleges1 but something far deeper1 a dislike to the heavenly wisdom of which ,john and ,jesus were messengers4 ,the children of wisdom would see that there was right in both courses2 the children of folly would condemn them both4 ,if the message is unwelcome1 nothing that the messenger can say or do will be right4 ,the same kind of thing is common to-day4 ,never mind consistency1 find fault with ,christianity on all its sides1 and with all its preachers1 though you have to contradict yourself in doing so4 ,object to this man that he is too learned and doctrinal2 to that one that he is too illiterate1 and gives no food for thought2 to this one that he is always thundering condemnation2 to that one that he is always running over with love2 to this one that he is perpetually harping upon duties2 to that other one that he is up in the clouds1 and forgets the tasks of daily life2 to this one that he is sensational2 to that one that he is dull2 and so on1 and so on4 ,the generation that liked neither piping nor mourning has its representatives still4 ,but my business now is not with the inconsistency of the objectors to ,john and ,jesus1 but simply with this caricature which ,he quotes from them of some of ,his characteristics4 ,it is a distorted refraction of the beam of light that comes from ,his face1 through the muddy1 thick medium of their prejudice4 ,and if we can1 ,i was going to say1 pull it straight again1 we shall see something of ,his glories4 ,i take the two clauses of my text separately because they are closely connected with our design1 and cover different ground4 ,i4 ,i ask you to note1 first1 the enemies' attestation to ,christ's genial participation in the joys and necessities of common life4 ',the ,son of man came eating and drinking4' ,there is nothing that calumny1 if it be malignant enough1 cannot twist into an accusation2 and out of glorious and significant facts1 full of lessons and containing strong buttresses of the central truth of the ,gospel1 these people made this charge1 'a winebibber and gluttonous4' ,the facts were facts2 the inferences were slanders4 ,notice how precious1 how demonstrative of the very central truth of ,christianity1 is that plain fact1 ',the ,son of man came eating and drinking4' ,then that pillar of all our hope1 the ,incarnation of the word of ,god1 stands irrefragable4 ,sitting at tables1 hungering in the wilderness1 faint by the well1 begging a draught of water from a woman1 and saying on ,his ,cross ',i thirst6'--,he is the ,incarnation of ,deity1 the manifestation of ,god in the flesh4 ,awe and mystery and reverence and hope and trust clasp that fact1 in which prejudice and dislike could only find occasion for a calumny4 ,by eating and drinking ,he declared that 'forasmuch as the children were partakers of flesh and blood1 ,he ,himself likewise took part in the same4' ,if it is true that every spirit that confesseth that ,jesus ,christ is come in the flesh is of ,god1' then it is true that no miracle in ,his life1 nor any of the supernatural glories which we are accustomed to regard as evidences of ,his majesty1 are more blessed1 or more important as revelations of ,his nature1 than the fact that 'the ,son of man came eating and drinking4' ,but1 still further1 mark how the truth which gave colour to the slander attests that ,jesus ,christ presents to the world the highest type of manhood4 ,the ideal for life is not the suppression1 but the consecration1 of material satisfactions and pleasures of appetite4 ,and they are likest to the ,master who1 like the ,master1 come eating and drinking1 and yet ever hold all appetites and desires rigidly under control1 and subordinate them all to loftier purposes4 ,john the ,baptist could be an ascetic2 the ,pattern ,man must not be4 ,the highest type of religion1 as it is shown to us in ,his perfect life1 includes the acceptance of all pure material blessings4 ,asceticism is second best2 the religion that can take and keep secondary all outward and transitory sources of enjoyment1 and can hallow common life1 is loftier than all pale hermits and emaciated types of sanctity1 who preserve their purity only by avoiding things which it were nobler to enjoy and to subdue4 ,there is nothing more striking about the ,old ,testament than the fact that its heroes and saints were kindly with their kind1 and took part in common life1 accepting1 enjoying its blessings4 ,they were warriors1 statesmen1 shepherds1 vinedressers2 'they bought1 they sold1 they planted1 they builded2 they married and were given in marriage1' and all the while they were the saints of ,god4 ,that was a nobler type of religion than the one that came after it1 into which ,jesus ,christ was born4 ,when devotion cools it crusts2 and the crust is superstition and formalism and punctilious attention to the proprieties of worship and casuistry1 instead of joyful obedience to a law1 and abstinence from1 instead of sanctification of1 earthly delights and supplies4 ,so1 protesting against all that1 and showing the more excellent way1 and hallowing the way because ,he trod it1 'the ,son of man came eating and drinking4' ,hence-forward every table may be a communion table1 and every meal may be a sacrament1 eaten in obedience to ,his dying injunction3 ',this do in remembrance of ,me4' ,if we can feel that ,christ sits with us at the feast1 the feast will be pure and good4 ,if it is of such a sort as that we dare not fancy ,him keeping us company there1 it is no place for us4 ,wherever ,jesus ,christ went the consecration of ,his presence lingers still2 whatever ,jesus ,christ did ,his servants may do1 if in the same spirit and in the same manner4 ,he hallowed infancy when ,he lay an infant in ,his mother's arms2 ,he hallowed childhood when1 as a boy1 ,he was obedient to ,his parents2 ,he hallowed youth during all those years of quiet seclusion and unnoticed service in ,nazareth2 ,he hallowed every part of human life and experience by bearing it4 ,love is consecrated because ,he loved2 tears are sacred because ,he wept2 life is worship1 or may be made so1 because ,he passed through it2 and death itself is ennobled and sanctified because ,he has died4 ,only let us remember that1 if we are to exercise this blessed hallowing of common things1 of which ,he has set us the example1 we must use them as ,he did2 that is1 in such sort as that our communion with ,god shall not be broken thereby1 and that nothing in them shall darken the vision and clip the wings of the aspiring and heavenward-gazing spirit4 ,brethren6 the tendency of this day--and one rejoices1 in many respects1 that it is so--is to revolt against the extreme of narrowness in the past that prescribed and proscribed a great many arbitrary and unnecessary abstinences and practices as the sign of a ,christian profession4 ,but whilst ,i would yield to no man in my joyful application of the principle that underlies that great fact that ',he came eating and drinking1' ,i do wish at this point to put in a caveat which perhaps may not be so welcome to some of you as the line of thought that ,i have been pursuing4 ,it is this3 it is an error to quote ,christ's example as a cover for luxury and excess1 and grasping at material enjoyments which are not innocent in themselves1 or are mixed up with much that is not innocent4 ,there is many a table spread by so-called ,christian people where ,jesus ,christ will not sit4 ,many a man darkens his spirit1 enfeebles his best part1 blinds himself to the things beyond1 by reason of his taking the liberty1 as he says1 which ,christianity1 broadly and generously interpreted1 gives1 of participating in all outward delights4 ,i have said that asceticism is not the highest1 but it is sometimes necessary4 ,it is better to enjoy and to subdue than to abstain and to suppress1 but abstinence and suppression are often essential to faithfulness and noble living4 ,if ,i find that my enjoyment of innocent things harms me1 or is tending to stimulate cravings beyond my control2 or if ,i find that abstinence from innocent things increases my power to help a brother1 and to fight against a desolating sin2 or if things good and innocent in themselves1 and in some respects desirable and admirable1 like the theatre1 for instance1 are irretrievably intertwisted with evil things1 then ,christ's example is no plea for our sharing in such4 ,it is better for us to cut off the offending hand1 and so1 though maimed1 to enter into life1 than to keep two hands and go into the darkness of death4 ,jesus ,christ 'came eating and drinking1' and therefore the highest and the best thing is that ,christian people should innocently1 and with due control1 and always keeping themselves in touch with ,god1 enjoy all outward blessings1 only subject to this law1 'whether ye eat or drink1 or whatsoever we do1 to do all to the glory of ,god1' and remembering this warning1 ',he that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption4' ,,ii4 ,now1 secondly1 notice the enemies' witness that ,christ is the ,friend of outcasts4 ,as ,i said about the other charge1 so ,i say of this1 the facts were facts1 the inferences were errors4 ,the slanderers saw1 as nobody could help seeing1 that there was a strange kind of mutual attraction between ,jesus and publicans and sinners2 that harlots as well as little children seemed to be drawn to ,him2 and that ,he obviously delighted in the company of those at whose presence1 partly from pride1 partly from national enmity1 partly from heartless self-righteousness1 ,pharisaism gathered its dainty skirts around itself in abhorrence1 lest a speck should fall upon their purity4 ,that being the fact1 low natures1 who always misunderstand lofty ones1 because they can only believe in motives as low as their own1 said of ,jesus1 ',ah6 you can tell what sort of a man ,he is by the company ,he keeps4 ,he is the friend of publicans because ,he is a bad ,jew2 the friend of sinners because ,he likes their wicked ways4' ,there was a mysterious sense of sympathy which drew ,jesus ,christ to these poor people and drew them to ,him4 ,it would have been a long while before any penitent woman would have come in and wept over the feet of ,gamaliel and his like4 ,it would have been a long while before any sinful men would have found their way1 with tears and yet with trust1 to these self-righteous hypocrites4 ,but perfect purity somehow draws the impure1 though assumed sanctity always repels them4 ,and it is a sign1 not that a man is bad1 but that he is good in a ,christlike fashion1 if the outcasts that durst not come near your respectable people find themselves drawn to ,him4 ,oh6 if there were more of us liker ,jesus ,christ in our purity1 there would be more of us who would deserve the calumny which is praise--'the friend of sinners4' ,it was an attestation of ,his love1 as ,i need not remind you4 ,i suppose there is nothing more striking in the whole wonderful and unique picture of ,jesus ,christ drawn in the ,gospels than the way in which two things1 which we so often fancy to be contradictory1 blend in the most beautiful harmony in ,him--viz4 infinite tenderness and absolute condemnation of transgression4 ,to me the fact that these two characteristics are displayed in perfect harmony in the life of ,jesus ,christ as written in these ,gospels1 is no small argument for believing the historical veracity of the picture there drawn4 ,for ,i do not know a harder thing for a dramatist1 or a romancer1 or a legend-monger to effect than to combine1 in one picture--without making the combination monstrous-these two things1 perfect purity and perfect love for the impure4 ,but1 dear brethren1 remember1 that if we are to believe ,jesus ,christ's own words1 that strange love of ,his1 which embraced in its pure clasp the outcasts1 was not only the love of a perfect ,man1 but it was the love of ,god ,himself4 ',he that hath seen ,me hath seen the ,father4' ,when we see ,jesus ,christ looking across the valley to the city1 with tears in ,his sad and gentle eyes2 and when we see harlots and sinners coming near ,him with new hope1 and a strange consciousness of a fascination which ,he wields2 and when we see ,him opening ,his heart to all the impure1 just as ,he laid ,his clean hand on the leper's ulcers1 let us rejoice to believe that the ,friend of publicans and sinners is ,god manifest in the flesh4 ,then1 still further1 this wondrous1 seeking love of ,his for all the outcasts is the sign to us of ,his boundless hopefulness concerning the most degraded4 ,the world talks of races too low to be elevated1 of men too hardened to be softened4 ,jesus ,christ walks through the hospitals of this world1 and nowhere sees incurables4 ,his hope is boundless1 because1 first of all1 ,he sees the dormant possibilities that slumber in the most degraded2 and because1 still more1 ,he knows that ,he bears in ,himself a power that will cleanse the foulest and raise the most fallen4 ,there are some metals that resist all attempts to volatilise them by the highest temperature producible in our furnaces4 ,carry them up into the sun and they will all pass into vapour4 ,no man or woman who ever lived1 or will live1 is so absolutely besotted1 and held by the chains of his or her sins1 as that ,jesus cannot set them free4 ,his hope for outcasts is boundless1 because ,he knows that every sin can be cleansed by ,his precious blood4 ,therefore1 ,christianity should know nothing of desperate cases4 ,there should be no incurables in our estimate of the world1 but our hope should be as boundless as the ,master's1 who drew to ,himself the publicans and sinners1 and made them saints4 ,i need not remind you how this is the unique glory of ,christ and of ,christianity4 ,men have been asking the question whether ,christianity is played out or not4 ,what has been the motive power of all the great movements for the elevation of mankind that have occurred for the last nineteen centuries8 ,what was it that struck the fetters of the slaves8 ,what is it that sends men out amongst savage tribes8 ,has there ever been found a race of men so degraded that the message of ,christ's love could not find its way into their hearts8 ,did not ,darwin subscribe to the ,patagonian ,mission--a mission which takes in hand perhaps the lowest types of humanity in the world--and did he not do it because his own eyes had taught him that in this strange superstition that we call the ,gospel there is a power that1 somehow or other1 nothing else can wield8 ,brethren6 if the ,church begins to lose its care for1 and its power of drawing1 outcasts and sinners1 it has begun to lose its hold on ,christ4 ,the sooner such a ,church dies the better1 and there will be few mourners at its funeral4 ,the ,friend of publicans and sinners has set the example to all of us ,his followers4 ,god be thanked that there are signs to-day that ,christian people are more and more waking up to the consciousness of their obligations in regard to the outcasts in their own and other lands4 ,let them go to them1 as ,jesus ,christ did1 with no false flatteries1 but with plain rebukes of sin1 and yet with manifest outgoing of the heart1 and they will find that the same thing which drew these poor creatures to the ,master will draw others to the feeblest1 faintest reflection of ,him in ,his servants4 ,and1 last of all1 dear friends1 let each think that ,jesus ,christ is my ,friend1 and your ,friend1 because ,he is the ,friend of sinners1 and we are sinners4 ,if ,he did not love sinners there would be nobody for ,him to love4 ,the universality of sin1 however various in its degrees and manifestations1 makes more wonderful the universal sweep of ,his friendship4 ,how do ,i know that ,he is my ,friend8 ',greater love hath no man than this1 that a man lay down his life for his friends1' and when we were yet enemies ,he was our ,friend1 and died for us4 ,how shall we requite that love8 ',ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever ,i command you to do4' ,all over the ,eastern world to this day the name by which the ,patriarch ,abraham is known is the ',friend' or the ',companion4' ,well for us1 for time and for eternity1 if1 knowing that ,jesus is our ,friend1 we yield ourselves1 in faith and love1 to become ,his friends6 ,,the ,,two ,,debtors ',there was a certain creditor which had two debtors2 the one owed five hundred pence1 and the other fifty4 #db4 ,and when they had nothing to pay1 he frankly forgave them both4 ,tell ,me therefore1 which of them will love him most8 #dc4 ,simon answered and said1 ,i suppose that he to whom he forgave most4'--,,luke vii4#da-dc4 ,we all know the lovely story in which this parable is embedded4 ,a woman of notoriously bad character had somehow come in contact with ,jesus ,christ1 and had by ,him been aroused from her sensuality and degradation1 and calmed by the assurance of forgiveness4 ,so1 when she heard that ,he was in her own town1 what could she do but hasten to the ,pharisee's house1 and brave the cruel1 scornful eyes of the eminently respectable people that would meet her there8 ,she carries with her part of the spoils and instruments of her sinful adornment1 to devote it to ,his service2 but before she can open the cruse1 her heart opens1 and the hot tears flow on ,his feet1 inflicting an indignity where she had meant an honour4 ,she has nothing at hand to repair the fault1 she will not venture to take her poor garment1 which might have done it1 but with a touch1 she loosens her long hair1 and with the ingenuity and self-abasement of love1 uses that for a towel4 ,then1 gathering confidence from her reception1 and carried further than she had meant1 she ventures to lay her sinful lips on ,his feet1 as if asking pardon for the tears that would come--the only lips1 except those of the traitor1 that are recorded as having touched the ,master4 ,and only then does she dare to pour upon ,him her only wealth4 ,what says the ,pharisee8 ,has he a heart at all8 ,he is scandalised at such a scene at his respectable table2 and no wonder1 for he could not have known that a change had passed upon the woman1 and her evil repute was obviously notorious4 ,he does not wonder at her having found her way into his house1 for the meal was half public4 ,but he began to doubt whether a ,man who tolerates such familiarities from such a person could be a prophet2 or if ,he were1 whether ,he could be a good man4 ',he would have known her if ,he had been a prophet1' thinks he4 ,the thought is only a questionably true one4 ',if ,he had known her1 ,he would have thrust her back with ,his foot1' he thinks2 and that thought is obviously false4 ,but ,simon's righteousness was of the sort that gathers up its own robes about it1 and shoves back the poor sinner into the filth4 ',she is a sinner1' says he4 ,no1 ,simon6 she was a sinner1 but she is a penitent1 and is on the road to be a saint1 and having been washed1 she is a great deal cleaner than thou art1 who art only white-washed4 ,our ,lord's parable is the answer to the ,pharisee's thought1 and in it ,jesus shows ,simon that ,he knows him and the woman a great deal better than he did4 ,there are three things to which briefly ,i ask your attention--the common debt1 in varying amounts2 the common insolvency2 and the love1 like the debt1 varying in amount4 ,now1 note these things in order4 ,i4 ,there is1 first of all1 the common debt4 ,i do not propose to dwell at all upon that familiar metaphor1 familiar to us all from its use in the ,lord's ,prayer1 by which sin and the guilt of sin are shadowed forth for us in an imperfect fashion by the conception of debt4 ,for duty neglected is a debt to ,god1 which can only be discharged by a penalty4 ,and all sin1 and its consequent guilt and exposure to punishment1 may be regarded under the image of indebtedness4 ,but the point that ,i want you to notice is that these two in our parable1 though they are meant to be portraits of ,simon and the woman1 are also representatives of the two classes to one or other of which we all belong4 ,they are both debtors1 though one owes but a tenth of what the other does4 ,that is to say1 our ,lord here draws a broad distinction between people who are outwardly respectable1 decent1 cleanly living1 and people who have fallen into the habit1 and are living a life1 of gross and open transgression4 ,there has been a great deal of very pernicious loose representation of the attitude of ,christianity in reference to this matter1 common in evangelical pulpits4 ,and ,i want you to observe that our ,lord draws a broad line and says1 ',yes6 you1 ,simon1 are a great deal better than that woman was4 ,she was coarse1 unclean1 her innocence gone1 her purity stained4 ,she had been wallowing in filth1 and you1 with your respectability1 your rigid morality1 your punctilious observance of the ordinary human duties1 you were far better than she was1 and had far less to answer for than she had4' ,fifty is only a tenth of five hundred1 and there is a broad distinction1 which nothing ought to be allowed to obliterate1 between people who1 without religion1 are trying to do right1 to keep themselves in the paths of morality and righteousness1 to discharge their duty to their fellows1 controlling their passions and their flesh1 and others who put the reins upon the necks of the horses and let them carry them where they will1 and live in an eminent manner for the world and the flesh and the devil4 ,and there is nothing in evangelical ,christianity which in the smallest degree obliterates that distinction1 but rather it emphasises it1 and gives a man full credit for any difference that there is in his life and conduct and character between himself and the man of gross transgression4 ,but then it says1 on the other side1 the difference which does exist1 and is not to be minimised1 is1 after all1 a difference of degree4 ,they are both debtors4 ,they stand in the same relation to the creditor1 though the amount of the indebtedness is extremely different4 ,we are all sinful men1 and we stand in the same relation to ,god1 though one of us may be much darker and blacker than the other4 ,and then1 remember1 that when you begin to talk about the guilt of actions in ,god's sight1 you have to go far below the mere surface4 ,if we could see the infinite complexity of motives--aggravations on the one side and palliations on the other--which go to the doing of a single deed1 we should not be so quick to pronounce that the publican and the harlot are worse than the ,pharisee4 ,it is quite possible that an action which passes muster in regard to the morality of the world may1 if regard be had 7which ,god only can exercise7 to the motive for which it is done1 be as bad as1 if not worse than1 the lust and the animalism1 drunkenness and debauchery1 crime and murder1 which the vulgar scales of the world consider to be the heavier4 ,if you once begin to try to measure guilt1 you will have to pass under the surface appearance1 and will find that many a white and dazzling act has a very rotten inside1 and that many a very corrupt and foul one does not come from so corrupt a source as at first sight might seem to be its origin4 ,let us be very modest in our estimate of the varying guilt of actions1 and remember that1 deep down below all diversities1 there lies a fundamental identity1 in which there is no difference1 that all of us respectable people that never broke a law of the nation1 and scarcely ever a law of propriety1 in our lives1 and the outcasts1 if there are any here now1 the drunkards1 the sensualists1 all of us stand in this respect in the same class4 ,we are all debtors1 for we have 'all sinned and come short of the glory of ,god1' ,a viper an inch long and the thickness of whipcord has a sting and poison in it1 and is a viper4 ,and if the question is whether a man has got small-pox or not1 one pustule is as good evidence as if he was spotted all over4 ,so1 remember1 he who owes five hundred and he who owes the tenth part of it1 which is fifty1 are both debtors4 ,,ii4 ,now notice the common insolvency4 ',they had nothing to pay4' ,well1 if there is no money1 'no effects' in the bank1 no cash in the till1 nothing to distrain upon1 it does not matter very much what the amount of the debt is1 seeing that there is nothing to meet it1 and whether it is fifty or five hundred the man is equally unable to pay4 ,and that is precisely our position4 ,i admit1 of course1 that men without any recognition of ,god's pardoning mercy1 or any of the joyful impulse that comes from the sense of ,christ's redemption1 or any of the help that is given by the indwelling of the ,spirit who sanctifies may do a great deal in the way of mending their characters and making themselves purer and nobler4 ,but that is not the point which my text contemplates1 because it deals with a past4 ,and the fact that lies under the metaphor of my text is this1 that none of us can in any degree diminish our sin1 considered as a debt to ,god4 ,what can you and ,i do to lighten our souls of the burden of guilt8 ,what we have written we have written4 ,tears will not wash it out1 and amendment will not alter the past1 which stands frowning and irrevocable4 ,if there be a ,god at all1 then our consciences1 which speak to us of demerit1 proclaim guilt in its two elements--the sense of having done wrong1 and the foreboding of punishment therefor4 ,guilt cannot be dealt with by the guilty one3 it must be ,some ,one else who deals with it4 ,he1 and only ,he against whom we have sinned1 can touch the great burden that we have piled upon us4 ,brother6 we have nothing to pay4 ,we may mend our ways2 but that does not touch the past4 ,we may hate the evil2 that will help to keep us from doing it in the future1 but it does not affect our responsibility for what is done4 ,we cannot touch it2 there it stands irrevocable1 with this solemn sentence written over the black pile1 ',every transgression and disobedience shall receive its just recompense of reward4' ,we have nothing to pay4 ,but my text suggests1 further1 that a condition precedent to forgiveness is the recognition by us of our penniless insolvency4 ,though it is not distinctly stated1 it is clearly and necessarily implied in the narrative1 that the two debtors are to be supposed as having come and held out a couple of pairs of empty hands1 and sued in form pauperis4 ,you must recognise your insolvency if you expect to be forgiven4 ,god does not accept dividends1 so much in the pound1 and let you off the rest on consideration thereof4 ,if you are going to pay1 you have to pay all2 if ,he is going to forgive1 you have to let ,him forgive all4 ,it must be one thing or the other1 and you and ,i have to elect which of the two we shall stand by1 and which of the two shall be applied to us4 ,oh1 dear friends6 may we all come and say1 ,nothing in my hand ,i bring1 ,simply to ,thy ,cross ,i cling4 ,,iii4 ,and so1 lastly1 notice the love1 which varies with the forgiveness4 ',tell ,me which of them will love him most4' ,simon does not penetrate ,christ's design1 and there is a dash of supercilious contempt for the story and the question1 as it seems to me1 in the languid1 half-courteous answer3--',i suppose1 if it were worth my while to think about such a thing1 that he to whom he forgave the most4' ,he did not know what a battery was going to be unmasked4 ,jesus says1 ',thou hast rightly judged4' ,the man that is most forgiven is the man that will love most4 ,well1 that answer is true if all other things about the two debtors are equal4 ,if they are the same sort of men1 with the same openness to sentiments of gratitude and generosity1 the man who is let off the smaller debt will generally be less obliged than the man who is let off the larger4 ,but it is1 alas6 not always the case that we can measure benefits conferred by gratitude shown4 ,another element comes in--namely1 the consciousness of the benefit received--which measures the gratitude far more accurately than the actual benefit bestowed4 ,and so we must take both these things1 the actual amount of forgiveness1 so to speak1 which is conferred1 and the depth of the sense of the forgiveness received1 in order to get the measure of the love which answers it4 ,so that this principle breaks up into two thoughts1 of which ,i have only just a word or two to say4 ,first1 it is very often true that the greatest sinners make the greatest saints4 ,there have been plenty of instances all down the history of the world1 and there are plenty of instances1 thank ,god1 cropping up every day still in which some poor1 wretched outcast1 away out in the darkness1 living on the husks that the swine do eat1 and liking to be in the pigstye1 is brought back into the ,father's house1 and turns out a far more loving son and a far better servant than the man that had never wandered away from it4 ',the publicans and the harlots' do often yet 'go into the ,kingdom of ,god before' the respectable people4 ,and there are plenty of people in ,manchester that you would not touch with a pair of tongs who1 if they could be got hold of1 would make far more earnest and devoted ,christians than you are4 ,the very strength of passion and feeling which has swept them wrong1 rightly directed1 would make grand saints of them1 just as the very same conditions of climate which1 at tropics1 bring tornadoes and cyclones and dreadful thunder-storms1 do also bring abundant fertility4 ,the river which devastates a nation1 dammed up within banks1 may fertilise half a continent4 ,and if a man is brought out of the darkness1 and looks back upon the years that are wasted1 that may help him to a more intense consecration4 ,and if he remembers the filth out of which ,jesus ,christ picked him1 it will bind him to that ,lord with a bond deep and sacred4 ,so let no outcast man or woman listening to me now despair4 ,you can come back from the furthest darkness1 and whatever ugly things you have in your memories and your consciences1 you may make them stepping-stones on which to climb to the very throne of ,god4 ,let no respectable people despise the outcasts2 there may be the making in them of far better ,christians than we are4 ,but1 on the other hand1 let no man think lightly of sin4 ,though it can be forgiven and swept away1 and the gross sinner may become the great saint1 there will be scars and bitter memories and habits surging up again after we thought they were dead2 and the old ague and fever that we caught in the pestilential land will hang by us when we have migrated into a more wholesome climate4 ,it is never good for a man to have sinned1 even though1 through his sin1 ,god may have taken occasion to bring him near to ,himself4 ,but the second form of this principle is always true--namely1 that those who are most conscious of forgiveness will be most fruitful of love4 ,the depth and fervour of our individual ,christianity depends more largely on the clearness of our consciousness of our own personal guilt and the firmness of our grasp of forgiveness than upon anything else4 ,why is it that such multitudes of you professing ,christians are such icebergs in your ,christianity8 ,mainly for this reason--that you have never found out1 in anything like an adequate measure1 how great a sinner you are1 and how sure and sweet and sufficient ,christ's pardoning mercy is4 ,and so you are like ,simon--you will ask ,jesus to dinner1 but you will not give ,him any water for ,his feet or ointment for ,his head4 ,you will do the conventional and necessary pieces of politeness1 but not one act of impulse from the heart ever comes from you4 ,you discharge 'the duties of religion4' ,what a phrase6 ,you discharge the duties of religion4 ,ah6 ,my brother1 if you had been down into the horrible pit and the miry clay1 and had seen a hand and a face looking down1 and an arm outstretched to lift you2 and if you had ever known what the rapture was after that subterraneous experience of having your feet set upon a rock and your goings established1 you would come to ,him and you would say1 ',take me all1 ,o ,lord6 for ,i am all redeemed by ,thee4' ',to whom little is forgiven the same loveth little4' ,does not that explain the imperfect ,christianity of thousands of us8 ,fifty pence and five hundred pence are both small sums4 ,our ,lord had nothing to do here with the absolute amount of debt1 but only with the comparative amount of the two debts4 ,but when ,he wanted to tell the people what the absolute amount of the debt was1 he did it in that other story of the ,unfaithful ,servant4 ,he owed his lord1 not fifty pence 7fifty eightpences or thereabouts71 not five hundred pence1 but 'ten thousand talents1' which comes to near two and a half millions of ,english money4 ,and that is the picture of our indebtedness to ,god4 ',we have nothing to pay4' ,here is the payment--that ,cross1 that dying ,christ4 ,turn your faith there1 my brother1 and then you will get ample forgiveness1 and that will kindle love1 and that will overflow in service4 ,for the aperture in the heart at which forgiveness enters in is precisely of the same width as the one at which love goes out4 ,christ has loved us all1 and perfectly4 ,let us love ,him back again1 who has died that we might live1 and borne our sins in ,his own body4 ,,love ,,and ,,forgiveness ',her sins1 which are many1 are forgiven2 for she loved much4'--,,luke vii4 #dg4 ,this story contains three figures1 three persons1 who may stand for us as types or representatives of the divine love and of all its operation in the world1 of the way in which it is received or rejected1 and of the causes and consequences of its reception or rejection4 ,there is the unloving1 cleanly1 respectable1 self-complacent ,pharisee1 with all his contempt for 'this woman4' ,there is the woman1 with gross sin and mighty penitence1 the great burst of love that is flowing out of her heart sweeping away before it1 as it were1 all the guilt of her transgressions4 ,and1 high over all1 brooding over all1 loving each1 knowing each1 pitying each1 willing to save and be the ,friend and ,brother of each1 is the embodied and manifested divine ,love1 the knowledge of whom is love in our hearts1 and is 'life eternal4' ,so that now ,i have simply to ask you to look with me1 for a little while1 at these three persons as representing for us the divine love that comes forth amongst sinners1 and the twofold form in which that love is received4 ,there is1 first1 ,christ the love of ,god appearing amongst men1 the foundation of all our love to ,him4 ,then there is the woman1 the penitent sinner1 lovingly recognising the divine love4 ,and then1 last1 there is the ,pharisee1 the self-righteous man1 ignorant of himself1 and empty of all love to ,god4 ,these are the three figures to which ,i ask your attention now4 ,i4 ,we have ,christ here standing as a manifestation of the divine love coming forth amongst sinners4 ,his person and ,his words1 the part ,he plays in this narrative1 and the parable that ,he speaks in the course of it1 have to be noticed under this head4 ,first1 then1 you have this idea--that ,he1 as bringing to us the love of ,god1 shows it to us1 as not at all dependent upon our merits or deserts3 ',he frankly forgave them both' are the deep words in which ,he would point us to the source and the ground of all the love of ,god4 ,brethren1 have you ever thought what a wonderful and blessed truth there lies in the old words of one of the ,jewish prophets1 ',i do not this for your sakes1 ,o house of ,israel1 but for ,mine holy ,name's sake'8 ,the foundation of all ,god's love to us sinful men1 that saying tells us1 lies not in us1 nor in anything about us1 not in anything external to ,god ,himself4 ,he1 and ,he alone1 is the cause and reason1 the motive and the end1 of ,his own love to our world4 ,and unless we have grasped that magnificent thought as the foundation of all our acceptance in ,him1 ,i think we have not yet learnt half of the fullness which1 even in this world1 may belong to our conceptions of the love of ,god--a love that has no motive but ,himself2 a love that is not evoked even 7if ,i may so say7 by regard to ,his creatures' wants2 a love1 therefore1 which is eternal1 being in that divine heart before there were creatures upon whom it could rest2 a love that is its own guarantee1 its own cause--safe and firm1 therefore1 with all the firmness and serenity of the divine nature-incapable of being affected by our transgression1 deeper than all our sins1 more ancient than our very existence1 the very essence and being of ,god ,himself4 ',he frankly forgave them both4' ,if you seek the source of divine love1 you must go high up into the mountains of ,god1 and learn that it1 as all other of ,his 7shall ,i say7 emotions1 and feelings1 and resolutions1 and purposes1 owns no reason but ,himself1 no motive but ,himself2 lies wrapped in the secret of ,his nature1 who is all-sufficient for ,his own blessedness1 and all whose work and being is caused by1 and satisfied1 and terminates in ,his own fullness4 ',god is love'3 therefore beneath all considerations of what we may want--deeper and more blessed than all thoughts of a compassion that springs from the feeling of human distress and the sight of man's misery--lies this thought of an affection which does not need the presence of sorrow to evoke it1 which does not want the touch of our finger to flow out1 but by its very nature is everlasting1 by its very nature is infinite1 by its very nature must be pouring out the flood of its own joyous fullness for ever and ever6 ,then1 again1 ,christ standing here for us as the representative and revelation of this divine love which ,he manifests to us1 tells us1 too1 that whilst it is not caused by us1 but comes from the nature of ,god1 it is not turned away by our sins4 ',this man1 if he were a prophet1 would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth ,him1' says the unloving and self-righteous heart1 'for she is a sinner4' ,ah6 there is nothing more beautiful than the difference between the thought about sinful creatures which is natural to a holy being1 and the thought about sinful creatures which is natural to a self-righteous being4 ,the one is all contempt2 the other1 all pity4 ,he knew what she was1 and therefore ,he let her come close to ,him with the touch of her polluted hand1 and pour out the gains of her lawless life and the adornments of her former corruption upon ,his most blessed and most holy head4 ,his knowledge of her as a sinner1 what did it do to ,his love for her8 ,it made that love gentle and tender1 as knowing that she could not bear the revelation of the blaze of ,his purity4 ,it smoothed ,his face and softened ,his tones1 and breathed through all ,his knowledge and notice of her timid and yet confident approach4 ',daughter1 ,i know all about it--all thy wanderings and thy vile transgressions3 ,i know them all1 and ,my love is mightier than all these4 ,they may be as the great sea1 but my love is like the everlasting mountains1 whose roots go down beneath the ocean1 and ,my love is like the everlasting heaven1 whose brightness covers it all over4' ,god's love is ,christ's love2 ,christ's love is ,god's love4 ,and this is the lesson that we gather--that that infinite and divine loving-kindness does not turn away from thee1 my brother and my friend1 because thou art a sinner1 but remains hovering about thee1 with wooing invitations and with gentle touches1 if it may draw thee to repentance1 and open a fountain of answering affection in thy seared and dry heart4 ,the love of ,god is deeper than all our sins4 ',for ,his great love wherewith ,he loved us1 when we were dead in sins1 ,he quickened us4' ,sin is but the cloud behind which the everlasting sun lies in all its power and warmth1 unaffected by the cloud2 and the light will yet strike1 the light of ,his love will yet pierce through1 with its merciful shafts bringing healing in their beams1 and dispersing all the pitchy darkness of man's transgression4 ,and as the mists gather themselves up and roll away1 dissipated by the heat of that sun in the upper sky1 and reveal the fair earth below--so the love of ,christ shines in1 molting the mist and dissipating the fog1 thinning it off in its thickest places1 and at last piercing its way right through it1 down to the heart of the man that has been lying beneath the oppression of this thick darkness1 and who thought that the fog was the sky1 and that there was no sun there above4 ,god be thanked6 the everlasting love of ,god that comes from the depth of ,his own being1 and is there because of ,himself1 will never be quenched because of man's sin4 ,and so1 in the next place1 ,christ teaches us here that this divine love1 when it comes forth among sinners1 necessarily manifests itself first in the form of forgiveness4 ,there was nothing to be done with the debtors until the debt was wiped out2 there was no possibility of other gifts of the highest sort being granted to them1 until the great score was cancelled and done away with4 ,when the love of ,god comes down into a sinful world1 it must come first and foremost as pardoning mercy4 ,there are no other terms upon which there can be a union betwixt the loving-kindness of ,god1 and the emptiness and sinfulness of my heart1 except only this--that first of all there shall be the clearing away from my soul of the sins which ,i have gathered there1 and then there will be space for all other divine gifts to work and to manifest themselves4 ,only do not fancy that when we speak about forgiveness1 we simply mean that a man's position in regard to the penalties of sin is altered4 ,that is not all the depth of the scriptural notion of forgiveness4 ,it includes far more than the removal of outward penalties4 ,the heart of it all is1 that the love of ,god rests upon the sinner1 unturned away even by his sins1 passing over his sins1 and removing his sins for the sake of ,christ4 ,my friend1 if you are talking in general terms about a great divine loving-kindness that wraps you round--if you have a great deal to say1 apart from the ,gospel1 about the love of ,god as being your hope and confidence--,i want you to reflect on this1 that the first word which the love of ,god speaks to sinful men is pardon2 and unless that is your notion of ,god's love1 unless you look to that as the first thing of all1 let me tell you1 you may have before you a very fair picture of a very beautiful1 tender1 good-natured benevolence1 but you have not nearly reached the height of the vigour and yet the tenderness of the ,scripture notion of the love of ,god4 ,it is not a love which says1 ',well1 put sin on one side1 and give the man the blessings all the same1' not a love which has nothing to say about that great fact of transgression1 not a love which gives it the go-by1 and leaves it standing3 but a love which passes into the heart through the portal of pardon1 a love which grapples with the fact of sin first1 and has nothing to say to a man until it has said that message to him4 ,and but one word more on this part of my subject--here we see the love of ,god thus coming from ,himself2 not turned away by man's sins2 being the cause of forgiveness2 expressing itself in pardon2 and last of all1 demanding service4 ',simon1 thou gavest ,me no water1 thou gavest ,me no kiss1 ,my head thou didst not anoint3 ,i expected all these things from thee--,i desired them all from thee3 ,my love came that they might spring in thy heart2 thou hast not given them2 ,my love is wounded1 as it were disappointed1 and it turns away from thee6' ,yes1 after all that we have said about the freeness and fullness1 the unmerited1 and uncaused1 and unmotived nature of that divine affection--after all that we have said about its being the source of every blessing to man1 asking nothing from him1 but giving everything to him2 it still remains true1 that ,god's love1 when it comes to men1 comes that it may evoke an answering echo in the human heart1 and 'though it might be much bold to enjoin1 yet for love's sake rather beseeches' us to give unto ,him who has given all unto us4 ,there1 then1 stands forth in the narrative1 ,christ as a revelation of the divine love amongst sinners4 ,,ii4 ,now1 in the second place1 let us look for a moment at 'this woman' as the representative of a class of character--the penitent lovingly recognising the divine love4 ,the words which ,i have read as my text contain a statement as to the woman's character3 ',her sins1 which are many1 are forgiven2 for she loved much4' ,allow me just one word of explanation1 in the shape of exposition1 on these words4 ,great blunders have been built upon them4 ,i dare say you have seen epitaphs--7,i have7--written often on gravestones with this misplaced idea on them--',very sinful2 but there was a great deal of love in the person2 and for the sake of the love1 ,god passed by the sin6' ,now1 when ,christ says ',she loved much1' ,he does not mean to say that her love was the cause of her forgiveness--not at all4 ,he means to say that her love was the proof of her forgiveness1 and that it was so because her love was a consequence of her forgiveness4 ,as1 for instance1 we might say1 ',the woman is in great distress1 for she weeps'2 but we do not mean thereby that the weeping is the reason of the distress1 but the means of our knowing the sorrow4 ,it is the proof because it is the consequence4 ,or 7to put it into the simplest shape7 the love does not go before the forgiveness1 but the forgiveness goes before the love2 and because the love comes after the forgiveness1 it is the sign of the forgiveness4 ,that this is the true interpretation1 you will see if you look back for a moment at the narrative which precedes1 where ,he says1 ',he frankly forgave them both3 tell me1 therefore1 which of them will love him most8' ,pardon is the pre-requisite of love1 and love is a consequence of the sense of forgiveness4 ,this1 then1 is the first thing to observe3 all true love to ,god is preceded in the heart by these two things--a sense of sin1 and an assurance of pardon4 ,brethren1 there is no love possible--real1 deep1 genuine1 worthy of being called love of ,god--which does not start with the belief of my own transgression1 and with the thankful reception of forgiveness in ,christ4 ,you do nothing to get pardon for yourselves2 but unless you have the pardon you have no love to ,god4 ,i know that sounds a very hard thing--,i know that many will say it is very narrow and very bigoted1 and will ask1 ',do you mean to tell me that the man whose bosom glows with gratitude because of earthly blessings1 has no love--that all that natural religion which is in people1 apart from this sense of forgiveness in ,christ1 do you mean to tell me that this is not all genuine8' ,yes1 most assuredly2 and ,i believe the ,bible and man's conscience say the same thing4 ,i do not for one moment deny that there may be in the hearts of those who are in the grossest ignorance of themselves as transgressors1 certain emotions of instinctive gratitude and natural religiousness1 directed to some higher power dimly thought of as the author of their blessings and the source of much gladness3 but has that kind of thing got any living power in it8 ,i demur to its right to be called love to ,god at all1 for this reason--because it seems to me that the object that is loved is not ,god1 but a fragment of ,god4 ,he who but says1 ',i owe to ,him breath and all things2 in ,him ,i live and move1 and have my being1' has left out one-half at least of the ,scriptural conception of ,god4 ,your ,god1 my friend1 is not the ,god of the ,bible1 unless ,he stands before you clothed in infinite loving-kindness indeed2 but clothed also in strict and rigid justice4 ,is your ,god perfect and entire8 ,if you say that you love ,him1 and if you do so1 is it as the ,god and ,father of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ8 ,have you meditated on the depths of the requirements of ,his law8 ,have you stood silent and stricken at the thought of the blaze of ,his righteousness8 ,have you passed through all the thick darkness and the clouds with which ,he surrounds ,his throne1 and forced your way at last into the inner light where ,he dwells8 ,or is it a vague divinity that you worship and love8 ,which8 ,ah1 if a man study his ,bible1 and try to find out for himself1 from its veracious records1 who and what manner of ,god the living ,god is1 there will be no love in his heart to that ,being except only when he has flung himself at ,his feet1 and said1 ',father of eternal purity1 and ,god of all holiness and righteousness1 forgive ,thy child1 a sinful broken man--forgive ,thy child1 for the sake of ,thy ,son6' ,that1 and that alone1 is the road by which we come to possess the love of ,god1 as a practical power1 filling and sanctifying our souls2 and such is the ,god to whom alone our love ought to be rendered2 and ,i tell you 7or rather the ,bible tells you1 and the ,gospel and the ,cross of ,christ tell you71 there is no love without pardon1 no fellowship and sonship without the sense of sin and the acknowledgment of foul transgression6 ,so much1 then1 for what precedes the love of ,christ in the heart2 now a word as to what follows4 ',her sins1 which are many1 are forgiven2 for she loved much4' ,the sense of sin precedes forgiveness3 forgiveness precedes love2 love precedes all acceptable and faithful service4 ,if you want to do1 love4 ,if you want to know1 love4 ,this poor woman knew ,christ a vast deal better than that ,pharisee there4 ,he said1 ',this man is not a prophet2 ,he does not understand the woman4' ,ay1 but the woman knew herself better than the ,pharisee knew himself1 knew herself better than the ,pharisee knew her1 knew ,christ1 above all1 a vast deal better than he did4 ,love is the gate of all knowledge4 ,this poor woman brings her box of ointment1 a relic perhaps of past evil life1 and once meant for her own adornment1 and pours it on ,his head1 lavishes offices of service which to the unloving heart seem bold in the giver and cumbersome to the receiver4 ,it is little she can do1 but she does it4 ,her full heart demands expression1 and is relieved by utterance in deeds4 ,the deeds are spontaneous1 welling out at the bidding of an inward impulse1 not drawn out by the force of an external command4 ,it matters not what practical purpose they serve4 ,the motive of them makes their glory4 ,love prompts them1 love justifies them1 and ,his love interprets them1 and ,his love accepts them4 ,the love which flows from the sense of forgiveness is the source of all obedience as well as the means of all knowledge4 ,brethren1 we differ from each other in all respects but one1 ',we have all sinned and come short of the glory of ,god'2 we all need the love of ,christ2 it is offered to us all2 but1 believe me1 the sole handle by which you can lay hold of it1 is the feeling of your own sinfulness and need of pardon4 ,i preach to you a love that you do not need to buy1 a mercy that you do not need to bribe1 a grace that is all independent of your character1 and condition1 and merits1 which issues from ,god for ever1 and is lying at your doors if you will take it4 ,you are a sinful man2 ,christ died for you4 ,he comes to give you ,his forgiving mercy4 ,take it1 be at rest4 ,so shalt thou love and know and do1 and so shall ,he love and guide thee6 ,,iii4 ,now one word1 and then ,i have done4 ,a third character stands here--the unloving and self-righteous man1 all ignorant of the love of ,christ4 ,he is the antithesis of the woman and her character4 ,you remember the traditional peculiarities and characteristics of the class to which he belonged4 ,he is a fair specimen of the whole of them4 ,respectable in life1 rigid in morality1 unquestionable in orthodoxy2 no sound of suspicion having ever come near his belief in all the traditions of the elders2 intelligent and learned1 high up among the ranks of ,israel6 ,what was it that made this man's morality a piece of dead nothingness8 ,what was it that made his orthodoxy just so many dry words1 from out of which all the life had gone8 ,what was it8 ,this one thing3 there was no love in it4 ,as ,i said1 ,love is the foundation of all obedience2 without it1 morality degenerates into mere casuistry4 ,love is the foundation of all knowledge2 without it1 religion degenerates into a chattering about ,moses1 and doctrines1 and theories2 a thing that will neither kill nor make alive1 that never gave life to a single soul or blessing to a single heart1 and never put strength into any hand for the conflict and strife of daily life4 ,there is no more contemptible and impotent thing on the face of the earth than morality divorced from love1 and religious thoughts divorced from a heart full of the love of ,god4 ,quick corruption or long decay1 and in either case death and putrefaction1 are the end of these4 ,you and ,i need that lesson1 my friends4 ,it is of no use for us to condemn ,pharisees that have been dead and in their graves for nineteen hundred years4 ,the same thing besets us all2 we all of us try to get away from the centre1 and dwell contented on the surface4 ,we are satisfied to take the flowers and stick them into our little gardens1 without any roots to them1 when of course they all die out6 ,people may try to cultivate virtue without religion1 and to acquire correct notions of moral and spiritual truth2 and partially and temporarily they may succeed1 but the one will be a yoke of bondage1 and the other a barren theory4 ,i repeat1 love is the basis of all knowledge and of all right-doing4 ,if you have got that firm foundation laid in the soul1 then the knowledge and the practice will be builded in ,god's own good time2 and if not1 the higher you build the temple1 and the more aspiring are its cloud-pointing pinnacles1 the more certain will be its toppling some day1 and the more awful will be the ruin when it comes4 ,the ,pharisee was contented with himself1 and so there was no sense of sin in him1 therefore there was no penitent recognition of ,christ as forgiving and loving him1 therefore there was no love to ,christ4 ,because there was no love1 there was neither light nor heat in his soul1 his knowledge was barren notions1 and his painful doings were soul-destructive self-righteousness4 ,and so it all comes round to the one blessed message3 ,my friend1 ,god hath loved us with an everlasting love4 ,he has provided an eternal redemption and pardon for us4 ,if you would know ,christ at all1 you must go to ,him as a sinful man1 or you are shut out from ,him altogether4 ,if you will go to ,him as a sinful being1 fling yourself down there1 not try to make yourself better1 but say1 ',i am full of unrighteousness and transgression2 let ,thy love fall upon me and heal me'2 you will get the answer1 and in your heart there shall begin to live and grow up a root of love to ,him1 which shall at last effloresce into all knowledge and unto all purity of obedience2 for he that hath had much forgiveness1 loveth much2 and 'he that loveth knoweth ,god1' and 'dwelleth in ,god1 and ,god in ,him'6 ,,go ,,into ,,peace ',and ,he said to the woman1 ,thy faith hath saved thee3 go in peace4'--,,luke vii4 #ej4 ,we find that our ,lord twice1 and twice only1 employs this form of sending away those who had received benefits from ,his hand4 ,on both occasions the words were addressed to women3 once to this woman1 who was a sinner1 and who was gibbeted by the contempt of the ,pharisee in whose house the ,lord was2 and once to that poor sufferer who stretched out a wasted hand to lay upon the hem of ,his garment1 in the hope of getting healing--filching it away unknown to the ,giver4 ,in both cases there is great tenderness2 in the latter case even more so than in the present1 for there ,he addressed the tremulous invalid as 'daughter'2 and in both cases there is a very remarkable connection hinted at between faith and peace2 ',thy faith hath saved thee1 go in peace4' ,now1 there are three things that strike me about these words2 the first of them is this-- ,i4 ,the dismissal of the woman4 ,one might have expected that our ,lord would have flung the shield of ,his companionship1 for a little while1 at any rate1 over this penitent1 and so have saved her from the scoffs and sneers of her neighbours1 who knew that she was a sinner4 ,one might have supposed that the depth of her gratitude1 as expressed by her costly offering and by her tears1 would have spoken to ,his heart1 and that ,he would have let her stop beside ,him for a little while2 but no6 ,jesus said to her in effect2 ',you have got what you wished2 go away1 and take care of it4' ,such a dismissal is in accordance with the way in which ,he usually acted4 ,for very seldom indeed1 after ,he had gathered the first nucleus of four disciples1 do we find that ,he summoned any individual to ,his side4 ,generally ,he broke the connection between ,himself and the recipients of ,his benefits at as early a moment as possible1 and dismissed them4 ,and that was not only because ,he did not wish to be surrounded and hampered by a crowd of slightly attached disciples1 but for two other reasons2 one1 the good of the people themselves1 and the other1 that1 scattered all over northern ,palestine1 they might in their several circles become centres of light and evangelists for the ,king4 ,he dispersed them that ,he might fling the seed broadcast over the land4 ,jesus ,christ says to us1 if we have been saved by our faith1 ',go6' ,and ,he intends two things thereby4 ,first1 to teach us that it is good for us to stand by ourselves1 to feel responsibility for the ordering of our lives1 not to have a visible ,presence at our sides to fall back upon1 but to grow by solitude4 ,there is no better way of growing reliant1 of becoming independent of circumstances1 and in the depths of our own hearts being calm1 than by being deprived of visible stay and support1 and thus drawing closer and closer to our unseen ,companion1 and leaning harder and heavier upon ,him4 ',it is expedient for you that ,i go away4' ,for solitude and self-reliance1 which is bottomed upon self-distrust and reliance upon ,him1 are the things that make men and women strong4 ,so1 if ever ,he carries us into the desert1 if ever ,he leaves us forsaken and alone1 as we think1 if ever ,he seems--and sometimes ,he does with some people1 and it is only seeming--to withdraw ,himself from us1 it is all for the one purpose1 that we may grow to be mature men and women1 not always children1 depending upon go-carts of any kind1 and nurses' hands and leading-strings4 ,go1 and alone with ,christ realise by faith that you are not alone4 ,christian men and women1 have you learned that lesson--to be able to do without anybody and anything because your whole hearts are filled1 and your courage is braced up and strengthened by the thought that the absent ,christ is the present ,christ8 ,there is another reason1 as ,i take it1 for which this separation of the new disciple from ,jesus was so apparently mercilessly and perpetually enforced4 ,at the very moment when one would have thought it would have done this woman good to be with the ,lord for a little while longer1 she is sent out into the harshly judging world4 ,yes1 that is always the way by which ,christian men and women that have received the blessing of salvation through faith can retain it1 and serve ,him--by going out among men and doing their work there4 ,the woman went home4 ,i dare say it was a home1 if what they said about her was true1 that sorely needed the leavening which she now would bring4 ,she had been a centre of evil4 ,she was to go away back to the very place where she had been such1 and to be a centre of good4 ,she was to contradict her past by her present which would explain itself when she said she had been with ,jesus4 ,for the very same reason for which to one man that besought to be with ,him1 ,he said1 ',no1 no6 go away home and tell your friends what great things ,god has done for you1' ,he said to this woman1 and ,he says to you and me1 ',go1 and witness for ,me4' ,communion with ,him is blessed1 and it is meant to issue in service for ,him4 ',let us make here three tabernacles1' said the ,apostle2 and there was scarcely need for the parenthetical comment1 'not knowing what he said4' ,but there was a demoniac boy down there with the rest of the disciples1 and they had been trying in vain to free him from the incubus that possessed him1 and as long as that melancholy case was appealing to the sympathy and help of the transfigured ,christ1 it was no time to stop on the ,mount4 ,although ,moses and ,elias were there1 and the voice from ,god was there1 and the ,shechinah cloud was there1 all were to be left1 to go down and do the work of helping a poor1 struggling child4 ,so ,jesus ,christ says to us1 ',go1 and remember that work is the end of emotion1 and that to do the ,master's will in the world is the surest way to realise ,his presence4' ,,ii4 ,now1 the second point ,i would suggest is-- ,the region into which ,christ admitted this woman4 ,it is remarkable that in the present case1 and in that other to which ,i have already referred1 the phraseology employed is not the ordinary one of that familiar ,old ,testament leave-taking salutation1 which was the 'goodbye' of the ,hebrews1 ',go in peace4' ,but we read occasionally in the ,old ,testament a slight but eloquent variation4 ,it is not ',go in peace1' as our ,authorised ,version has it1 but ',go into peace1' and that is a great deal more than the other4 ',go in peace' refers to the momentary emotion2 ',go into peace' seems1 as it were1 to open the door of a great palace1 to let down the barrier on the borders of a land1 and to send the person away upon a journey through all the extent of that blessed country4 ,jesus ,christ takes up this as ,he does a great many very ordinary conventional forms1 and puts a meaning into it4 ,eli had said to ,hannah1 ',go into peace4' ,nathan had said to ,david1 ',go into peace4' ,but ,eli and ,nathan could only wish that it might be so2 their wish had no power to realise itself4 ,christ takes the water of the conventional salutation and turns it into the wine of a real gift4 ,when ,he says1 ',go into peace1' ,he puts the person into the peace which ,he wishes them1 and ,his word is like a living creature1 and fulfils itself4 ,so ,he says to each of us3 ',if you have been saved by faith1 ,i open the door of this great palace4 ,i admit you across the boundaries of this great country4 ,i give you all possible forms of peace for yours4' ,peace with ,god--that is the foundation of all--then peace with ourselves1 so that our inmost nature need no longer be torn in pieces by contending emotions1 ',i dare not' waiting upon ',i would1' and ',i ought' and ',i will' being in continual and internecine conflict2 but heart and will1 and calmed conscience1 and satisfied desires1 and pure affections1 and lofty emotions being all drawn together into one great wave by the attraction of ,his love1 as the moon draws the heaped waters of the ocean round the world4 ,so our souls at rest in ,god may be at peace within themselves1 and that is the only way by which the discords of the heart can be tuned to one key1 into harmony and concord2 and the only way by which wars and tumults within the soul turn into tranquil energy1 and into peace which is not stagnation1 but rather a mightier force than was ever developed when the soul was cleft by discordant desires4 ,in like manner1 the man who is at peace with ,god1 and consequently with himself1 is in relations of harmony with all things and with all events4 ',all things are yours if ye are ,christ's4' ',the stars in their courses fought against ,sisera1' because ,sisera was fighting against ,god2 and all creatures1 and all events1 are at enmity with the man who is in antagonism and enmity to ,him who is ,lord of them all4 ,but if we have peace with ,god1 and peace with ourselves1 then1 as ,job says1 ',thou shalt make a league with the beasts of the field1 and the stones of the field shall be at peace with thee4' ',thy faith hath saved thee2 go into peace4' ,remember that this commandment1 which is likewise a promise and a bestowal1 bids us progress in the peace into which ,christ admits us4 ,we should be growingly unperturbed and calm1 and 'there is no joy but calm1' when all is said and done4 ,we should be more and more tranquil and at rest2 and every day there should come1 as it were1 a deeper and more substantial layer of tranquillity enveloping our hearts1 a thicker armour against perturbation and calamity and tumult4 ,,iii4 ,and now there is one last point here that ,i would suggest1 namely3 ,the condition on which we shall abide in the ,land of ,peace4 ,our ,lord said to both these women3 ',thy faith hath saved thee4' ,to the other one it was even more needful to say it than to this poor penitent prostitute1 because that other one had the notion that1 somehow or other1 she could steal away the blessing of healing by contact of her finger with the robe of ,jesus4 ,therefore ,he was careful to lift her above that sensuous error1 and to show her what it was in her that had drawn healing 'virtue' from ,him4 ,in substance ,he says to her3 ',thy faith1 not thy forefinger1 has joined thee to ,me2 ,my love1 not ,my garment1 has healed thee4' ,there have been1 and still are1 many copyists of the woman's mistake who have ascribed too much healing and saving power to externals--sacraments1 rites1 and ceremonies4 ,if their faith is real and their longing earnest1 they get their blessing1 but they need to be educated to understand more clearly what is the human condition of receiving ,christ's saving power1 and that robe and finger have little to do with it4 ,the sequence of these two sayings1 the one pointing out the channel of all spiritual blessing1 the other1 the bestowment of the great blessing of perfect peace1 suggests that the peace is conditional on the faith1 and opens up to us this solemn truth1 that if we would enjoy continuous peace1 we must exercise continuous faith4 ,the two things will cover precisely the same ground1 and where the one stops the other will stop4 ,yesterday's faith does not secure to-day's peace4 ,as long as ,i hold up the shield of faith1 it will quench all the fiery darts of the wicked1 but if ,i were holding it up yesterday1 and have dropped it to-day1 then there is nothing between me and them1 and ,i shall be wounded and burned before long4 ,no past religious experience avails for present needs4 ,if you would have 'your peace' to be 'as the waves of the sea1' your trust in ,christ must be continuous and strong4 ,the moment you cease trusting1 that moment you cease being peaceful4 ,keep behind the breakwater1 and you will ride smoothly1 whatever the storm4 ,venture out beyond it1 and you will be exposed to the dash of the waves and the howling of the tempest4 ,your own past tells you where the means of blessing are4 ,it was your faith that saved you1 and it is as you go on believing that you ',go into peace'4 ,,the ,,ministry ,,of ,,women ',and certain women1 which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities1 ,mary called ,magdalene1 out of whom went seven devils1 #c4 ,and ,joanna the wife of ,chuza1 ,herod's steward1 and ,susanna1 and many others1 which ministered unto ,him of their substance4' --,,luke viii4 #b1c4 ,the ,evangelist ,luke has preserved for us several incidents in our ,lord's life in which women play a prominent part4 ,it would not1 ,i think1 be difficult to bring that fact into connection with the main characteristics of his ,gospel1 but at all events it is worth observing that we owe to him those details1 and the fact that the service of these grateful women was permanent during the whole of our ,lord's wandering life after ,his leaving ,galilee4 ,an incidental reference to the fact is found in ,matthew's account of the ,crucifixion1 but had it not been for ,luke we should not have known the names of two or three of them1 nor should we have known how constantly they adhered to ,him4 ,as to the women of the little group1 we know very little about them4 ,mary of ,magdala has had a very hard fate4 ,the ,scripture record of her is very sweet and beautiful4 ,delivered by ,christ from that mysterious demoniacal possession1 she cleaves to ,him1 like a true woman1 with all her heart4 ,she is one of the little group whose strong love1 casting out all fear1 nerved them to stand by the ,cross when all the men except the gentle ,apostle of love1 as he is called1 were cowering in corners1 afraid of their lives1 and she was one of the same group who would fain have prolonged their ministry beyond ,his death1 and who brought the sweet spices with them in order to anoint ,him1 and it was she who came to the risen ,lord with the rapturous exclamation1 ',rabboni1 my ,master4' ,by strange misunderstanding of the ,gospel story1 she has been identified with the woman who was a sinner in the previous chapter in this book1 and her fair fame has been blackened and her very name taken as a designation of the class to which there is no reason whatever to believe she belonged4 ,demoniacal possession was neither physical infirmity nor moral evil1 however much it may have simulated sometimes the one or the other4 ,then as to ,joanna the wife of ,chuza1 ,herod's steward1 old ,church tradition tells us that she was the consort of the nobleman whose son ,christ healed at ,capernaum4 ,it does not seem very likely that ,herod's steward would have been living in ,capernaum1 and the narrative before us rather seems to show that she herself was the recipient of healing from ,his hands4 ,however that may be1 ,herod's court was not exactly the place to look for ,christian disciples1 was it8 ,but you know they of ,caesar's household surrounded with their love the ,apostle whom ,nero murdered1 and it is by no means an uncommon experience that the servants' hall knows and loves the ,christ that the lord in the saloon does not care about4 ,and then as for ,susanna1 is it not a sweet fate to be known to all the world for ever more by one line only1 which tells of her service to her ,master8 ,so ,i will try to take out of these little incidents in our text some plain lessons about this matter of ,christian service and ministry to ,christ1 with which it seems to be so full4 ,it will apply to missionary work and all other sorts of work1 and perhaps will take us down to the bottom of it all1 and show us the foundation on which it should all rest4 ,let me ask you for a moment to look with me first of all at the centre figure1 as being an illustration of--what shall ,i say8 may ,i venture to use a rough word and say the pauper ,christ8--as the great ,pattern and ,motive for us1 of the love that becomes poor4 ,we very often cover the life of our ,lord with so much imaginative reverence that we sometimes lose the hard angles of the facts of it4 ,now1 ,i want you to realise it1 and you may put it into as modern ,english as you like1 for it will help the vividness of the conception1 which is a simple1 prosaic fact1 that ,jesus ,christ was1 in the broadest meaning of the word1 a pauper2 not indeed with the sodden poverty that you can see in our slums1 but still in a very real sense of the word4 ,he had not a thing that ,he could call ,his own1 and when ,he came to the end of ,his life there was nothing for ,his executioners to gamble for except ,his one possession1 the seamless robe4 ,he is hungry1 and there is a fig-tree by the roadside1 and ,he comes1 expecting to get ,his breakfast off that4 ,he is tired1 and ,he borrows a fishing-boat to lie down and sleep in4 ,he is thirsty1 and ,he asks a woman of questionable character to give ,him a draught of water4 ,he wants to preach a sermon about the bounds of ecclesiastical and civil society1 and ,he says1 ',bring ,me a penny4' ,he has to be indebted to others for the beast of burden on which ,he made ,his modest entry into ,jerusalem1 for the winding sheet that wrapped ,him1 for the spices that would embalm ,him1 for the grave in which ,he lay4 ,he was a pauper in a deeper sense of the word than ,his ,apostle when he said1 ',having nothing1 and yet possessing all things1 as poor1 and yet making many rich4' ,for let us remember that the great mystery of the ,gospel system--the blending together in one act and in one ,person all the extremes of lowliness and of the loftiness which go deep down into the very profundities of the ,gospel1 is all here dramatised1 as it were1 and drawn into a picturesque form on the very surface2 and the same blending together of poverty and absolute love1 which in its loftiest form is the union in one ,person of ,godhead and of manhood1 is here for us in this fact1 that all the dark cloud of poverty1 if ,i may so say1 is shot through with strange gleams of light like sunshine caught and tangled in some cold1 wet fog1 so that whenever you get some definite and strange mark of ,christ's poverty1 you get lying beside it some definite and strange mark of ,his absoluteness and ,his worth4 ,for instance1 take the illustration ,i have already referred to--,he borrows a fishing-boat and lies down1 weary1 to sleep on the wooden pillow at the end of it2 aye1 but ,he rises and ,he says1 ',peace1 be still1' and the waves fall4 ,he borrows the upper room1 and with a stranger's wine and another man's bread ,he founds the covenant and the sacrament of ,his new kingdom4 ,he borrows a grave2 aye1 but ,he comes out of it1 the ,lord both of the dead and of the living4 ,and so we have to say1 ',consider the grace of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 who1 though ,he was rich1 yet for our sakes became poor1 that we through ,his poverty might become rich4' ,the noblest life that was ever lived upon earth-,i hope you and ,i think it is a great deal more than that1 but we all think it is that at any rate--the noblest life that was ever lived upon earth was the life of a poor man4 ,remember that pure desires1 holy aspirations1 noble purposes1 and a life peopled with all the refinement and charities that belong to the spirit1 and that is ever conscious of the closest presence of ,god and of the innate union with ,him1 is possible under such conditions1 and so remember that the pauper ,christ is1 at the least1 the perfect ,man4 ,but then what ,i more immediately intended was to ask you to take that central figure with this external fact of ,his poverty1 of the depth of ,his true inanition1 the emptying of ,himself for our sakes1 as being the great motive1 and ,oh6 thank ,god that with all humility1 we may venture to say1 the great ,pattern to which you and ,i have to conform4 ,there is the reason why we say1 ',i love to speak ,his name1' there is the true measure of the devotion of the consecration and the self-surrender which ,he requires4 ,christ gave all for us even to the uttermost circumference of external possession1 and standing in the midst of those for whose sakes ,he became poor1 ,he turns to them with a modest appeal when ,he says1 ',minister unto ,me1 for ,i have made ,myself to need your ministrations for the sake of your redemption4' ,so much1 then1 for the first point which ,i would desire to urge upon you from this incident before us4 ,now1 in the next place1 and pursuing substantially the same course of thought1 let me suggest to you to look at the love--the love here that stoops to be served4 ,it is a familiar observation and a perfectly true one that we have no record of our ,lord's ever having used miraculous power for the supply of ,his own wants1 and the reason for that1 ,i suppose1 is to be found not only in that principle of economy and parsimony of miraculous energy1 so that the supernatural in ,his life was ever pared down to the narrowest possible limits1 and inosculated immediately with the natural1 but it is also to be found in this--let me put it into very plain words--that ,christ liked to be helped and served by the people that ,he loved1 and that ,christ knew that they liked it as well as ,he4 ,it delighted ,him1 and ,he was quite sure that it delighted them4 ,you fathers and mothers know what it is when one of your little children comes1 and seeing you engaged about some occupation says1 ',let me help you4' ,the little hand perhaps does not contribute much to the furtherance of your occupation4 ,it may be rather an encumbrance than otherwise1 but is not there a gladness in saying ',yes1 here1 take this and do this little thing for me'8 ,and do not we all know how maimed and imperfect that love is which only gives1 and how maimed and imperfect that love is which only receives1 so that there must be an assumption of both attitudes in all true commerce of affection1 and that same beautiful flashing backwards and forwards from the two poles which makes the sweetness of our earthly love find its highest example there in the heavens4 ,there are the two mirrors facing each other1 and they reverberate rays from one polished surface to another1 and so ,christ loves and gives1 and ,christ loves and takes1 and ,his servants love and give1 and ,his servants love and take4 ,sometimes we are accustomed to speak of it as the highest sign of our ,lord's true1 deep conviction that ,he has given so much to us4 ,it seems to me we may well pause and hesitate whether the mightiness and the wonderfulness of ,his love to us are shown more in that ,he gives everything to us1 or in that ,he takes so much from us4 ,it is much to say1 ',the ,son of man came not to be ministered unto but to minister'2 ,i do not know but that it is more to say that the ,son of man let this record be written3 ',certain women also which ministered to ,him of their substance4' ,at all events there it stands and for us4 ,what although we have to come and say1 ',all that ,i bring is ,thine'2 what then8 ,does a father like less to get a gift from his boy because he gave him the shilling to buy it8 ,and is there anything that diminishes the true sweetness of our giving to ,christ1 and as we may believe the true sweetness to ,him of receiving it from us1 because we have to herald all our offerings1 all our love1 aspirations1 desires1 trust1 conformity1 practical service1 substantial help1 with the old acknowledgment1 ',all things come of ,thee1 and of ,thine own have we given ,thee4' ,now1 dear friends1 all these principles which ,i have thus imperfectly touched upon as to the necessity of the blending of the two sides in all true commerce of love1 the giving and bestowing the expression of the one affection in both hearts1 all bears very directly upon the more special work of ,christian men in spreading the name of ,christ among those who do not know it4 ,you get the same economy of power there that ,i was speaking about4 ,the supernatural is finished when the divine life is cast into the world4 ',i am come to fling fire upon the earth1' said ,he1 'and oh1 that it were already kindled6' ,there is the supernatural2 after that you have to deal with the thing according to the ordinary laws of human history and the ordinary conditions of man's society4 ,god trusts the spread of ,his word to ,his people2 there will not be one moment's duration of the barely1 nakedly supernatural beyond the absolute necessity4 ,christ comes2 after that you and ,i have to see to it1 and then you say1 ',collections1 collections1 collections1 it is always collections4 ,this society and that society and the other society1 there is no end of the appeals that are made4 ,charity sermons--men using the highest motives of the ,gospel for no purpose but to get a shilling or two out of people's pockets4 ,i am tired of it4' ,very well2 all ,i have to say is1 first of all1 ',ye have not resisted unto blood'2 some people have had to pay a great deal more for their ,gospel than you have4 ,and another thing1 a man that had lost a great deal more for his ,master than ever you or ,i will have to do1 said1 ',unto me who am less than the least of all saints is this grace given1 that ,i should preach amongst the heathen the unsearchable riches of ,christ4' ,ah6 a generous1 chivalrous spirit1 a spirit touched to fine issues by the fine touch of the ,lord's love1 will feel that it is no burden2 or if it be a burden1 it is only a burden as a golden crown heavy with jewels may be a burden on brows that are ennobled by its pressure4 ,this grace is given1 and ,he has crowned us with the honour that we may serve ,him and do something for ,him4 ,dear brethren6 of all the gracious words that our ,master has spoken to us1 ,i know not that there is one more gracious than when ,he said1 ',go into all the world and preach the ,gospel to every creature'2 and of all the tender legacies that ,he has left ,his ,church1 though there be included amongst these ,his own peace and ,his own ,spirit1 ,i know not that there is any more tender or a greater sign of ,his love towards us and ,his confidence in us than when departing to the far country to receive a kingdom and to return1 ,he gave authority to ,his servants1 and to every man his work4' ,and so1 in the next place1 let me ask you to look for a moment at the complement to this love that stoops to serve and delights to serve--the ministry or service of our love4 ,let me point to two things4 ,it seems to me that the simple narrative we have before us goes very deep into the heart of this matter4 ,it gives us two things--the foundation of the service and the sphere of the service4 ,first there is the foundation--',certain women which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities4' ,ah1 there you come to it6 ,the consciousness of redemption is the one master touch that evokes the gratitude which aches to breathe itself in service4 ,there is no service except it be the expression of love4 ,that is the one great ,christian principle2 and the other is that there is no love that does not rest on the consciousness of redemption2 and from these two--that all service and obedience are the utterance and eloquence of love1 and that all love has its root in the sense of redemption--you may elaborate all the distinct characteristics and peculiarities of ,christian ethics1 whereby duty becomes gladness4 ',i will1' and ',i ought' overlap and cover each other like two of ,euclid's triangles2 and whatsoever ,he commands that ,i spring to do2 and so though the burden be heavy1 considered in regard to its requirements1 and though the yoke do often press1 considered per se1 yet because the cords that fasten the yoke to our neck are the cords of love1 ,i can say1 ',my burden is light4' ,one of the old psalms puts it thus2 ',o ,lord1 truly ,i am ,thy servant2 ,thou hast loosed my bonds2 and because ,thou hast loosed1 therefore ,o hear me2 speak1 ,lord1 for ,thy servant heareth4' ,so much then for the foundation--now for the sphere4 ',ah1' you say1 'there is no parallel there1 at any rate4 ,these women served ,him with personal ministration of their substance4' ,well1 ,i think there is a parallel notwithstanding4 ,if ,i had time ,i should like to dwell upon the side thoughts connected with that sphere of service1 and remind you how very prosaic were their common domestic duties1 looking after the comfort of ,christ and the travel-stained ,twelve who were with ,him--let us put it into plain ,english--cooking their dinners for them1 and how that became a religious act4 ,take the lesson out of it1 you women in your households1 and you men in your counting-houses and behind your counters1 and you students at your dictionaries and lexicons4 ,the commonest things done for the ,master flash up into worship1 or as good old ,george ,herbert puts it-- ',a servant with this clause ,makes drudgery divine2 ,who sweeps a room1 as for ,thy cause1 ,makes that and th' action fine4' ,but then beyond that1 is there any personal ministration to do8 ,if any of you have ever been in ,st4 ,mark's ,convent at ,florence1 ,i dare say you will remember that in the ,guest ,chamber the saintly genius of ,fra ,angelico has painted1 as an appropriate frontispiece1 the two pilgrims on the road to ,emmaus1 praying the unknown man to come in and partake of their hospitality2 and he has draped them in the habit of his order1 and he has put ,christ as the ,representative of all the poor and wearied and wayworn travellers that might enter in there and receive hospitality1 which is but the lesson1 ',inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these ,my brethren1 ye have done it unto ,me4' ,and there is another thing1 dear friends4 ,do we not minister to ,him best when we do the thing that is nearest ,his heart and help ,him most in the purpose of ,his life and in ,his death8 ,what would you think of a would-be helper of some great reformer who said3 ',i will give you all sorts of material support2 but ,i have not a grain of sympathy with the cause to which you have devoted your life4 ,i think it is madness and nonsense3 ,i will feed you and house you and make you comfortable1 but ,i do not care one rush for the object for which you are to be housed and fed and made comfortable4' ,jesus ,christ let these poor women help ,him that ,he might live to bear the ,cross2 ,he lets you and me help ,him for that for which on the ,cross ,he died2 ',this honour have all the saints'2 ,the foundation of our service is the consciousness of redemption2 its sphere is ministering to ,him in that which is nearest ,his heart4 ,and then1 brethren1 there is another thing that does not so immediately belong to the incident before us1 but which suggests itself to me in connection with it4 ,we have tried to show the motive and the pattern1 the foundation and the sphere1 of the service3 let me add a last thought--the remembrance and the record of it4 ,how strange that is1 that just as a beam of light coming into a room would enable us to see all the motes dancing up and down that lay in its path1 so the beam from ,christ's life shoots athwart the society of ,his age1 and all those little insignificant people come for a moment into the full lustre of the light4 ,years before and years afterward they lived1 and we do not know anything about them2 but for an instant they crossed the illuminated track and there they blazed4 ,how strange ,pharisees1 officials1 and bookmen of all sorts would have felt if anybody had said to them3 ',do you see that handful of travel-stained ,galileans there1 those poor women you have just passed by the way8 ,well1 do you know that these three women's names will never perish as long as the world lasts8' ,so we may learn the eternity of work done for ,him4 ,ah1 a great deal of it may be forgotten and unrecorded6 ,how many deeds of faithful love and noble devotion are all compressed into those words1 'which ministered unto ,him'6 ,it is the old story of how life shrinks1 and shrinks1 and shrinks in the record4 ,how many acres of green forest ferns in the long ago time went to make up a seam of coal as thick as a sixpence8 ,but still there is the record1 compressed indeed1 but existent4 ,and how many names may drop out and not be associated with the work which they did8 ,do you not think that these anonymous 'many others which ministered' were just as dear to ,jesus ,christ as ,mary and ,joanna and ,susannah8 ,a great many people helped ,him whose deeds are related in the ,gospel1 but whose names are not recorded4 ,but what does it matter about that8 ,with many 'others of my fellow-labourers also1' says ,st4 ,paul2 'whose names'--well1 ,i have forgotten them2 but that is of little consequence2 they 'are in the ,lamb's book of life4' ,and so the work is eternal1 and will last on in our blessed consciousness and in ,his remembrance who will never forget any of it1 and we shall self-enfold the large results1 even if the rays of dying fame may fade4 ,and there is one other thought on this matter of the eternity of the work on which ,i would just touch for an instant4 ,how strange it must be to these women now6 ,if1 as ,i suppose1 you and ,i believe1 they are living with ,christ1 they will look up to ,him and think1 ',ah6 we remember when we used to find your food and prepare for your household comforts1 and there ,thou art on the throne6 ,how strange and how great our earthly service seems to us now6' ,so it will be to us all when we get up yonder4 ,we shall have to say1 ',lord1 when saw ,i ,thee8' ,he will put a meaning into our work and a majesty into it that we know nothing about at present4 ,so1 brethren1 account the name of ,his slaves your highest honour1 and the task that love gives you your greatest joy4 ,when we have in our poor love poorly ministered unto ,him who in ,his great love greatly died for us1 then1 at the last1 the wonderful word will be fulfilled3 ',verily ,i say unto you1 ,he shall gird ,himself and make them to sit down to meat and will come forth and serve them4' ,,one ,,seed ,,and ,,diverse ,,soils ',and when much people were gathered together1 and were come to ,him out of every city1 ,he spake by a parable3 #e4 ,a sower went out to sow his seed3 and as he sowed1 some fell by the wayside2 and it was trodden down1 and the fowls of the air devoured it4 #f4 ,and some fell upon a rock2 and as soon as it was sprung up1 it withered away1 because it lacked moisture4 #g4 ,and some fell among thorns2 and the thorns sprang up with it1 and choked it4 #h4 ,and other fell on good ground1 and sprang up1 and bare fruit an hundredfold4 ,and when ,he had said these things1 ,he cried1 ,he that hath ears to hear1 let him hear4 #i4 ,and ,his disciples asked ,him1 saying1 ,what might this parable be8 #aj4 ,and ,he said1 ,unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of ,god3 but to others in parables2 that seeing they might not see1 and hearing they might not understand4 #aa4 ,now the parable is this2 ,the seed is the word of ,god4 #ab4 ,those by the way-side are they that hear3 then cometh the devil1 and taketh away the word out of their hearts1 lest they should believe and be saved4 #ac4 ,they on the rock are they which1 when they hear1 receive the word with joy2 and these have no root1 which for a while believe1 and in time of temptation fall away4 #ad4 ,and that which fell among thorns are they1 which1 when they have heard1 go forth1 and are choked with cares1 and riches1 and pleasures of this life1 and bring no fruit to perfection4 #ae4 ,but that on the good ground are they1 which in an honest and good heart1 having heard the word1 keep it1 and bring forth fruit with patience4' --,,luke viii4 #d-af4 ,luke is particular in dating this parable as spoken at a time when crowds resorted to ,jesus1 and the cities of ,galilee seemed emptied out to hear ,him4 ,no illusions as to the depth or worth of this excitement beset ,him4 ,sadly ,he looked on the eager multitudes1 because ,he looked through them1 and saw how few of them were bringing 'an honest and good heart' for the soil of ,his word4 ,just because ,he saw the shallowness of the momentary enthusiasm1 ,he spoke this pregnant parable from a heavy heart1 and as ,he tells us in ,his explanation of it to the disciples 7ver4 #aj71 uses the parabolic garb as a means of hiding the truth from the unsusceptible1 and of bringing it home to those who were prepared to receive it4 ,every parable has that double purpose of obscuring and revealing4 ,the obscuring is punitive1 but the punishment is meant to be remedial4 ,god never cheats men by a revelation that does not reveal1 and the very hiding is meant to stimulate to a search which cannot be vain4 ,the broad outstanding fact of the parable is tragic4 ,three failures and one success6 ,it may be somewhat lightened by observing that the proportion which each 'some' bears to the whole seed-basketful is not told2 but with all alleviation1 it is sad enough4 ,what a lesson for all eager reformers and apostles of any truth1 who imagine that they have but to open their mouths and the world will listen6 ,what a warning for any who are carried off their feet by their apparent 'popularity'6 ,what a solemn appeal to all hearers of ,god's message6 ,i4 ,commentators have pointed out that all four kinds of soil might have been found close together by the lake1 and that there may have been a sower at work within sight4 ,but the occasion of the parable lay deeper than the accident of local surroundings4 ,a path through a cornfield is a prosaic enough thing1 but one who habitually holds converse with the unseen1 and ever sees it shining through the seen1 beholds all things 'apparelled in celestial light1' and finds deep truths in commonplace objects4 ,the sower would not intentionally throw seed on the path1 but some would find its resting-place there4 ,it would lie bare on the surface of the hard ground1 and would not be there long enough to have a chance of germinating1 but as soon as the sower's back was turned to go up the next furrow1 down would come the flock of thievish birds that fluttered behind him1 and bear away the grains4 ,the soil might be good enough1 but it was so hard that the seed did not get in1 but only lay on it4 ,the path was of the same soil as the rest of the field1 only it had been trodden down by the feet of passengers1 perhaps for many years4 ,a heart across which all manner of other thoughts have right of way will remain unaffected by the voice of ,jesus1 if ,he spoke ,his sweetest1 divinest tones1 still more when ,he speaks but through some feeble man4 ,the listener hears the words1 but they never get farther than the drum of his ear4 ,they lie on the surface of his soul1 which is beaten hard1 and is non-receptive4 ,how many there are who have been listening to the preaching of the ,gospel1 which is in a true sense the sowing of the seed1 all their lives1 and have never really been in contact with it6 ,tramp1 tramp1 go the feet across the path1 heavy drays of business1 light carriages of pleasure1 a never-ending stream of traffic and noise like that which pours day and night through the streets of a great city1 and the result is complete insensibility to ,christ's voice4 ,if one could uncover the hearts of a congregation1 how many of them would be seen to be occupied with business or pleasures1 or some favourite pursuit1 even while they sit decorously in their pews6 ,how many of them hear the preacher's voice without one answering thought or emotion6 ,how many could not for their lives tell what his last sentence was6 ,no marvel1 then1 that1 as soon as its last sound has ceased1 down pounce a whole covey of light-winged fancies and occupations1 and carry off the poor fragments of what had been so imperfectly heard4 ,one wonders what percentage of remembrances of a sermon is driven out of the hearers' heads in the first five minutes of their walk home1 by the purely secular conversation into which they plunge so eagerly4 ,,ii4 ,the next class of hearers is represented by seed which has had somewhat better fate1 inasmuch as it has sunk some way in1 and begun to sprout4 ,the field1 like many a one in hilly country1 had places where the hard pan of underlying rock had only a thin skin of earth over it4 ,its very thinness helped quick germination1 for the rock was near enough to the surface to get heated by the sun4 ,so1 with undesirable rapidity1 growth began1 and shoots appeared above ground before there was root enough made below to nourish them4 ,there was only one possible end for such premature growth--namely1 withering in the heat4 ,no moisture was to be drawn from the shelf of rock1 and the sun was beating fiercely down1 so the feeble green stem drooped and was wilted4 ,it is the type of emotional hearers1 who are superficially touched by the ,gospel1 and too easily receive it1 without understanding what is involved4 ,they take it for theirs 'with joy1' but are strangers to the deep exercises of penitence and sorrow which should precede the joy4 ',lightly come1 lightly go1' is true in ,christian life as elsewhere4 ,converts swiftly made are quickly lost4 ,true1 the most thorough and permanent change may be a matter of a moment2 but1 if so1 into that moment emotions will be compressed like a great river forced through a mountain gorge1 which will do the work of years4 ,such surface converts fringe all religious revivals4 ,the crowd listening to our ,lord was largely made up of them4 ,these were they who1 when a ground of offence arose1 'went back1 and walked no more with ,him4' ,they have had their successors in all subsequent times of religious movement4 ,light things are caught up by the wind of a passing train1 but they soon drop to the ground again4 ,emotion is good1 if there are roots to it4 ,but 'these have no root4' ,the ,gospel has not really touched the depths of their natures1 their wills1 their reason1 and so they shrivel up when they have to face the toil and self-sacrifice inherent in a ,christian life4 ,,iii4 ,the third parcel of seed advanced still farther4 ,it rooted and grew4 ,but the soil had other occupants4 ,it was full of seeds of weeds and thorns 7not thorn bushes74 ,so the two crops ran a race1 and as ill weeds grow apace1 the worse beat1 and stifled the green blades of the springing corn1 which1 hemmed in and shut out from light and air1 came to nothing4 ,the man represented has not made clean work of his religion4 ,he has received the good seed1 but has forgotten that something has to be grubbed up and cast out1 as well as something to be taken in1 if he would grow the fair fruits of ,christian character4 ,he probably has cut down the thorns1 but has left their roots or seeds where they were4 ,he has fruit of a sort1 but it is scanty1 crude1 and green4 ,why8 ,because he has not turned the world out of his heart4 ,he is trying to unite incompatibles1 one of which is sure to kill the other4 ,his 'thorns' are threefold1 as ,luke carefully distinguishes them into 'cares and riches and pleasures1' but they are one in essence1 for they are all 'of this life4' ,if he is poor1 he is absorbed in cares2 if rich1 he is yet more absorbed in wealth1 and his desires go after worldly pleasures1 which he has not been taught1 by experience of the supreme pleasure of communion with ,god1 to despise4 ,mark that this man does not 'fall away4' ,he keeps up his ,christian name to the end4 ,probably he is a very influential member of the church1 universally respected for his wealth and liberality1 but his religion has been suffocated by the other growth4 ,he has fruit1 but it is not to 'perfection4' ,if ,jesus ,christ came to ,manchester1 one wonders how many such ,christians ,he would discover in the chief seats in the synagogues4 ,,iv4 ,the last class avoids the defects of the three preceding4 ,the soil is soft1 deep1 and clean4 ,the seed sinks1 roots1 germinates1 has light and air1 and brings forth ripened grain4 ,the 'honest and good heart' in which it lodges has been well characterised as one 'whose aim is noble1 and who is generously devoted to his aim' 7,bruce1 ,the ,parabolic ,teaching of ,christ1 p4 #cc74 ,such a soul ,christ recognises as possible1 prior to the entrance into it of the word4 ,there are dispositions which prepare for the reception of the truth4 ,but not only the previous disposition1 but the subsequent attitude to the word spoken1 is emphasised by our ,lord4 ',they having heard the word1 hold it fast4' ,docilely received1 it is steadily retained1 or held with a firm grip1 whoever and whatever may seek to pluck it from mind or heart4 ,further1 not only tenacity of grasp1 but patient perseverance of effort after the fruit of ,christian character1 is needed4 ,there must be perseverance in the face of obstacles within and without1 if there is to be fruitfulness4 ,the emblem of growth does not suffice to describe the process of ,christian progress4 ,the blade becomes the ear1 and the ear the full corn1 without effort4 ,but the ,christian disciple has to fight and resist1 and doggedly to keep on in a course from which many things would withdraw him4 ,the nobler the result1 the sorer the process4 ,corn grows2 character is built up as the result1 first of worthily receiving the good seed1 and then of patient labour and much self-suppression4 ,these different types of character are capable of being changed4 ,the path may be broken up1 the rock blasted and removed1 the thorns stubbed up4 ,we make ourselves fit or unfit to receive the seed and bear fruit4 ,christ would not have spoken the parable if ,he had not hoped thereby to make some of ,his hearers who belonged to the three defective classes into members of the fourth4 ,no natural1 unalterable incapacity bars any from welcoming the word1 housing it in his heart1 and bringing forth fruit with patience4 ,,seed ,,among ,,thorns ',and that which fell among thorns are they1 which1 when they have heard1 go forth1 and are choked with cares1 and riches1 and pleasures of this life1 and bring no fruit to perfection4'--,luke viii4 #ad4 ,no sensible sower would cast his seed among growing thorn-bushes1 and we must necessarily understand that the description in this verse is not meant to give us the picture of a field in which these were actually growing1 but rather of one in which they had been grubbed up1 and so preparation been made for the sowing of the seed4 ,they had been grubbed up1 but they had not been grubbed out4 ,the roots were there1 although the branches and the stems had been cut down1 or if the roots were not there1 abundant seeds were lying buried1 and when the good seed was sown it went into ground full of them--and that was the blunder out of which all the mischief came4 ,i4 ,these three different instances of failure in this parable represent to us1 first1 the seed carried off at the very beginning1 before it has sunk into the ground and before it has had time to germinate4 ,it lies on the surface and it goes at once4 ,but suppose it is safely piloted past that first danger1 then comes another peril4 ,it gets a little deeper into the ground1 but there is a shelf of rock an inch or two below the skin of soil1 and the poor little rootlets cannot get through that1 and so when the hot ,syrian sun shines down upon the field1 there is an unnatural heat1 and a swift vegetation4 ,there is growth1 but the same sun that at first stimulated the unnaturally rapid growth1 gets a little hotter or continues to pour down during the fervid summer and dries up the premature vegetation which it had called into feeble life4 ,that second seed went further on the road towards fruit4 ,but suppose a seed is piloted past that second risk1 there comes this third one4 ,this seed gets deeper still1 and does take root1 and does grow1 and does bear fruit4 ,that is to say1 this is a picture of a real ,christian1 in whom the seed of the kingdom1 which is the word of ,god1 has taken root1 and to whom there has been the communication of the divine life that is in the seed2 and yet that1 too1 comes to grief1 and our parable tells us how--by three things1 the thorns1 the growth of the thorns1 and the choking of the word4 ,luke puts the interpretation of the thorns even more vividly than the other ,evangelists1 because he represents them as being three different forms of one thing1 'cares and riches and pleasures1' which all come into the one class1 'of this life4' ,or1 in other words1 the present world1 with all its various appeals to our animal and sensual nature1 with all its possible delights for part of our being1 a real and important part of it2 and with all the troubles and anxieties which it is cowardly for us to shirk1 and impossible for us to escape--this world is ever present to each of us1 and if there is anything in us to which it appeals1 then certainly the thorns will come up4 ,the cares and the wealth and the pleasures are three classes of one thing4 ,perhaps the first chiefly besets struggling people2 the second mainly threatens well-to-do people2 the third1 perhaps1 is most formidable to leisurely and idle people4 ,but all three appeal to us all1 for in every one of us there are the necessary anxieties of life1 and every one of us knows that there is real and substantial good to a part of our being1 in the possession of a share of this world's wealth1 without which no man can live1 and all of us carry natures to which the delights of sense do legitimately and necessarily appeal4 ,so the soil for the growth of the thorns is always in us all4 ,but what then8 ,are these things so powerful in our hearts as that they become hindrances to our ,christian life8 ,that is the question4 ,the cares and the occupation of mind with1 and desire for1 the wealth and the pleasures are of ,god's appointment4 ,he did not make them thorns1 but you and ,i make them thorns2 and the question for us is1 has our ,christianity driven out the undue regard to this life1 regarded in these three aspects--undue in measure or in any other respect1 by which they are converted into hindrances that mar our ,christian life8 ,dear brethren1 it is not enough to say1 ',i have received the word into my heart4' ,there is another question besides that--,has the word received into your heart cast out the thorns8 ,or are they and the seed growing there side by side8 ,the picture of my text is that of a man who1 in a real fashion1 has accepted the ,gospel1 but who has accepted it so superficially as that it has not exercised upon him the effect that it ought to produce1 of expelling from him the tendencies which may become hindrances to his ,christian life4 ,if we have known nothing of 'the expulsive power of a new affection1' and if we thought it was enough to cut down the thickest and tallest thorn-bushes1 and to leave all the seeds and the roots of them in our hearts1 no wonder if1 as we get along in life1 they grow up and choke the word4 ',ye cannot serve ,god and ,mammon'2 that is just putting into a sentence the lesson of my text4 ,,ii4 ,further1 note the growth of the thorns4 ,luke employs a very significant phrase4 ,he says1 ',when they have heard they go forth1 and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life4' ,that is to say1 the path of daily life upon which we all have to walk1 the common duties which necessarily draw us to themselves1 will certainly stimulate the growth of the thorns if these are not rooted out4 ,life is full of appeals to our desires after earthly good or pleasure1 to our greed after earthly gain1 to our dread of earthly sorrow1 of pain1 of loss1 and of poverty4 ,as surely as we are living1 and have to go out into the world day by day1 so surely will the thorns grow if they are left in us4 ,and so we come back to the old lesson that because we are set in this world1 with all its temptations that appeal so strongly to many needs and desires of our nature1 we must make thorough work of our religion if it is to be of any good to us at all1 and we are not to go on the ,christian pilgrimage with one foot upon the higher level and the other upon the lower1 like a man walking with one foot on the kerbstone and the other on the roadway4 ,let us be one thing or the other1 out and out1 thorough and consistent4 ,if we have the seed in our hearts1 remember that we are responsible for its growth4 ,let us make certain that we have cast out the thorns4 ,there is an old ,german proverb1 the vulgarity of which may be excused for its point4 ',you must not sit near the fire if your head is made of butter4' ,we should not try to walk through this wicked world without making very certain that we have stubbed the thorns out of our hearts4 ,oh1 dear friends6 here is the secret to the miserable inconsistencies of the great bulk of professing ,christians4 ,they have got the seed in1 but they have not got the thorns out4 ,,iii4 ,lastly1 mark the choking of the growth4 ,of course it is rapid1 according to the old saying1 ',ill weeds grow apace4' ',they are choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life and bring no fruit to perfection4' ,the weeds grow faster than the seed4 ',possession is nine-tenths of the law1' and they have got possession of the soil1 and their roots go far and strike deep1 and so they come up1 with their great1 strong1 coarse1 quick-growing stems and leaves1 and surround the green1 infant1 slender shoot1 and keep the air and light out from it1 and exhaust all the goodness of the soil1 which has not nutriment in it enough for the modest seed and for the self-asserting thorn4 ,and so the thorn beats in the race1 and grows inches whilst the other grows hairbreadths4 ,is not that a true statement of our experience8 ,if ,christian men and women permit as much of their interest and affection and effort and occupation of mind to go out towards the world and worldly things1 as1 alas6 most of us do1 no wonder if the tiny1 yellow1 rather than green1 blade is choked and gets covered with parasitical disease1 and perhaps dies at last4 ,you cannot grow two crops on one field4 ,some of us have tried2 it will never do4 ,it must be one thing or another1 and we must make up our minds whether we are going to cultivate corn or thorn4 ,may ,god help us to make the right choice of the crop we desire to bear6 ,our text tells us that this man1 represented by the seed among thorns1 was a ,christian1 did1 and does1 bear fruit1 but1 as ,luke says1 'brings no fruit to perfection4' ,the first seed never grew at all2 the second got the length of putting forth a blade2 this one has got as far as the ear1 but not so far as 'the full corn in the ear4' ,it has fruited1 but the fruit is green and scanty1 not ripened1 as it ought to be1 since it grows under such a sky and was taken out of such a seed-basket as our seed has come from4 ,it brings forth no fruit to perfection'2--is not that a picture of so many ,christian people8 ,one cannot say that they are not ,christians4 ,one cannot say that there are no signs of a divine life in them4 ,one cannot say but that they do a good many things that are right and pure1 and obviously the result of a ,divine ,spirit working upon them2 but all that they do just falls short of the crowning grace and beauty4 ,there is always something about it that strikes one as being incomplete4 ,they are ,christian men and ,christian women bringing forth many of the fruits of the ,christian life1 but the climax somehow or other is always absent4 ,the pyramid goes up many stages1 but there is never the gilded summit flashing in the light--',no fruit to perfection4' ,dear brethren1 let us take our poor1 imperfect services1 and lay them down at the ,master's feet1 and ask ,him to help us to make clean work of these hearts of ours1 and to turn out of them all our worldly hankerings after the seen and temporal4 ,then we shall bear fruit that ,he will gather into ,his garner4 ,the cares and the pleasures and the wealth that terminate in1 and are occupied with1 this poor fleeting present are small and insignificant4 ,let us try to yield ourselves up wholly to the higher influences of that ,divine ,spirit1 and in true consecration receive the engrafted word4 ,and then ,he will give to us to drink of that river of ,his pleasures1 drinking of which we shall not thirst1 nor need to come to any of earth's fountains to draw4 ,if the ,saviour comes in in ,his power1 ,he will cast out the uncleanness that dwells in us and make us fruitful as ,he would have us to be4 ,a ,,miracle ,,within ,a ,,miracle ',and a woman1 having an issue of blood twelve years1 which had spent all her living upon physicians1 neither could be healed of any1 #dd4 ,came behind ,him1 and touched the border of ,his garment3 and immediately her issue of blood stanched4 #de4 ,and ,jesus said1 ,who touched ,me8 ,when all denied1 ,peter1 and they that were with ,him1 said1 ,master1 the multitude throng ,thee and press ,thee1 and sayest ,thou1 ,who touched ,me8 #df4 ,and ,jesus said1 ,somebody hath touched ,me3 for ,i perceive that virtue is gone out of ,me4 #dg4 ,and when the woman saw that she was not hid1 she came trembling1 and1 falling down before ,him1 she declared unto ,him before all the people for what cause she had touched ,him1 and how she was healed immediately4 #dh4 ,and ,he said unto her1 ,daughter1 be of good comfort3 thy faith hath made thee whole2 go in peace4'--,,luke viii4 #dc-dh4 ,the story of ,jairus's daughter is1 as it were1 cut in two by that of the poor invalid woman4 ,what an impression of calm consciousness of power and of leisurely dignity is made by ,christ's having time to pause1 even on ,his way to a dying sufferer1 in order to heal1 as if parenthetically1 this other afflicted one6 ,how ,jairus must have chafed at the delay6 ,he had left his child 'at the point of death' and here was the ,healer loitering1 as it must have seemed to a father's agony of impatience4 ,but ,jesus1 with ,his infinite calm and as infinite power1 can afford to let the one wait and even die1 while ,he tends the other4 ,the child shall receive no harm1 and her sister in sorrow has as great a claim on ,him as she4 ,he has leisure of heart to feel for each1 and power for both4 ,we do not rob one another of ,his gifts4 ,attending to one1 ,he does not neglect another4 ,this miracle illustrates the genuineness and power of feeble and erroneous faith1 and ,christ's merciful way of strengthening and upholding it4 ,the woman1 a poor1 shrinking creature1 has been made more timid by long illness1 disappointed hopes of cure1 and by poverty4 ,she does not venture to stop ,jesus1 as ,he goes with an important official of the synagogue to heal his daughter1 but creeps up in the crowd behind ,him1 puts out a wasted1 trembling hand to touch the tasselled fringe of ,his robe--and she is whole4 ,she would fain have glided away with a stolen cure1 but ,jesus forced her to stand out before the throng1 and with all their eyes on her1 to conquer diffidence and womanly reticence1 and tell all the truth4 ,strange contrast1 this1 to ,his usual avoidance of notoriety and regard for shrinking weakness6 ,but it was true kindness1 for it was the discipline by which her imperfect faith was cleared and confirmed4 ,it is easy to point out the imperfections in this woman's faith4 ,it was very ignorant4 ,she was sure that this ,rabbi would heal her1 but she expected it to be done by the material contact of her finger with ,his robe4 ,she had no idea that ,christ's will1 much less ,his love1 had anything to do with ,his cures4 ,she thinks that she may carry away the blessing1 and ,he be none the wiser4 ,it is easy to say1 ,what blank ignorance of ,christ's way of working6 what grossly superstitious notions6 ,yes1 and with them all what a hunger of intense desire to be whole1 and what absolute confidence that a finger-tip on ,his robe was enough6 ,her faith was very imperfect1 but the main fact is that she had it4 ,let us be thankful for a living proof of the genuineness of ignorant and even of superstitious faith4 ,there are many now who fall with less excuse into a like error with this woman's1 by attaching undue importance to externals1 and thinking more of the hem of the garment and its touch by a finger than of the heart of the wearer and the grasp of faith4 ,but while we avoid such errors1 let us not forget that many a poor worshipper clasping a crucifix may be clinging to the ,saviour1 and that ,christ does accept faith which is tied to outward forms1 as ,he did this woman's4 ,there was no real connection between the touch of her finger and her healing1 but she thought that there was1 and ,christ stoops to her childish thought1 and lets her make the path for ,his gift4 ',according to thy faith be it unto thee'3 ,his mercy1 like water1 takes the shape of the containing vessel4 ,the last part of the miracle1 when the cured woman is made the bold confessor1 is all shaped so as to correct and confirm her imperfect faith4 ,we note this purpose in every part of it4 ,she had thought of the healing energy as independent of ,his knowledge and will4 ,therefore she is taught that ,he was aware of the mute appeal1 and of the going out of power in answer to it4 ,the question1 ',who touched me8' has been regarded as a proof that ,jesus was ignorant of the person2 but if we keep the woman's character and the nature of her disease in view1 we can suppose it asked1 not to obtain information1 but to lead to acknowledgment1 and that without ascribing to ,him in asking it any feigning of ignorance4 ,the contrast between the pressure of the crowd and the touch of faith has often been insisted on1 and carries a great lesson4 ,the unmannerly crowd hustled each other1 trod on ,his skirts1 and elbowed their way to gape at ,him1 and ,he took no heed4 ,but ,his heart detected the touch1 unlike all the rest1 and went out with healing power towards her who touched4 ,we may be sure that1 though a universe waits before ,him1 and the close-ranked hosts of heaven stand round ,his throne1 we can reach our hands through them all1 and get the gifts we need4 ,she had shrunk from publicity1 most naturally4 ,but if she had stolen away1 she would have lost the joy of confession and greater blessings than the cure4 ,so ,he mercifully obliges her to stand forth4 ,in a moment she is changed from a timid invalid to a confessor4 ,a secret faith is like a plant growing in the dark1 the stem of which is blanched and weak1 and its few blossoms pale and never matured4 ',with the mouth confession is made unto salvation4' ,christ's last word to her is tender4 ,he calls her ',daughter'--the only woman whom ,he addressed by such a name4 ,he teaches her that her faith1 not her finger1 had been the medium through which ,his healing power had reached her4 ,he confirms by ,his authoritative word the furtive blessing3 ',be whole of thy plague4' ,and she goes1 having found more than she sought1 and felt a loving heart where she had only seen a magic-working robe4 ,,christ ,,to ,,jairus ',when ,jesus heard it1 ,he answered1 saying1 ,fear not3 believe only1 and she shall be made whole4' --,,luke viii4 #fj4 ,the calm leisureliness of conscious power shines out very brilliantly from this story of the raising of ,jairus's daughter4 ,the father had come to ,jesus1 in an agony of impatience1 and besought ,him to heal his child1 who lay 'at the point of death4' ,not a moment was to be lost4 ,our ,lord sets out with him1 but on the road pauses to attend to another sufferer1 the woman who laid her wasted finger on the hem of ,christ's robe4 ,how ,jairus must have chafed at the delay1 and thought every moment an eternity2 and perhaps said hard things ,in his heart about ,christ's apparent indifference6 ,delay seemed to be fatal1 for before ,christ had finished speaking to the woman1 the messenger comes with a word which appears to me to have in it a touch of bitterness and of blame4 ',trouble not the ,master' sounds as if the speaker hinted that the ,master was thinking it a trouble1 and had not put ,himself much about to meet the necessity4 ,but one's gain shall not be another's loss1 and ,christ does not let any applicant to ,him suffer whilst ,he attends to any other4 ,each has an equal claim on ,his heart4 ,so ,he turns to the father with the words that ,i have read for my text4 ,they are the first of three sayings of our ,lord round which this whole narrative is remarkably grouped4 ,i have read the first1 but ,i mean to speak about all three4 ,there is a word of encouragement which sustains a feeble faith3 there is a word of revelation which smooths the grimness of death2 ',she is not dead but sleepeth'2 and there is a word of power which goes into the darkness1 and brings back the child2 ',maiden1 arise6' ,now1 ,i think if we take these three1 we get the significance of this whole incident4 ,i4 ,first1 then1 the word of cheer which sustains a staggering faith4 ',when ,jesus heard this1 ,he said unto him1 ,fear not1 believe only1 and she shall be made whole4' ,how preposterous this rekindling of hope must have seemed to ,jairus when the storm had blown out the last flickering spark6 ,how irrelevant1 if it were not cruel1 the ',fear not6' must have sounded when the last possible blow had fallen4 ,and yet1 because of the word in the middle1 embedded between the obligation to hope and the prohibition to fear1 neither the one nor the other is preposterous1 ',only believe4' ,that is in the centre2 and on the one side1' ,fear not6'--a command ridiculous without it2 and on the other side1 ',hope6' an injunction impossible apart from faith4 ,jesus ,christ is saying the very same things to us4 ,his fundamental commandment is ',only believe1' and there effloresce from it the two things1 courage that never trembles1 and hope that never despairs4 ',only believe'--usually ,he made the outflow of ,his miraculous power contingent upon the faith1 either of the sufferer himself or of some others4 ,there was no necessity for the connection4 ,we have instances in ,his life of miracles wrought without faith1 without asking1 simply at the bidding of ,his own irrepressible pity4 ,but the rule in regard to ,his miracles is that faith was the condition that drew out the miraculous energy4 ,the connection between our faith and our experience of ,his supernatural1 sustaining1 cleansing1 gladdening1 enlightening power is closer than that4 ,for without our trust in ,him1 ,he can do no mighty works upon us1 and there must be confidence1 on our part1 before there is in our experience the reception into our lives of ,his highest blessings2 just because they are greater and deeper1 and belong to a more inward sphere than these outward and inferior miracles of bodily healing4 ,therefore the connection between our faith and ,his gifts to us is inevitable1 and constant1 and the commandment ',only believe1' assumes a more imperative stringency1 in regard to our spiritual experience1 than it ever did in regard to those who felt the power of ,his miracle-working hand4 ,so it stands for us1 as the one central appeal and exhortation which ,christ1 by ,his life1 by the record of ,his love1 by ,his ,cross and ,passion1 by ,his dealings and pleadings with us through ,his ,spirit1 and ,his providence to-day1 is making to us all4 ',only believe'--the one act that vitally knits the soul to ,christ1 and makes it capable of receiving unto itself the fullness of ,his loftiest blessings4 ,but we must note the two clauses which stand on either side of this central commandment4 ,they deal with two issues of faith4 ,one forbids fear1 the other gives fuel for the fire of hope4 ,on the one hand1 the exhortation1 ',fear not1' which is the most futile that can be spoken if the speaker does not touch the cause of the fear1 comes from ,his lips with a gracious power4 ,faith is the one counterpoise of fear4 ,there is none other for the deepest dreads that lie cold and paralysing1 though often dormant1 in every human spirit2 and that ought to lie there4 ,if a man has not faith in ,god1 in ,christ1 he ought to have fear4 ,for there rise before him1 solitary1 helpless1 inextricably caught into the meshes of this mysterious and awful system of things--a whole host of possible1 or probable1 or certain calamities1 and what is he to do8 stand there in the open1 with the pelting of the pitiless storm coming down upon him8 ,the man is an idiot if he is not afraid4 ,and what is to calm those rational fears1 the fear of wrath1 of life1 of death1 of what lies beyond death8 ,you cannot whistle them away4 ,you cannot ignore them always4 ,you cannot grapple with them in your own strength4 ',only believe1' says the ,comforter and the ,courage-bringer4 ,the attitude of trust banishes dread1 and nothing else will effectually and reasonably do it4 ',i will forewarn you whom ye shall fear4' ,him who can slay and who judges4 ,you have1 and you cannot break1 a connection with ,god4 ,he ought to be one of two things--your ghastliest dread or your absolute trust4 ',only believe then1' 'fear not4' ,believe not1 then be afraid2 for you have reason to be4 ,men say1 ',oh6 keep your courage up'2 and they contribute no means to keep it up3 ,christ says ',fear not2 only believe1' and gives to faith the courage which ,he enjoins4 ,like a child that never dreams of any mischief being able to reach it when the mother's breast is beneath its head1 and the mother's arms are round its little body1 each of us may rest on ,christ's breast1 and feel ,his arm round about us4 ,then we may smile at all that men call evils2 and whether they are possible1 or probable1 or certain1 we can look at them all and say1 ',ah6 ,i have circumvented you4' ',all things work together for good to them that' trust ,christ4 ',fear not2 only believe4' ,but on the other hand1 from that simple faith will spring up also hope that cannot despair4 ',she shall be made whole4' ,irreversible disasters have no place in ,christian experience4 ,there are no irrevocable losses to him who trusts4 ,there are no wounds that cannot be stanched1 when we go to ,him who has the balm and the bandage4 ,although it is true that dead faces do not smile again upon us until we get beyond earth's darkness1 it is also true that bonds broken may be knit in a finer fashion1 if faith instead of sense weaves them together2 and that in the great future we shall find that the true healing of those that went before was not by deliverance from1 but by passing through1 the death that emancipates from the long disease of earthly life4 ,brethren6 if we trust ,christ we may 'hope perfectly4' ,if we do not trust ,him our firmest hopes are as spiders' webs that are swept away by a besom2 and our deepest desires remain unfulfilled4 ',only believe1' then1 on the one side1 ',fear not1' and on the other side ',hope ever4' ,,ii4 ,we have here a word of revelation which softens the grimness of death4 ,our ,lord reaches the house of affliction1 and finds it a house of hubbub and noise4 ,the hired mourners1 with their shrill shrieks1 were there already1 bewailing the child4 ,the tumult jarred upon ,his calmness1 and ,he says ',weep not2 she is not dead but sleepeth4' ,one wonders how some people have read those words as if they declared that the apparent physical death was only a swoon or a faint1 or some kind of coma1 and that so there was no miracle at all in the case4 ',they laughed ,him to scorn2 knowing that she was dead4' ,you can measure the hollowness of their grief by its change into scornful laughter when a promise of consolation began to open before them4 ,and you can measure their worth as witnesses to the child's resurrection by their absolute certainty of her death4 ,but notice that our ,lord never forbids weeping unless ,he takes away its cause4 ',weep not1' is another of the futile forms of words with which men try to encourage and comfort one another4 ,there is nothing more cruel than to forbid tears to the sad heart4 ,jesus ,christ never did that except when ,he was able to bring that which took away occasion for weeping4 ,he lets grief have its way4 ,he means us to run rivers of waters down our cheeks when ,he sends us sorrows4 ,we shall never get the blessing of these till we have felt the bitterness of them4 ,we shall never profit by them if we stoically choke back the manifestations of our grief1 and think that it is submissive to be dumb4 ,let sorrow have way4 ,tears purge the heart from which their streams come4 ,but ,jesus ,christ says to us all1 ',weep not1' because ,he comes to us all with that which1 if ,i may so say1 puts a rainbow into the tear-drops1 and makes it possible that the great paradox should be fulfilled in our hearts1 ',as sorrowful yet always rejoicing4' ,weep not2 or if you weep1 let the tears have thankfulness as well as grief in them4 ,it is a difficult commandment1 but it is possible when ,his lips tell us not to weep1 and we have obeyed the central exhortation1 ',only believe4' ,note1 further1 in this second of our ,lord's words1 how ,he smooths away the grimness of death4 ,i do not claim for ,him anything like a monopoly of that most obvious and natural symbolism which regards death as a sleep4 ,it must have occurred to all who ever looked upon a corpse4 ,but ,i do claim that when ,he used the metaphor1 and by ,his use of it modified the whole conception of death in the thoughts of ,his disciples1 ,he put altogether different ideas into it from that which it contained on the lips of others4 ,he meant to suggest the idea of repose-- ',sleep1 full of rest from head to foot4' ,the calm immobility of the body so lately racked with pain1 or restless in feverish tossings1 is but a symbol of the deeper stillness of truer repose which remaineth for the people of ,god and laps the blessed spirits who 'sleep in ,jesus4' ,he meant to suggest the idea of separation from this material world4 ,he did not mean to suggest the idea of unconsciousness4 ,a man is not unconscious when he is asleep1 as dreams testify4 ,he meant1 above all1 if sleep1 then waking4 ,so the grim fact is smoothed down1 not by blinking any of its aspects1 but by looking deeper into them4 ,they who1 only believing1 have lived a life of courage and of hope1 and have fronted sorrows1 and felt the benediction of tears1 pass into the great darkness1 and know that they there are rocked to sleep on a loving breast1 and1 sleeping in ,jesus1 shall wake with the earliest morning light4 ,this is a revelation for all ,his servants4 ,and how deeply these words1 and others like them which ,he spake at the grave of ,lazarus and at other times1 were dinted into the consciousness of the ,christian ,church1 is manifested by the fact1 not only that they are recurrently used by ,apostles in their ,epistles1 but that all through the ,new ,testament you scarcely ever find the physical fact of dissolution designated by the name 'death1' but all sorts of gracious paraphrases1 which bring out the attractive and blessed aspects of the thing1 are substituted4 ,it is a 'sleep'2 it is a 'putting off the tabernacle'2 it is a 'departure'2 it is a pulling up of the tent-pegs1 and a change of place4 ,we do not need the ugly word1 and we do not need to dread the thing that men call by it4 ,the ,christian idea of death is not the separation of self from its house1 of the soul from the body1 but the separation of self from ,god1 who is the life4 ,,iii4 ,so1 lastly1 the life-giving word of power4 ',maiden1 arise6' ,all the circumstances of the miracle are marked by the most lovely consideration1 on ,christ's part1 of the timidity of the little girl of twelve years of age4 ,it is because of that that ,he seeks to raise her in privacy1 whereas the son of the widow of ,nain and ,lazarus were raised amidst a crowd4 ,it is because of that that ,he selects as ,his companions in the room only the three chief ,apostles as witnesses1 and the father and mother of the child4 ,it is because of that that ,he puts forth ,his hand and grasps hers1 in order that the child's eyes when they open should see only the loving faces of parents1 and the not less loving face of the ,master2 and that her hand1 when it began to move again1 should clasp1 first1 ,his own tender hand4 ,it is for the same reason that the remarkable appendix to the miracle is given--',he commanded that they should give her food4' ,surely that is an inimitable note of truth4 ,no legend-manufacturer would have dared to drop down to such a homely word as that1 after such a word as ',maiden1 arise6' ,an economy of miraculous power is shown here1 such as was shown when1 after ,lazarus came forth1 other hands had to untie the grave-clothes which tripped him as he stumbled along4 ,christ will do by miracle what is needful and not one hairs-breadth more4 ,in ,his calm majesty ,he bethinks ,himself of the hungry child1 and entrusts to others the task of giving her food4 ,that homely touch is1 to me1 indicative of the simple veracity of the historian4 ,but the life-giving word itself2 what can we say about it8 ,only this one thing3 here ,jesus ,christ exercises a manifest divine prerogative4 ,it was no more the syllables that ,he spoke than it was the touch of ,his hand that raised the child4 ,what was it8 ,the forth-putting of ,his will1 which went away straight into the darkness2 and if the disembodied spirit was in a locality1 went straight there2 and somehow or other1 laid hold of the spirit1 and somehow or other1 reinstated it in its home4 ,christ's will1 like the king's writ1 runs through all the universe4 ',he spake1 and it was done'2--whose prerogative is that8 ,god's2 and ,god manifest in the flesh exercised it4 ,the words of the ,incarnate ,word have power over physical things4 ,here1 too1 are the prelude and first-fruits of our resurrection4 ,not that there are not wide differences between the raising of this child1 and that future resurrection to which ,christian hope looks forward1 but that in this one little incident1 little1 compared with the majestic scale of the latter1 there come out these two things--the demonstration that conscious life runs on1 irrespective of the accident of its being united with or separated from a bodily organisation2 and the other1 that ,jesus ,christ has power over men's spirits1 and can fit them at ,his will to bodies appropriate to their condition4 ,time is no element in the case4 ,what befalls the particles of the human frame is no element in the case4 ',thou sowest not the body that shall be4' ,but if that ,lord had the power which ,he showed in that one chamber1 with that one child1 then1 as a little window may show us great matters1 so we see through this single incident the time when 'they that are in the graves shall hear ,his voice1 and shall come forth4' ,brethren6 there is a higher lesson still2 ,he that gives and gives again1 physical life1 does so as a symbol of the highest gift which ,he can bestow upon us all4 ,if we 'only believe1' then1 'you hath ,he quickened which were dead in trespasses and sins 444 and for ,his great love wherewith ,he loved us4444 ,he hath raised us up together1 and made us sit together1 in heavenly places in ,christ ,jesus4' ,,bread ,,from ,,heaven ',and the apostles1 when they were returned1 told ,him all that they had done4 ,and ,he took them1 and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city1 called ,bethsaida4 #aa4 ,and the people1 when they knew it1 followed ,him2 and ,he received them1 and spake unto them of the kingdom of ,god1 and healed them that had need of healing4 #ab4 ,and when the day began to wear away1 then came the twelve1 and said unto ,him1 ,send the multitude away1 that they may go into the towns and country round about1 and lodge1 and get victuals2 for we are here in a desert place4 #ac4 ,but ,he said unto them1 ,give ye them to eat4 ,and they said1 ,we have no more but five loaves and two fishes2 except we should go and buy meat for all this people4 #ad4 7,for they were about five thousand men47 ,and ,he said to ,his disciples1 ,make them sit down by fifties in a company4 #ae4 ,and they did so1 and made them all sit down4 #af4 ,then ,he took the five loaves1 and the two fishes2 and1 looking up to heaven1 ,he blessed them1 and brake1 and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude4 #ag4 ,and they did eat1 and were all filled3 and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets4'--,,luke ix4 #aj-ag4 ,the ,apostles needed rest after their trial trip as evangelists4 ,john the ,baptist's death had just been told to ,christ4 ,the ,passover was at hand1 and many pilgrims were on the march4 ,prudence and care for ,his followers as well as ,himself suggested a brief retirement1 and our ,lord sought it at the ,eastern ,bethsaida1 a couple of miles up the ,jordan from its point of entrance to the lake4 ,matthew and ,mark tell us that ,he went by boat1 which ,luke does not seem to have known4 ,mark adds that the curious crowd1 which followed on foot1 reached the place of landing before ,him1 and so effectually destroyed all hope of retirement4 ,it was a short walk round the north-western part of the head of the lake1 and the boat would be in sight all the way1 so that there was no escape for its passengers4 ,luke records the self-oblivious cordiality of ,christ's reception of the intrusive crowd4 ,without a sigh or sign of impatience1 ,he 'welcomed them'--a difficult thing to do1 and one which few of us could have achieved4 ,the motives of most of them can have been nothing higher than what leads vulgar people of all ranks and countries to buzz about distinguished men1 utterly regardless of delicacy or considerateness4 ,they want to see the notoriety1 no matter what it costs him4 ,but ,jesus received them patiently1 because1 as ,mark touchingly tells1 ,he was 'moved with pity1' and saw in their rude crowding round ,him the token of their lack of guides and teachers4 ,they seemed to ,him1 not merely a mob of intrusive sight-seers1 but like a huddled mass of unshepherded sheep4 ,christ's heart felt more lovingly than ours because ,his eye saw deeper1 and ,his eye saw deeper because ,his heart felt more lovingly4 ,if we would live nearer ,him1 we should see1 as ,he did1 enough in every man to draw our pity and help1 even though he may jostle and interfere with us4 ,the short journey to ,bethsaida would be in the early morning1 and a long day of toil followed instead of the hoped-for quiet4 ,note that singular expression1 ',them that had need of healing ,he healed4' ,why not simply 'them that were sick'8 ,probably to bring out the thought that misery made unfailing appeal to ,him1 and that for ,him to see need was to supply it4 ,his swift compassion1 ,his all-sufficient power to heal1 and the conditions of receiving ,his healing1 are all wrapped up in the words4 ,coming to the miracle itself1 we may throw the narrative into three parts--the preliminaries1 the miracle1 and the abundant overplus4 ,i4 ,our ,lord leads up to the miracle by forcing home on the minds of the disciples the extent of the need and the utter inadequacy of their resources to meet it1 and by calling on them and the crowd for an act of obedience which must have seemed to many of them ludicrous4 ,john shows us that ,he had begun to prepare them1 at the moment of meeting the multitude1 by ,his question to ,philip4 ,that had been simmering in the disciples' minds all day1 while they leisurely watched ,him toiling in word and work1 and now they come with their solution of the difficulty4 ,their suggestion was a very sensible one in the circumstances1 and they are not to be blamed for not anticipating a miracle as the way out4 ,however many miracles they saw1 they never seem to have expected another4 ,that has been thought to be unnatural1 but surely it is true to nature4 ,they moved in a confusing mixture of the miraculous and the natural which baffled calculation as to which element would rule at any given moment4 ,their faith was feeble1 and ,christ rebuked them for their slowness to learn the lesson of this very miracle and its twin feeding of the four thousand4 ,they were our true brothers in their failure to grasp the full meaning of the past1 and to trust ,his power4 ,the strange suggestion that the disciples should feed the crowd must have appeared to them absurd1 but it was meant to bring out the clear recognition of the smallness of their supply4 ,therein lie great lessons4 ,commands are given and apparent duties laid on us1 in order that we may find out how impotent we are to do them4 ,it can never be our duty to do what we cannot do1 but it is often our duty to attempt tasks to which we are conspicuously inadequate1 in the confidence that ,he who gives them has laid them on us to drive us to ,himself1 and there to find sufficiency4 ,the best preparation of ,his servants for their work in the world is the discovery that their own stores are small4 ,those who have learned that it is their task to feed the multitude1 and who have said ',we have no more than such and such scanty resources1' are prepared to be the distributors of ,his all-sufficient supply4 ,what a strange scene that must have been as the hundred groups of fifty each arranged themselves on the green grass1 in the setting sunlight1 waiting for a meal of which there were no signs6 ,it took a good deal of faith to seat the crowd1 and some faith for the crowd to sit4 ,how expectant they would be6 ,how they would wonder what was to be done next6 ,how some of them would laugh1 and some sneer1 and all watch the event6 ,we1 too1 have to put ourselves in the attitude to receive gifts of which sense sees no sign2 and if1 in obedience to ,christ's word1 we sit down expecting ,him to find the food1 we shall not be disappointed1 though the table be spread in the wilderness1 and neither storehouse nor kitchen be in sight4 ,,ii4 ,the miracle itself has some singular features4 ,like that of the draught of fishes1 it was not called forth by the cry of suffering1 nor was the need which it met one beyond the reach of ordinary means4 ,it was certainly one of the miracles most plainly meant to strike the popular mind1 and the enthusiasm excited by it1 according to ,john's account1 was foreseen by ,christ4 ,why did ,he evoke enthusiasm which ,he did not mean to gratify8 ,for the very purpose of bringing the carnal expectations of the crowd to a head1 that they might be the more conclusively disappointed4 ,the miracle and its sequel sifted and sent away many 'disciples1' and were meant to do so4 ,all the accounts tell of ,christ's 'blessing4' ,matthew and ,mark do not say what ,he blessed1 and perhaps the best supplement is ',god1' but ,luke says that ,he blessed the food4 ,what ,he blesses is blessed2 for ,his words are deeds1 and communicate the blessing which they speak4 ,the point at which the miraculous multiplication of the food came in is left undetermined1 but perhaps the difference in the tenses of the verbs hints at it4 ',blessed' and 'brake' are in the tense which describes a single act2 'gave' is in that which describes a continuous repeated action4 ,the pieces grew under ,his touch1 and the disciples always found ,his hands full when they came back with their own empty4 ,but wherever the miraculous element appeared1 creative power was exercised by ,jesus2 and none the less was it creative1 because there was the 'substratum' of the loaves and fishes4 ,too much stress has been laid on their being used1 and some commentators have spoken as if without them the miracle could not have been wrought4 ,but surely the distinction between pure creation and multiplication of a thing already existing vanishes when a loaf is 'multiplied' so as to feed a thousand men4 ,the symbolical aspect of the miracle is set forth in the great discourse which follows it in ,john's ,gospel4 ,jesus is the ',bread of ,god which came down from heaven4' ,that ,bread is broken for us4 ,not in ,his ,incarnation alone1 but in ,his ,death1 is ,he the food of the world2 and we have not only to 'eat ,his flesh1' but to 'drink ,his blood1' if we would live4 ,nor can we lose sight of the symbol of ,his servants' task4 ,they are the distributors of the heaven-sent bread4 ,if they will but take their poor stores to ,jesus1 with the acknowledgment of their insufficiency1 ,he will turn them into inexhaustible supplies1 and they will find that 'there is that scattereth1 and yet increaseth4' ,what ,christ blesses is always enough4 ,,iii4 ,the abundance left over is significant4 ,twelve baskets1 such as poor travellers carried their belongings in1 were filled2 that is to say1 each ,apostle who had helped to feed the hungry had a basketful to bring off for future wants4 ,the 'broken pieces' were not crumbs that littered the grass1 but the portions that came from ,christ's hands4 ,his provision is more than enough for a hungry world1 and they who share it out among their fellows have their own possession of it increased4 ,there is no surer way to receive the full sweetness and blessing of the ,gospel than to carry it to some hungry soul4 ,these full baskets teach us1 too1 that ,in ,christ's gift of ,himself as the ,bread of ,life there is ever more than at any given moment we can appropriate4 ,the ,christian's spiritual experiences have ever an element of infinity in them2 and we feel that if we were able to take in more1 there would be more for us to take4 ,other food cloys and does not satisfy1 and leaves us starving4 ,christ satisfies and does not cloy1 and we have always remaining1 yet to be enjoyed1 the boundless stores which neither eternity will age nor a universe feeding on them consume4 ,the ,christian's capacity of partaking of ,christ grows with what it feeds on1 and he alone is safe in believing that ',to-morrow shall be as this day1 and much more abundant4' ,,the ,,lord ,,that ,,healeth ,,thee' ',he healed them that had need of healing4'--,luke ix4 #aa4 ,jesus was seeking a little quiet and rest for ,himself and ,his followers4 ,for that purpose ,he took one of the fishermen's boats to cross to the other side of the sea4 ,but the crowd1 inconsiderate and selfish1 like all crowds1 saw the course of the boat1 and hurried1 as they could easily do1 on foot round the head of the lake1 to be ready for ,him wherever ,he might land4 ,so when ,he touched the shore1 there they all were1 open-mouthed and mostly moved by mere curiosity1 and the prospect of a brief breathing-space vanished4 ,but not a word of rebuke or disappointment came from ,his lips1 and no shade of annoyance crossed ,his spirit4 ,perhaps with a sigh1 but yet cheerfully1 ,he braced ,himself to work where ,he had hoped for leisure4 ,it was a little thing1 but it was the same in kind1 though infinitely smaller in magnitude1 as that which led ,him to lay aside 'the glory that ,he had with the ,father before the world was1' and come to toil and die amongst men4 ,but what ,i especially would note are ,luke's remarkable words here4 ,why does he use that periphrasis1 ',them that had need of healing1' instead of contenting himself with straightforwardly saying1 ',them that were sick1' as do the other ,evangelists8 ,well1 ,i suppose he wished to hint to us the ,lord's discernment of men's necessities1 the swift compassion which moved to supply a need as soon as it was observed1 and the inexhaustible power by which1 whatsoever the varieties of infirmity1 ,he was able to cure and to bring strength4 ',he healed them that had need of healing1' because ,his love could not look upon a necessity without being moved to supply it1 and because that love wielded the resources of an infinite power4 ,now1 all our ,lord's miracles are parables1 illustrating upon a lower platform spiritual facts2 and that is especially true about the miracles of healing4 ,so ,i wish to deal with the words before us as having a direct application to ourselves1 and to draw from them two or three very old1 threadbare1 neglected lessons1 which ,i pray ,god may lead some of us to recognise anew our need of healing1 and ,christ's infinite power to bestow it4 ,there are three things that ,i want to say1 and ,i name them here that you may know where ,i am going4 ,first1 we all need healing2 second1 ,christ can heal us all2 third1 we are not all healed4 ,i4 ,we all need healing4 ,the people in that crowd were not all diseased4 ,some of them ,he taught2 some of them ,he cured2 but that crowd where healthy men mingled with cripples is no type of the condition of humanity4 ,rather we are to find it in that ,pool of ,bethesda1 with its five porches1 wherein lay a multitude of impotent folk1 tortured with varieties of sickness1 and none of them sound4 ,blessed be ,god6 we are in ,bethesda1 which means 'house of mercy1' and the fountain that can heal is perpetually springing up beside us all4 ,there is a disease1 dear brethren1 which affects and infects all mankind1 and it is of that that ,i wish to speak to you two or three plain1 earnest words now4 ,sin is universal4 ,what does the ,bible mean by sin8 ,everything that goes against1 or neglects ,god's law4 ,and if you will recognise in all the acts of every life the reference1 which really is there1 to ,god and ,his will1 you will not need anything more to establish the fact that 'all have sinned1 and come short of the glory of ,god4' ,whatever other differences there are between men1 there is this fundamental similarity4 ,neglect--which is a breach--of the law of ,god pertains to all mankind4 ,everything that we do ought to have reference to ,him4 ,does everything that we do have such reference8 ,if not1 there is a quality of evil in it4 ,for the very definition of sin is living to myself and neglecting ,him4 ,he is the centre1 and if ,i might use a violent figure1 every planet that wrenches itself away from gravitation towards1 and revolution round1 that centre1 and prefers to whirl on its own axis1 has broken the law of the celestial spheres1 and brought discord into the heavenly harmony4 ,all men stand condemned in this respect4 ,now1 there is no need to exaggerate4 ,i am not saying that all men are on the same level4 ,i know that there are great differences in the nobleness1 purity1 and goodness of lives1 and ,christianity has never been more unfairly represented than when good men have called1 as they have done with ,st4 ,augustine1 the virtues of godless men1 'splendid vices4' ,but though the differences are not unimportant1 the similarity is far more important4 ,the pure1 clean-living man1 and the loving1 gentle woman1 though they stand high above the sensuality of the profligate1 the criminal1 stand in this respect on the same footing that they1 too1 have to put their hands on their mouths1 and their mouths in the dust1 and cry ',unclean6' ,i do not want to exaggerate1 and sure ,i am that if men will be honest with themselves there is a voice that responds to the indictment when ,i say sadly1 in the solemn language of ,scripture1 'we all have sinned and come short of the glory of ,god4' ,for there is no difference4 ,if you do not believe in a ,god1 you can laugh at the old wife's notion of 'sin4' ,if you do believe in a ,god1 you are shut up to believe this other thing1 ',against ,thee1 ,thee only1 have ,i sinned4' ,and1 brethren1 if this universal fact is indeed a fact1 it is the gravest element in human nature4 ,it matters very little1 in comparison1 whether you and ,i are wise or foolish1 educated or illiterate1 rich or poor1 happy or miserable4 ,all the superficial distinctions which separate men from one another1 and are all right in their own places1 dwindle away into nothing before this solemn truth that in every frame there is a plague spot1 and that the leprosy has smitten us all4 ,but1 brethren1 do not let us lose ourselves in generalities4 ,all means each1 and each means me4 ,we all know how hard it is to bring general truths to bear1 with all their weight1 upon ourselves4 ,that is an old commonplace3 ',all men think all men mortal but themselves'2 and we are quite comfortable when this indictment is kept in the general terms of universality--',all have sinned4' ,suppose ,i sharpen the point a little4 ,god grant that the point may get to some indurated conscience here4 ,suppose1 instead of reading ',all have sinned1' ,i beseech each one of my hearers to strike out the general word1 and put in the individual one1 and to say ',i have sinned4' ,you have to do with this indictment just as you have to do with the promises and offers of the ,gospel--wherever there is a 'whosoever' put your pen through it1 and write your own name over it4 ,the blank cheque is given to us in regard to these promises and offers1 and we have to fill in our own names4 ,the charge is handed to us1 in regard to this indictment1 and if we are wise we shall write our own names there1 too4 ,dear brethren1 ,i leave this on your consciences1 and ,i will venture to ask that1 if not here1 at any rate when you get quietly home to-night1 and lie down on your beds1 you would put to yourselves the question1 ',is it ,i8' ,and sure ,i am that1 if you do1 you will see a finger pointing out of the darkness1 and hear a voice sterner than that of ,nathan1 saying ',thou art the man4' ,,ii4 ,christ can heal us all4 ,i was going to use an inappropriate word1 and say1 the superb ease with which ,he grappled with1 and overcame1 all types of disease is a revelation on a lower level of the inexhaustible and all-sufficient fullness of ,his healing power4 ,he can cope with all sin-the world's sin1 and the individual's4 ,and1 as ,i believe1 ,he alone can do it4 ,just look at the problem that lies before any one who attempts to stanch these wounds of humanity4 ,what is needed in order to deliver men from the sickness of sin8 ,well6 that evil thing1 like the fabled dog that sits at the gate of the infernal regions1 is three-headed4 ,and you have to do something with each of these heads if you are to deliver men from that power4 ,there is first the awful power that evil once done has over us of repeating itself on and on4 ,there is nothing more dreadful to a reflective mind than the damning influence of habit4 ,the man that has done some wrong thing once is a rara avis indeed4 ,if once1 then twice2 if twice1 then onward and onward through all the numbers4 ,and the intervals between will grow less1 and what were isolated points will coalesce into a line2 and impulses wax as motives wane1 and the less delight a man has in his habitual form of evil the more is its dominion over him1 and he does it at last not because the doing of it is any delight1 but because the not doing of it is a misery4 ,if you are to get rid of sin1 and to eject the disease from a man1 you have to deal with that awful degradation of character1 and the tremendous chains of custom4 ,that is one of the heads of the monster4 ,but1 as ,i said1 sin has reference to ,god1 and there is another of the heads1 for with sin comes guilt4 ,the relation to ,god is perverted1 and the man that has transgressed stands before ,him as guilty1 with all the dolefulness that that solemn word means2 and that is another of the heads4 ,the third is this--the consequences that follow in the nature of penalty4 ',whatsoever a man soweth1 that shall he also reap4' ,so long as there is a universal rule by ,god1 in which all things are concatenated by cause and effect1 it is impossible but that ',evil shall slay the wicked4' ,and that is the third head4 ,these three1 habit1 guilt1 and penalty1 have all to be dealt with if you are going to make a thorough job of the surgery4 ,and here1 brethren1 ,i want not to argue but to preach4 ,jesus ,christ died on the ,cross for you1 and your sin was in ,his heart and mind when ,he died1 and ,his atoning sacrifice cancels the guilt1 and suspends all that is dreadful in the penalty of the sin4 ,nothing else--nothing else will do that4 ,who can deal with guilt but the offended ,ruler and ,judge8 ,who can trammel up consequences but the ,lord of the ,universe8 ,the blood of ,jesus ,christ is the sole and sufficient oblation and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world4 ,that disposes of two of the monster's heads4 ,what about the third8 ,who will take the venom out of my nature8 ,what will express the black drop from my heart8 ,how shall the ,ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots8 ,how can the man that has become habituated to evil 'learn to do well'8 ,superficially there may be much reformation4 ,god forbid that ,i should forget that1 or seem to minimise it4 ,but for the thorough ejection from your nature of the corruption that you have yourselves brought into it1 ,i believe--and that is why ,i am here1 for ,i should have nothing to say if ,i did not believe it--,i believe that there is only one remedy1 and that is that into the sinful heart there should come1 rejoicing and flashing1 and bearing on its broad bosom before it all the rubbish and filth of that dunghill1 the great stream of the new life that is given by ,jesus ,christ4 ,he was crucified for our offences1 and ,he lives to bestow upon us the fullness of ,his own holiness4 ,so the monster's heads are smitten off4 ,our disease and the tendency to it1 and the weakness consequent upon it1 are all cast out from us1 and ,he reveals ,himself as 'the ,lord who healeth thee4' ,now1 dear brethren1 you may say ',that is all very fine talking4' ,yes6 but it is something a great deal more than fine talking4 ,for nineteen centuries have established the fact that it is so2 and with all their imperfections there have been millions1 and there are millions to-day1 who are ready to say1 ',behold6 it is not a delusion2 it is not rhetoric1 ,i have trusted in ,him and ,he has made me whole4' ,now1 if these things that ,i have been saying do fairly represent the gravity of the problem which has to be dealt with in order to heal the sicknesses of the world1 then there is no need to dwell upon the thought of how absolutely confined to ,jesus ,christ is the power of thus dealing4 ,god forbid that ,i should not give full weight to all other methods for partial reformation and bettering of humanity4 ,i would wish them all ,god-speed4 ,but1 brethren1 there is nothing else that will deal either with my sin in its relation to ,god1 or in its relation to my character1 or in its relation to my future1 except the message of the ,gospel4 ,there are plenty of other things1 very helpful and good in their places1 but ,i do want to say1 in one word1 that there is nothing else that goes deep enough4 ,education8 ,yes6 it will do a great deal1 but it will do nothing in regard to sin4 ,it will alter the type of the disease1 because the cultured man's transgressions will be very different from those of the illiterate boor4 ,but wise or foolish1 professor1 student1 thinker1 or savage with narrow forehead and all but dead brain1 are alike in this1 that they are sinners in ,god's sight4 ,i would that ,i could get through the fence that some of you have reared round you1 on the ground of your superior enlightenment and education and refinement1 and make you feel that there is something deeper than all that1 and that you may be a very clever1 and a very well educated1 a very highly cultured1 an extremely thoughtful and philosophical sinner1 but you are a sinner all the same4 ,and again1 we hear a great deal at present1 and ,i do not desire that we should hear less1 about social and economic and political changes1 which some eager enthusiasts suppose will bring the millennium4 ,well1 if the land were nationalised1 and all 'the means of production and distribution' were nationalised1 and everybody got his share1 and we were all brought to the communistic condition1 what then8 ,that would not make men better1 in the deepest sense of the word4 ,the fact is1 these people are beginning at the wrong end4 ,you cannot better humanity merely by altering its environment for the better4 ,christianity reverses the process4 ,it begins with the inmost man1 and it works outwards to the circumference1 and that is the thorough way4 ,why6 suppose you took a company of people out of the slums1 for instance1 and put them into a model lodging-house1 how long will it continue a model8 ,they will take their dirty habits with them1 and pull down the woodwork for firing1 and in a very short time make the place where they are as like as possible to the hovel whence they came4 ,you must change the men1 and then you can change their circumstances1 or rather they will change them for themselves4 ,now1 all this is not to be taken as casting cold water on any such efforts to improve matters1 but only as a protest against its being supposed that these alone are sufficient to rectify the ills and cure the sorrows of humanity4 ',ye have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly4' ,the patient is dying of cancer1 and you are treating him for a skin disease4 ,it is ,jesus ,christ alone who can cure the sins1 and therein the sorrows1 of humanity4 ,,iii4 ,lastly1 we are not all healed4 ,that is only too plain4 ,all the sick in the crowd round ,christ were sent away well1 but the gifts ,he bestowed so broadcast had no relation to their spiritual natures1 and gifts that have relation to our spiritual nature cannot be thus given in entire disregard of our actions in the matter4 ,christ cannot heal you unless you take ,his healing power4 ,he did on earth sometimes1 though not often1 cure physical disease without the requirement of faith on the part of the healed person or his friends1 but ,he cannot 7,he would if ,he could7 do so in regard to the disease of sin4 ,there1 unless a man goes to ,him1 and trusts ,him1 and submits his spirit to the operation of ,christ's pardoning and hallowing grace1 there cannot be any remedy applied1 nor any cure effected4 ,that is no limitation of the universal power of the ,gospel4 ,it is only saying that if you do not take the medicine you cannot expect that it will do you any good1 and surely that is plain common-sense4 ,there are plenty of people who fancy that ,christ's healing and saving power will1 somehow or other1 reach every man1 apart from the man's act4 ,it is all a delusion1 brethren4 ,if it could it would4 ,but if salvation could be thus given1 independent of the man1 it would come down to a mere mechanical thing1 and would not be worth the having4 ,so ,i say1 first1 if you will not take the medicine you cannot get the cure4 ,i say1 second1 if you do not feel that you are ill you will not take the medicine4 ,a man crippled with lameness1 or tortured with fever1 or groping in the daylight and blind1 or deaf to all the sounds of this sweet world1 could not but know that he was a subject for the healing4 ,but the awful thing about our disease is that the worse you are the less you know it2 and that when conscience ought to be speaking loudest it is quieted altogether1 and leaves a man often perfectly at peace1 so that after he has done evil things he wipes his mouth and says1 ',i have done no harm4' ,so1 dear brethren1 let me plead with you not to put away these poor words that ,i have been saying to you1 and not to be contented until you have recognised what is true1 that you--you1 stand a sinful man before ,god4 ,there is surely no madness comparable to the madness of the man that prefers to keep his sin and die1 rather than go to ,christ and live4 ,we all neglect to take up many good things that we might have if we would1 but no other neglect is a thousandth part so insane as that of the man who clings to his evil and spurns the ,lord4 ,will you look into your own hearts8 ,will you recognise that awful solemn law of ,god which ought to regulate all our doings1 and1 alas6 has been so often neglected1 and so often transgressed by each of us8 ,oh6 if once you saw yourselves as you are1 you would turn to ,him and say1 ',heal me'2 and you would be healed1 and ,he would lay ,his hand upon you4 ,if only you will go1 sick and broken1 to ,him1 and trust in ,his great sacrifice1 and open your hearts to the influx of ,his healing power1 ,he will give you 'perfect soundness'2 and your song will be1 ',bless the ,lord1 ,o my soul4444 ,who forgiveth all thine iniquities2 who healeth thy diseases4' ,may it be so with each of us6 ,,christ',s ,,cross ,,and ,,ours ',and it came to pass1 as ,he was alone praying1 ,his disciples were with ,him2 and ,he asked them1 saying1 ,whom say the people that ,i am ,i #ai4 ,they answering1 said1 ,john the ,baptist2 but some say1 ,elias2 and others say1 that one of the old prophets is risen again4 #bj4 ,he said unto them1 ,but whom say ye that ,i am8 ,peter answering1 said1 ,the ,christ of ,god4 #ba4 ,and ,he straitly charged them1 and commanded them to tell no man that thing2 #bb4 ,saying1 ,the ,son of man must suffer many things1 and be rejected of the elders1 and chief priests1 and scribes1 and be slain1 and be raised the third day4 #bc4 ,and ,he said to them all1 ,if any man will come after ,me4 let him deny himself1 and take up his cross daily1 and follow ,me4 #bd4 ,for whosoever will save his life shall lose it2 but whosoever will lose his life for ,my sake1 the same shall save it4 #be4 ,for what is a man advantaged1 if he gain the whole world1 and lose himself1 or be cast away8 #bf4 ,for whosoever shall be ashamed of ,me1 and of ,my words1 of him shall the ,son of man be ashamed1 when ,he shall come in ,his own glory1 and in ,his ,father's1 and of the holy angels4 #bg4 ,but ,i tell you of a truth1 there be some standing here1 which shall not taste of death1 till they see the kingdom of ,god4'--,luke ix4 #ah-bg4 ,this passage falls into three distinct but closely connected parts3 the disciples' confession of ,christ by ,peters mouth1 the revelation to them of ,christ's sufferings as necessarily involved in ,his ,messiahship1 and ,his extension to them of the law of suffering as necessarily involved in discipleship4 ,luke dwells much more lightly than ,matthew on the first of these stages1 omitting the eulogium and benediction on ,simon ,bar-,jona1 and the great words about the rock on which the ,church is built1 but he retains the essentials1 and emphasises the connection of the three parts by his very brevity in regard to the first4 ,i4 ,luke has special interest in recording ,christ's prayers1 and though he does not tell us where the great confession was made1 he tells what ,jesus did before it was made4 ,we may well suppose that ,his solitary thoughts had been busied with the sufferings on which ,he was soon to enter1 and that ,his resolve to impart the knowledge of these to ,his followers was felt by ,him to be a sharp trial of their loyalty4 ,the moment was a fateful one4 ,how should fateful moments be prepared for but by communion with the ,father8 ,no doubt the feebleness of the disciples was remembered in ,his petitions4 ,jesus' double question was intended1 first1 to make the disciples feel the gulf which separated them from the rest of the nation1 and so to make them hold the faster by their unshared faith1 and be ready to suffer for it1 if needful1 as probably it would be4 ,it braces true men to know that they are but a little company in the midst of multitudes who laugh at their belief4 ,that ,jesus should have seen that it was safe to accentuate the disciples' isolation indicates the reality which ,he discerned in their faith1 imperfect as it was4 ',whom say ye that ,i am8' ,jesus brings them to articulate utterance of the thought that had been slowly gathering distinctness in their minds4 ,we see our beliefs more clearly1 and hold them more firmly1 when we put them into definite words4 ,the question acted like a chemical element dropped into a solution1 which precipitates its solid matter4 ,nebulous opinions are gathered up into spheres of light by the process of speaking them4 ,that question is all-important for us4 ,our conceptions of ,christ's nature and office determine our relation to ,him and our whole cast of life4 ,true1 we may say that ,he is ,lord1 and not be ,his disciples1 but we are not ,his disciples as ,he would have us unless ,his ,messiahship stands out clear and axiomatic in our thoughts of ,him4 ,the conviction must pass into feeling1 and thence into life1 but it must underlie all real discipleship4 ,doctrine is not ,christianity1 but it is the foundation of ,christianity4 ,the ,apostolic confession here is the 'irreducible minimum' of the ,christian creed4 ,it does not contain more than ,nathanael had said at the beginning1 but here it is spoken1 not as ,peter's private belief1 but he is the mouthpiece of all4 ',whether it were ,i or they1 so we' believe4 ,this confession summed up the previous development of the disciples1 and so marked the end of one stage and the beginning of another4 ,christ would have them1 as it were1 take stock of their convictions1 as preliminary to opening a new chapter of teaching4 ,,ii4 ,that new chapter follows at once4 ,the belief in ,him as ,messiah is the first story of the building1 and the second is next piled on it4 ,the new lesson was a hard one for men whose hopes were coloured by ,jewish dreams of a kingdom4 ,they had to see all these vulgar visions melting away1 and to face a stern1 sad reality4 ,the very fact that ,he was the ,messiah necessarily drew after it the fact of suffering4 ,whence did the 'must' arise8 ,from the divine purpose1 from the necessities of the case1 and the aim of ,his mission4 ,these had shaped prophetic utterances1 and hence there was yet another form of the 'must1' namely1 the necessity for the ,messiah's fulfilling these predictions4 ,no doubt our ,lord led ,his saddened listeners to many a prophetic saying which current expositions had smoothed over1 but which had for many years set before ,him ,his destiny4 ,what a scene that would be--the victim calmly pointing to the tragic words which flashed ominous new meanings to the silent hearers1 stricken with awe and grief as the terrible truth entered their minds6 ,what had become of their dreams8 ,gone1 and in their place shame and death4 ,they had fancied a throne2 the vision melted into a cross4 ,we note the minute particularity of ,jesus' delineation1 and the absolute certainty in ,his plain declaration of the fact and time of the ,resurrection4 ,it is not wonderful that that declaration should have produced little effect4 ,the disciples were too much absorbed and confounded by the dismal thought of ,his death to have ears for the assurance of ,his ,resurrection4 ,comfort coming at the end of the announcement of calamities so great finds no entrance into1 nor room in1 the heart4 ,we all let a black foreground hide from us a brighter distance4 ,,iii4 ,the ,master's feet mark the disciples' path4 ,if suffering was involved in ,messiahship1 it is no less involved in discipleship4 ,the cross which is our hope is also our pattern4 ,in a very real sense we have to be partakers of the sufferings of ,christ1 and no faith in these as substitutionary is vital unless it leads to being conformed to ,his death4 ,the solemn verses at the close of this lesson draw out the law of ,christian self-denial as being inseparable from true discipleship4 ,verse #bc lays down the condition of following ,jesus as being the daily bearing1 by each1 of his own cross4 ,mark that self-denial is not prescribed for its own sake1 but simply as the means of 'following4' ,false asceticism insists on it1 as if it were an end2 ,christ treats it as a means4 ,mark1 too1 that it is 'self' which is to be denied--not this or that part of our nature1 but the central 'self4' ,the will is the man1 and it is to be brought into captivity to ,jesus1 so that the true ,christian says1 ',i live2 yet not ,i1 but ,christ liveth in me4' ,that is much deeper1 harder1 wholesomer teaching than separate austerities or forsakings of this or that4 ,verse #bd grounds this great requirement on the broad principle that to make self the main object of life is the sure way to ruin oneself1 and that to slay self is the road to true life4 ,note that it is he who 'would save' his life that loses it1 because the desire is itself fatal1 whether carried out or not2 while it is he who does 'lose' his life for ,christ that preserves it1 because even if the extreme evil has been suffered1 the possession of our true lives is not imperilled thereby4 ,no doubt the words refer primarily to literal death1 and threaten the cowards who sacrifice their convictions for the sake of keeping a whole skin with the failure of their efforts1 while they promise the martyr dying in the arena or at the stake a crown of life4 ,but they go far beyond that4 ,they carry the great truth that to hug self and to make its preservation our first aim is ruinous1 and the corresponding one1 that to slay self for ,christ's sake is to receive a better self4 ,self-preservation is suicide2 self-immolation is not only self-preservation1 but self-glorification with glory caught from ,jesus4 ,give yourselves to ,him1 and ,he gives you back to yourselves1 ennobled and transfigured4 ,verse #be urges obedience to the precept1 by an appeal to reasonable self-regard and common-sense4 ,the abnegation enjoined does not require that we should be indifferent to our own well-being4 ,it is right to consider what will 'profit1' and to act accordingly4 ,the commercial view of life1 if rightly taken1 with regard to all a man's nature through all the duration of it1 will coincide accurately with the most exalted4 ,it 'pays' to follow ,christ4 ,christian morality has not the hypersensitive fear of appealing to self-interest which superfine moralists profess nowadays4 ,and the question in verse #be admits of only one answer1 for what good is the whole world to a dead man8 ,if our accounts are rightly kept1 a world gained shows poorly on the one side1 against the entry on the other of a soul lost4 ,verse #bf tells in what that losing oneself consists1 and enforces the original exhortation by the declaration of a future appearance of the ,son of man4 ,he of whom ,christ is then ashamed loses his own soul4 ,to live without ,his smile is to die1 to be disowned by ,him is to be a wreck4 ,to be ashamed of ,jesus is equivalent to that base self-preservation which has been denounced as fatal4 ,if a man disavows all connection with ,him1 ,he will disavow all connection with the disavower4 ,a man separated from ,jesus is dead while he lives1 and hereafter will live a living death1 and possess neither the world for which he sacrificed his own soul nor the soul for which he sacrificed it4 ,we cannot but note the authoritative tone of our ,lord in these verses4 ,he claims the obedience and discipleship of all men4 ,he demands that all shall yield themselves unreservedly to ,him1 and that1 even if actual surrender of life is involved1 it shall be gladly given4 ,he puts our relation to ,him as determining our whole present and future4 ,he assumes to be our ,judge1 whose smile is life1 whose averted face darkens the destiny of a man4 ,whom say ye that ,he who dared to speak thus conceived ,himself to be8 ,whom say ye that ,he is8 ,verse #bg recalls us from the contemplation of that far-off appearance to something nearer4 ,remembering the previous announcement of our ,lord's sufferings1 these words seem intended to cheer the disciples with the hope that the kingdom would still be revealed within the lifetime of some then present4 ,remembering the immediately preceding words1 this saying seems to assure the disciples that the blessed recompense of the life of self-crucifying discipleship is not to be postponed to that future1 but may be enjoyed on earth4 ,remembering ,christ's word1 ',except a man be born again1 he cannot see the kingdom of ,god1' we doubt whether there is any reference here to the destruction of ,jerusalem1 as is commonly understood4 ,are not the words rather a declaration that they who are ,christ's true disciples shall even here enter into the possession of their true selves1 and find the ,messianic hopes more than fulfilled8 ,the future indicated will then be no more remote than the completion of ,his work by ,his death and ,resurrection1 or1 at the farthest1 the descent of the ,holy ,spirit at ,pentecost1 by which the fuller life of renewed natures was bestowed on those who were following ,jesus in daily self-surrender4 ,,prayer ,,and ,,transfiguration ',and as ,he prayed1 the fashion of ,his countenance was altered4'--,,luke ix4 #bi4 ,this ,evangelist is especially careful to record the instances of our ,lord's prayers4 ,that is in accordance with the emphasis which he places on ,christ's manhood4 ,in this narrative of the ,transfiguration it is to ,luke that we owe our knowledge of the connection between our ,lord's prayer and the radiance of ,his face4 ,it may be a question how far such transfiguration was the constant accompaniment of our ,lord's devotion4 ,it is to be remembered that this is the only time at which others were present while ,he prayed1 and perhaps it may be that whensoever1 on the mountain top or in the solitude of the wilderness1 ,he entered into closer communion with ,his heavenly ,father1 that radiance shone from ,his face1 though no eye beheld and no tongue has recorded the glory4 ,but that is a mere supposition4 ,however that may be1 it would seem that the light on ,christ's face was not merely a reflection caught from above1 but it was also a rising up from within of what always abode there1 though it did not always shine through the veil of flesh4 ,and in so far it presents no parallel with anything in our experience1 nor any lesson for us4 ,but to regard our ,lord's ,transfiguration as only the result of the indwelling divinity manifested is to construe only one half of the fact that we have to deal with1 and the other half does afford for us a precious lesson4 ',as ,he prayed the fashion of ,his countenance was altered'2 and as we pray1 and in the measure in which we truly and habitually do hold communion1 shall we1 too1 partake of ,his ,transfiguration4 ,the old story of the light that flashed upon the face of the ,lawgiver1 caught by reflection from the light of ,god in which ,he walked1 is a partial parallel to ,christ's ,transfiguration1 and both the one and the other incident1 amongst their other lessons1 do also point to some mysterious and occult relation between the indwelling soul and the envious veil of flesh which1 under certain circumstances1 might become radiant with the manifestation of that indwelling power4 ,i4 ,the one great lesson which ,i seek now to enforce from this incident is1 that communion with ,god transfigures4 ,prayer is more than petitions4 ,it is not necessarily cast into words at all4 ,in its widest1 which is its truest sense1 it is the attitude and exercise of devout contemplation of ,god and intercourse in heart1 mind1 and will with ,him1 a communion which unites aspiration and attainment1 longing and fruition1 asking and receiving1 seeking and finding1 a communion which often finds itself beggared for words1 and sometimes even seems to transcend thought4 ,how different is such an hour of rapt communion with the living ,god from the miserable notions which so many professing ,christians have of prayer1 as if it were but spoken requests1 more or less fervent and sincere1 for things that they want6 ,the noblest communion of a soul with ,god can never be free from the consciousness of need and dependence4 ,petition must ever be an element in it1 but supplication is only a corner of prayer4 ,such conscious converse with ,god is the very atmosphere in which the ,christian soul should always live1 and if it be an experience altogether strange to us we had better ask ourselves whether we yet know the realities of the ,christian life1 or have any claim to the name4 ',truly1 our fellowship is with the ,father and with ,his ,son1 ,jesus ,christ1' and if we have no share in that fellowship we do not belong to the class of whom it is the mark and possession4 ,of course1 such communion is not to be attained or maintained without effort4 ,sense wars against it4 ,tasks which are duties interrupt the enjoyment of it in its more conscious forms4 ,the hard-working man may well say1 ',how can ,i1 with my business cares calling--for my undivided attention all day long1 keep up such communion8' ,the toiling mother may well say1 ',how can ,i1 in my little house1 with my children round me1 and never a quiet minute to myself1 get such8' ,true1 it is hard1 and the highest and sweetest forms of communion cannot be reached by us while so engaged1 and therefore we all need seasons of solitude and repose1 in which1 being left alone1 we may see the ,great ,vision1 and1 the clank of the engines being silenced1 we may hear the ,great ,voice saying1 ',come up hither4' ,such seasons the busiest have on one day in every week1 and such seasons we shall contrive to secure for ourselves daily1 if we really want to be intimate with our heavenly ,friend4 ,and for the rest it is not impossible to have real communion with ,god in the midst of anxious cares and absorbing duties2 it is possible to be like the nightingales1 that sing loudest in the trees by the dusty roadsides1 possible to be in the very midst of anxiety and worldly work1 and yet to keep our hearts in heaven and in touch with ,god4 ,we do not need many words for communion1 but we do need to make efforts to keep ourselves near ,him in desire and aspiration1 and we need jealous and constant watchfulness over our motives for work1 and our temper and aim in it1 that neither the work nor our way of doing it may draw us away4 ,there will be breaches in the continuity of our conscious communion1 but there need not be any in the reality of our touch with ,god4 ,for ,he can be with us1 'like some sweet1 beguiling melody1 so sweet we know not we are listening to it4' ,there may be a real contact of the spirit with ,him1 though it would be hard at the moment to put it into words4 ',as ,he prayed1 the fashion of ,his countenance was altered4' ,such communion changes and glorifies a man4 ,the very secret of the ,gospel way of making men better is--transfiguration by the vision of ,god4 ,yes6 to be much with ,god is the true way to mend our characters1 and to make them like ,his4 ,i do not under-value the need of effort in order to correct faults and acquire virtues4 ,we do not receive sanctification as we receive justification1 by simple faith4 ,for the latter the condition is ',only believe1' for the former it is ',work out your own salvation4' ,no man is cured of his evil tendencies without a great deal of hard work conscientiously directed to curbing them4 ,but all the hard work1 and all the honest purpose in the world1 will not do it without this other thing1 the close communion with ,god1 and incomparably the surest way to change what in us is wrong1 and to raise what in us is low1 and to illumine what in us is dark1 is to live in habitual beholding of ,him who is righteousness without flaw1 and holiness supreme1 and light without any darkness at all4 ,that will cure faults4 ,that will pull the poison fangs out of passions4 ,that will do for the evil in us what the snake-charmers do by subtle touches1 turn the serpent into a rigid rod that does not move nor sting4 ,that will lift us up high above the trifles of life1 and dwarf all here that imposes upon us with the lie that it is great1 and precious1 and permanent2 and that will bring us into loving contact with the living ',beauty of holiness1' which will change us into its own fair likeness4 ,we see illustrations of this transforming power of loving communion in daily life4 ,people that love each other1 and live beside each other1 and are often thinking about one another1 get to drop into each other's ways of looking at things2 and even sometimes you will catch strange imitations and echoes of the face and voice1 in two persons thus knit together4 ,and if you and ,i are bound to ,god by a love which lasts1 even when it does not speak1 and which is with us even when our hands are busy with other things1 then be sure of this1 we shall get like ,him whom we love4 ,we shall be like ,him even here1 for even here we shall see ,him4 ,partial assimilation is the condition of vision2 and the vision is the condition of growing assimilation4 ,the eye would not see the sun unless there were a little sun imaged on the retina4 ,and a man that sees ,god gets like the ,god he sees2 'for we all1 with unveiled face1 beholding as in a glass 7or1 rather1 mirroring as a glass does7 the glory of ,god1 are changed into the same image4' ,the image on the mirror is only on the surface2 but if my heart is mirroring ,god ,he sinks in1 and abides there1 and changes me from glory to glory4 ,so it is when we keep near ,christ1 who is manifest in the flesh1 that we get liker ,him day by day1 and the fashion of our countenances will be altered4 ,now there is a test for our ,christianity4 ,does my religion alter me8 ,if it does not1 what right or reason have ,i to believe that it is genuine at all8 ,is there a process of purifying going on in my inward nature8 ,am ,i getting any more like ,jesus ,christ than ,i was ten years ago8 ,i say ,i live with ,him and by ,him4 ,if ,i do ,i shall become like ,him4 ,do not work at the hopeless task of purifying yourselves without ,his help1 but go and stay in the sun if you want to get warm4 ,lo as the bleachers do1 spread the foul cloth on the green grass1 below the blazing sunshine1 and that will take all the dirt out4 ,believing and loving1 and holding fast by ,jesus ,christ in true communion1 we1 too1 become like ,him we love4 ,,ii4 ,another thought is suggested by these words--namely1 that this transfiguring will become very visible in the life if it be really in our inmost selves4 ,even in the most literal sense of the words it will be so4 ,did you never see anybody whose face was changed by holier and nobler purposes coming into their lives8 ,i have seen more than one or two whose features became as the face of an angel as they grew more and more unselfish1 and more and more full of that which1 in the most literal sense of the words1 was in them the beauty of holiness4 ,the devil writes his mark upon people's faces4 ,the world and the flesh do so4 ,go into the streets and look at the people that you meet4 ,care1 envy1 grasping griping avarice1 discontent1 unrest1 blotches of animalism1 and many other prints of black fingers are plain enough on many a face4 ,and on the other hand1 if a man or a woman get into their hearts the refining influences of ,god's grace and love by living near the ,master1 very soon the beauty of expression which is born of consecration and unselfishness1 the irradiation of lofty emotions1 the tenderness caught from ,him1 will not be lacking1 and some eyes that look upon them will recognise the family likeness4 ,but that may be said to be mere fancy4 ,perhaps it is1 or perhaps there is truth in it deeper and more far-reaching than we know4 ,perhaps the life fashions the body1 and the 'body of our glory' may be moulded in immortal loveliness by the perfect ,christ-derived life within it4 ,but be that as it may1 the main point to be observed here is rather this4 ,if we have the real1 transforming influence of communion with ,jesus ,christ in our hearts1 it will certainly rise to the surface1 and show itself in our lives4 ,as oil poured into water will come to the top1 so that inward transforming will not continue hidden within1 ',the king's daughter is all-glorious within1 but also 'her clothing is of wrought gold4' ,the inward life1 beautiful because knit to ,him1 will have corresponding with it and flowing from it an outward life of manifest holy beauty4 ',his name shall be in their foreheads1' stamped there1 where everybody can see it4 ,is that where you and ,i carry ,christ's name8 ,it is well that it should be in our hearts1 it is hypocrisy that it should be in our foreheads unless it is in our hearts first4 ,but if it be in the latter it will surely be in the former4 ,now1 dear friends1 there is a simple and sure touchstone for us all4 ,do not talk about communion with ,christ being the life of your religion1 unless the people that have to do with you1 your brothers and sisters1 or fathers and mothers1 your wives and children1 your servants or your masters1 would endorse it and say ',yes6 ,i take knowledge of him1 he has been with ,jesus4' ,do you think that it is easier for anybody to believe in1 and to love ,god1 'whom he hath not seen' because of you1 'his brother whom he hath seen'8 ,the ,christ in the heart will be the ,christ in the face and in the life4 ,alas6 why is it that so little of this radiance caught from heaven shines from us8 ,there is but one answer4 ,it is because our communion with ,god in ,christ is so infrequent1 hurried1 and superficial4 ,we should be like those luminous boxes which we sometimes see1 shining in the dark with light absorbed from the day2 but1 like them1 we need to be exposed to the light and to lie in it if we are to be light4 ',now are ye light in the ,lord1' and only as we abide in ,him by continuous communion shall we resemble ,him or reflect ,him4 ,,iii4 ,the perfection of communion will be the perfection of visible transformation4 ,possibly the ,transfiguration of ,jesus ,christ had an element of prophecy in it1 and pointed onwards to the order of things when ,his glorified humanity should be enthroned on the throne of the universe1 and have left the limitations of flesh with the folded grave-clothes in the empty sepulchre4 ,as the two majestic forms of the ,lawgiver and the ,prophet shared ,his glory on ,hermon1 and held converse with ,him there1 so we may see in that mysterious group wrapped in the bright cloud the hint of a hope which was destined to grow to clearness and certainty4 ,christ's glorified bodily humanity is the type to which all ,his followers will be conformed4 ,gazing on ,him they shall be like ,him1 and will grow liker as they gaze4 ,through eternal ages the double process will go on1 and they shall become ever more assimilated1 and therefore capable of truer1 completer vision1 and ever seeing ,him more fully as ,he is1 and therefore progressively changed into more perfect resemblance4 ,nor will that blessed change into advancing glory be shut up in their hearts nor lack beholders4 ,for in that realm of truth and reality all that is within will be visible1 our life will no longer fall beneath our aspirations1 nor practice be at variance with the longings and convictions of our best selves4 ,then the ,christlike spirit will possess a body which is its glad and perfect servant1 and through which its beauty will shine undimmed4 ',when ,christ1 who is our life1 shall be manifested1 then shall we also be manifested with ,him in glory4' ',,in ,,the ,,holy ,,mount' ',and1 behold1 there talked with ,him two men1 which were ,moses and ,elias3 #ca4 ,who appeared in glory1 and spake of ,his decease which ,he should accomplish at ,jerusalem4'--,,luke ix4 #cj1 #ca4 ,the mysterious incident which is commonly called the ,transfiguration contained three distinct portions1 each having its own special significance and lesson4 ,the first was that supernatural change in the face and garments of our ,lord from which the whole incident derives its name4 ,the second was the appearance by ,his side of these two mighty dead participating in the strange lustre in which ,he walked1 and communing with ,him of ,his death4 ,and the last was the descent of the bright cloud1 visible as bright even amidst the blazing sunshine on the lone hillside1 and the mysterious attesting ,voice that spoke from out of its depths4 ,i leave untouched altogether the first and the last of these three portions1 and desire briefly to fix our attention on this central one4 ,now it is to be observed that whilst all the three ,synoptic ,evangelists tell us of the ,transfiguration1 of the appearance of ,moses and ,elias1 and of the ,cloud and the ,voice1 only ,luke knows1 or at least records1 and therefore alone probably knows1 what it was that they spoke of4 ,peter and ,james and ,john1 the only human witnesses1 were lying dazed and drunken with sleep1 whilst ,christ's countenance was changed2 and during all the earlier portion at all events of ,his converse with ,moses and ,elias4 ,and it was only when these were about to depart that the mortals awoke from their slumber4 ,so they probably neither heard the voices nor knew their theme1 and it was reserved for this ,evangelist to tell us the precious truth that the thing about which ,lawgiver1 ,prophet1 and the ,greater than both spake in that mysterious communion was none other than the ,cross4 ,i think1 then1 that if we look at this incident from the point of view which our ,evangelist enables us to take1 we shall get large and important lessons as to the significance of the death of ,jesus ,christ1 in many aspects1 and in reference to very many different persons4 ,i see at least four of these4 ,this incident teaches us what ,christ's death was to ,himself2 what it was in reference to previous revelation2 what it was in reference to past generations2 and what it may be in reference to ,his servants' death4 ,and upon these four points ,i desire briefly to touch now4 ,i4 ,first1 then1 ,i see here teaching as to what the death of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ was in reference to ,himself4 ,what was it that brought these men--the one who had passed in a whirlwind to heaven1 and the other who had been led by a mysterious death to slumber in an unknown grave--what was it that brought these men to stand there upon the side of the slopes of ,hermon8 ,it was not to teach ,christ of the impending ,cross4 ,for1 not to touch upon other points1 eight days before this mysterious interview ,he had foretold it in the minutest details to ,his disciples4 ,it was not for the sake of ,peter and ,james and ,john1 lying coiled in slumber there1 that they broke the bands of death1 and came back from 'that bourne from which no traveller returns1' but it was for ,christ1 or for themselves1 or perhaps for both1 that they stood there4 ,you remember that in ,gethsemane 'there appeared an angel from heaven strengthening ,him4' ,and one of the old devout painters has marvellously embraced the deepest meaning of that vision when he has painted for us the strengthening angel displaying in the heavens the ,cross on which ,he must die1 as if the holding of it up before ,him as the divine will gave the strength that ,he needed4 ,and ,i think in some analogous way we are to regard the mission and message to ,jesus of these two men in our text4 ,we know that clear before ,him1 all ,his life long1 there stood the certainty of the ,cross4 ,we know that ,he came1 not merely to teach1 to minister1 to bless1 to guide1 but that ,he came to give ,his life a ransom for many4 ,but we know1 too1 that from about this point of time in ,his life the ,cross stood more distinctly1 if that may be1 before ,him2 or at all events1 that it pressed more upon ,his vision and upon ,his spirit4 ,and doubtless after that time when ,he spoke to the disciples so plainly and clearly of what was coming upon ,him1 ,his human nature needed the retirement of the mountain-side and prayer which preceded and occasioned this mysterious incident4 ,christ shrank from ,his ,cross with sinless1 natural1 human shrinking of the flesh4 ,that never altered ,his purpose nor shook ,his will1 but ,he needed1 and ,he got1 strength from the ,father1 ministered once by an angel from heaven1 and ministered1 as ,i suppose1 another time by two men who looked at death from the other side1 and 'who spoke to ,him of ,his decease which ,he should accomplish at ,jerusalem4' ,and now it is to be noticed that the words which our ,evangelist employs are remarkable1 and one of them1 at least1 is all but unique4 ,the expression translated in my text 'decease' is the same ,greek word which1 untranslated1 names the second book of the ,old ,testament--,exodus4 ,and it literally means neither more nor less than a departure or 'going out4' ,it is only employed in this one passage and in another one to which ,i shall have occasion to refer presently1 which is evidently based and moulded upon this one1 to signify death4 ,and the employment of it1 perhaps upon these undying tongues of the sainted dead--or1 at all events1 in reference to the subject of their colloquy--seems to us to suggest that part of what they had to say to the ,master and what they had to hear from ,him was that ,his death was ,his departure in an altogether unique1 solitary1 and blessed sense4 ',i came forth from the ,father1 and ,i am come into the world4 ,again1 ,i leave the world and go to the ,father4' ,not dragged by any necessity1 but of ,his own sovereign will1 ,he passes from earth to the state where ,he was before4 ,and as ,he stands there on the mountain with ,his radiant face and ,his white robes1 this thought as to ,his death brings to ,him comfort and strength1 even whilst ,he thinks of the suffering of the ,cross4 ,but1 still further1 the other word which is here employed helps us to understand what our ,lord's death was to ,him2 ',he should accomplish' it as a thing to be fulfilled4 ,and that involves two ideas1 the one that ,christ in ,his death was consciously submitting to a gladly accepted divine must1 and was accomplishing the purpose of ,love which dwelt in the heavens and sent ,him1 as well as ,his own purpose of love which would redeem and save4 ,the necessity of the death of ,christ if sin is to be put away1 if we are ever to have a hope of immortality1 the necessity of the death of ,christ if the mercy of ,god is to pour out upon a sinful and rebellious world1 the necessity of the death of ,christ1 if the deep purposes of the divine heart are ever to be realised1 and the yearning compassion of the ,saviour's soul is ever to reach its purpose--all lie in that great word that ',his decease' was by ,him to be 'accomplished4' ,this is the fulfilling of the heart of ,god1 this is the fulfilling of the compassion of the ,christ4 ,it is the accomplishment of the divine purpose from eternity4 ,still further1 the word1 as ,i think1 suggests another kind of fulfilment4 ,he was to 'accomplish' ,his death4 ,that is to say1 every drop of that bitter cup1 drop by drop1 bitterness by bitterness1 pang by pang1 desolation by desolation1 ,he was to drink2 and ,he drank it4 ,every step of that road sown with ploughshares and live coals ,he was to tread1 with bleeding1 blistered1 slow1 unshrinking feet4 ,and ,he trod it4 ,he accomplished it2 hurrying over none of the sorrow1 perfunctorily doing none of the tasks4 ,and after the weary moments had ticked themselves away1 and the six hours of agony1 when the minutes were as drops of blood falling slowly to the ground1 were passed1 ,he inverted the cup1 and it was empty1 and ,he said ',it is finished'2 and ,he gave up the ghost1 having accomplished ,his decease in ,jerusalem4' ,,ii4 ,further1 note in this incident what that death is in regard to previous revelation4 ,i need not remind you1 ,i suppose1 that we have here the two great representative figures of the past history of ,israel--the ,lawgiver1 who1 according to the ,old ,testament1 was not only the medium of declaring the divine will1 but the medium of establishing ,sacrifice as well as ,law1 and the ,prophet1 who1 though no written words of his have been preserved1 and nothing of a predictive and ,messianic character seems to have dropped from ,his lips1 yet stood as the representative and head of the great prophetic order to which so much of the earlier revelation was entrusted4 ,and now here they two stand with ,christ on the mountain2 and the theme about which they spake with ,him there is the theme of which the former revelation had spoken in type and shadow1 in stammering words1 'at sundry times and in divers manners1' to the former generations--viz4 the coming of the great ,sacrifice and the offering of the great ,propitiation4 ,all the past of ,israel pointed onwards to the ,cross1 and in that ,cross its highest word was transcended1 its faintest emblems were explained and expressed1 its unsolved problems which it had raised in order that they might be felt to be unsolved1 were all answered1 and that which had been set forth but in shadow and symbol was given to the world in reality for evermore4 ,in ,moses ,law and ,sacrifice1 and in ,elijah the prophetic function1 met by the side of ,christ1 'and spake of ,his decease4' ,now1 dear friends1 let me say one word here before ,i pass on4 ,there is a great deal being said nowadays about the position of the ,old ,testament1 the origin of its ritual1 and other critical1 and1 to some extent1 historical1 questions4 ,i have no doubt that we have much to learn upon these subjects2 but what ,i would now insist upon is this1 that all these subjects1 about which people are getting so excited1 and some of them so angry1 stand1 and may be dealt with1 altogether apart from this central thought1 that the purpose and meaning1 the end and object of the whole preliminary and progressive revelation of ,god from the beginning1 are to lead straight up to ,jesus ,christ and to ,his ,cross4 ,and if we understand that1 and feel that 'the testimony of ,jesus is the spirit of prophecy1' and that law and sacrifice1 commandments and altar1 ,sinai and ,zion1 the fiery words that were spoken in the wilderness1 and the perpetual burnt-offering that went up in the ,temple1 had one mission--viz4 to 'prepare the way of the ,lord'--we have grasped the essential truth as to the ,old ,revelation2 and if we do not understand that1 we may be as scholarly and erudite and original as we please1 but we miss the one truth which is worth grasping4 ,the relation between the ,old revelation and the ,new is this1 that ,christ was pointed to by it all1 and that in ,himself ,he sums up and surpasses and antiquates1 because ,he fulfils1 all the past4 ,therefore ,moses and ,elijah came to witness as well as to encourage4 ,their presence proclaimed that ,christ was the meaning of all the past1 and the crown of the divine revelation4 ,and they faded away1 and ,jesus was found alone standing there1 as ,he stands for ever before all generations and all lands1 the sole1 the perfect1 the eternal ,revealer of the heart and will of ,god4 ',god1 who at sundry times and in divers manners spake unto the fathers by the prophets1 hath in these last days spoken unto us by ,his ,son4' ,,iii4 ,again1 we have here set before us the death of ,christ in its relation to past generations4 ,i need not dwell upon anything that was mysterious or anomalous in the last moments upon earth of either ,moses or ,elijah4 ,i do not suppose that there is any reference to the undoubted peculiarities which existed in the case of both4 ,but they came from that dim region where the dead were waiting for the coming of the ,saviour1 and by some means1 we know not how1 were clothed with something that was like an immortal body1 and capable of entering into this material universe4 ,there they stood1 witnesses that ,christ's death was of interest to all those sleeping generations in the past4 ,we know not anything1 or scarcely anything1 of the condition of the sainted dead who died before ,christ came4 ,but this is clear1 that these two came from the land where silent expectancy had ruled1 and came perhaps to carry back to their brethren the tidings that the hour was ready to strike1 and that soon amongst them there would stand the ,eternal ,life4 ,but1 be that as it may1 does not that group on the mountain-side teach us this1 that the ,cross of ,jesus ,christ had a backward as well as a forward power1 and that for all the generations who had died1 'not having received the promises1 but having seen them and saluted them from afar1' the influence of that ,sacrifice had opened the gates of the ,kingdom where they were gathered in hope1 even as it opens for us1 and all subsequent generations1 the gates of the paradise of ,god8 ,i know not whether there be truth in the ancient idea that when the ,master died ,he passed into that ,hades where were assembled the disembodied spirits of the righteous dead1 and led captivity captive1 taking them with ,him into a loftier ,paradise4 ,but this ,i am sure of1 that ,christ's ,cross has always been the means and channel whereby forgiveness and hope and heaven have been given to men1 and that the old dream of the devout painter which he has breathed upon the walls of the convent in ,florence is true in spirit whatever it may be in letter1 that the ,christ who died went down into the dark regions1 burst the bars and broke the gates of iron1 and crushed the demon porter beneath the shattered portal1 and that out of the dark rock-hewn caverns there came streaming the crowds of the sainted dead1 with ,adam at their head1 and many another who had seen ,his day afar off and been glad1 stretching out eager hands to grasp the life-giving hand of the ,redeemer that had come to them too4 ,moses and ,elias were the 'first-fruits of them that slept1' and there were others1 when the bodies of the saints rose from the grave and appeared in the ,holy ,city unto many4 ,and their presence1 and the presence of these two there1 typified for us the great fact that the ,cross of ,christ is the redemption of pre-,christian as well as of ,christian ages2 and that ,he is the ,lord both of the dead and of the living4 ,,iv4 ,and so1 lastly1 this incident may suggest also what that death of ,jesus ,christ may be in reference to the deaths of ,his servants4 ,i do not find that thought in the words of our text1 but in the reference to them which is made in the second epistle attributed to ,peter1 who was present at the ,transfiguration4 ,there is a very remarkable passage in that ,epistle1 in the context of which there are distinct verbal allusions to the narrative of the ,transfiguration1 and in it the writer employs the same word to describe his own death which is employed here4 ,it is the only other instance in ,scripture of its use in that sense4 ,and so ,i draw this simple lesson2 that mighty death which was accomplished upon ,calvary1 which is the crown and summit of all ,revelation1 beyond which ,god has nothing that ,he can say or do to make men sure of ,his heart and recipients of forgiveness1 which was the channel of pardon for all past ages1 and the hope of the sainted dead--that death may turn for us our departure into its own likeness4 ,for us1 too1 all the grimness1 all the darkness1 all the terror1 may pass away1 and it may become simply a change of place1 and a going home to ,god4 ,if we believe that ,jesus died1 we believe that ,he has thereby smoothed and softened and lessened our death into a sleep in ,him4 ,nor need we forget the special meaning of the word4 ,if we have set our hopes upon ,christ1 and1 as sinful men and women1 have cast the burden of our sins1 and the weight of our salvation1 on ,his strong arm1 then life will be blessed1 and death1 when it comes1 will be a true ,exodus1 the going out of the slaves from the land of bondage1 and passing through the divided sea1 not into a weary wilderness1 but into the light of the love and the blessedness of the land where our ,brother is ,king1 and where we shall share ,his reign4 ,i have been speaking to you of what ,christ's death is in many regions of the universe1 in many eras of time4 ,my brother1 what is ,christ's death to you8 ,can you say1 ',the life that ,i live in the flesh ,i live by the faith of the ,son of ,god1 who loved me1 and gave ,himself for me8' ,,christ ,,hastening ,,to ,,the ,,cross ',and it came to pass1 when the time was come that ,he should be received up1 ,he stedfastly set ,his face to go to ,jerusalem4'--,,luke ix4 #ea4 ,there are some difficulties1 with which ,i need not trouble you here1 as to bringing the section of this ,gospel to which these words are the introduction1 into its proper chronological place in relation to the narratives2 but1 putting these on one side for the present1 there seems no doubt that the ,evangelist's intention here is to represent the beginning of our ,lord's last journey from ,galilee to ,jerusalem--a journey which was protracted and devious1 and the narrative of which in this ,gospel1 as you will perceive1 occupies a very large portion of its whole contents4 ,the picture that is given in my text is that of a clear knowledge of what waited ,him1 of a steadfast resolve to accomplish the purpose of the divine love1 and that resolve not without such a shrinking of some part of ,his nature that ,he had 'to set ,his face to go to ,jerusalem4' ,the words come into parallelism very strikingly with a great prophecy of the ,messiah in the ,book of the ,prophet ,isaiah1 where we read1 ',the ,lord ,god will help me1 therefore shall ,i not be confounded'--or1 as the words have been rendered1 'shall not suffer myself to be overcome by mockery'--'therefore have ,i set my face like a flint4' ,in the words both of the ,prophet and of the ,evangelist there is the same idea of a resolved will1 as the result of a conscious effort directed to prevent circumstances which tended to draw ,him back1 from producing their effect4 ,the graphic narrative of the ,evangelist ,mark adds one more striking point to that picture of high resolve4 ,he tells us1 speaking of what appears to be the final epoch in this long journey to the ,cross1 ',they were in the way1 going up to ,jerusalem1 and ,jesus went before them2 and they were amazed3 and as they followed1 they were afraid4' ,what a picture that is1 ,christ striding along the steep mountain path far in advance--impelled by that same longing which sighs so wonderfully in ,his words1 ',how am ,i straitened till it be accomplished1'--with solemn determination in the gentle face1 and ,his feet making haste to run in the way of the ,father's commandments6 ,and lagging behind1 the little group1 awed into almost stupor1 and shrinking in uncomprehending terror from that light of unconquerable resolve and more than mortal heroism that blazed in ,his eyes6 ,if we fix1 then1 on this picture1 and as we are warranted in doing1 regard it as giving us a glimpse of the very heart of ,christ1 ,i think it may well suggest to us considerations that may tend to make more real to us that sacrifice that ,he made1 more deep to us that love by which ,he was impelled1 and may perhaps tend to make our love more true and our resolve more fixed4 ',he set ,his face to go to ,jerusalem4' ,i4 ,first1 then1 we may take1 ,i think1 from these words1 the thought of the perfect clearness with which all through ,christ's life ,he foresaw the inevitable and purposed end4 ,here1 indeed1 the ,evangelist leaps over the suffering of the ,cross1 and thinks only of the time when ,he shall be lifted up upon the throne2 but in that calm and certain prevision which1 in ,his manhood1 the ,divine ,son of ,god did exercise concerning ,his own earthly life1 between ,him and the glory there ever stood the black shadow thrown by ,calvary4 ,when ,he spoke of being 'lifted up1' ,he ever meant by that pregnant and comprehensive word1 at once man's elevation of ,him on the accursed tree1 and the ,father's elevation of ,him upon the throne at ,his right hand6 ,the future was1 if ,i may so say1 in ,his eye so foreshortened that the two things ran into one1 and the ambiguous expression did truly connote the one undivided act of prescient consciousness in which ,he at once recognised the ,cross and the throne4 ,and so1 when the time was come that ,he should be received up1 ,he 'steadfastly set ,his face to go to ,jerusalem4' ,now1 there is another thing to be noticed4 ,that vision of the certain end which here fills ,his mind and impels ,his conduct1 was by no means new with ,him4 ,modern unbelieving commentators and critics upon the ,gospels have tried their best to represent ,christ's life as1 at a certain point in it1 being modified by ,his recognition of the fact that ,his mission was a failure1 and that there was nothing left for ,him but martyrdom6 ,i believe that that is as untrue to the facts of the ,gospel story upon any interpretation of them1 as it is repulsive to the instincts of devout hearts2 and without troubling you with thoughts about it ,i need only refer to two words of ,his4 ,when was it that ,he said1 ',destroy this temple1 and in three days ,i will build it up'8 ,when was it that ,he said1 ',as ,moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness1 even so must the ,son of man be lifted up'8 ,the one saying was uttered at the very beginning of ,his public work1 and the other in ,his conversation with ,nicodemus4 ,on the testimony of these two sayings1 if there were none else1 ,i think there is no option but to believe that from the first there stood clear before ,him the necessity and the certainty of the ,cross1 and that it was no discovery made at a certain point of ,his course4 ,and then1 remember that we are not to think of ,him as1 like many an earthly hero and martyr1 regarding a violent and bloody death as being the very probable result of faithful boldness1 but to believe that ,he1 looking on from the beginning to that end1 regarded it always as being laid upon ,him by a certain divine necessity1 into which necessity ,he entered with the full submission and acquiescence of ,his own will1 and from the beginning knew that ,calvary was the work for which ,he had come1 and that ,his love would fail of its expression1 and the divine purpose would fail of its realisation1 and ,his whole mission would fail of all its meaning1 unless ,he died for men4 ,the martyr looks to the scaffold and says1 ',it stands in my way1 and ,i must either be untrue to conscience or ,i must go there1 and so ,i will go4' ,christ said1 ',the ,cross is in ,my path1 and on it and from it ,i shall exercise the influence1 to exercise which ,i have come into the world1 and there ,i shall do the thing which ,i came forth from the ,father to do4' ,he thought of ,his death not as the end of ,his work1 but as the centre-point of it2 not as the termination of ,his activity1 but as its climax1 to which all the rest was subordinated1 and without which all the rest was nought4 ,he does not die1 and so seal a faithful life by an heroic death1--but dies1 so bearing and bearing away man's sin4 ,he regarded from the beginning 'the glory that should follow1' and the suffering through which ,he had to wade to reach it1 in one and the same act of prescience1 and said1 ',lo1 ,i come1 in the volume of the book it is written of ,me4' ,and ,i think1 dear friends1 if we carried with us more distinctly than we do that one simple thought1 that in all the human joys1 in all the apparently self-forgetting tenderness1 of that ,lord who had a heart for every sorrow and an ear for every complaint1 and a hand open as day and full of melting charity for every need--that in every moment of that life1 in the boyhood1 in the dawning manhood1 in the maturity of ,his growing human powers--there was always present one black shadow1 towards which ,he ever went straight with the consent of ,his will and with the clearest eye1 we should understand something more of how ,his life as well as ,his death was a sacrifice for us sinful men6 ,we honour and love men who crush down their own sorrows in order to help their fellows4 ,we wonder with almost reverence when we see some martyr1 in sight of the faggots1 pause to do a kindness to some weeping heart in the crowd1 or to speak a cheering word4 ,we admire the leisure and calm of spirit which he displays4 ,but all these pale1 and the very comparison may become an insult1 before that heart which ever discerned ,calvary1 and never let the sight hinder one deed of kindness1 nor silence one gracious word1 nor check one throb of sympathy4 ,,ii4 ,still further1 the words before us lead to a second consideration1 which ,i have just suggested in my last sentence--,our ,lord's perfect willingness for the sacrifice which ,he saw before ,him4 ,we have here brought into the narrowest compass1 and most clearly set forth1 the great standing puzzle of all thought1 which can only be solved by action4 ,on the one side there is the distinctest knowledge of a divine purpose that will be executed2 on the other side there is the distinctest consciousness that at each step towards the execution of it ,he is constrained by no foreign and imposed necessity1 but is going to the ,cross by ,his own will4 ',the ,son of ,man must be lifted up4' ',it became ,him to make the ,captain of salvation perfect through sufferings4' ',it behoved ,him to be made in all points like ,his brethren4' ,the ,eternal ,will of the ,father1 the purpose purposed before the foundation of the world1 the solemn prophecies from the beginning of time1 constituted the necessity1 and involved the certainty1 of ,his death on the ,cross4 ,but are we1 therefore1 to think that ,jesus ,christ was led along the path that ended there1 by a force which overbore and paralysed ,his human will8 ,was not ,his life1 and especially ,his death1 obedience8 ,was there not1 therefore1 in ,him1 as in us all1 the human will that could cheerfully submit2 and must there not1 then1 have been1 at each step towards the certain end1 a fresh act of submission and acceptance of the will of the ,father that had sent ,him8 ',clear knowledge of the end as divinely appointed and certain'2 yes1 one might say1 and if so1 there could have been no voluntariness in treading the path that leads to it4 ',voluntariness in treading the path that leads to it1 and if so1 there could have been no divine ordination of the end4' ,not so6 ,when human thought comes1 if ,i may so say1 full butt against a stark1 staring contradiction like that1 it is no proof that either of the propositions is false4 ,it is only like the sign-boards that the iceman puts upon the thin ice1 'dangerous6' a warning that that is not a place for us to tread4 ,we have to keep a firm hold of what is certified to us1 on either side1 by its appropriate evidence1 and leave the reconciliation1 if it can ever be given to finite beings1 to a higher wisdom1 and1 perchance1 to another world6 ,but that is a digression from my more immediate purpose1 which is simply to bring before our minds1 as clearly as ,i can1 that perfect1 continuous1 ever-repeated willingness1 expressing itself in a chain of constant acts that touch one upon the other1 which ,christ manifested to embrace the ,cross1 and to accomplish what was at once the purpose of the ,father's will and the purpose of ,his own4 ,and it may be worth while1 just for a moment1 to touch lightly upon some of the many points which bring out so clearly in these ,gospel narratives the wholly and purely voluntary character of ,christ's death4 ,take1 for instance1 the very journey which ,i am speaking of now4 ,christ went up to ,jerusalem1 says my text4 ,what did ,he go there for8 ,he went1 as you will see1 if you look at the previous circumstance1--,he went in order1 if ,i might use such a word1 to precipitate the collision1 and to make ,his ,crucifixion certain4 ,he was under the ban of the ,sanhedrim2 but perfectly safe as long as ,he had stopped up among the hills of ,galilee4 ,he was as unsafe when ,he went up to ,jerusalem as ,john ,huss when he went to the ,council of ,constance with the ,emperor's safe-conduct in his belt2 or as a condemned heretic would have been in the old days1 if he had gone and stood in that little dingy square outside the palace of the ,inquisition at ,rome1 and there1 below the obelisk1 preached his heresies6 ,christ had been condemned in the council of the nation2 but there were plenty of hiding-places among the ,galilean hills1 and the frontier was close at hand1 and it needed a long arm to reach from ,jerusalem all the way across ,samaria to the far north4 ,knowing that1 ,he steadfastly set ,his face to go to ,jerusalem1 and1 if ,i might use the expression1 went straight into the lion's mouth4 ,why8 ,because ,he chose to die4 ,and1 then1 take another circumstance4 ,if you will look carefully at the ,scripture narrative1 you will find that from about this point in ,his life onwards there comes a distinct change in one very important respect4 ,before this ,he shunned publicity2 after this ,he courted it4 ,before this1 when ,he spoke in veiled words of ,his sufferings1 ,he said to ,his disciples1 ',tell no man till the ,son of man be risen from the dead4' ,hereafter though there are frequent prophecies of ,his sufferings1 there is no repetition of that prohibition4 ,he goes up to ,jerusalem1 and ,his triumphal entry adds fuel to the fire4 ,his language at the last moment appeals to the publicity of ,his final visit to that city--',was ,i not daily with you in the ,temple and ye laid no hands upon ,me8' ,everything that ,he could do ,he does to draw attention to ,himself--everything1 that is to say1 within the limits of the divine decorum1 which was ever observed in ,his life1 of whom it was written long1 long ago1 ',he shall not strive1 nor cry1 nor cause ,his voice to be heard in the streets4' ,there is1 then1 a most unmistakable change to be felt by any who will carefully read the narratives in their bearing upon this one point--a resolve to draw the eyes of the enemy upon ,himself4 ,and to the same purpose1 did you ever notice how calmly1 with full self-consciousness1 distinctly understanding what ,he is doing1 distinctly knowing to what it will lead1 ,he makes ,his words ever heavier and heavier1 and more and more sharply pointed with denunciations1 as the last loving wrestle between ,himself and the scribes and ,pharisees draws near to its bloody close8 ,instead of softening ,he hardens ,his tones--if ,i dare use the word1 where all is the result of love--at any rate ,he keeps no terms2 but as the danger increases ,his words become plainer and sterner1 and approach as near as ever ,his words could do to bitterness and rebuke4 ,it was then1 whilst passionate hate was raging round ,him1 and eager eyes were gleaming revenge1 that ,he poured out ,his sevenfold woes upon the 'hypocrites1' the 'blind guides1' the 'fools1' the 'whited sepulchres1' the 'serpents1' the 'generation of vipers1' whom ,he sees filling up the measure of their fathers in shedding ,his righteous blood4 ,and again1 the question recurs--,why8 ,and again1 besides other reasons1 which ,i have not time to touch upon here1 the answer1 as it seems to me1 must unmistakably be1 ,because ,he willed to die1 and ,he willed to die because ,he loved us4 ,the same lesson is taught1 too1 by that remarkable incident preserved for us by the ,gospel of ,john1 of the strange power which accompanied ,his avowal of ,himself to the rude soldiers who had come to seize ,him1 and which struck them to the ground in terror and impotence4 ,one flash comes forth to tell of the sleeping lightning that ,he will not use1 and then having revealed the might that could have delivered ,him from their puny arms1 ,he returns to ,his attitude of self-surrender for our sakes1 with those wonderful words which tell how ,he gave up ,himself that we might be free1 ',if ye seek ,me1 let these go their way4' ,the scene is a parable of the whole work of ,jesus2 it reveals ,his power to have shaken off every hand laid upon ,him1 ,his voluntary submission to ,his else impotent murderers1 and the love which moved ,him to the surrender4 ,other illustrations of the same sort ,i must leave untouched at present1 and only remind you of the remarkable peculiarity of the language in which all the ,evangelists describe the supreme moment when ,christ passed from ,his sufferings4 ',when ,he had cried with a loud voice1 ,he yielded up the ghost1'--,he sent away the spirit--',he breathed out' 7,his spirit71 ',he gave up the ghost4' ,in simple truth1 ,he 'committed ,his spirit' into the ,father's hand4 ,and ,i believe that it is an accurate and fair comment to say1 that that is no mere euphemism for death1 but carries with it the thought that ,he was active in that moment2 that the nails and the spear and the ,cross did not kill ,christ1 but that ,christ willed to die6 ,and though it is true on the one side1 as far as men's hatred and purpose are concerned4 ',whom with wicked hands ye have crucified and slain'2 on the other side1 as far as the deepest verity of the fact is concerned1 it is still more true1 ',i have power to lay it down1 and ,i have power to take it again4' ,but at all events1 whatever you may think of such an exposition as that1 the great principle which my text illustrates for us at an earlier stage is1 at least1 irrefragably established--that our dear ,lord1 when ,he died1 died1 because ,he willed to do so4 ,he was man and therefore ,he could die2 but ,he was not man in such fashion as that ,he must die4 ,in ,his bodily frame was the possibility1 not the necessity1 of death4 ,and that being so1 the very fact of ,his death is the most signal proof that ,he is ,lord of death as well as of life4 ,he dies not because ,he must1 ,he dies not because of faintness and pain and wounds4 ,these and they who inflicted them had no power at all over ,him4 ,he chooses to die2 and ,he wills it because ,he wills to fulfil the eternal purpose of divine love1 which is ,his purpose1 and to bring life to the world4 ,his hour of weakness was ,his hour of strength4 ,they lifted ,him on a cross1 and it became a throne4 ,in the moment when death seemed to conquer ,him1 ,he was really using it that ,he might abolish it4 ,when ,he gave tip the ghost1 ,he showed ,himself ,lord of death as marvellously and as gloriously as when ,he burst its bands and rose from the grave2 for this grisly shadow1 too1 was ,his servant1 and ,he says to him1 ',come1 and he cometh2 do this1 and he doeth it4' ',thou didst overcome the sharpness of death' when ,thou didst willingly bow ,thy head to it1 and didst die not because ,thou must1 but because ,thou wouldest4 ,,iii4 ,still further1 let me remind you how1 in the language of this verse1 there is also taught us that there was in ,christ a natural human shrinking from the ,cross4 ,the steadfast and resolved will held its own1 overcoming the natural human reluctance4 ',he set ,his face4' ,people are afraid to talk--and the instinct1 the reverent instinct1 is right1 however we may differ from the application of it--people are afraid to talk1 as if there was any shrinking in ,christ from the ,cross4 ,i believe there was4 ,was the agony in ,gethsemane a reality or a shadow1 when ,he said1 ',o ,my ,father1 if it be possible1 let this cup pass8' ,what did that prayer mean1 if there was not something in ,his nature that recoiled from the agony and mysterious horror of these awful hours8 ,let us take heed lest in our reverence we destroy the very notion on which our hope rests--that of ,christ as suffering4 ,for that one word involves all that ,i say--,did ,christ suffer or did ,he not8 ,if ,he suffered1 then human nature shrank from it4 ,the two ideas are correlative1 you cannot part them--suffering and reluctance1 a perfectly innocent1 natural1 inevitable1 human instinct1 inseparable from corporeity1 that makes men recoil from pain4 ',he endured the ,cross1' says the ,book--if there was not reluctance what was there to 'endure'8 ',despising the shame'--if there was not something from which ,he shrank1 what was there to 'despise'8 ',he set ,his face'--if there was not something in ,him that hung back1 what need was there for the hardening of the countenance8 ,if ,christ has suffered1 then ,his flesh and blood quivered beforehand with the pangs and shrank from these1 and ,he would have been spared the cup4 ,such instinctive recoil is not evil1 it is not rebellion1 it is not unwillingness to submit to the ,father's will4 ,his whole being clave to that1 and never swerved from it for one moment4 ,but still1 because the path was darkened by mysterious blackness1 and led to a ,cross1 therefore ,he1 even ,he1 who did always the things that pleased the ,father1 and ever delighted to do ,his will1 needed to 'set ,his face' to go up to the mountain of sacrifice4 ,and now1 if you will take along with that the other thought that ,i suggested at the beginning of these remarks1 and remember that this shrinking must have been as continuous as the vision1 and that this overcoming of it must have been as persistent and permanent as the resolve1 ,i think we get a point of view from which to regard that life of ,christ's--full of pathos1 full of tender appeals to our hearts and to our thankfulness4 ,all along that consecrated road ,he walked1 and each step represented a separate act of will1 and each separate act of will represented a triumph over the reluctance of flesh and blood4 ,as we may say1 every time that ,he planted ,his foot on the flinty path the blood flowed4 ,every step was a pain like that of a man enduring the ordeal and walking on burning iron or sharp steel4 ,the old taunt of ,his enemies1 as they stood beneath ,his ,cross1 might have been yielded to--',if ,thou be the ,son of ,god1 come down and we will believe4' ,i ask why did not ,he8 ,i know that1 to those who think less loftily of ,christ than we who believe ,him to be the ,son of ,god1 the words sound absurd--but ,i for one believe that the only thing that kept ,him there1 the only answer to that question is--,because ,he loved me with an everlasting love1 and died to redeem me4 ,because of that love1 ,he came to earth2 because of that love1 ,he tabernacled among us2 because of that love1 ,he gazed all ,his life long on the ,cross of shame2 because of that love1 ,he trod unfaltering1 with eager haste and solemn resolve1 the rough and painful road2 because of that love1 ,he listened not to the voice that at the beginning tempted ,him to win the world for ,himself by an easier path2 because of that love1 ,he listened not--though ,he could have done so--to the voices that at the end taunted ,him with their proffered allegiance if ,he would come down from the ,cross2 because of that love1 ,he gave up ,his spirit4 ,and through all the weariness and contumely and pain1 that love held ,his will fixed to its purpose1 and bore ,him over every hindrance that barred ,his path4 ,many waters quench it not4 ,that love is stronger than death2 mightier than all opposing powers2 deep and great beyond all thought or thankfulness4 ,it silences all praise4 ,it beggars all recompense4 ,to believe it is life4 ,to feel it is heaven4 ,but one more remark ,i would make on this whole subject4 ,we are far too much accustomed to think of our ,saviour as presenting only the gentle graces of human nature4 ,he presents those that belong to the strong side of our nature just as much4 ,in ,him are all power1 manly energy1 resolved consecration2 everything which men call heroism is there4 ',he steadfastly set ,his face4' ,and everything which men call tenderest love1 most dewy pity1 most marvellous and transcendent patience1 is all there too4 ,the type of manhood and the type of womanhood are both and equally in ,jesus ,christ2 and ,he is the ,man1 whole1 entire1 perfect1 with all power breathed forth in all gentleness1 with all gentleness made steadfast and mighty by ,his strength4 ',and he said unto me1 ,behold the lion of the tribe of ,judah4 ,and ,i beheld1 and lo1 a lamb6'--the blended symbols of kingly might1 and lowly meekness1 power in love1 and love in power4 ,the supremest act of resolved consecration and heroic self-immolation that ever was done upon earth--an act which we degrade by paralleling it with any other--was done at the bidding of love that pitied us4 ,as we look up at that ,cross we know not whether is more wonderfully set forth the pitying love of ,christ's most tender heart1 or the majestic energy of ,christ's resolved will4 ,the blended rays pour out1 dear brethren1 and reach to each of us4 ,do not look to that great sacrifice with idle wonder4 ,bend upon it no eye of mere curiosity4 ,beware of theorising merely about what it reveals and what it does4 ,turn not away from it carelessly as a twice-told tale4 ,but look1 believing that all that divine and human love pours out its treasure upon you1 that all that firmness of resolved consecration and willing surrender to the death of the ,cross was for you4 ,look1 believing that you had then1 and have now1 a place in ,his heart1 and in ,his sacrifice4 ,look1 remembering that it was because ,he would save you1 that ,himself ,he could not save1 ,and as1 from afar1 we look on that great sight1 let ,his love melt our hearts to an answering fervour1 and ,his fixed will give us1 too1 strength to delight in obedience1 to set our faces like a flint4 ,let the power of ,his sacrifice1 and the influence of ,his example which that sacrifice commends to our loving copy1 and the grace of ,his ,spirit whom ,he1 since that sacrifice1 pours upon men1 so mould us that we1 too1 like ,him1 may 'quit us like men1 be strong1' and all our strength and 'all our deeds' be wielded and 'done in charity4' ,,christ',s ,,messengers3 ,,their ,,equipment ,,and ,,work ',after these things1 the ,lord appointed other seventy also1 and sent them two and two before ,his face into every city and place whither ,he ,himself would come4 #b4 ,therefore said ,he unto them1 ,the harvest truly is great1 but the labourers are few3 pray ye therefore the ,lord of the harvest1 that ,he would send forth labourers into ,his harvest4 #c4 ,go your ways3 behold1 ,i send you forth as lambs among wolves4 #d4 ,carry neither purse1 nor scrip1 nor shoes2 and salute no man by the way4 #e4 ,and into whatsoever house ye enter1 first say1 ,peace be to this house4 #f4 ,and if the son of peace be there1 your peace shall rest upon it3 if not1 it shall turn to you again4 #g4 ,and in the same house remain1 eating and drinking such things as they give3 for the labourer is worthy of his hire4 ,go not from house to house4 #h4 ,and into whatsoever city ye enter1 and they receive you1 eat such things as are set before you3 #i4 ,and heal the sick that are therein2 and say unto them1 ,the kingdom of ,god is come nigh unto you4 #aj4 ,but into whatsoever city ye enter1 and they receive you not1 go your ways out into the streets of the same1 and say1 #aa4 ,even the very dust of your city1 which cleaveth on us1 we do wipe off against you3 notwithstanding1 be ye sure of this1 that the kingdom of ,god is come nigh unto you4444 #ag4 ,and the seventy returned again with joy1 saying1 ,lord1 even the devils are subject unto us through ,thy name4 #ah4 ,and ,he said unto them1 ,i beheld ,satan as lightning fall from heaven4 #ai4 ,behold1 ,i give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions1 and over all the power of the enemy2 and nothing shall by any means hurt you4 #bj4 ,notwithstanding in this rejoice not1 that the spirits are subject unto you2 but rather rejoice1 because your names are written in heaven4' --,,luke x4 #a-aa3 #ag-bj4 ,the mission of the ,seventy is clearly distinguished from and contrasted with that of the ,twelve by the word 'others' in verse #a1 which points back to ,luke ix4#a4 ,the ,twelve were prohibited from going beyond ,jews2 the ,seventy were under no such restriction1 and were probably sent to the half-,gentile districts on the east of ,jordan4 ,the number of twelve had reference to the number of the tribes2 that of seventy may have referred to the number of the elders1 but it has also been suggested that its reference is to the supposed number of the nations4 ,the appointment of the ,twelve was to a permanent office2 that of the ,seventy to a transitory mission4 ,much of the charge given to either is given to both1 as is most natural1 since they had the same message1 and both were sent to prepare for ,christ's personal ministry4 ,but though the ,seventy were sent out but for a short time1 permanent principles for the guidance1 not only of ,christian workers1 but of all ,christian lives1 are embodied in the charge which they received4 ,we note1 first1 that all personal service should be preceded by intense realisation of the immense field1 and of the inadequacy1 of ,christian effort1 which vision will culminate in prayer for more toilers to be 'sent forth4' ,the word implies a certain measure of compulsion1 for an overmastering impulse is always needed to overcome human reluctance and laziness4 ,no man has ever done large service for ,god who has not felt that1 like the prophet1 he was laid hold of by the ,spirit1 and borne away1 whether he would or no4 ',i must speak1' is felt by every true messenger of ,god4 ,the prayer was answered by the sending of the pray-ers1 as it often is4 ,note how ,jesus implies that ,he is ,lord of the harvest1 in that ,his sending them is the answer to the petition4 ,note1 too1 the authority which ,he claims to exercise supreme sovereignty over the lives of men4 ,he has the right to fling them into deadly peril for no other purpose than to proclaim ,his name4 ,lambs1 ringed round by wolves with white1 gleaming teeth1 have little chance of life4 ,jesus gives ,his servants full warning of dangers1 and on the very warning builds an exhortation to quiet confidence2 for1 if the sentence ends with 'lambs in the midst of wolves1' it begins with ',i send you forth1' and that is enough1 for ,he will defend them when ,he seeth the wolf coming4 ,not only so1 but ,he will also provide for all their needs1 so they want no baggage nor money1 nor even a staff4 ,a traveller without any of these would be in poor case1 but they are not to carry such things1 because they carry ,jesus4 ,he who sends them forth goes with them whom ,he sends4 ,now1 this precept1 in its literal form1 was expressly abolished afterwards 7,luke xxii4 #cf71 but the spirit of it is permanent4 ,if ,christ sends us1 we may trust ,him to take care of us as long as we are on ,his errands4 ,energetic pursuit of their work1 unimpeded by distractions of social intercourse1 is meant by the prohibition of saluting by the way4 ,that does not mean churlish isolation1 but any one who has ever seen two ,easterns 'saluting' knows what a long-drawn-out affair it is4 ,how far along the road one might have travelled while all that empty ceremony was being got through6 ,the time for salutations is when the journey is over4 ,they mean something then4 ,the great effect of the presence of ,christ's servants should be to impart the peace which they themselves possess4 ,we should put reality into conventional courtesies4 ,all ,christians are to be peacemakers in the deepest sense1 and especially in regard to men's relations with ,god4 ,the whole scope of our work may be summed up as being to proclaim and bring peace with ,god1 with ourselves1 with all others1 and with circumstances4 ,the universality of our message is implied in the fact that the salutation is to be given in every house entered1 and without any inquiry whether a 'son of peace' is there4 ,the reflex blessedness of ,christian effort is taught in the promise that the peace1 vainly wished for those who would not receive it1 is not wasted like spilt water1 but comes back like a dove1 to the hand of its sender4 ,if we do no other person good1 we bless ourselves by all work for others4 ,the injunctions as to conduct in the house or city that receives the messengers carry two principles of wide application4 ,first1 they demand clear disinterestedness and superiority to vulgar appetites4 ,christ's servants are not to be fastidious as to their board and lodging4 ,they are not to make demands for more refined diet than their hosts are accustomed to have1 and they are not to shift their quarters1 though it were from a hovel to a palace4 ,the suspicion that a ,christian worker is fond of good living and sensuous delights robs his work of power4 ,but the injunction teaches also that there is no generosity in those who hear the message giving1 and no obligation laid on those who deliver it by their receiving1 enough to live and work on4 ,the less we obviously look for1 the more shall we probably receive4 ,a high-minded man need not scruple to take the 'hire'2 a high-minded giver will not suppose that he has hired the receiver to be his servant4 ,the double substance of the work is next briefly stated4 ,the order in which its two parts stands is remarkable1 for the healing of the sick is put first1 and the proclamation of the nearness of the kingdom second4 ,possibly the reason is that the power to heal was a new gift4 ,its very priority in mention may imply that it was but a means to an end1 a part of the equipment for the true and proper work of preaching the coming of the kingdom and its ,king4 ,at all events1 let us learn that ,jesus wills the continual combination of regard to the bodily wants and sicknesses1 and regard to the spiritual needs of men4 ,the solemn instructions as to what was to be done in the case of rejection breathe a spirit the reverse of sanguine4 ,jesus had no illusions as to the acceptance of the message1 and ,he will send no man out to work hiding from him the difficulties and opposition probably to be encountered4 ,much wisdom lies in deciding when a field of labour or a method of work should be abandoned as hopeless--for the present and for the individual worker1 at all events4 ,to do it too soon is cowardice2 to delay it too long is not admirable perseverance1 but blindness to plain providences4 ,to shake off the dust is equivalent to severing all connection4 ,the messenger will not bring away the least thing belonging to the city4 ,but whatever men's unbelief1 it does not affect the fact1 but it does affect their relation to the fact4 ,the gracious message was at first that 'the kingdom of ,god is come nigh unto you1' but the last shape of it leaves out 'unto you'3 for rejection of the word cuts off from beneficial share in the word1 and the kingdom1 when it comes1 has no blessing for the unbelieving soul4 ,the return of the ,seventy soon followed their being sent forth4 ,they came back with a childish1 surprised joy1 and almost seem to have thought that ,jesus would be as much astonished and excited as they were with the proof of the power of ,his name4 ,they had found that they could not only heal the sick1 but cast out demons4 ,jesus' answer is meant to quiet down their excitement by teaching them that ,he had known what they were doing whilst they were doing it4 ,when did ,he behold ,satan fall from heaven8 ,the context seems to require that it should be at the time when the ,seventy were casting out demons4 ,the contest between the personal ,source of evil and ,jesus was fought out by the principals1 not by their subordinates1 and it is already victoriously decided in ,christ's sight4 ,therefore1 as the sequel of ,his victory1 ,he enlarges ,his gifts to ,his servants1 couching the charter in the words of a psalm 7,ps4 xci474 ,nothing can harm the servant without the leave of the ,master1 and if any evil befall him in his work1 the evil in the evil1 the poison on the arrow-head1 will be wiped off and taken away4 ,but great as are the gifts to the faithful servant1 they are less to be rejoiced in than his personal inclusion among the citizens of heaven4 ,gifts and powers are good1 and may legitimately be rejoiced in2 but to possess eternal life1 and to belong to the mother-city of us all1 the ,new ,jerusalem1 is better than all gifts and all powers4 ,,neighbours ,,far ,,off ',and1 behold1 a certain lawyer stood up1 and tempted ,him1 saying1 ,master1 what shall ,i do to inherit eternal life8 #bf4 ,he said unto him1 ,what is written in the law8 how readest thou8 #bg4 ,and he1 answering1 said1 ,thou shalt love the ,lord thy ,god with all thy heart1 and with all thy soul1 and with all thy strength1 and with all thy mind2 and thy neighbour as thyself4 #bh4 ,and ,he said unto him1 ,thou hast answered right3 this do1 and thou shalt live4 #bi4 ,but he1 willing to justify himself1 said unto ,jesus1 ,and who is my neighbour8 #cj4 ,and ,jesus1 answering1 said1 ,a certain man went down from ,jerusalem to ,jericho1 and fell among thieves1 which stripped him of his raiment1 and wounded him1 and departed1 leaving him half dead4 #ca4 ,and by chance there came down a certain priest that way2 and when he saw him1 he passed by on the other side4 #cb4 ,and likewise a ,levite1 when he was at the place1 came and looked on him1 and passed by on the other side4 #cc4 ,but a certain ,samaritan1 as he journeyed1 came where he was3 and when he saw him1 he had compassion on him1 #cd4 ,and went to him1 and bound up his wounds1 pouring in oil and wine1 and set him on his own beast1 and brought him to an inn1 and took care of him4 #ce4 ,and on the morrow1 when he departed1 he took out two pence1 and gave them to the host1 and said unto him1 ,take care of him3 and whatsoever thou spendest more1 when ,i come again1 ,i will repay thee4 #cf4 ,which now of these three1 thinkest thou1 was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves6 #cg4 ,and he said4 ,he that showed mercy on him4 ,then said ,jesus unto him1 ,go1 and do thou likewise4' --,,luke x4 #be-cg4 ,the lawyer's first question was intended to 'tempt' ,jesus1 which here seems to mean1 rather1 'to test'2 that is1 to ascertain ,his orthodoxy or ,his ability4 ,christ walks calmly through the snare1 as if not seeing it4 ,his answer is unimpeachably orthodox1 and withal just hints in the slightest way that the question was needless1 since one so learned in the law knew well enough what were the conditions of inheriting life4 ,the lawyer knows the letter too well to be at a loss what to answer4 ,but it is remarkable that he gives the same combination of two passages which ,jesus gives in ,his last duel with the ,pharisees 7,matt4 xxii2 ,mark xii474 ,did ,jesus adopt this lawyer's summary8 ,or is ,luke's narrative condensed1 omitting stages by which ,jesus led the man to so wise an answer8 ,our ,lord's rejoinder has a marked tone of authority1 which puts the lawyer in his right place4 ,his answer is commended1 as by one whose estimate has weight2 and his practice is implicitly condemned1 as by one who knows1 and has a right to judge4 ',this do' is a sharp sword-thrust4 ,it also unites the two 'loves' as essentially one1 by saying ',this'-not 'these'--'do4' ,the lawyer feels the prick1 and it is his defective practice1 not his question1 which he seeks to 'justify4' ,he did not think that his love to ,god needed any justification4 ,he had fully done his duty there1 but about the other half he was less sure4 ,so he tried to ride off1 lawyer-like1 on a question of the meaning of words4 ',who is my neighbour8' is the question answered by the lovely story of the kindly ,samaritan4 ,i4 ,the main purpose1 then1 is to show how far off men may be1 and yet be neighbours4 ,the lawyer's question1 ',who is my neighbour8' is turned round the other way in ,christ's form of it at the close4 ,it is better to ask ',whose neighbour am ,i8' than ',who is my neighbour8' ,the lawyer meant by the word 'a person whom ,i am bound to love4' ,he wanted to know how far an obligation extended which he had no mind to recognise an inch farther than he was obliged4 ,probably he had in his thought the ,rabbinical limitations which made it as much duty to 'hate thine enemy' as to 'love thy neighbour4' ,probably1 too1 he accepted the national limitations1 which refused to see any neighbours outside the ,jewish people4 ',neighbourhood1' in his judgment1 implied 'nearness1' and he wished to know how far off the boundaries of the region included in the command lay4 ,there are a great many of us like him1 who think that the obligation is a matter of geography1 and that love1 like force1 is inversely as the square of the distance4 ,a good deal of the so-called virtue of 'patriotism' is of this spurious sort4 ,but ,christ's way of putting the question sweeps all such limitations aside4 ',who became neighbour to' the wounded man8 ',he who showed mercy on him1' said the lawyer1 unwilling to name the ,samaritan1 and by his very reluctance giving the point to his answer which ,christ wished to bring out4 ,we are not to love because we are neighbours in any geographical sense1 but we become neighbours to the man farthest from us when we love and help him4 ,the relation has nothing to do with proximity4 ,if we prove ourselves neighbours to any man by exercising love to him1 then the relation intended by the word is as wide as humanity4 ,we recognise that ,a4 is our neighbour when a throb of pity shoots through our heart1 and thereby we become neighbours to him4 ,the story is not1 properly speaking1 a parable1 or imaginary narrative of something in the physical world intended to be translated into something in the spiritual region1 but it is an illustration 7by an imaginary narrative7 of the actual virtue in question4 ,every detail is beautifully adapted to bring out the lesson that the obligation of neighbourly affection has nothing to do with nearness either of race or religion1 but is as wide as humanity4 ,the wounded man was probably a ,jew1 but it is significant that his nationality is not mentioned4 ,he is 'a certain man1' that is all4 ,the ,samaritan did not ask where he was born before he helped him4 ,so ,christ teaches us that sorrow and need and sympathy and help are of no nationality4 ,that lesson is still more strongly taught by making the helper a ,samaritan4 ,perhaps1 if ,jesus had been speaking in ,america1 he would have made him a negro2 or1 if in ,france1 a ,german2 or1 if in ,england1 a 'foreigner4' ,it was a daring stroke to bring the despised name of ',samaritan' into the story1 and one sees what a hard morsel to swallow the lawyer found it1 by his unwillingness to name him after all4 ,the nations have not yet learned the deep1 simple truth of this parable4 ,it absolutely forbids all limitations of mercy and help4 ,it makes every man the neighbour of every man4 ,it carries in germ the great truth of the brotherhood of the race4 ',humanity' is a purely ,christian word1 and a conception that was never dreamed of before ,christ had showed us the unity of mankind4 ,we slowly approximate to the realisation of the teaching of this story1 which is oftener admired than imitated1 and perhaps oftenest on the lips of people who obey it least4 ,,ii4 ,another aspect of the parable is its lesson as to the true manifestations of neighbourliness4 ,the minutely detailed account of the ,samaritan's care for the half-dead man is not only graphic1 but carries large lessons4 ,compassionate sentiments are very well4 ,they must come first4 ,the help that is given as a matter of duty1 without the outgoing of heart1 will be worth little1 and soon cease to flow2 but the emotion that does not drive the wheels of action1 and set to work to stanch the sorrows which cause it to run so easily1 is worth still less4 ,it hardens the heart1 as all feeling unexpressed in action does4 ,if the priest and ,levite had gone up to the man1 and said1 ',ah1 poor fellow1 poor fellow6 how sorry we are for you6 somebody ought to come and help you1' and so had trudged on their way1 they would have been worse than they are painted as being4 ,the various acts are enumerated as showing the genius of true love4 ,we notice the swift1 cool-headed deftness of the man1 his having at hand the appliances needed1 the business-like way in which he goes about his kindness1 his readiness to expend his wine and oil1 his willingness to do the surgeon's work1 his cheerful giving up of his 'own beast1' while he plodded along on foot1 steadying the wounded man on his ass2 his care for him at the inn2 his generosity1 and withal his prudence1 in not leaving a great sum in the host's hands1 but just enough to tide over a day or two1 and his wise hint that he would audit the accounts when he came back4 ,this man's quick compassion was blended with plenty of shrewdness1 and was as practical as the hardest1 least compassionate man could have been4 ,there is need for organisation1 'faculty1' and the like1 in the work of loving our neighbour4 ,a thousand pities that sometimes ,christian charity and ,christian common-sense dissolve partnership4 ,the ,samaritan was a man of business1 and he did his compassion in a business-like fashion1 as we should try to do4 ,,iii4 ,another lesson inwrought into the parable is the divorce between religion and neighbourliness1 as shown in the conduct of the priest and ,levite4 ,jericho was one of the priestly cities1 so that there would be frequent travellers on ecclesiastical errands4 ,the priest was 'going down' 7that is from ,jerusalem71 so he could not plead a 'pressing public engagement' at the ,temple4 ,the verbal repetition of the description of the conduct of both him and the ,levite serves to suggest its commonness4 ,they two did exactly the same thing1 and so would twenty or two hundred ordinary passers by4 ,they saw the man lying in a pool of blood1 and they made a wide circuit1 and1 even in the face of such a sight1 went on their way4 ,probably they said to themselves1 ',robbers again2 the sooner we get past this dangerous bit1 the better4' ,we see that they were heartless1 but they did not see it4 ,we do the same thing ourselves1 and do not see that we do2 for who of us has not known of many miseries which we could have done something to stanch1 and have left untouched because our hearts were unaffected8 ,the world would be a changed place if every ,christian attended to the sorrows that are plain before him4 ,let professing ,christians especially lay to heart the solemn lesson that there does lie in their very religion the possibility of their being culpably unconcerned about some of the world's wounds1 and that1 if their love to ,god does not find a field for its manifestation in active love to man1 worship in the ,temple will be mockery4 ,philanthropy is1 in our days1 often substituted for religion4 ,the service of man has been put forward as the only real service of ,god4 ,but philanthropic unbelievers and unphilanthropic believers are equally monstrosities4 ,what ,god hath joined let not man put asunder4 ,that simple 'and1' which couples the two great commandments1 expresses their indissoluble connection4 ,well for us if in our practice they are blended in one6 ,it is not spiritualising this narrative when we say that ,jesus is ,himself the great pattern of the swift compassion and effectual helpfulness which it sets forth4 ,many unwise attempts have been made to tack on spiritual meanings to the story4 ,these are as irreverent as destructive of its beauty and significance4 ,but to say that ,christ is the perfect example of that love to every man which the narrative portrays1 has nothing in common with these fancies4 ,it is only when we have found in ,him the pity and the healing which we need1 that we shall go forth into the world with love as wide as ,his4 ,,how ,,to ,,pray ',and it came to pass1 that1 as ,he was praying in a certain place1 when ,he ceased1 one of ,his disciples said unto ,him1 ,lord1 teach us to pray1 as ,john also taught ,his disciples4 #b4 ,and ,he said unto them1 ,when ye pray1 say1 ,our ,father which art in heaven1 ,hallowed be ,thy name4 ,thy kingdom come4 ,thy will be done1 as in heaven1 so in earth4 #c4 ,give us day by day our daily bread4 #d4 ,and forgive us our sins2 for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us4 ,and lead us not into temptation2 but deliver us from evil4 #e4 ,and ,he said unto them1 ,which of you shall have a friend1 and shall go unto him at midnight1 and say unto him1 ,friend1 lend me three loaves2 #f4 ,for a friend of mine in his journey is come to me1 and ,i have nothing to set before him8 #g4 ,and he from within shall answer and say1 ,trouble me not3 the door is now shut1 and my children are with me in bed2 ,i cannot rise and give thee4 #h4 ,i say unto you1 ,though he will not rise and give him1 because he is his friend1 yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth4 #i4 ,and ,i say unto you1 ,ask1 and it shall be given to you2 seek1 and ye shall find2 knock1 and it shall be opened unto you4 #aj4 ,for every one that asketh receiveth2 and he that seeketh findeth2 and to him that knocketh it shall be opened4 #aa4 ,if a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father1 will he give him a stone8 or if he ask a fish1 will he for a fish give him a serpent8 #ab4 ,or if he shall ask an egg1 will he offer him a scorpion8 #ac4 ,if ye then1 being evil1 know how to give good gifts unto your children3 how much more shall your heavenly ,father give the ,holy ,spirit to them that ask ,him6--,,luke xi4 #a-ac4 ,christ's praying fired the disciples with desire to pray like ,him4 ,there must have been something of absorption and blessedness in ,his communion with the ,father which struck them with awe and longing1 and which they would fain repeat4 ,do our prayers move any to taste the devotion and joy which breathe through them8 ,but low conceptions mingled with high desires in their request4 ,they think that if ,he will give them a form1 that will be enough2 and they wish to be as well off as ,john's disciples1 whose relation to their master seems to them parallel with theirs to ,jesus4 ,our ,lord's answer meets and transcends their wish4 ,he does give them a model prayer1 and ,he adds encouragements to pray which inculcate confidence and persistence4 ,the passage1 then1 falls into two parts--the pattern prayer 7vs4 #b-d71 and the spirit of prayer as enforced by some encouragements 7vs4 #e-ac74 ,the material is so rich that we can but gather the surface wealth4 ,deep mines must lie unexplored here4 ,i4 ,the pattern of prayer4 ,we call it the ,lord's ,prayer1 but it is so only in the sense that ,he gives it4 ,it is our prayer for our use4 ,his own prayers remain unrecorded1 except those in the upper room and at ,gethsemane4 ,this is the type to which ,his servants' prayers are to be conformed4 ',after this manner pray ye1' whether in these words or not4 ,and the repetition of the words is often far enough away from catching their spirit4 ,to suppose that our ,lord simply met the disciples' wish by giving them a form misconceives the genius of ,his work4 ,he gave something much better2 namely1 a pattern1 the spirit of which we are to diffuse through all our petitions1 ,two salient features of the prayer bring out the two great characteristics of all true ,christian prayer4 ,first1 we note the invocation4 ,it is addressed to the ,father4 ,our prayers are1 then1 after the pattern only when they are the free1 unembarrassed1 confident1 and utterly frank whispers of a child to its father4 ,confidence and love should wing the darts which are to reach heaven4 ,that name1 thoroughly realised1 banishes fear and self-will1 and inspires submission and aspiration4 ,to cry1' ,abba1 ,father1' is the essence of all prayer4 ,nothing more is needed4 ,the broad lesson drawn from the order of requests is the second point to be noticed4 ,if we have the child's spirit1 we shall put the ,father's honour first1 and absolutely subordinate our own interests to it4 ,so the first half of the prayer1 like the first half of the ,decalogue1 deals with ,god's name and its glory4 ,alas6 it is hard even for ,his child to keep this order4 ,natural self-regard must be cast out by love1 if we are thus to pray4 ,how few of us have reached that height1 not in mere words1 but in unspoken desires6 ,the order of the several petitions in the first half of the prayer is significant4 ,god's name 7that is1 ,his revealed character7 being hallowed 7that is1 recognised as what it is71 separate from all limitation and creatural imperfection1 and yet near in love as a ,father is1 the coming of ,his kingdom will follow2 for where ,he is known and honoured for what ,he is ,he will reign1 and men1 if they rightly knew ,him1 would fall before ,him and serve ,him4 ,the hallowing of ,his name is the only foundation for ,his kingdom among us1 and all knowledge of ,him which does not lead to submission to ,his rule is false or incomplete4 ,the outward1 visible establishment of ,god's kingdom in human society follows individual acquaintance with ,his name4 ,the doing of ,god's will is the sign of ,his kingdom having come4 ,the ocean is blue1 like the sky which it mirrors4 ,earth will be like heaven4 ,the second half of the prayer returns to personal interests2 but ,god's child has many brethren1 and so ,his prayer is1 not for 'me' and 'my1' but for 'us' and 'ours4' ,our first need1 if we start from the surface and go inwards1 is for the maintenance of bodily life4 ,so the petition for bread has precedence1 not as being most1 but least1 important4 ,we are to recognise ,god's hand in blessing our daily toil4 ,we are to limit our desires to necessaries1 and to leave the future in ,his hands4 ,is this 'the manner' after which ,christians pray for perishable good8 ,where would anxious care or eager rushing after wealth be1 if it were8 ,a deeper need1 the chief in regard to the inner man1 is deliverance from sin1 in its two aspects of guilt and power4 ,so the next petition is for pardon4 ,sin incurs debt4 ,forgiveness is the remission of penalty1 but the penalty is not merely external punishment4 ,the true penalty is separation from ,god1 and ,his forgiveness is ,his loving on1 undisturbed by sin4 ,if we truly call ,god ,father1 the image of ,his mercifulness will be formed in us2 and unless we are forgiving1 we shall certainly lose the consciousness of being forgiven1 and bind our sins on our backs in all their weight4 ,god's children need always to pray 'after this manner1 'for sin is not entirely conquered4 ,pardon is meant to lead on to holiness4 ,hence the next clause in effect prays for sanctification4 ,knowing our own weakness1 we may well ask not to be placed in circumstances where the inducements to sin would be strong1 even while we know that we may grow thereby1 if we resist4 ,the shortened form of the prayer in ,luke1 according to the ,revised ,version1 omits 'deliver us from evil'2 but that clause is necessary to complete the idea4 ,whether we read 'evil' or 'the evil one1' the clause refers to us as tempted1 and1 as it were1 in the grip of an enemy too strong for us4 ,god alone can extricate us from the mouth of the lion4 ,he will1 if we ask ,him4 ,the only evil is to sin away our consciousness of sonship and to cling to the sin which separates us from ,god4 ,,ii4 ,a type of prayer is not all that we need4 ,the spirit in which we pray is still more important4 ,so ,jesus goes on to enjoin two things chiefly2 namely1 persistence and filial confidence4 ,he presents to us a parable with its application 7vs4 #e-aj71 and the germ of a parable with its 7vs4 #aa-ac74 ,observe that these two parts deal with encouragements to confidence drawn1 first1 from our own experience in asking1 and1 second1 with encouragements drawn from our own experience in giving4 ,in the former we learn from the man who will not take 'no1' and so at last gets 'yes'2 in the latter1 from the ,father who will certainly give ,his child what he asks4 ,in the parable two points are to be specially noted--the persistent suppliant pleads not for himself so much as for the hungry traveller1 and the man addressed gives without any kindliness1 from the mere wish to be left at peace4 ,as to both points1 an a fortiori argument is implied4 ,if a man can so persevere when pleading for another1 how much more should we do so when asking for ourselves6 ,and if persistence has such power with selfish men1 how much more shall it avail with ,him who slumbers not nor sleeps1 and to whom we can never come at an inopportune moment1 and who will give us because we are ,his friends1 and ,he ours6 ,the very ugliness of character ascribed to the owner of the loaves1 selfish in his enjoyment of his bed1 in his refusal to turn out on an errand of neighbourliness1 and in his final giving1 thus serves as a foil to the character of ,him to whom our prayers are addressed4 ,the application of the parable lies in verses #i and #aj4 ,the efforts enjoined are in an ascending scale1 and 'ask' and 'knock' allude to the parable4 ,to 'seek' is more than to ask1 for it includes active exertion2 and for want of seeking by conduct appropriate to our prayers1 we often ask in vain4 ,if we pray for temporal blessings1 and then fold our hands1 and sit with our mouths open for them to drop into1 we shall not get them4 ,if we ask for higher goods1 and rise from our knees to live worldly lives1 we shall get them as little4 ,knocking is more than either1 for it implies a continuous hammering on the door1 like ,peter's when he stood in the morning twilight at ,mary's gate4 ,asking and seeking must be continuous if they are to be rewarded4 ,verse #aj grounds the promise of verse #i on experience4 ,it is he who asks that gets4 ,in men's giving it is not universally true that petitions are answered1 nor that gifts are not given unasked4 ,nor is it true about ,god's lower gifts1 which are often bestowed on the unthankful1 and not seldom refused to ,his children4 ,but it is universally true in regard to ,his highest gifts1 which are never withheld from the earnest asker who adds to his prayers fitting conduct1 and prays always without fainting1 and which are not and cannot be given unless desire for them opens the heart for their reception1 and faith in ,god assures him who prays that he cannot ask in vain4 ,the germ of a parable with its application 7vs4 #aa-ac7 draws encouragement from our own experience in giving4 ,it guards against misconceptions of ,god which might arise from the former parable1 and comes back to the first word of the ,lord's ,prayer as itself the guarantee of every true desire of ,his child being heard and met4 ,bread1 eggs1 and fish are staple articles of food4 ,in each case something similar in appearance1 but useless or hurtful1 is contrasted with the thing asked by the child4 ,the round loaves of the ,east are not unlike rounded1 wave-washed stones1 water-serpents are fishlike1 and the oval body of a quiescent scorpion is similar to an egg4 ,fathers do not play tricks with their hungry children4 ,though we are all sinful1 parental love survives1 and makes a father wise enough to know what will nourish and what would poison his child4 ,alas6 that is only partially true1 for many a parent has not a father's heart1 and is neither impelled by love to give good things to1 nor to withhold evil ones from1 his child4 ,but it is true with sufficient frequency to warrant the great a fortiori argument which ,jesus bases on it4 ,our heavenly ,father's love1 the archetype of all parental affection1 is tainted by no evil and darkened by no ignorance4 ,he loves perfectly and wisely1 therefore ,he cannot but give what ,his child needs4 ,but the child often mistakes1 and thinks that stones are bread1 serpents fish1 and scorpions eggs4 ,so ,god often has to deny the letter of our petitions1 in order not to give us poison4 ,luke's version of the closing promise1 in which 'the ,holy ,spirit' stands instead of ,matthew's 'good things1' sets the whole matter in the true light2 for that ,spirit brings with ,him all real good1 and1 while many of our desires have1 for our own sakes1 to be denied1 we shall never hold up empty hands and have to let them fall still empty1 if we desire that great encyclopediacal gift which our loving ,father waits to bestow4 ,it cannot be given without our petition1 it will never be withheld from our petition4 ,,the ,,praying ,,christ '444 ,as ,he was praying in a certain place1 when ,he ceased1 one of ,his disclples said unto ,him1 ,lord1 teach us to pray4'--,,luke xi4 #a4 ,it is noteworthy that we owe our knowledge of the prayers of ,jesus principally to the ,evangelist ,luke4 ,there is1 indeed1 one solemn hour of supplication under the quivering shadows of the olive-trees in ,gethsemane which is recorded by ,matthew and ,mark as well2 and though the fourth ,gospel passes over that agony of prayer1 it gives us1 in accordance with its ruling purpose1 the great chapter that records ,his priestly intercession4 ,but in addition to these instances the first ,gospel furnishes but one1 and the second but two1 references to the subject4 ,all the others are found in ,luke4 ,i need not stay to point out how this fact tallies with the many other characteristics of the third ,gospel1 which mark it as eminently the story of the ,son of ,man4 ,the record which traces our ,lord's descent to ,adam rather than to ,abraham2 which tells the story of ,his birth1 and gives us all we know of the 'child ,jesus'2 which records ,his growth in wisdom and stature1 and has preserved a multitude of minute points bearing on ,his true manhood1 as well as on the tenderness of ,his sympathy and the universality of ,his work1 most naturally emphasises that most precious indication of ,his humanity--,his habitual prayerfulness4 ,the ,gospel of the ,king1 which is the first ,gospel1 or of the ,servant1 which is the second1 or of the ,son of ,god1 which is the fourth1 had less occasion to dwell on this4 ,royalty1 practical ,obedience1 ,divinity1 are their respective themes4 ,manhood is ,luke's1 and he is ever pointing us to the kneeling ,christ4 ,consider1 then1 for a moment1 how precious the prayers of ,jesus are1 as bringing ,him very near to us in ,his true manhood4 ,there are deep and mysterious truths involved with which we do not meddle now4 ,but there are also plain and surface truths which are very helpful and blessed4 ,we thank ,god for the story of ,his weariness when ,he sat on the well1 and of ,his slumber when1 worn out with a hard day's work1 ,he slept on the hard wooden pillow in the stern of the fishing-boat among the nets and the litter4 ,it brings ,him near to us when we read that ,he thirsted1 and nearer still when the immortal words fall on our wondering ears1 ',jesus wept4' ,but even more precious than these indications of ,his true participation in physical needs and human emotion1 is the great evidence of ,his prayers1 that ,he too lived a life of dependence1 of communion1 and of submission2 that in our religious life1 as in all our life1 ,he is our pattern and forerunner4 ,as the ,epistle to the ,hebrews puts it1 ,he shows that ,he is not ashamed to call us brethren by this1 that ,he too avows that ,he lives by faith2 and by ,his life--and surely pre-eminently by ,his prayers--declares1 ,i will put my trust in ,him4' ,we cannot think of ,christ too often or too absolutely as the object of faith2 and as the hearer of our cries2 but we may1 and some of us do1 think of ,him too seldom as the pattern of faith1 and as the example for our devotion4 ,we should feel ,him a great deal nearer us2 and the fact of ,his manhood would not only be grasped more clearly by orthodox believers1 but would be felt in more of its true tenderness1 if we gave more prominence in our thoughts to that picture of the praying ,christ4 ,another point that may be suggested is1 that the highest1 holiest life needs specific acts and times of prayer4 ,a certain fantastical and overstrained spirituality is not rare1 which professes to have got beyond the need of such beggarly elements4 ,some tinge of this colours the habits of many people who are scarcely conscious of its presence1 and makes them somewhat careless as to forms and times of public or of that of private worship4 ,i do not think that ,i am wrong in saying that there is a growing laxity in that matter among people who are really trying to live ,christian lives4 ,we may well take the lesson which ,christ's prayers teach us1 for we all need it1 that no life is so high1 so holy1 so full of habitual communion with ,god1 that it can afford to do without the hour of prayer1 the secret place1 the uttered word4 ,if we are to 'pray without ceasing1' by the constant attitude of communion and the constant conversion of work into worship1 we must certainly have1 and we shall undoubtedly desire1 special moments when the daily sacrifice of doing good passes into the sacrifice of our lips4 ,the devotion which is to be diffused through our lives must be first concentrated and evolved in our prayers4 ,these are the gathering-grounds which feed the river4 ,the life that was all one long prayer needed the mountain-top and the nightly converse with ,god4 ,he who could say1 ',the ,father hath not left ,me alone1 for ,i do always the things that please ,him1' felt that ,he must also have the special communion of spoken prayer4 ,what ,christ needed we cannot afford to neglect4 ,thus ,christ's own prayers do1 in a very real sense1 'teach us to pray4' ,but it strikes me that1 if we will take the instances in which we find ,him praying1 and try to classify them in a rough way1 we may gain some hints worth laying to heart4 ,let me attempt this briefly now4 ,first1 then1 the praying ,christ teaches us to pray as a rest after service4 ,the ,evangelist ,mark gives us1 in his brief1 vivid way1 a wonderful picture in his first chapter of ,christ's first ,sabbath-day of ministry in ,capernaum4 ,it was crowded with work4 ,the narrative goes hurrying on through the busy hours1 marking the press of rapidly succeeding calls by its constant reiteration--'straightway1' 'immediately1' 'forthwith1' 'anon1' 'immediately4' ,he teaches in the synagogue2 without breath or pause ,he heals a man with an unclean spirit2 then at once passes to ,simon's house1 and as soon as ,he enters has to listen to the story of how the wife's mother lay sick of a fever4 ,they might have let ,him rest for a moment1 but they are too eager1 and ,he is too pitying1 for delay4 ,as soon as ,he hears1 ,he helps4 ,as soon as ,he bids it1 the fever departs4 ,as soon as she is healed1 the woman is serving them4 ,there can have been but a short snatch of such rest as such a house could afford4 ,then when the shadows of the western hills began to fall upon the blue waters of the lake1 and the sunset ended the restrictions of the ,sabbath1 ,he is besieged by a crowd full of sorrow and sickness1 and all about the door they lie1 waiting for its opening4 ,he could not keep it shut any more than ,his heart or ,his hand1 and so all through the short twilight1 and deep into the night1 ,he toils amongst the dim1 prostrate forms4 ,what a day it had been of hard toil1 as well as of exhausting sympathy6 ,and what was ,his refreshment8 ,an hour or two of slumber2 and then1 'in the morning1 rising up a great while before day1 ,he went out1 and departed into a solitary place1 and there prayed' 7,mark i4 #ce74 ,in the same way we find ,him seeking the same repose after another period of much exertion and strain on body and mind4 ,he had withdrawn ,himself and ,his disciples from the bustle which ,mark describes so graphically4 ',there were many coming and going1 and they had no leisure1 so much as to eat4' ,so1 seeking quiet1 ,he takes them across the lake into the solitudes on the other side4 ,but the crowds from all the villages near its head catch sight of the boat in crossing1 and hurry round2 and there they all are at the landing-place1 eager and exacting as ever4 ,he throws aside the purpose of rest1 and all day long1 wearied as ,he was1 'taught them many things4' ,the closing day brings no respite4 ,he thinks of their hunger1 before ,his own fatigue1 and will not send them away fasting4 ,so ,he ends that day of labour by the miracle of feeding the five thousand4 ,the crowds gone to their homes1 ,he can at last think of ,himself2 and what is ,his rest8 ,he loses not a moment in 'constraining' ,his disciples to go away to the other side1 as if in haste to remove the last hindrance to something that ,he had been longing to get to4 ',and when ,he had sent them away1 ,he departed into a mountain to pray' 7,mark vi4 #df2 ,matt4 xiv4 #bc74 ,that was ,christ's refreshment after ,his toil4 ,so ,he blended contemplation and service1 the life of inward communion and the life of practical obedience4 ,how much more do we need to interpose the soothing and invigorating influences of quiet communion between the acts of external work1 since our work may harm us1 as ,his never did ,him4 ,it may disturb and dissipate our communion with ,god2 it may weaken the very motive from which it should arise2 it may withdraw our gaze from ,god and fix it upon ourselves4 ,it may puff us up with the conceit of our own powers2 it may fret us with the annoyances of resistance2 it may depress us with the consciousness of failure2 and in a hundred other ways may waste and wear away our personal religion4 ,the more we work the more we need to pray4 ,in this day of activity there is great danger1 not of doing too much1 but of praying too little for so much work4 ,these two--work and prayer1 action and contemplation--are twin-sisters4 ,each pines without the other4 ,we are ever tempted to cultivate one or the other disproportionately4 ,let us imitate ,him who sought the mountain-top as ,his refreshment after toil1 but never left duties undone or sufferers unrelieved in pain4 ,let us imitate ,him who turned from the joys of contemplation to the joys of service without a murmur1 when ,his disciples broke in on ,his solitude with1 'all men seek ,thee1' but never suffered the outward work to blunt ,his desire for1 nor to encroach on the hour of1 still communion with ,his ,father4 ,lord1 teach us to work2 ,lord1 teach us to pray4 ,the praying ,christ teaches us to pray as a preparation for important steps4 ,whilst more than one ,gospel tells us of the calling of the ,apostolic ,twelve1 the ,gospel of the manhood alone narrates 7,luke vi4 #ab7 that on the eve of that great epoch in the development of ,christ's kingdom1 ',he went out into a mountain to pray1 and continued all night in prayer to ,god4' ,then1 'when it was day1' ,he calls to ,him ,his disciples1 and chooses the ,twelve4 ,a similar instance occurs1 at a later period1 before another great epoch in ,his course4 ,the great confession made by ,peter1 ',thou art the ,christ1 the ,son of the living ,god1' was drawn forth by our ,lord to serve as basis for ,his bestowment on the ,apostles of large spiritual powers1 and for the teaching1 with much increased detail and clearness1 of ,his approaching sufferings4 ,in both aspects it distinctly marks a new stage4 ,concerning it1 too1 we read1 and again in ,luke alone 7ix4 #ah71 that it was preceded by solitary prayer4 ,thus ,he teaches us where and how we may get the clear insight into circumstances and men that may guide us aright4 ,bring your plans1 your purposes to ,god's throne4 ,test them by praying about them4 ,do nothing large or new--nothing small or old either1 for that matter--till you have asked there1 in the silence of the secret place1 ',lord1 what wouldest ,thou have me to do8' ,there is nothing bitterer to parents than when children begin to take their own way without consulting them4 ,do you take counsel of your ,father1 and have no secrets from ,him4 ,it will save you from many a blunder and many a heartache2 it will make your judgment clear1 and your step assured1 even in new and difficult ways1 if you will learn from the praying ,christ to pray before you plan1 and take counsel of ,god before you act4 ,again1 the praying ,christ teaches us to pray as the condition of receiving the ,spirit and the brightness of ,god4 ,there were two occasions in the life of ,christ when visible signs showed ,his full possession of the ,divine ,spirit1 and the lustre of ,his glorious nature4 ,there are large and perplexing questions connected with both1 on which ,i have no need to enter4 ,at ,his baptism the ,spirit of ,god descended visibly and abode on ,jesus4 ,at ,his transfiguration ,his face shone as the light1 and ,his garments were radiant as sunlit snow4 ,now on both these occasions our ,gospel1 and our ,gospel alone1 tells us that it was whilst ,christ was in the act of prayer that the sign was given3 ',jesus being baptized1 and praying1 the heaven was opened1 and the ,holy ,ghost descended' 7iii4 #ba1 #bb74 ',as ,he prayed1 the fashion of ,his countenance was altered1 and ,his raiment was white and glistening' 7ix4 #bi74 ,whatever difficulty may surround the first of these narratives especially1 one thing is clear1 that in both of them there was a true communication from the ,father to the man ,jesus4 ,and another thing is1 ,i think1 clear too1 that our ,evangelist meant to lay stress on the preceding act as the human condition of such communication4 ,so if we would have the heavens opened over our heads1 and the dove of ,god descending to fold its white wings1 and brood over the chaos of our hearts till order and light come there1 we must do what the ,son of ,man did--pray4 ,and if we would have the fashion of our countenances altered1 the wrinkles of care wiped out1 the traces of tears dried up1 the blotches of unclean living healed1 and all the brands of worldliness and evil exchanged for the name of ,god written on our foreheads1 and the reflected glory irradiating our faces1 we must do as ,christ did--pray4 ,so1 and only so1 will ,god's ,spirit fill our hearts1 ,god's brightness flash in our faces1 and the vesture of heaven clothe our nakedness4 ,again1 the praying ,christ teaches us to pray as the preparation for sorrow4 ,here all the three ,evangelists tell us the same sweet and solemn story4 ,it is not for us to penetrate further than they carry us into the sanctities of ,gethsemane4 ,jesus1 though hungering for companionship in that awful hour1 would take no man with ,him there2 and ,he still says1 ',tarry ye here1 while ,i go and pray yonder4' ,but as we stand afar off1 we catch the voice of pleading rising through the stillness of the night1 and the solemn words tell us of a ,son's confidence1 of a man's shrinking1 of a ,saviour's submission4 ,the very spirit of all prayer is in these broken words4 ,that was truly ',the ,lord's ,prayer' which ,he poured out beneath the olives in the moonlight4 ,it was heard when strength came from heaven1 which ,he used in 'praying more earnestly4' ,it was heard when1 the agony past and all the conflict ended in victory1 ,he came forth1 with that strange calm and dignity1 to give ,himself first to ,his captors and then to ,his executioners1 the ransom for the many4 ,as we look upon that agony and these tearful prayers1 let us not only look with thankfulness1 but let that kneeling ,saviour teach us that in prayer alone can we be forearmed against our lesser sorrows2 that strength to bear flows into the heart that is opened in supplication2 and that a sorrow which we are made able to endure is more truly conquered than a sorrow which we avoid4 ,we have all a cross to carry and a wreath of thorns to wear4 ,if we want to be fit for our ,calvary--may we use that solemn name8--we must go to our ,gethsemane first4 ,so the ,christ who prayed on earth teaches us to pray2 and the ,christ who intercedes in heaven helps us to pray1 and presents our poor cries1 acceptable through ,his sacrifice1 and fragrant with the incense from ,his own golden censer4 ',o ,thou by whom we come to ,god1 ,the ,life1 the ,truth1 the ,way2 ,the path of prayer ,thyself hast trod2 ,lord6 teach us how to pray4' ,,the ,,rich ,,fool ',and one of the company said unto ,him1 ,master1 speak to my brother1 that he divide the inheritance with me4 #ad4 ,and ,he said unto him1 ,man1 who made ,me a judge or a divider over you8 #ae4 ,and ,he said unto them1 ,take heed1 and beware of covetousness3 for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth4 #af4 ,and ,he spake a parable unto them1 saying1 ,the ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully3 #ag4 ,and he thought within himself1 saying1 ,what shall ,i do1 because ,i have no room where to bestow my fruits6 #ah4 ,and he said1 ,this will ,i do3 ,i will pull down my barns1 and build greater2 and there will ,i bestow all my fruits and my goods4 #ai4 ,and ,i will say to my soul1 ,soul1 thou hast much goods laid up for many years2 take thine ease1 eat1 drink1 and be merry4 #bj4 ,but ,god said unto him1 ,thou fool1 this night thy soul shall be required of thee3 then whose shall those things be1 which thou hast provided6 #ba4 ,so is he that layeth up treasure for himself1 and is not rich toward ,god4 #bb4 ,and ,he said unto his disciples1 ,therefore ,i say unto you1 ,take no thought for your life1 what ye shall eat2 neither for the body1 what ye shall put on4 #bc4 ,the life is more than meat1 and the body is more than raiment'--,,luke xii4 #ac-bc4 ,what a gulf between the thoughts of ,jesus and those of this unmannerly interrupter6 ,our ,lord had been speaking solemnly as to confessing ,him before men1 the divine help to be given1 and the blessed reward to follow1 and this hearer had all the while been thinking only of the share in his father's inheritance1 out of which he considered that his brother had cheated him4 ,such indifference must have struck a chill into ,christ's heart1 and how keenly he felt it is traceable in the curt and stern brushing aside of the man's request4 ,the very form of addressing him puts him at a distance4 ',man' is about as frigid as can be4 ,our ,lord knew the discouragement of seeing that ,his words never came near some of ,his hearers1 and had no power to turn their thoughts even for a minute from low objects4 ',what do ,i care about being confessed before the angels1 or about the ,holy ,spirit to teach me8 ,what ,i want is my share of the paternal acres4 ,a rabbi who will help me to these is the rabbi for me4' ,john ,bunyan's 'man with the muck-rake' had his eyes so glued to the ground and the muck that he did not see the crown hanging above him4 ,how many of us find the sermon time a good opportunity for thinking about investments and business6 ,christ's answer is intentionally abrupt and short4 ,it deals with part only of the man's error1 the rest of which1 being an error to which we are all exposed1 and which was the root of the part special to him1 is dealt with in the parable that follows4 ,because the man was covetous1 he could see in ,jesus nothing more than a rabbi who might influence his brother4 ,our sense of want largely shapes our conception of ,christ4 ,many to-day see in ,him mainly a social 7and economical7 reformer1 because our notion of what we and the world need most is something to set social conditions right1 and so to secure earthly well-being4 ,they who take ,jesus to be first and foremost 'a judge or a divider' fail to see ,his deepest work or their own deepest need4 ,he will be all that they wish ,him to be1 if they will take ,him for something else first4 ,he will 'bid' men 'divide the inheritance' with their brethren after men have gone to ,him for salvation4 ,but covetousness1 or the greedy clutching at more and more of earthly good1 has its roots in us all1 and unless there is the most assiduous weeding1 it will overrun our whole nature4 ,so ,jesus puts great emphasis into the command1 ',take heed1 and keep yourselves1' which implies that without much 'heed' and diligent inspection of ourselves 7for the original word is 'see'71 there will be no guarding against the subtle entrance and swift growth of the vice4 ,we may be enslaved by it1 and never suspect that we are4 ,further1 the correct reading is 'from all covetousness1' for it has many shapes1 besides the grossest one of greed for money4 ,the reason for the exhortation is somewhat obscure in construction1 but plain in its general meaning1 and sufficiently represented by the ,authorised and ,revised ,versions4 ,the ,revised ,version margin gives the literal translation1 ',not in a man's abundance consisteth his life1 from the things which he possesseth1' on which we may note that the second clause is obviously to be completed from the first1 and that the difference between the two seems to lie mainly in the difference of prepositions1 'from' or 'out of in the second clause standing instead of 'in' in the first1 while there may be also a distinction between 'abundance' and 'possessions' the former being a superfluous amount of the latter4 ,the whole will then mean that life does not consist in possessions1 however abundant1 nor does it come out of anything that simply belongs to us in outward fashion4 ,not what we possess1 but what we are1 is the important matter4 ,but what does 'life' mean8 ,the parable shows that we cannot leave out the notion of physical life4 ,no possessions keep a man alive4 ,death knocks at palaces and poor men's hovels4 ,millionaires and paupers are huddled together in his net4 ,but we must not leave out the higher meaning of life1 for it is eminently true that the real life of a man has little relation to what he possesses4 ,neither nobleness nor peace nor satisfaction1 nor anything in which man lives a nobler life than a dog1 has much dependence on property of any sort4 ,wealth often chokes the channels by which true life would flow into us4 ',we live by admiration1 hope1 and love1' and these may be ours abundantly1 whatever our portion of earth's riches4 ,covetousness is folly1 because it grasps at worldly good1 under the false belief that thereby it will secure the true good of life1 but when it has made its pile1 it finds that it is no nearer peace of heart1 rest1 nobleness1 or joy than before1 and has probably lost much of both in the process of making it4 ,the mad race after wealth1 which is the sin of this luxurious1 greedy1 commercial age1 is the consequence of a lie--that life does consist in the abundance of possessions4 ,it consists in knowing ',thee the only true ,god1 and ,jesus ,christ1 whom ,thou hast sent4' ,is there any saying of ,jesus ,christ's more revolutionary1 or less believed by ,his professed followers1 than this8 ,the story of the rich fool is not a parable in the narrower meaning of that word--that is1 a description of some event or thing in the natural sphere1 transferred by analogy to the spiritual--but an imaginary narrative exemplifying in a concrete instance the characteristics of the class of covetous men4 ,the first point noted is that accumulated wealth breeds anxiety rather than satisfaction4 ,the man is embarrassed by his abundance4 ,the trouble of knowing how to keep it is as great as the labour of acquiring it1 and the enjoyment of it is still in the future4 ,many a rich man is more worried about his securities than he was in making his money4 ,there are so many 'bags with holes' that he is at his wits' end for investments1 and the first thing he looks at in his morning's paper is the share list1 the sight of which often spoils his breakfast4 ,the next point is the selfish and arrogant sense of possession1 as betrayed by the repetition of 'my'--my fruits1 my barns1 my corn1 and my goods4 ,he has no thought of ,god1 nor of his own stewardship4 ,he recognises no claim on his wealth4 ,if he had looked a little beyond himself1 he would have seen many places where he could have bestowed his fruits4 ,were there no poor at his gates8 ,he had better have poured some riches into the laps of these than have built a new barn4 ,corn laid up would breed weevils2 dispersed1 it would bring blessings4 ,again1 this type of covetous men is a fool because he reckons on 'many years4' ,the goods may last1 but will he8 ,he can make sure that they will suffice for a long time1 but he cannot make sure of the long time4 ,again1 he blunders tragically in his estimate of the power of worldly goods to satisfy4 ',eat1 drink1' might be said to his body1 but to say it to his soul1 and to fancy that these pleasures of sense would put it at ease1 is the fatal error which gnaws like a worm at the root of every worldly life4 ,the word here rendered 'take thine ease' is cognate with ,christ's in ,his great promise1 ',ye shall find rest unto your souls4' ,not in abundance of worldly goods1 but in union with ,him1 is that rest to be found which the covetous man vainly promises himself in filled barns and luxurious idleness4 ,there is a grim contrast between what the rich man said and what ,god said4 ,the man's words were empty breath2 ,god's are powers1 and what ,he says is a deed4 ,the divine decree comes crashing into the abortive human plans like a thunder-clap into a wood full of singing birds1 and they are all stricken silent4 ,so little does life consist in possessions that all the abundance cannot keep the breath in a man for one moment4 ,his life is 'required of him1' not only in the sense that he has to give it up1 but also inasmuch as he has to answer for it4 ,in that requirement the selfishly used wealth will be 'a swift witness against' him1 and instead of ministering to life or ease1 will 'eat his flesh as fire4' ,molten gold dropping on flesh burns badly4 ,wealth1 trusted in and selfishly clutched1 without recognition of ,god the giver or of others' claims to share it1 will burn still worse4 ,the 'parable' is declared to be of universal application4 ,examples of it are found wherever there are men who selfishly lay up treasures for their own delectation1 and 'are not rich toward ,god4' ,that expression is best understood in this connection to mean1 not rich in spiritual wealth1 but in worldly goods used with reference to ,god1 or for ,his glory and service4 ,so understood1 the two phrases1 laying up treasure for oneself and being rich towards ,god1 are in full antithesis4 ,,anxious ,,about ,,earth1 ,,or ,,earnest ,,about ,,the ,,kingdom ',and ,he said unto ,his disciples1 ,therefore ,i say unto you1 ,take no thought for your life1 what ye shall eat2 neither for the body1 what ye shall put on4 #bc4 ,the life is more than meat1 and the body is more than raiment4 #bd4 ,consider the ravens3 for they neither sow nor reap2 which neither have storehouse nor barn2 and ,god feedeth them3 how much more are ye better than the fowls8 #be4 ,and which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit8 #bf4 ,if ye then be not able to do that thing which is least1 why take ye thought for the rest8 #bg4 ,consider the lilies how they grow3 they toil not1 they spin not2 and yet ,i say unto you1 that ,solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these4 #bh4 ,if then ,god so clothe the grass1 which is to-day in the field1 and to-morrow is cast into the oven2 how much more will ,he clothe you1 ,o ye of little faith6 #bi4 ,and seek not ye what ye shall eat1 or what ye shall drink1 neither be ye of doubtful mind4 #cj4 ,for all these things do the nations of the world seek after3 and your ,father knoweth that ye have need of these things4 #ca4 ,but rather seek ye the kingdom of ,god2 and all these things shall he added unto you4' --,,luke xii4 #bb-ca4 ,the parable of the rich fool was spoken to the multitude1 but our ,lord now addresses the disciples4 ',therefore' connects the following with the foregoing teachings4 ,the warnings against anxiety are another application of the prohibition of laying up treasure for self4 ,torturing care is the poor man's form of worldliness1 as luxurious self-indulgence is the rich man's4 ,there are two kinds of gout1 as doctors tell us--one from high living1 and one from poverty of blood4 ,this passage falls into two parts--the prohibition against anxious care 7vs4 #bb-ca71 and the exhortation to set the affections on the true treasure 7vs4 #ca-cd74 ,i4 ,the first part gives the condemnation of anxiety about earthly necessities4 ,the precept is first stated generally1 and then followed by a series of reasons enforcing it4 ,as to the precept1 we may remark that the disciples were mostly poor men1 who might think that they were in no danger of the folly branded in the parable4 ,they had no barns bursting with plenty1 and their concern was how to find food and clothing1 not what to do with superfluities4 ,christ would have them see that the same temper may be in them1 though it takes a different shape4 ,dives and ,lazarus may be precisely alike4 ,the temper condemned here is 'self-consuming care1' the opposite of trust4 ,its misery is forcibly expressed by the original meaning of the ,greek word1 which implies being torn in pieces1 and thus paints the distraction and self-inflicted harrassment which are the lot of the anxious mind4 ,prudent foresight and strenuous work are equally outside this prohibition4 ,anxiety is so little akin to foresight that it disables from exercising it1 and both hinders from seeing what to do to provide daily bread1 and from doing it4 ,the disciples' danger of being thus anxious may be measured by the number and variety of reasons against it given by ,jesus4 ,the first of these is that such anxiety does not go deep enough1 and forgets how we come to have lives to be fed and bodies to be clothed4 ,we have received the greater1 life and body1 without our anxiety4 ,the rich fool could keep his goods1 but not his 'soul' or 'life4' ,how superficial1 then1 after all1 our anxieties are1 when ,god may end life at any moment6 ,further1 since the greater is given1 the less which it needs will also be given4 ,the thought of ,god as 'a faithful creator' is implied4 ,we must trust ,him for the 'more'2 we may trust ,him for the less4 ,the second reason bids us look with attention at examples of unanxious lives abundantly fed4 ,perhaps ,elijah's feathered providers1 or the words of the ,psalmist 7,ps4 cxlvii4 #i71 were in ,christ's mind4 ,the raven was one of the 'unclean' birds1 and of ill omen1 from ,noah's days1 and yet had its meat in due season1 though that meat was corpses4 ,notice the allusions to the preceding parable in 'sow not1 neither reap1' and in 'neither have storehouse nor barn4' ,in these particulars the birds are inferior to us1 and1 so to speak1 the harder to care for4 ,if they who neither work nor store still get their living1 shall not we1 who can do both8 ,our superior value is in part expressed by the capacity to sow and reap2 and these are more wholesome occupations for a man than worrying4 ,how lovingly ,jesus looked on all creatures1 and how clearly ,he saw everywhere ,god's hand at work6 ,as ,luther said1 ',god spends every year in feeding sparrows more than the revenues of the ,king of ,france4' ,the third reason is the impotence of anxiety 7ver4 #be74 ,it is difficult to decide between the two possible renderings here4 ,that of 'a cubit' to the 'stature' corresponds best with the growth of the lilies1 while 'age' preserves an allusion to the rich fool1 and avoids treating the addition of a foot and a half to an ordinary man's height as a small thing4 ,but age is not measured by cubits1 and it is best to keep to 'stature4' ,at first sight1 the argument of verse #bc seems to be now inverted1 and what was 'more' to be now 'least4' ,but the supposed addition1 if possible1 would be of the smallest importance as regards ensuring food or clothing1 and measured by the divine power required to effect it1 is less than the continual providing which ,god does4 ,that smaller work of ,his1 no anxiety will enable us to do4 ,how much less can we effect the complicated and wide-reaching arrangements needed to feed and clothe ourselves6 ,anxiety is impotent4 ,it only works on our own minds1 racking them in vain1 but has no effect on the material world1 not even on our own bodies1 still less on the universe4 ,the fourth reason bids us look with attention at examples of unanxious existence clothed with beauty4 ,christ here teaches the highest use of nature1 and the noblest way of looking at it4 ,the scientific botanist considers how the lilies grow1 and can tell all about cells and chlorophyll and the like4 ,the poet is in raptures with their beauty4 ,both teach us much1 but the religious way of looking at nature includes and transcends both the others4 ,nature is a parable4 ,it is a visible manifestation of ,god1 and ,his ways there shadow ,his ways with us1 and are lessons in trust4 ,the glorious colours of the lily come from no dyer's vats1 nor the marvellous texture of their petals from any loom4 ,they are inferior to us in that they do not toil or spin1 and in their short blossoming time4 ,man's 'days are as grass2 as a flower of the field so he flourisheth'2 but his date is longer1 and therefore he has a larger claim on ,god4 ',god clothes the grass of the field' is a truth quite independent of scientific truths or hypotheses about how ,he does it4 ,if the colours of flowers depend on the visits of insects1 ,god established the dependence1 and is the real cause of the resulting loveliness4 ,the most modern theories of the evolutionist do not in the least diminish the force of ,christ's appeal to creation's witness to a loving ,care in the heavens4 ,but that appeal teaches us that we miss the best and plainest lesson of nature1 unless we see ,god present and working in it all1 and are thereby heartened to trust quietly in ,his care for us1 who are better than the ravens because we have to sow and reap1 or than the lilies because we must toil and spin4 ,verse #bi adds to the reference to clothing a repeated prohibition as to the other half of our anxieties1 and thus rounds off the whole with the same double warning as in verse #bb4 ,but it gives a striking metaphor in the new command against 'being of doubtful mind4' ,the word so rendered means to be lifted on high1 and thence to be tossed from height to depth1 as a ship in a storm4 ,so it paints the wretchedness of anxiety as ever shuttlecocked about between hopes and fears1 sometimes up on the crest of a vain dream of good1 sometimes down in the trough of an imaginary evil4 ,we are sure to be thus the sport of our own fancies1 unless we have our minds fixed on ,god in quiet trust1 and therefore stable and restful4 ,verse #cj gives yet another reason against not only anxiety1 but against that eager desire after outward things which is the parent of anxiety4 ,if we 'seek after' them1 we shall not be able to avoid being anxious and of doubtful mind4 ,such seeking1 says ,christ1 is pure heathenism4 ,the nations of the world who know not ,god make these their chief good1 and securing them the aim of their lives4 ,if we do the like1 we drop to their level4 ,what is the difference between a heathen and a ,christian1 if the ,christian has the same objects and treasures as the heathen8 ,that is a question which a good many so-called ,christians at present would find it hard to answer4 ,but the crowning reason of all is kept for the last4 ,much of what precedes might be spoken by a man who had but the coldest belief in ,providence4 ,but the great and blessed faith in our ,father1 ,god1 scatters all anxious care4 ,how should we be anxious if we know that we have a ,father in heaven1 and that ,he knows our needs8 ,he recognises our claims on ,him4 ,he made the needs1 and will send the supply4 ,that is a wide truth1 stretching far beyond the mere earthly wants of food and raiment4 ,my wants1 so far as ,god has made me to feel them1 are prophecies of ,god's gifts4 ,he has made them as doors by which ,he will come in and bless me4 ,how1 then1 can anxious care fret the heart which feels the ,father's presence1 and knows that its emptiness is the occasion for the gift of a divine fullness8 ,trust is the only reasonable temper for a child of such a father4 ,anxious care is a denial of ,his love or knowledge or power4 ,,ii4 ,verses #ca-cd point out the true direction of effort and affection1 and the true way of using outward good so as to secure the higher riches4 ,it is useless to tell men not to set their longings or efforts on worldly things unless you tell them of something better4 ,life must have some aim1 and the mind must turn to something as supremely good4 ,the only way to drive out heathenish seeking after perishable good is to fill the heart with the love and longing for eternal and spiritual good4 ,the ejected demon comes back with a troop at his heels unless his house be filled4 ,to seek 'the kingdom1' to count it our highest good to have our wills and whole being bowed in submission to the loving will of ,god1 to labour after entire conformity to it1 to postpone all earthly delights to that1 and to count them all but loss if we may win it--this is the true way to conquer worldly anxieties1 and is the only course of life which will not at last earn the stern judgment1 ',thou fool4' ,that direction of all our desires and energies to the attainment of the kingdom which is the state of being ruled by the will of ,god1 is to be accompanied with joyous1 brave confidence4 ,how should they fear whose desires and efforts run parallel with the ',father's good pleasure'8 ,they are seeking as their chief good what ,he desires1 as ,his chief delight1 to give them4 ,then they may be sure that1 if ,he gives that1 ,he will not withhold less gifts than may be needed4 ,he will not 'spoil the ship for a ha'p'orth of tar1' nor allow ,his children1 whom ,he has made heirs of a kingdom1 to starve on their road to their crown4 ,if they can trust ,him to give them the kingdom1 they may surely trust ,him for bread and clothes4 ,mark1 too1 the tenderness of that 'little flock4' ,they might fear when they contrasted their numbers with the crowds of worldly men2 but1 being a flock1 they have a shepherd1 and that is enough to quiet anxiety4 ,seeking and courage are to be crowned by surrender of outward good and the use of earthly wealth in such manner as that it will secure an unfailing treasure in heaven4 ,the manner of obeying this command varies with circumstances4 ,for some the literal fulfilment is best2 and there are more ,christian men to-day whose souls would be delivered from the snares if they would part with their possessions than we are willing to believe4 ,sometimes the surrender is rather to be effected by the conscientious consecration and prayerful use of wealth4 ,that is for each man to settle for himself4 ,but what is not variable is the obligation to set the kingdom high above all else1 and to use all outward wealth1 as ,christ's servants1 not for luxury and self-gratification1 but as in ,his sight and for ,his glory4 ,let us not be afraid of believing what ,jesus and ,his ,apostles plainly teach1 that wealth so spent here is treasured in heaven1 and that a ,christian's place in the future life depends upon this among other conditions--how he used his money here4 ,,stillness ,,in ,,storm '444 ,neither be ye of doubtful mind4'--,,luke xii4 #bi4 ,i think that these words convey no very definite idea to most readers4 ,the thing forbidden is not very sharply defined by the expression which our translators have employed1 but the original term is very picturesque and precise4 ,the word originally means 'to be elevated1 to be raised as a meteor1' and comes by degrees to mean to be raised in one special way--namely1 as a boat is tossed by a tough sea4 ,so there is a picture in this prohibition which the fishermen and folk dwelling by the ,sea of ,galilee with its sudden squalls would understand3 ',be not pitched about'2 now on the crest1 now in the trough of the wave4 ,the meaning1 then1 is substantially identical with that of the previous words1 ',take no thought for your life1' with this difference1 that the figures by which the thing prohibited is expressed are different1 and that the latter saying is wider than the former4 ,the former prohibits 'taking thought1' by which our ,lord of course means not reasonable foresight1 but anxious foreboding4 ,and the word which ,he uses1 meaning at bottom as it does1 'to be distracted or rent asunder1' conveys a striking picture of the wretched state to which such anxiety brings a man4 ,nothing tears us to pieces like foreboding care4 ,then our text forbids the same anxiety1 as well as other fluctuations of feeling that come from setting our hopes and hearts on aught which can change2 and its figurative representation of the misery that follows on fastening ourselves to the perishable1 is that of the poor little skiff1 at one moment high on the crest of the billow1 at the next down in the trough of the sea4 ,so both images point to the unrest of worldliness1 and while the unrest of care is uppermost in the one1 the other includes more than simply care1 and warns us that all occupation with simply creatural things1 all eager seeking after 'what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink' or after more refined forms of earthly good1 brings with it the penalty and misery of 'for ever tossing on the tossing wave4' ,whosoever launches out on to that sea is sure to be buffeted about4 ,whoso sets his heart on the uncertainty of anything below the changeless ,god will without doubt be driven from hope to fear1 from joy to sorrow1 and his soul will be agitated as his idols change1 and his heart will be desolate when his idols perish4 ,our ,lord1 we say1 forbids our being thus tossed about4 ,he seems to believe that it is in our own power to settle whether we shall be or no4 ,that sounds strange2 one can fancy the answer3 ',what is the use of telling a man not to be buffeted about by storm8 ,why1 he cannot help it4 ,if the sea is running high the little boat cannot lie quiet as if in smooth water4 ,do not talk to me about not being moved1 unless you can say to the tumbling sea of life1 ,peace1 be still6 and make it quite forget to rave1 ,while birds of peace sit brooding on the charmed wave4' ,the objection is sound after a fashion4 ,change there must be1 and fluctuation of feeling4 ,but there is such a thing as 'peace subsisting at the heart of endless agitation4' ,you may remember the attempt that was made some years ago to build a steamer in which the central saloon was to hang perfectly still while the outer hull of the ship pitched and rolled with the moving sea4 ,it was a failure1 but the theory was sound and looked practicable4 ,at any rate1 it is a parable of what may be in our lives4 ,if ,i might venture1 without seeming irreverence1 to modernise and so to illustrate this command of our ,lord's1 ,i would say1 that ,he here bids us do for our life's voyage across a stormy sea1 exactly what the ',bessemer' ship was an attempt to do in its region--so to poise and control the oscillations of the central soul that however the outward life may be buffeted about1 there may be moveless rest within4 ,he knows full well that we must have rough weather1 but ,he would have us counteract the motion of the sea1 and keep our hearts in stillness4 ',in the world ye shall have tribulation1' but in ,him ye may have peace4 ,he does not wish us to be blind to the facts of life1 but to take all the facts into our vision4 ,a partial view of the so-called facts certainly will lead to tumultuous alternations of hope and fear1 of joy and sorrow4 ,but if you will take them all into account1 you can be quiet and at rest4 ,for here is a fact as real as the troubles and changes of life3 ',your ,father knoweth that ye have need of these things4' ,ah6 the recognition of that will keep our inmost hearts full of sweet peace1 whatever may befall the outward life4 ,only take all the facts of your condition1 and accept ,christ's word for that greatest and surest of all--the loving ,father's knowledge of your needs1 and it will not be hard to obey ,christ's command1 and keep yourself still1 because fixed on ,him4 ,but now consider the teachings here as to the true source of the agitation which our ,lord forbids4 ,the precept itself affords no light on that subject1 but the context shows us the true origin of the evil4 ,the first point to observe is how remarkably our ,lord identifies this anxiety and restlessness which ,he forbids with what at first sight seems its exact opposite1 namely a calmness and peace which he also condemns as wholly bad4 ,the whole series of warnings of which our text is part begins with the story of the rich man whose ground brought forth plentifully4 ,his fault was not that he was tossed about with care and a doubtful mind1 but the very opposite4 ,his sin was in saying1 ',soul1 thou hast much goods laid up for many years2 take thine ease1 eat1 drink1 and be merry4' ,notice1 then1 that our ,lord begins by pointing out the great madness and the great sin of being thus at rest1 and trusting in earthly possessions3 and then with a ',therefore1 ,i say unto you1' ,he turns to the opposite pole of worldly feeling1 and shows us how1 although opposite1 it is yet related4 ,the warning1 ',take no thought for your life' follows as an inference from the picture of the folly of the man that lays up treasure for himself and is not rich towards ,god4 ,that is to say1 the two faults are kindred and in some sense the same4 ,the rich fool stretching himself out to rest on the pile of his possessions1 and the poor fool tossing about on the billows of unquiet thought1 are at bottom under the influence of the same folly1 though their circumstances are opposite1 and their moods seem to be so too4 ,the one man is just the other turned inside out4 ,when he is rich and has got plenty of outward goods1 he has no anxiety1 because he thinks that they are supreme and all-sufficient4 ,when he is poor and has not got enough of them1 he has no rest1 because he thinks that they are supreme and all-sufficient4 ,anxious care and satisfied possession are at bottom the very same thing4 ,the man who says1 ',my mountain stands strong1' because he has got a quantity of money or the like2 and the man who says1 ',oh1 dear me1 what is going to become of me8' because he thinks he has not got enough1 only need to exchange circumstances and they will exchange cries4 ,the same figure is concave or convex according to the side from which you look at it4 ,from one it swells out into rounded fullness2 from the other it gapes as in empty hungriness4 ,so the rich fool of the preceding parable and the anxious1 troubled man of my text are the same man looked at from opposite sides or set in opposite circumstances4 ,the root of both the rest of the one and of the anxiety of the other is the over-estimate of outward good4 ,then1 still further1 notice how our ,lord here brands this forbidden fluctuation of feeling as being at bottom pure heathenism4 ,most significant double reasons for our text follow it1 introduced by a double 'for4' ,the first reason is1 ',for all these things do the nations of the world seek after'2 the second is1 ',for your ,father knoweth that ye have need of these things4' ,the former points the lesson of the contradiction between such trouble of mind and the position of disciples4 ,for pure heathens it is all natural2 for men who do not know that they have a ,father in heaven1 there is nothing strange or anomalous in care and anxiety1 nor in the race after riches4 ,but for you1 it is in diametrical contradiction to all your professions1 in flagrant inconsistency with all your belief1 in flat denial of that mighty truth that you have a ,father who cares for you1 and that ,his love is enough4 ,every time you yield to such cares or thoughts you are going down to the level of pure heathenism4 ,that is a sharp saying4 ,our ,lord's steady hand wields the keen dissecting-knife here1 and lays bare with unsparing cuts the ugly growth4 ,we give the thing condemned a great many honourable names1 such as 'laying up for a rainy day1' or 'taking care for the future of my children1' or 'providing things honest in the sight of all men1' and a host of others1 with which we gloss and gild over unchristian worldly-mindedness4 ,there are actions and feelings which are rightly described by such phrases1 that are perfectly right1 and against them ,jesus ,christ never said a word4 ,but much of what we deceive ourselves by calling reasonable foresight is rooted distrust of ,god1 and much practical heathenism creeps into our lives under the guise of 'proper prudence4' ,the ordinary maxims of the world christen many things by names of virtues and yet they remain vices notwithstanding4 ,i do not know that there is any region in which ,christian men have more to be on their guard1 lest they be betrayed into deadening inconsistencies1 than this of the true limits of care for material wealth1 and of provision for the future outward life4 ,those of us1 especially1 who are engaged in business1 and who live in our great commercial cities1 have hard work to keep from dropping down to the heathen level which is adopted on all sides4 ,it is not easy for such a man to resist the practical belief that money is the one thing needful1 and he the happy man who has made a fortune4 ,the false estimate of worldly good is in the air about us1 and we have to be on our guard1 or else1 before we know where we are1 we shall have breathed the stupefying poison and feel its narcotic influence slackening the pulses and dimming the eye of our spirits4 ,we need special watchfulness and prayer1 or we shall not escape this subtle danger1 which is truly for many of us 'the pestilence that walketh in darkness4' ,so be not tossed about by these secularities1 for the root of them all is heathenish distrust of your ,father in heaven4 ,then1 finally1 we have the cure for all agitation4 ,christ here puts in our own hands1 in that thought1 ',your ,father knoweth that ye have need of these things1' the one weapon with which we can conquer4 ,there is the true anchorage for tempest-tossed spirits1 the land-locked haven where they can ride1 whatever winds blow and waves break outside the bar4 ,i remarked that our ,lord here seemed to give an injunction which the facts of life would prevent our obeying1 and so it would be1 had ,he not pointed us to that firm truth1 which1 if we believe it1 will keep us unmoved4 ,there is no more profitless expenditure of breath than the ordinary moralist's exhortations to1 or warnings against1 states of feeling and modes of mind4 ,our emotions are very partially under our direct control4 ,life cannot be calm by willing to be so4 ,but what we can do is to think of a truth which will sway our moods4 ,if you can substitute some other thought for the one which breeds the emotion you condemn1 it will fall silent of itself1 just as the spindles will stop if you shut off steam1 or the mill-wheel if you turn the stream in another direction4 ,so ,christ gives us a great thought to cherish1 knowing that if we let it have fair play in our minds1 we shall be at rest3 ',your ,father knoweth that ye have need of these things4' ,surely that is enough for calmness4 ,why should1 or how can we be1 troubled if we believe that8 ',he knows4' ,what a wonderful confidence in ,his heart and resources is silently implied in that word6 ,if ,he knows that you need1 you may be quite sure that you will not want4 ',he knows'2 and ,his fatherly heart is our guarantee that to know and to supply our need1 are one and the same thing with ,him2 and ,his deep treasure of exhaustless good is our guarantee that our need can never go beyond ,his fullness1 nor ,he ever1 like us1 see a sorrow ,he cannot comfort1 a want that ,he cannot meet4 ,enough that ,he knows2 'the rest goes without saying4' ,the whole burden of solicitude is shifted off our shoulders1 if once we get into the light of that great truth4 ,a man is made restful in the midst of all the changes and storms of life1 not by trying to work himself into tranquillity1 not by mere dint of coercing his feelings through sheer force of will1 not by ignoring any facts1 but simply by letting this truth stand before his mind4 ,it scatters cares1 as the silent moon has power1 by her mild white light1 to clear away a whole skyful of piled blacknesses4 ,one other word of practical advice1 as to how to carry out this injunction1 is suggested by the context1 which goes on1 ',seek ye first the kingdom of ,god4' ,a boat will roll most when1 from lack of a strong hand at the helm1 she has got broadside to the run of the sea4 ,there she lies rocking about just as the blow of the wave may fall1 and drifting wherever the wind may take her4 ,there are two directions in which she will be comparatively steady2 one1 when her head is kept as near the wind as may be1 and the other when she runs before it4 ,either will be quieter than washing about anyhow4 ,may we make a parable out of that8 ,if you want to have as little pitching and tossing as possible on your voyage1 keep a good strong hand on the tiller4 ,do not let the boat lie in the trough of the sea1 but drive her right against the wind1 or as near it as she will sail4 ,that is to say1 have a definite aim to which you steer1 and keep a straight course for that4 ,so ,christ says to us here4 ,be not filled with agitations1 but seek the ,kingdom4 ,the definite pursuit of the higher good will deaden the lower anxieties4 ,the active energies called out in the daily efforts to bring my whole being under the dominion of the sovereign will of ,god1 will deliver me from a crowd of tumultuous desires and forebodings4 ,i shall have neither leisure nor inclination to be anxious about outward things1 when ,i am engaged and absorbed in seeking the kingdom4 ,so 'bear up and steer right onward1' and it will be smooth sailing4 ,sometimes1 too1 we shall have to try the other tack1 and run before the storm1 which again will give us the minimum of commotion4 ,that1 being translated1 is1 ',let the winds and the waves sometimes have their way4' ,yield to them in the sweetness of submission and the strength of resignation4 ,even when all the stormy winds strive on the surface sea1 recognise them as ,god's messengers 'fulfilling ,his word4' ,submission is not rudderless yielding to the gale1 that tosses us on high and sinks us again1 as the waves list4 ,this frees us from their power1 even while they roll mountains high4 ,then keep firm trust in your ,father's knowledge2 strenuously seek the kingdom4 ,in quietness accept the changeful methods of his unchanging providence4 ,thus shall your hearts be kept in peace amidst the storm of life1 with the happy thought1 ',so ,he bringeth them unto their desired haven4' ,,the ,,equipment ,,of ,,the ,,servants ',let your loins be girded about1 and your lights burning2 #cf4 ,and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their ,lord4'--,luke xii4 #ce1 #cf4 ,these words ought to stir us like the sound of a trumpet4 ,but1 by long familiarity1 they drop upon dull ears1 and scarcely produce any effect4 ,the picture that they suggest1 as an emblem of the ,christian state1 is a striking one4 ,it is midnight1 a great house is without its master1 the lord of the palace is absent1 but expected back1 the servants are busy in preparation1 each man with his robe tucked about his middle1 in order that it may not interfere with his work1 his lamp in his hand that he may see to go about his business and his eye ever turned to the entrance to catch the first sign of the coming of his master4 ,is that like your ,christian life8 ,if we are ,his servants that is what we ought to be1 having three things--girded loins1 lighted lamps1 waiting hearts4 ,these are sharp tests1 solemn commandments1 but great privileges1 for blessedness as well as strength1 and calm peace whatever happens1 belong to those who obey these injunctions and have these things4 ,i4 ,the girded loins4 ,every child knows the long ,eastern dress2 and that the first sign that a man is in earnest about any work would be that he should gather his skirts around him and brace himself together4 ,the ,christian service demands concentration4 ,it needs the fixing of all a man's powers upon the one thing1 the gathering together of all the strength of one's nature1 and binding it with cords until its softest and loosest particles are knit together1 and become strong4 ,why6 you can take a handful of cotton-down1 and if you will squeeze it tight enough1 it will be as hard and as heavy as a bullet and will go as far1 and have as much penetrating power and force of impact4 ,the reason why some men hit and make no dint is because they are not gathered together and braced up by a vigorous concentration4 ,the difference between men that succeed and men that fail in ordinary pursuits is by no means so much intellectual as moral2 and there is nothing which more certainly commands any kind of success than giving yourselves with your whole concentrated power to the task in hand4 ,if we succeed in anything we must focus all our power on it4 ,only by so doing1 as a burning-glass does the sun's rays1 shall we set anything on fire4 ,and can a vigorous ,christian life be grown upon other conditions than those which a vigorous life of an ordinary sort demands8 ,why should it be easier to be a prosperous ,christian than to be a prosperous tradesman8 ,why should there not be the very same law in operation in the realm of the higher riches and possessions that rules in the realm of the lower8 ',gird up the loins of your mind1' says the ,apostle1 echoing the ,master's word here4 ,the first condition of true service is that you shall do it with concentrated power4 ,there is another requirement1 or perhaps rather another side of the same1 expressed in the figure4 ,one reason why a man tucked up his robe around his waist1 when he had anything to do that needed all his might1 was that it might not catch upon the things that protruded1 and so keep him back4 ,concentration1 and what ,i may call detachment1 go together4 ,in order that there shall be the one1 there must be the other4 ,they require each other1 and are1 in effect1 but the two sides of the same thing contemplated in regard to hindrances without1 or contemplated in regard to the relation of the several parts of a man's nature to each other4 ,observe that ,luke immediately precedes the text with3--',sell that ye have1 and give alms2 provide yourselves bags which wax not old1 a treasure in the heavens that faileth not1 where no thief approacheth1 neither moth corrupteth4 ,for where your treasure is1 there will your heart be also4 ,let your loins be girded about4' ,that is to say1 do not let your affections go straggling anywhere and everywhere1 but gather them together1 and that you may gather them together tear away the robe from the briars and thorns which catch you as you pass1 and gird the long flowing skirts close to yourselves in order that they may not be caught by these hindrances4 ,there is no ,christian life worth living except upon condition of wrenching oneself away from dependence upon idolatry of1 or longing for1 perishable things4 ,the lesson of my text is the same as the solemn lesson which the beloved ,apostle sharpened his gentle lips to pronounce when he said1 ',if any man love the world1 the love of the ,father is not in him4' ',gird up your loins1' detach heart1 desire1 effort from perishable things1 and lift them above the fleeting treasures and hollow delusive sparkles of earth's preciousness1 and set them on the realities and eternities at ,god's right hand4 ',for where the treasure is1 there will the heart be also1' and only that heart can never be stabbed by disappointment1 nor bled to death by losses1 whose treasure is as sure as ,god and eternal as ,himself4 ',let your loins be girded about4' ,and then there is another thing suggested1 which is the consequence of these two4 ,the girding up of the loins is not only the symbol of concentration and detachment1 but of that for which the concentration and the detachment are needful--viz4 alert readiness for service4 ,the servant who stands before his lord with his belt buckled tight indicates thereby that he is ready to run whenever and wherever he is bid4 ,our girded loins are not merely in order to give strength to our frame1 but in order that1 having strength given to our frame1 we may be ready for all work4 ,that which is needful for any faithful discharge of any servant's duty is most of all needful for the discharge of the highest duty and the noblest service to the ,master who has the right to command all our service4 ,there are three emblems in ,scripture to all of which this metaphor applies4 ,the soldier1 before he flings himself into the fight1 takes in another hole in his leather belt in order that there may be strength given to his spine1 and he may feel himself all gathered together for the deadly struggle1 and the ,christian soldier has to do the same thing4 ',stand therefore1 having your loins girt about with truth4' ,the traveller1 before he starts upon his long road1 girds himself1 and gathers his robes round him2 and we have to 'run with perseverance the race set before us'2 and shall never do it if our garments1 however delicately embroidered1 are flapping about our feet and getting in our way when we try to run4 ,the servant has to be succinct1 girded together for his work1 even as the ,master1 when ,he took upon ,him the form of a servant1 'took a towel and girded ,himself4' ,his servants have to follow ,his example1 to put aside the needless vesture and brace themselves with the symbol of service4 ,so as soldiers1 pilgrims1 servants1 the condition of doing our work is1 girding up the loins4 ,,ii4 ,further1 there are to be the burning lamps4 ,if we follow the analogy of ,scripture symbolism1 significance belongs to that emblem1 making it quite worthy to stand by the side of the former one4 ,you remember ,christ's first exhortation in the ,sermon on the ,mount immediately following the ,beatitudes3 ',ye are the salt of the earth1 ye are the light of the world4 ,men do not light a candle1 and put it under a bushel4 ,let your light so shine before men1 that they may see your good deeds4' ,if we apply that key to decipher the hieroglyphics1 the burning lamps which the girded servants are to bear in the darkness are the whole sum of the visible acts of ,christian people1 from which there may flash the radiance of purity and kindness1 ',so shines a good deed in a naughty world4' ,the lamp which the ,christian servant is to bear is a character illuminated from above 7for it is a kindled lamp1 and the light is derived71 and streaming out a brilliance into the encircling murky midnight which speaks of hospitable welcome and of good cheer in the lighted hall within4 ,now1 what is the connection between that exhibition of a lustrous and pure ,christian character and the former exhortation8 ,why this1 if you do not gird your loins your lamp will go out4 ,without the concentrated effort and the continually repeated detachment and the daily renewed ',lord6 here am ,i1 send me1' of the alert and ready servant1 there will be no shining of the life1 no beauty of the character1 but dimness will steal over the exhibition of ,christian graces4 ,just as1 often1 in the wintry nights1 a star becomes suddenly obscured1 and we know not why1 but some thin vaporous cloud has come between us and it1 invisible in itself but enough to blur its brightness1 so obscuration will befall the ,christian character unless there be continual concentration and detachment4 ,do you want your lights to blaze8 ,you trim them--though it is a strange mixture of metaphor--you trim them when you gird your loins4 ,,iii4 ,lastly1 the waiting hearts4 ,an attitude of expectancy does not depend upon theories about the chronology of prophecy4 ,it is ,christ's will that1 till ,he comes1 we know 'neither the day nor the hour4' ,we may1 as ,i suppose most of us do1 believe that we shall die before ,he comes4 ,be it so4 ,that need not affect the attitude of expectance1 for it comes to substantially the same thing whether ,christ comes to us or we go to ,him4 ,and the certain uncertainty of the end of our individual connection with this fleeting world stands in the same relation to our hopes as the coming of the ,master does1 and should have an analogous effect on our lives4 ,whatever may be our expectation as to the literal coming of the ,lord1 that future should be very solid1 very real1 very near us in our thoughts1 a habitual subject of contemplation1 and ever operative upon our hearts and conduct4 ,ah6 if we never1 or seldom1 and then sorrowfully1 look forward to the future1 and contemplate our meeting with our ,master1 ,i do not think there is much chance of our having either our loins girt1 or our lamps burning4 ,one great motive for concentration1 detachment1 and alertness of service1 as well as for exhibiting the bright graces of the ,christian character1 is to be found in the contemplation of the two comings of the ,lord4 ,we should be ever looking back to the ,cross1 forward to the ,throne1 and upwards to the ,christ1 the same on them both4 ,if we have our gathering together with ,him ever in view1 then we shall be willing to yield all for ,him1 to withdraw ourselves from everything besides for the excellency of ,his knowledge2 and whatsoever ,he commands1 joyfully and cheerfully to do4 ,the reason why such an immense and miserable proportion of professing ,christians are all unbraced and loose-girt1 and their lamps giving such smoky and foul-smelling and coarse radiance1 is because they look little back to the ,cross1 and less forward to the ,great ,white ,throne4 ,but these two solemn and sister sights are far more real than the vulgar and intrusive illusions of what we call the present4 ,that is a shadow1 they are the realities2 that is but a transitory scenic display1 like the flashing of the ,aurora ,borealis for a night in the wintry sky1 these are the fixed1 unsetting stars that guide our course4 ,therefore let us turn away from the lying present1 with its smallnesses and its falsities1 and look backwards to ,him that died1 forward to ,him that is coming4 ,and1 as we nourish our faith on the twofold fact1 a history and a hope1 that ,christ has come1 and that ,christ shall come1 we shall find that all devotion will be quickened1 and all earnestness stirred to zeal1 and the dim light will flame into radiance and glory4 ,he comes in one of two characters which lie side by side here1 as they do in fact4 ,to the waiting servants ,he comes as the ,master who shall gird ,himself and go forth and serve them2 to those who wait not1 ,he comes as a thief1 not only in the suddenness nor the unwelcomeness of ,his coming1 but as robbing them of what they would fain keep1 and dragging from them much that they ought never to have had4 ,and it depends upon ourselves whether1 we waiting and watching and serving and witnessing for ,him1 ,he shall come to us as our ,joy1 or as our ,terror and our ,judge4 ,,the ,,servant-,,lord ,verily ,i say unto you1 that ,he shall gird ,himself1 and make them to sit down to meat1 and will come forth1 and serve them4--,,luke xii4 #cg4 ,no one would have dared to say that except ,jesus ,christ4 ,for surely1 manifold and wonderful as are the glimpses that we get in the ,new ,testament of the relation of perfect souls in heaven to ,him1 none of them pierces deeper1 rises higher1 and speaks more boundless blessing1 than such words as these4 ,well might ,christ think it necessary to preface them with the solemn affirmation which always1 upon ,his lips1 points1 as it were1 an emphatic finger to1 or underlines that which ,he is about to proclaim4 ',verily ,i say unto you1' if we had not ,his own word for it1 we might hesitate to believe4 ,and while we have ,his own word for it1 and do not hesitate to believe1 it is not for us to fathom or exhaust1 but lovingly and reverently and humbly1 because we know it but partially1 to try to plumb the unfathomable depth of such words4 ',he shall gird ,himself1 and cause them to sit down to meat2 and come forth and serve them4' ,i4 ,then we have1 first of all1 the wonderful revelation of the ,servant-,lord4 ,for the name of dignity is employed over and over again in the immediate context1 and so makes more wonderful the assumption here of the promise of service4 ,and the words are not only remarkable because they couple so closely together the two antagonistic ideas1 as we fancy them1 of rule and service1 authority and subordination1 but because they dwell with such singular particularity of detail upon all the stages of the menial office which the ,monarch takes upon ,himself4 ,first1 the girding1 assuming the servant's attire2 then the leading of the guests1 wondering and silent1 to the couches where they can recline2 then the coming to them as they thus repose at the table1 and the waiting upon their wants and supplying all their need4 ,it reminds us of the wonderful scene1 in ,john's ,gospel1 where we have coupled together in the same intimate and interdependent fashion the two thoughts of dignity and of service--',jesus1 knowing that the ,father had given all things into ,his hand1 and that ,he came from ,god and went to ,god1' made this use of ,his consciousness and of ,his unlimited and universal dominion1 that ',he laid aside ,his garments1 and took a towel1 and girded ,himself1 and washed the disciples' feet'2 thus teaching what our text teaches in still another form1 that the highest authority means the lowliest service1 that the purpose of power is blessing1 that the very sign and mark of dignity is to stoop1 and that the crown of the ,universe is worn by ,him who is the ,servant of all4 ,but beyond that general idea which applies to the whole of the divine dealings and especially to the earthly life of ,him who came1 not to be ministered unto1 but to minister1 the text sets forth special manifestations of ,christ's ministering love and power1 which are reserved for heaven1 and are a contrast with earth4 ,the ,lord who is the ,servant girds ,himself4 ,that corresponds with the commandment that went before1 ',let your loins be girded1' and to some extent covers the same ground and suggests the same idea4 ,with all reverence1 and following humbly in the thoughts that ,christ has given us by the words1 one may venture to say that ,he gathers all ,his powers together in strenuous work for the blessing of ,his glorified servants1 and that not only does the metaphor express for us ,his taking upon ,himself the lowly office1 but also the employment of all that ,he is and has there in the heavens for the blessing of the blessed ones that sit at ,his table4 ,here upon earth1 when ,he assumed the form of a ,servant in ,his entrance into humanity1 it was accompanied with the emptying ,himself of ,his glory4 ,in the symbolical incident in ,john's ,gospel1 to which ,i have already referred1 ,he laid aside ,his garments before ,he wrapped around ,him the badge of service4 ,but in that wondrous service by the glorified ,lord there is no need for divesting ere ,he serves1 but the divine glories that irradiate ,his humanity1 and by which ,he1 our ,brother1 is the ,king of kings and the ,lord of the ,universe1 are all used by ,him for this great1 blessed purpose of gladdening and filling up the needs of the perfected spirits that wait1 expectant of their food1 upon ,him4 ,his girding ,himself for service expresses not only the lowliness of ,his majesty and the beneficence of ,his power1 but ,his use of all which ,he has and is for the blessing of those whom ,he keeps and blesses4 ,i need not remind you1 ,i suppose1 how in this same wonderful picture of the ,servant-,lord there is taught the perpetual--if we may so say1 the increased--lowliness of the crowned ,christ4 ,when ,he was here on earth1 ,he was meek and holy2 exalted in the heavens1 ,he is1 were it possible1 meeker and more lowly still1 because ,he stoops from a loftier elevation4 ,the same loving1 gentle1 gracious heart1 holding all its treasures for its brethren1 is the heart that now is girded with the golden girdle of sovereignty1 and which once was girt with the coarse towel of the slave4 ,christ is for ever the ,servant1 because ,he is for ever the ,lord of them that trust in ,him4 ,let us learn that service is dominion2 that 'he that is chiefest among us' is thereby bound to be 'the servant' and the helper 'of all4' ,,ii4 ,notice1 the servants who are served and serve4 ,there are two or three very plain ideas1 suggested by the great words of my text1 in regard to the condition of those whom the ,lord thus ministers to1 and waits upon4 ,i need not expand them1 because they are familiar to us all1 but let me just touch them4 ',he shall make them to sit down to meat4' ,the word1 as many of you know1 really implies a more restful attitude--',he shall make them recline at meat4' ,what a contrast to the picture of toil and effort1 which has just been drawn1 in the command1' ,let your loins be girded about1 and your lamps burning1 and ye yourselves as men that wait for their ,lord6' ,here1 there must be the bracing up of every power1 and the careful tending of the light amid the darkness and the gusts that threaten to blow it out1 and every ear is to be listening and every eye strained1 for the coming of the ,lord1 that there may be no unpreparedness or delay in flinging open the gates4 ,but then the tension is taken off and the loins ungirded1 for there is no need for painful effort1 and the lamps that burn dimly and require tending in the mephitic air are laid aside1 and 'they need no candle1 for the ,lord is the light thereof'2 and there is no more intense listening for the first foot-fall of ,one who is coming1 for ,he has come1 and expectation is turned into fellowship and fruition4 ,the strained muscles can relax1 and instead of effort and weariness1 there is repose upon the restful couches prepared by ,him4 ,threadbare and old as the hills as the thought is1 it comes to us toilers with ever new refreshment1 like a whiff of fresh air or the gleam of the far-off daylight at the top of the shaft to the miner1 cramped at his work in the dark4 ,what a witness the preciousness of that representation of future blessedness as rest to us all bears to the pressure of toil and the aching1 weary hearts which we all carry6 ,the robes may flow loose then1 for there is neither pollution to be feared from the golden pavement1 nor detention from briars or thorns1 nor work that is so hard as to be toil or so unwelcome as to be pain4 ,there is rest from labour1 care1 change1 and fear of loss1 from travel and travail1 from tired limbs and hearts more tired still1 from struggle and sin1 from all which makes the unrest of life4 ,further1 this great promise assures us of the supply of all wants that are only permitted to last long enough to make a capacity for receiving the eternal and all-satisfying food which ,christ gives the restful servants4 ,though 'they hunger no more1' they shall always have appetite4 ,though they 'thirst no more1' they shall ever desire deeper draughts of the fountain of life4 ,desire is one thing1 longing is another4 ,longing is pain1 desire is blessedness2 and that we shall want and know ourselves to want1 with a want which lives but for a moment ere the supply pours in upon it and drowns it1 is one of the blessednesses to which we dare to look forward4 ,here we live1 tortured by wishes1 longings1 needs1 a whole menagerie of hungry mouths yelping within us for their food4 ,there we wait upon the ,lord1 and ,he gives a portion in due season4 ,the picture in the text brings with it all festal ideas of light1 society1 gladness1 and the like1 on which ,i need not dwell4 ,but let me just remind you of one contrast4 ,the ministry of ,christ1 when ,he was a servant here upon earth1 was symbolised by ,his washing ,his disciples' feet1 an act which was part of the preparation of the guests for a feast4 ,the ministry of ,christ in heaven consists1 not in washing1 for 'he that is washed is clean every whit' there1 and for ever more--but in ministering to ,his guests that abundant feast for which the service and the lustration of earth were but the preparation4 ,the servant ,christ serves us here by washing us from our sins in ,his own blood1 both in the one initial act of forgiveness and by the continual application of that blood to the stains contracted in the miry ways of life4 ,the ,lord and ,servant serves ,his servants in the heavens by leading them1 cleansed to ,his table1 and filling up every soul with love and with ,himself4 ,but all that1 remember1 is only half the story4 ,our ,lord here is not giving us a complete view of the retributions of the heavens1 ,he is only telling us one aspect of them4 ,repose1 society1 gladness1 satisfaction1 these things are all true4 ,but heaven is not lying upon couches and eating of a feast4 ,there is another use of this metaphor in this same ,gospel1 which1 at first sight1 strikes one as being contradictory to this4 ,our ,lord said3 ',which of you1 having a servant ploughing or feeding cattle1 will say unto him by and by1 when he is come from the field1 go and sit down to meat1 and will not rather say unto him1 make ready wherewith ,i may sup1 and gird thyself1 and serve me1 till ,i have eaten and drunken2 and afterward thou shalt eat and drink4' ,these two representations are not contradictory4 ,put the two halves together like the two pictures in a stereoscope and1 as you look1 they will go together into one solid image1 of which the one part is the resting at the table of the feast1 and the other part is that entrance into heaven is not cessation1 but variation1 of service4 ,it was dirty1 cold1 muddy work out there in the field ploughing1 and when the man comes back with his soiled1 wet raiment and his weary limbs a change of occupation is rest4 ,it is better for him to be set to 'make ready wherewith ,i may eat and drink1' than to be told to sit down and do nothing4 ,so the servants are served1 and the servants serve4 ,and these two representations are not contradictory1 but they fill up the conception of perfect blessedness4 ,for remember1 if we may venture to say so1 that the very same reason which makes ,christ the ,lord serve ,his servants makes the servants serve ,christ the ,lord4 ,for love1 which underlies their relationship1 has for its very life-breath doing kindnesses and good to its objects1 and we know not whether it is more blessed to the loving heart to minister to1 or to be ministered to by1 the heart which it loves4 ,so the ,servant-,lord and the servants1 serving and served1 are swayed in both by the same motive and rejoice in the interchange of offices and tokens of love4 ,,iii4 ,mark the earthly service which leads to the heavenly rest4 ,i have already spoken about ,christ's earthly service1 and reminded you that there is needed1 first of all1 that we should partake in ,his purifying work through ,his blood and ,his ,spirit that dwells in us1 ere we can share in ,his highest ministrations to ,his servants in the heavens4 ,but there is also service of ours here on earth1 which must precede our receiving our share in the wonderful things promised here4 ,and the nature of that service is clearly stated in the preceding words1 ',blessed are those servants whom the ,lord when ,he cometh shall find'--doing what8 ,trying to make themselves better8 ,seeking after conformity to ,his commandments8 ,no6 ',whom the ,lord when ,he cometh shall find watching4' ,it is character rather than conduct1 and conduct only as an index of character--disposition rather than deeds--that makes it possible for ,christ to be hereafter our ,servant-,lord4 ,and the character is more definitely described in the former words4 ,loins girded1 lights burning1 and a waiting which is born of love4 ,the concentration and detachment from earth1 which are expressed by the girded loins1 the purity and holiness of character and life1 which are symbolised by the burning lights1 and the expectation which desires1 and does not shrink from1 ,his coming in ,his ,kingdom to be the ,judge of all the earth--these things1 being built upon the acceptance of ,christ's ministry of washing1 fit us for participation in ,christ's ministry of the feast1 and make it possible that even we shall be of those to whom the ,lord1 in that day1 will come with gladness and with gifts4 ',blessed are the servants whom the ,lord shall find so watching4' ,,servants ,,and ,,stewards ,,here ,,and ,,hereafter ',blessed are those servants1 whom the ,lord1 when ,he cometh1 shall find watching3 ,verily ,i shall say unto you1 that ,he shall gird ,himself1 and make them to sit down to meat1 and will come forth and serve them4 ,blessed is that servant whom his ,lord1 when ,he cometh1 shall find so doing4 #dd4 ,of a truth ,i say unto you1 that ,he will make him ruler over all that he hath4 --,,luke xii4 #cg1 #dc1 and #dd4 ,you will1 of course1 observe that these two passages are strictly parallel in form4 ,our ,lord evidently intends them to run side by side1 and to be taken together4 ,the divergences are as significant and instructive as the similarities1 and the force of these will be best brought out by just recalling1 in a sentence or two1 the occasion for the utterance of the second of the two passages which ,i have taken for my text4 ,when our ,lord had finished ,his previous address and exhortations1 ,peter characteristically pushed his oar in with the question1 ',do these commandments refer to us1 the ,apostles1 or to all1' the whole body of disciples8 ,our ,lord admits the distinction1 recognises in ,his answer that the 'us1' the ,twelve1 were nearer ,christ than the general mass of ,his followers1 and answers ,peter's question by reiterating what ,he has been saying in a slightly different form4 ,he had spoken before about servants4 ,now ,he speaks about 'stewards1' because the ,apostles did stand in that relation to the other disciples1 as being slaves indeed1 like the rest of the household1 but slaves in a certain position of authority1 by the ,master's appointment1 and charged with providing the nourishment which1 of course1 means the religious instruction1 of their fellow-servants4 ,so1 notice that the first benediction is upon the 'servants1' the second is upon the servants who are 'stewards4' ,the first exhortation requires that when the ,master comes ,he shall find the servants watching2 the second demands that when ,he comes ,he shall find the stewards doing their work4 ,the first promise of reward gives the assurance that the watching servants shall be welcomed into the house1 and be waited on by the ,master himself2 the second gives the assurance that the faithful steward shall be promoted to higher work4 ,we are all servants1 and we are all1 if we are ,christian men1 stewards of the manifold grace of ,god4 ,so1 then1 out of these two passages thus brought together1 as our ,lord intended that they should be1 we gather two things3 the twofold aspect of life on earth--watchfulness and work2 and the twofold hope of life in heaven--rest and rule4 ',blessed is that servant whom his ,lord1 when ,he cometh1 shall find watching4' ',blessed is that steward whom his ,lord1 when ,he cometh1 shall find'--not merely watching1 but--'so doing4' ,i4 ,the twofold attitude here enjoined4 ,the first idea in watchfulness is keeping awake2 and the second is looking out for something that is coming4 ,both these conceptions are intertwined in both our ,lord's use of the metaphor of the watching servant1 and in the echoes of it which we find abundantly in the ,apostolic letters4 ,the first thing is to keep ourselves awake all through the soporific night1 when everything tempts to slumber4 ,even the wise virgins1 with trimmed lamps and girt loins1 do in some degree succumb to the drowsy influences around them1 and like the foolish ones1 slumber1 though the slumbers of the two classes be unlike4 ,christian people live in the midst of an order of things which tempts them to close the eyes of their hearts and minds to all the real and unseen glories above and around them1 and that might be within them1 and to live for the comparatively contemptible and trivial things of this present4 ,just as when a man sleeps1 he loses his consciousness of solid external realities1 and passes into a fantastic world of his own imaginations1 which have no correspondence in external facts1 and will vanish like ',the baseless fabric of a dream1 ,if but a cock shall crow1' so the men who are conscious only of this present life and of the things that are seen1 though they pride themselves on being wide awake1 are1 in the deepest of their being1 fast asleep1 and are dealing with illusions which will pass and leave nought behind1 as really as are men who lie dreaming upon couches1 and fancy themselves hard at work4 ,keep awake2 that is the first thing2 which1 being translated into plain ,english1 points just to this1 that unless we make a dead lift of continuous effort to keep firm grasp of ,god and ,christ1 and of all the unseen magnificences that are included in these two names1 as surely as we live we shall lose our hold upon them1 and fall into the drugged and diseased sleep in which so many men around us are plunged4 ,it sometimes seems to one as if the sky above us were raining down narcotics upon us1 so profoundly are the bulk of men unconscious of realities1 and befooled by the illusions of a dream4 ,keep yourselves awake first1 and then let the waking1 wide-opened eye1 be looking forward4 ,it is the very differentia1 so to speak1 the characteristic mark and distinction of the ,christian notion of life1 that it shifts the centre of gravity from the present into the future1 and makes that which is to come of far more importance than that which is1 or which has been4 ,no man is living up to the height of his ,christian responsibilities or privileges unless there stands out before him1 as the very goal and aim of his whole life1 what can never be realised until he has passed within the veil1 and is at rest in the 'secret place of the ,most ,high4' ,to live for the future is1 in one aspect1 the very definition of a ,christian4 ,but the text reminds us of the specific form which that future anticipation is to take4 ,it is not for us1 as it is for men in the world1 to fix our hopes for the future on abstract laws of the progress of humanity1 or the evolution of the species1 or the gradual betterment of the world1 and the like4 ,all these may be true3 ,i say nothing about them4 ,but what we have to fill our future with is that 'that same ,jesus shall so come in like manner as ye have seen ,him go4' ,it is much to be lamented that curious chronological speculations have so often discredited that great central hope of the ,church1 which is properly altogether independent of them2 and that1 because people have got befogged in interpreting such symbols as beasts1 and horses1 and trumpets1 and seals1 and the like1 the ,christian ,church as a whole should so feebly be holding by that great truth1 without which1 as it seems to me1 the truth which many of us are tempted to make the exclusive one1 loses half its significance4 ,no man can rightly understand the whole contents of the blessed proclamation1 ',christ has come1' unless he ends the sentence with 'and ,christ will come4' ,blessed is 'that servant whom the ,lord1 when ,he cometh1 shall find watching4' ,of course ,i need not remind you that much for which that second coming of the ,lord is precious1 and an object of hope to the world and the ,church1 is realised by the individual in the article of death4 ,whether ,christ comes to the world or ,i go to ,christ1 the important thing is that there result union and communion1 the reign of righteousness and peace1 the felicities of the heavenly state4 ,and so1 dear brethren1 just because of the uncertainty that drapes the future1 and which we are often tempted to make a reason for dismissing the anticipation of it from our minds1 we ought the more earnestly to give heed that we keep that end ever before us1 and whether it is reached by ,his coming to us1 or our going to ,him1 anticipate1 by the power of realising faith grasping the firm words of ,revelation1 the unimaginable1 and--until it is experienced--the incommunicable blessedness revealed in these great1 simple words1 ',so shall we ever be with the ,lord4' ,but1 then1 look at the second of the aspects of ,christian duty which is presented here1 that watchfulness is to lead on to diligent work4 ,the temptation for any one who is much occupied with the hope of some great change and betterment in the near future is to be restless and unable to settle down to his work1 and to yield to distaste of the humdrum duties of every day4 ,if some man that kept a little chandler's shop in a back street was expecting to be made a king to-morrow1 he would not be likely to look after his poor trade with great diligence4 ,so we find in the ,apostle ,paul's second letter--that to the ,thessalonians--that he had to encounter1 as well as he could1 the tendency of hope to make men restless1 and to insist upon the thought--which is the same lesson as is taught us by the second of our texts--that if a man hoped1 then he had with quietness to work and eat his own bread1 and not be shaken in mind4 ',blessed is that servant whom his ,lord1 when ,he cometh1 shall find so doing4' ,it may seem humble work to serve out hunches of bread and pots of black broth to the family of slaves1 when the steward is expecting the coming of the master of the house1 and his every nerve is tingling with anticipation4 ,but it is steadying work1 and it is blessed work4 ,it is better that a man should be found doing the homeliest duty as the outcome of his great expectations of the coming of his ,master1 than that he should be fidgeting and restless and looking only at that thought till it unfits him for his common tasks4 ,who was it who1 sitting playing a game of chess1 and being addressed by some scandalised disciple with the question1 ',what would you do if ,jesus ,christ came1 and you were playing your game8' answered1 ',i would finish it'8 ,the best way for a steward to be ready for the ,master1 and to show that he is watching1 is that he should be 'found so doing' the humble task of his stewardship4 ,the two women that were squatting on either side of the millstone1 and helping each other to whirl the handle round in that night were in the right place1 and the one that was taken had no cause to regret that she was not more religiously employed4 ,the watchful servant should be a working servant4 ,,ii4 ,and now ,i have spent too much time on this first part of my discourse2 so ,i must condense the second4 ,here are two aspects of the heavenly state1 rest and rule4 ',verily ,i say unto you1 ,he shall gird ,himself1 and make them to sit down to meat1 and will come forth and serve them4' ,i do not know that there is a more wonderful promise1 with more light lying in its darkness1 in all ,scripture than that4 ,jesus ,christ continues in the heavens to be found in 'the form of a servant4' ,as here ,he girded ,himself with the towel of humiliation in the upper room1 so there ,he girds ,himself with the robes of ,his imperial majesty1 and uses all ,his powers for the nourishment and blessedness of ,his servants4 ,his everlasting motto is1 ',i am among you as one that serveth4' ,on earth ,his service was to wash ,his disciples' feet2 in heaven the pure foot contracts no stain1 and needs no basin3 but in heaven ,he still serves1 and serves by spreading a table1 and1 as a ,king might do at some ceremonial feasts1 waiting on the astonished guests4 ,i say nothing about all the wonderful ideas that gather round that familiar but never-to-be-worn-into-commonplace emblem of the feast4 ,repose1 in contrast with the girded loins and the weary waiting of the midnight watch2 nourishment1 and the satisfaction of all desires2 joy1 society--all these things1 and who knows how much more1 that we shall have to get there to understand1 lie in that metaphor1 ',blessed is that servant' who is served by the ,master1 and nourished by ,his presence8 ,but modern popular presentations of the future life have far too predominantly dwelt upon that side of it4 ,it is a wonderful confession of 'the weariness1 the fever1 and the fret1' the hunger and loneliness of earthly experience1 that the thought of heaven as the opposite of all these things should have almost swallowed up the other thought with which our ,lord associates it here4 ,he would not have us think only of repose4 ,he unites with that representation1 so fascinating to us weary and heavy-laden1 the other of administrative authority4 ,he will set him 'over all that he hath4' ,the steward gets promotion4 ',on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of ,israel'--these are to be the seats1 and that is to be the occupation of the ,twelve4 ',thou hast been faithful over a few things2 ,i will make thee ruler over many things4' ,the relation between earthly faithfulness and heavenly service is the same in essence as that between the various stages of our work here4 ,the reward for work here is more work2 a wider field1 greater capacities4 ,and what depths of authority1 of new dignity1 of royal supremacy1 lie in those solemn and mysterious words1 ,i know not--',he will set him over all that he hath4' ,my union with ,christ is to be so close as that all ,his is mine and ,i am master of it4 ,but at all events this we can say1 that faithfulness here leads to larger service yonder2 and that none of the aptitudes and capacities which have been developed in us here on earth will want a sphere when we pass yonder4 ,so let watchfulness lead to faithfulness1 and watchful faithfulness and faithful watchfulness will lead to repose which is activity1 and rule which is rest4 ,,fire ,,on ,,earth ',i am come to send fire on the earth2 and what will ,i1 if it be already kindled6'--,,luke xii4 #di4 ,we have here one of the rare glimpses which our ,lord gives us into ,his inmost heart1 ,his thought of ,his mission1 and ,his feelings about it4 ,if familiarity had not weakened the impression1 and dulled the edge1 of these words1 how startling they would seem to us6 ',i am come'--then1 ,he was1 before ,he came1 and ,he came by ,his own voluntary act4 ,a ,jewish peasant says that ,he is going to set the world on fire-and ,he did it4 ,but the triumphant certitude and consciousness of a large world-wide mission is all shadowed in the next clause4 ,i need not trouble you with questions as to the precise translation of the words that follow4 ,there may be differences of opinion about that1 but ,i content myself with simply suggesting that a fair representation of the meaning would be1 ',how ,i wish that it was already kindled6' ,there is a longing to fulfil the purpose of ,his coming and a sense that something has to be done first1 and what that something if1 our ,lord goes on to say in the next verse4 ,this desirable end can only be reached through a preliminary painful ordeal1 'but ,i have a baptism to be baptized with1 and how am ,i straitened till it be accomplished4' ,if ,i might use such an incongruous figure1 the fire that is to flash and flame through the world emerges from the dark waters of that baptism4 ,our ,lord goes on still further to dwell upon the consequence of ,his mission and of ,his sufferings4 ,and that1 too1 shadows the first triumphant thought of the fire that ,he was to send on earth4 ,for1 the baptism being accomplished1 and the fire therefore being set at liberty to flame through the world1 what follows8 ,glad reception8 ,yes1 and angry rejection4 ,suppose ye that ,i am come to give peace on earth8 ,i tell you1 nay6 but rather division4' ,the fire1 the baptism1 and the sword2 these three may sum up our ,lord's vision of the purpose1 means1 and mingled result of ,his mission4 ,but it is only with regard to the first of these that ,i wish to speak now4 ,i4 ,the fire which ,christ longed to cast upon the earth4 ,now1 opinions differ as to what is meant by this fire ,some would have1 it to mean the glow of love kindled in believing hearts1 and others explain it by other human emotions or by the transformation effected in the world by ,christ's coming4 ,but while these things are the results of the fire kindled on earth1 that fire itself means not these effects1 but the cause of them4 ,it is brought before it kindles a flame on earth4 ,he does not kindle it simply in humanity1 but ,he launches it into the midst of humanity4 ,it is something from above that ,he flings down upon the earth4 ,so it is not merely a quickened intelligence1 a higher moral life1 or any other of the spiritual and religious transformations which are effected in the world by the mission of ,christ that is primarily to be kept in view here1 but it is the ,heaven-sent cause of these transformations and that flame4 ,if we catch the celestial fire1 we shall flash and blaze1 but the fire which we catch is not originated on earth4 ,in a word it is ,god's ,divine ,spirit which ,christ came to communicate to the world4 ,i need not remind you1 ,i suppose1 how such an interpretation of the words before us is in entire correspondence with the symbolism both of the ,old and ,new ,testament4 ,i do not dwell upon the former at all1 and with regard to the latter ,i need only remind you of the great words by which the ,forerunner of the ,lord set forth ,his mighty work1 in contrast with the superficial cleansing which ,john himself had to proclaim4 ',i indeed baptize you with water1 but ,he shall baptize you with the ,holy ,ghost and with fire4' ,i need only point to the ,pentecost1 and the symbol there1 of which the central point was the cloven tongues1 which symbolised not only the speech which follows from all deep conviction1 but the descent from above of the ,spirit of ,god1 who is the ,spirit of burning1 on each bowed and willing head4 ,with these analogies to guide us1 ,i think we shall not go far wrong if we see in the words of my text our ,lord's great symbolical promise that the issue of ,his mission shall be to bring into the heart of the world1 so to speak1 and to lodge in the midst of humanity which is one great whole1 a new divine influence that shall flame and burn through the world4 ,so1 then1 my text opens out into thoughts of the many-sided applications of this symbol4 ,what hopes for the world and ourselves are suggested by that fire8 ,let us stick to the symbol closely1 and we shall then best understand the many-sided blessings that flash and coruscate in the gift of the ,spirit4 ,it is the gift of life4 ,no doubt1 here and there in ,scripture1 fire stands for a symbol of destroying power4 ,but that is a less frequent use than that in which it stands as a symbol of life4 ,in a very real sense life is warmth and death is cold4 ,is not respiration a kind of combustion8 ,do not physiologists tell us that8 ,is not the centre of the system and the father of all physical life that great blazing sun which radiates heat8 ,and is not this promise1 ',i will send fire on the earth1' the assurance that into the midst of our death there shall come the quick energy of a living ,spirit which shall give us to possess some shadow of the immortal ,being from which itself flows8 ,but1 beyond that1 there is another great promise here1 of a quickening energy4 ,i use the word 'quickening1' not in the sense of life-giving1 but in the sense of stimulating4 ,we talk about 'the flame of genius1' the 'fervour of conviction1' about 'fiery zeal1' about 'burning earnestness1' and the like2 and1 conversely1 we speak of 'cold caution1' and 'chill indifference1' and so on4 ,fire means love1 zeal1 swift energy4 ,this1 then1 is another side of this great promise1 that into the torpor of our sluggish lives ,he is waiting to infuse a swift ,spirit that shall make us glow and flame with earnestness1 burn with love1 aspire with desire1 cleave to ,him with the fervour of conviction1 and be1 in some measure1 like those mighty spirits that stand before the ,throne1 the seraphim that burn with adoration and glow with rapture4 ,a fire that shall destroy all our sluggishness1 and change it into swift energy of glad obedience1 may be kindled in our spirits by the ,holy ,spirit whom ,christ gives4 ,still farther1 the promise of my text sets forth1 not only life-giving and stimulating energy1 but purifying power4 ,fire cleanses1 as many an ancient ritual recognised4 ,for instance1 the thought that underlay even that savage 'passing the children through the fire to ,moloch' was1 that thus passed1 humanity was cleansed from its stains4 ,and that is true4 ,every man must be cleansed1 if he is cleansed at all1 by the touch of fire4 ,if you take a piece of foul clay1 and push it into a furnace1 as it warms it whitens1 and you can see the stains melting off it as the fire exercises its beneficent and purifying mastery4 ,so the promise to us is of a great ,spirit that will come1 and by communicating ,his warmth will dissipate our foulness1 and the sins that are enwrought into the substance of our natures will exhale from the heated surface1 and disappear4 ,the ore is flung into the blast furnace1 and the scum rises to the surface1 and may be ladled off1 and the pure stream1 cleansed because it is heated1 flows out without scoriae or ash4 ,all that was 'fuel for the fire' is burned2 and what remains is more truly itself and more precious4 ,and so1 brother1 you and ,i have1 for our hope of cleansing1 that we shall be passed through the fire1 and dwell in the everlasting burnings of a ,divine ,spirit and a changeless love4 ,the last thought suggested by the metaphor is that it promises not only life-giving1 stimulating1 purifying1 but also transforming and assimilating energy4 ,for every lump of coal in your scuttles may be a parable2 black and heavy1 it is cast into the fire1 and there it is turned into the likeness of the flame which it catches and itself begins to glow1 and redden1 and crackle1 and break into a blaze4 ,that is like what you and ,i may experience if we will4 ,the incense rises in smoke to the heavens when it is heated3 and our souls aspire and ascend1 an odour of a sweet smell1 acceptable to ,god1 when the fire of that ,divine ,spirit has loosed them from the bonds that bind them to earth1 and changed them into ,his own likeness1 ,we all are 'changed from glory to glory even as by the ,spirit of the ,lord4' ,so ,i think if you take these plain teachings of this symbol you learn something of the operations of that ,divine ,spirit to which our ,lord pointed in the great words of my text4 ,,ii4 ,and now ,i have a second thought to suggest--viz41 what ,christ had to do before ,his longing could be satisfied4 ,he longed1 but the longing wish was not able to bring that on which it was fixed4 ,he had come to send this divine fire upon the earth2 but there was something that stood in the way2 and something needed to be done as a preliminary before the ultimate purpose of ,his coming could be accomplished4 ,what that was1 as ,i have already tried to point out1 the subsequent verse tells us4 ,i do not need1 nor would it be congruous with my present purpose1 to comment upon it at any length4 ,we all know what ,he meant by the 'baptism1' that ,he had to be baptized with1 and what were the dark waters into which ,he had to pass1 and beneath which ,his sacred head had to be plunged4 ,we all know that by the 'baptism' ,he meant ,his passion and ,his ,cross4 ,i do not dwell1 either1 upon the words of pathetic human shrinking with which ,his vision of the ,cross is here accompanied1 but ,i simply wish to signalise one thing1 that in the estimation of ,jesus ,christ ,himself it was not in ,his power to kindle this holy fire in humanity until ,he had died for men's sins4 ,that must come first2 the ,cross must precede ,pentecost4 ,there can be no ,divine ,spirit in ,his full and loftiest powers poured out upon humanity until the ,sacrifice has been offered on the ,cross for the sins of the world4 ,we cannot read all the deep reasons in the divine nature1 and in human receptivity1 which make that sequence absolutely necessary1 and that preliminary indispensable4 ,but this1 at least1 we know1 that the ,divine ,spirit whom ,christ gives uses as ,his instrument and sword the completed revelation which ,christ completed in ,his ,cross1 ,resurrection1 and ,ascension1 and that1 until ,his weapon was fashioned1 ,he could not come4 ,that thought is distinctly laid down in many places in ,scripture1 to which ,i need not refer in more than a word4 ,for instance1 the ,apostle ,john tells us that1 when our ,lord spoke in a cognate figure about the rivers of water which should flow from them who believed on ,him1 ,he spake of that ,holy ,spirit who 'was not given because that ,jesus was not yet glorified4' ,we remember the words in the upper chamber1 ',if ,i go not away1 the ,comforter will not come unto you1 but if ,i depart ,i will send ,him unto you4' ,but enough for us that ,he recognised the necessity1 and that here ,his baptism of suffering comes into view1 not so much for what it was itself1 the sacrifice for the world's sin1 as for that to which it was the necessary preliminary and introduction1 the bestowment on humanity of the gift of the ,divine ,spirit4 ,the old ,greek legend of the ,titan that stole fire from heaven tells us that he brought it to earth in a reed4 ,our ,christ brings the heavenly fire in the fragile1 hollow reed of ,his humanity1 and the reed has to be broken in order that the fire may blaze out4 ',how ,i wish that it were kindled6 but ,i have a baptism to be baptized with4' ,,iii4 ,lastly1 what the world has to do to receive the fire4 ,take these triumphant words of our ,lord about what ,he was to do after ,his ,cross1 and contrast with them the world as it is to-day1 ay6 and the ,church as it is to-day4 ,what has become of the fire8 ,has it died down into grey ashes1 choked with the cold results of its own former flaming power8 ,was ,jesus ,christ deceiving ,himself8 was ,he cherishing an illusion as to the significance and permanence of the results of ,his work in the world8 ,no6 ,there is a difference between ,b4,c4 and ,a4,d4 which can only be accounted for by the fulfilment of the promise in my text1 that ,he did bring fire and set the world aflame4 ,but the condition on which that fire will burn either through communities1 society1 humanity1 or in an individual life1 is trust in ,him that gives it1 and cleaving to ,him1 and the appropriate discipline4 ',this spake ,he of the ,holy ,spirit which they that believe on ,him should receive4' ,and they that do not believe upon ,him--what of them8 ,the fire is of no advantage to them4 ,some of you do as people in ,swiss villages do where there is a conflagration--you cover over your houses with incombustible felts or other materials1 and deluge them with water1 in the hope that no spark may light on you4 ,there is no way by which the fire can do its work on us except our opening our hearts for the ,firebringer4 ,when ,he comes ,he brings the vital spark with ,him1 and ,he plants it on the hearth of our hearts4 ,trust in ,him1 believe far more intensely than the most of ,christian people of this day do in the reality of the gift of supernatural divine life from ,jesus ,christ4 ,i do believe that hosts of professing ,christians have no firm grip of this truth1 and1 alas6 very little verification of it in their lives4 ,your heavenly ,father gives the ,holy ,spirit to them that ask ,him4 ',covet earnestly the best gifts'2 and take care that you do not put the fire out--'quench not the ,holy ,spirit1' as you will do if you 'fulfil the lusts of the flesh4' ,i remember once being down in the engine-room of an ocean-going steamer4 ,there were the furnaces1 large enough to drive an engine of five or six thousand horsepower4 ,a few yards off there were the refrigerators1 with ice hanging round the spigots that were put in to test the temperature4 ,ah6 that is like many a ,christian community1 and many an individual ,christian4 ,here is the fire2 there is the frost4 ,brethren1 let us seek to be baptized with fire1 lest we should be cast into it1 and be consumed by it4 ,,end ,,op ,,vol4 ,i4 ,,volume ,,ii3 ,,st4 ,,luke ,chaps4 ,,xiii to ,,xxiv ,,contents ,,true ,,sabbath ,,observance 7,luke xiii4 #aj-ag7 ,,the ,,strait ,,gate 7,luke xiii4 #bb-cj74 ,,christ',s ,,message ,,to ,,herod 7,luke xiii4 #cb1 #cc7 ,,the ,,lessons ,,of ,a ,,feast 7,luke xiv4 #a-ad7 ,,excuses ,,not ,,reasons 7,luke xiv4 #ah7 ,,the ,,rash ,,builder 7,luke xiv4 #bh7 ,,that ,,which ,,was ,,lost 7,luke xv4 #d1 #h1 #aa7 ,,the ,,prodigal ,,and ,,his ,,father 7,luke xv4 #aa-bd7 ,,gifts ,,to ,,the ,,prodigal 7,luke xv4 #bb1 #bc7 ,,the ,,follies ,,of ,,the ,,wise 7,luke xvi4 #h7 ,,two ,,kinds ,,of ,,riches 7,luke xvi4 #aj-ab7 ,,the ,,gains ,,of ,,the ,,faithful ,,steward 7,luke xvi4 #ab7 ,,dives ,,and ,,lazarus 7,luke xvi4 #ai-ca7 ,,memory ,,in ,,another ,,world 7,luke xvi #be7 ,,god',s ,,slaves 7,luke xvii4 #i-aj7 ,,where ,,abe ,,the ,,nine8 7,luke xvii4 #aa-ai7 ,,three ,,kinds ,,of ,,praying 7,luke xviii4 #a-ad7 ,,entering ,,the ,,kingdom 7,luke xviii4 #ae-cj7 ,,the ,,man ,,that ,,stopped ,,jesus 7,luke xviii4 #dj-da7 ,,melted ,,by ,,kindness 7,luke xix4 #e7 ,,the ,,trading ,,servants 7,luke xix4 #af1 #ah7 ,,the ,,rewards ,,of ,,the ,,trading ,,servants 7,luke xix4 #ag1ai7 ,a ,,new ,,kind ,,op ,,king 7,luke xix4 #cg-dh7 ,,tenants ,,who ,,wanted ,,to ,,be ,,owners 7,luke xx4 #i-ai7 ,,whose ,,image ,,and ,,superscription8 7,luke xx4 #bd7 ,,when ,,shall ,,these ,,things ,,be8 7,luke xxi4 #bj-cf7 ,,the ,,lord',s ,,supper 7,luke xxii4 #g-bj7 ,,parting ,,promises ,,and ,,warnings 7,luke xxii4 #bd-cg7 ,,christ',s ,,ideal ,,of ,a ,,monarch 7,luke xxii4 #be1 #bf7 ,,the ,,lonely ,,christ 7,luke xxii4 #bh7 ,a ,,great ,,fall ,,and ,a ,,great ,,recovery 7,luke xxii4 #cb7 ,,gethsemany 7,luke xxii4 #ci-eh7 ,,the ,,cross ,,the ,,victory ,,and ,,defeat ,,of ,,darkness 7,luke xxii4 #ec7 ,,in ,,the ,,high ,,priest',s ,,palace 7,luke xxii4 #ed-ga7 ,,christ',s ,,look 7,luke xxii4 #fa7 ',,the ,,rulers ,,take ,,counsel ,,together' 7,luke xxiii4 #a-ab7 ,a ,,soul',s ,,tragedy 7,luke xxiii4 #i7 ,,jesus ,,and ,,pilate 7,luke xxiii4 #ac-bf7 ,,words ,,from ,,the ,,cross 7,luke xxiii4 #cc-df7 ,,the ,,dying ,,thief 7,luke xxiii4 #db7 ,,the ,,first ,,easter ,,sunrise 7,luke xxiv4 #a-ab7 ,,the ,,living ,,dead 7,luke xxiv4 #e-f7 ,,the ,,risen ,,lord',s ,,self-,,revelation ,,to ,,wavering ,,disciples 7,luke xxiv4 #ac-cb7 ,,detaining ,,christ 7,luke xxiv4 #bh1 #bi7 ,,the ,,meal ,,at ,,emmaus 7,luke xxiv1 #cj1 #ca7 ,,peter ,,alone ,,with ,,jesus 7,luke xxiv4 #cd7 ,,the ,,triumphant ,,end 7,luke xxiv4 #cf-ec7 ,,christ',s ,,witnesses 7,luke xxiv4 #dh1di7 ,,the ,,ascension 7,luke xxiv4 #ej1 #ea2 ,acts i4 #i7 ,,true ,,sabbath ,,observance ',and ,he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the ,sabbath4 #aa4 ,and1 behold1 there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years1 and was bowed together1 and could in no wise lift up herself4 #ab4 ,and when ,jesus saw her1 ,he called her to ,him1 and said unto her1 ,woman1 thou art loosed from thine infirmity4 #ac4 ,and ,he laid ,his hands on her3 and immediately she was made straight1 and glorified ,god4 #ad4 ,and the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation1 because that ,jesus had healed on the ,sabbath day1 and said unto the people1 ,there are six days in which men ought to work3 in them therefore come and be healed1 and not on the ,sabbath day4 #ae4 ,the ,lord then answered him1 and said1 ,thou hypocrite1 doth not each one of you on the ,sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall and lead him away to watering6 #af4 ,and ought not this woman1 being a daughter of ,abraham1 whom ,satan hath bound1 lo1 these eighteen years1 be loosed from this bond on the ,sabbath day8 #ag4 ,and when ,he had said these things1 all ,his adversaries were ashamed3 and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by ,him4'--,,luke xiii4 #aj-ag4 ,this miracle was wrought1 unasked1 on a woman1 in a synagogue1 and by all these characteristics was specially interesting to ,luke4 ,he alone records it4 ,the narrative falls into two parts--the miracle1 and the covert attack of the ruler of the synagogue1 with our ,lord's defence4 ,what better place than the synagogue could there be for a miracle of mercy8 ,the service of man is best built on the service of ,god1 and the service of ,god is as truly accomplished in deeds of human kindness done for ,his sake as in oral worship4 ,the religious basis of beneficence and the beneficent manifestation of religion are commonplaces of ,christian practice and thought from the beginning1 and are both set forth in our ,lord's life4 ,he did not substitute doing good to men for worshipping ,god1 as a once much-belauded but now all-but-forgotten anti-,christian writer has done2 but ,he showed us both in their true relations4 ,we have ,christ's authority for regarding the woman's infirmity as the result of demoniacal possession1 but the case presents some singular features4 ,there seems to have been no other consequence than her incapacity to stand straight4 ,apparently the evil power had not touched her moral nature1 for she had somehow managed to drag herself to the synagogue to pray2 she 'glorified ,god' for her cure1 and ,christ called her 'a daughter of ,abraham1' which surely means more than simply that she was a ,jewess4 ,it would seem to have been a case of physical infirmity only1 and perhaps rather of evil inflicted eighteen years before than of continuous demoniacal possession4 ,but be that as it may1 there is surely no getting over our ,lord's express testimony here1 that purely physical ills1 not distinguishable from natural infirmity1 were then1 in some instances1 the work of a malignant1 personal power4 ,jesus knew the duration of the woman's 'bond' and the cause of it1 by the same supernatural knowledge4 ,that sad1 bowed figure1 with eyes fixed on the ground1 and unable to look into ,his face1 which yet had crawled to the synagogue1 may teach us lessons of patience and of devout submission4 ,she might have found good excuses for staying at home1 but she1 no doubt1 found solace in worship2 and she would not have so swiftly 'glorified ,god' for her cure1 if she had not often sought ,him in her infirmity4 ,they who wait on ,him often find more than they expect in ,his house4 ,note the flow of ,christ's unasked sympathy and help4 ,we have already seen several instances of the same thing in this ,gospel4 ,the sight of misery ever set the chords of that gentle1 unselfish heart vibrating1 as surely as the wind draws music from the ,aeolian harp strings4 ,so it should be with us1 and so would it be1 if we had in us 'the law of the ,spirit of life in ,christ' making us 'free from the law of' self4 ,but ,his spontaneous sympathy is not merely the perfection of manhood2 it is the revelation of ,god4 ,unasked1 the divine love pours itself on men1 and gives all that it can give to those who do not seek1 that they may be drawn to seek the better gifts which cannot be given unasked4 ,god 'tarrieth not for man1 nor waiteth for the sons of men1' in giving ,his greatest gift4 ,no prayers besought ,heaven for a ,saviour4 ,god's love is its own motive1 and wells up by its inherent diffusiveness4 ,before we call1 ,he answers4 ,note the manner of the cure4 ,it is twofold--a word and a touch4 ,the former is remarkable1 as not being1 like most of the cures of demoniacs1 a command to the evil spirit to go forth1 but an assurance to the sufferer1 fitted to inspire her with hope1 and to encourage her to throw off the alien tyranny4 ,the touch was the symbol to her of communicated power--not that ,jesus needed a vehicle for ,his delivering strength1 but that the poor victim1 crushed in spirit1 needed the outward sign to help her in realising the new energy that ran in her veins1 and strengthened her muscles4 ,unquestionably the cure was miraculous1 and its cause was ,christ's will4 ,but apparently the manner of cure gave more place to the faith of the sufferer1 and to the effort which her faith in ,christ's word and touch heartened her to put forth1 than we find in other miracles4 ,she 'could in no wise lift herself up1' not because of any malformation or deficiency in physical power1 but because that malign influence laid a heavy hand on her will and body1 and crushed her down4 ,only supernatural power could deliver from supernatural evil1 but that power wrought through as well us ,,ob her2 and when she believed that she was loosed from her infirmity1 and had received strength from ,jesus1 she was loosed4 ,this makes the miracle no less1 but it makes it a mirror in which the manner of our deliverance from a worse dominion of ,satan is shadowed4 ,christ is come to loose us all from the yoke of bondage1 which bows our faces to the ground1 and makes us unfit to look up4 ,he only can loose us1 and ,his way of doing it is to assure us that we are free1 and to give us power to fling off the oppression in the strength of faith in ,him4 ,note the immediate cure and its immediate result4 ,the 'back bowed down always' for eighteen weary years is not too stiff to be made straight at once4 ,the ,christ-given power obliterates all traces of the past evil4 ,where ,he is the physician1 there is no period of gradual convalescence1 but 'the thing is done suddenly'2 and1 though in the spiritual realm1 there still hang about pardoned men remains of forgiven sin1 they are 'sanctified' in their inward selves1 and have but to see to it that they work out in character and conduct that 'righteousness and holiness of truth' which they have received in the new nature given them through faith4 ,how rapturous was the gratitude from the woman's lips1 which broke in upon the formal1 proper1 and heartless worship of the synagogue6 ,the immediate hallowing of her joy into praise surely augurs a previously devout heart4 ,thanksgiving generally comes thus swiftly after mercies1 when prayer has habitually preceded them4 ,the sweetest sweetness of all our blessings is only enjoyed when we glorify ,god for them4 ,incense must be kindled1 to be fragrant1 and our joys must be fired by devotion1 to give their rarest perfume4 ,the cavils of the ruler and ,christ's defence are the second part of this incident4 ,note the blindness and cold-heartedness born of religious formalism4 ,this synagogue official has no eye for the beauty of ,christ's pity1 no heart to rejoice in the woman's deliverance1 no ear for the music of her praise4 ,all that he sees is a violation of ecclesiastical order4 ,that is the sin of sins in his eyes4 ,he admits the reality of ,christ's healing power1 but that does not lead him to recognition of ,his mission4 ,what a strange state of mind it was that acknowledged the miracle1 and then took offence at its being done on the ,sabbath6 ,note1 too1 his disingenuous cowardice in attacking the people when he meant ,christ4 ,he blunders1 too1 in his scolding2 for nobody had come to be healed4 ,they had come to worship2 and even if they had come for healing1 the coming was no breach of ,sabbath regulations1 whatever the healing might be4 ,there are plenty of people like this stickler for propriety and form1 and if you want to find men blind as bats to the manifest tokens of a divine hand1 and hard as millstones towards misery1 and utterly incapable of glowing with enthusiasm or of recognising it1 you will find them among ecclesiastical martinets1 who are all for having 'things done decently and in order1' and would rather that a hundred poor sufferers should continue bowed down than that one of their regulations should be broken in lifting them up4 ,the more men are filled with the spirit of worship1 the less importance will they attach to the pedantic adherence to its forms1 which is the most part of some people's religion4 ,mark the severity1 which is loving severity1 of ,christ's answer4 ,he speaks to all who shared the ruler's thoughts1 of whom there were several present 7v4 #ag1 'adversaries'74 ,piercing words which disclose hidden and probably unconscious sins1 are quite in place on the lips into which grace was poured4 ,well for those who let ,him tell them their faults now1 and do not wait for the light of judgment to show themselves to themselves for the first time4 ,wherein lay these men's hypocrisy8 ,they were pretending zeal for the ,sabbath1 while they were really moved by anger at the miracle1 which would have been equally unwelcome on any day of the week4 ,they were pretending that their zeal for the ,sabbath was the result of their zeal for ,god1 while it was only zeal for their ,rabbinical niceties1 and had no religious element in it at all4 ,they wished to make the ,sabbath law tight enough to restrain ,jesus from miracles1 while they made it loose enough to allow them to look after their own interests4 ,men may be unconscious hypocrites1 and these are the most hopeless4 ,we are all in danger of fancying that we are displaying our zeal for the ,lord1 when we are only contending for our own additions to1 or interpretations of1 ,his will4 ,there is no religion necessarily implied in enforcing forms of belief or conduct4 ,our ,lord's defence is1 first of all1 a conclusive argumentum ad hominem1 which shuts the mouths of the objectors2 but it is much more4 ,the ,talmud has minute rules for leading out animals on the ,sabbath3 ,an ass may go out with his pack saddle if it was tied on before the ,sabbath1 but not with a bell or a yoke2 a camel may go out with a halter1 but not with a rag tied to his tail2 a string of camels may be led if the driver takes all the halters in his hand1 and does not twist them1 but they must not be tied to one another--and so on for pages4 ,if1 then1 these sticklers for rigid observance of the ,sabbath admitted that a beast's thirst was reason enough for work to relieve it1 it did not lie in their mouths to find fault with the relief of a far greater human need4 ,but the words hold a wider truth1 applicable to our conduct4 ,the relief of human sorrow is always in season4 ,it is a sacred duty which hallows any hour4 ',is not this the fast and the feast too that ,i have chosen 444 to let the oppressed go free1 and that ye break every yoke8' ,the spirit of the words is to put the exercise of beneficence high above the formalities of worship4 ,note1 too1 the implied assertion of the dignity of humanity1 the pitying tone of the 'lo1 these eighteen years1' the sympathy of the ,lord with the poor woman1 and the implication of the terrible tragedy of ,satan's bondage4 ,if we have ,his ,spirit in us1 and look at the solemn facts of life as ,he did1 all these pathetic considerations will be present to our minds as we behold the misery of men1 and1 moved by the thoughts of their lofty place in ,god's scheme of things1 of their long and dreary bondage1 of the evil power that holds them fast1 and of what they may become1 even sons and daughters of the ,highest1 we shall be fired with the same longing to help which filled ,christ's heart1 and shall count that hour consecrated1 and not profaned1 in which we are able to bring liberty to the captives1 and an upward gaze of hope to them that have been bowed down4 ,,the ,,strait ,,gate ',and ,he went through the cities and villages1 teaching1 and journeying toward ,jerusalem4 #bc4 ,then said one unto ,him1 ,lord1 are there few that be saved8 ,and ,he said unto them1 #bd4 ,strive to enter in at the strait gate3 for many1 ,i say unto you1 will seek to enter in1 and shall not he able4 #be4 ,when once the ,master of the house is risen up1 and hath shut to the door1 and ye begin to stand without1 and to knock at the door1 saying1 ,lord1 ,lord1 open unto us2 and ,he shall answer and say unto you1 ,i know you not whence ye are3 #bf4 ,then shall ye begin to say1 ,we have eaten and drunk in ,thy presence1 and ,thou hast taught in our streets4 #bg4 ,but ,he shall say1 ,i tell you1 ,i know you not whence ye are2 depart from ,me1 all ye workers of iniquity4 #bh4 ,there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth1 when ye shall see ,abraham1 and ,isaac1 and ,jacob1 and all the prophets1 in the kingdom of ,god1 and you yourselves thrust out4 #bi4 ,and they shall come from the east1 and from the west1 and from the north1 and from the south1 and shall sit down in the kingdom of ,god4 #cj4 ,and1 behold1 there are last which shall be first and there are first which shall be last4'--,,luke xiii4 #bb-cj ',are there few that be saved8' ,the questioner's temper and motives may be inferred from the tone of ,christ's answer1 which turns attention from a mere piece of speculative curiosity to the grave personal aspect of the condition of 'salvation1' and the possibility of missing it4 ,whether few or many went in1 there would be many left out1 and among these some of the listeners4 ,jesus speaks to 'them1' the multitude1 not to the questioner4 ,the men who approach solemn subjects lightly1 and use them as material for raising profitless questions for the sake of getting religious teachers in a corner1 exist still1 and are best answered after ,christ's manner4 ,of course1 the speaker meant by being 'saved' participation in ,messiah's kingdom1 regarded in the carnal ,jewish fashion2 and our ,lord's reply is primarily directed to setting forth the condition of entrance into that kingdom1 as the ,jew expected it to be manifested on earth4 ,but behind that immediate reference lies a solemn unveiling of the conditions of salvation in its deepest meaning1 and of the danger of exclusion from it4 ,i4 ,we note1 first1 the all-important exhortation with which ,christ seeks to sober a frivolous curiosity4 ,in its primary application1 the 'strait gate' may be taken to be the lowliness of the ,messiah1 and the consequent sharp contrast of ,his kingdom with ,jewish high-flown and fleshly hopes4 ,the passage to the promised royalty was not through a great portal worthy of a palace1 but by a narrow1 low-browed wicket1 through which it took a man trouble to squeeze4 ,for us1 the narrow gate is the self-abandonment and self-accusation which are indispensable for entrance into salvation4 ',the door of faith' is a narrow one2 for it lets no self-righteousness1 no worldly glories1 no dignities1 through4 ,like the ,emperor at ,canossa1 we are kept outside till we strip ourselves of crowns and royal robes1 and stand clothed only in the hair-shirt of penitence4 ,like ,milton's rebel angels entering their council chamber1 we must make ourselves small to get in4 ,we must creep on our knees1 so low is the vault2 we must leave everything outside1 so narrow is it4 ,we must go in one by one1 as in the turnstiles at a place of entertainment4 ,the door opens into a palace1 but it is too strait for any one who trusts to himself4 ,there must be effort in order to enter by it4 ,for everything in our old self-confident1 self-centred nature is up in arms against the conditions of entrance4 ,we are not saved by effort1 but we shall not believe without effort4 ,the main struggle of our whole lives should be to cultivate self-humbling trust in ,jesus ,christ1 and to 'fight the good fight of faith4' ,,ii4 ,we note the reason for the exhortation4 ,it is briefly given in verse #bd 7last clause71 and both parts of the reason there are expanded in the following verses4 ,effort is needed for entrance1 because many are shut out4 ,the questioner would be no better for knowing whether few would enter1 but he and all need to burn in on their minds that many will not4 ,very solemnly significant is the difference between striving and seeking4 ,it is like the difference between wishing and willing4 ,there may be a seeking which has no real earnestness in it1 and is not sufficiently determined1 to do what is needful in order to find4 ,plenty of people would like to possess earthly good1 but cannot brace themselves to needful work and sacrifice4 ,plenty would like to 'go to heaven1' as they understand the phrase1 but cannot screw themselves to the surrender of self and the world4 ,vagrant1 halfhearted seeking1 such as one sees many examples of1 will never win anything1 either in this world or in the other4 ,we must strive1 and not only seek4 ,that is true1 even if we do not look beyond time2 but ,jesus carries our awed vision onwards to the end of the days1 in the expansion of his warning1 which follows in verses #be-bg4 ,no doubt1 the words had a meaning for ,his hearers in reference to the ,messianic kingdom1 and a fulfilment in the rejection of the nation4 ,but we have to discern in them a further and future significance4 ,observe that the scene suggested differs from the similar parable of the virgins waiting for their ,lord1 in that it does not describe a wedding feast4 ,here it is a householder already in his house1 and1 at the close of the day1 locking up for the night4 ,some of his servants have not returned in time1 have not come in through the narrow gate1 which is now not only narrow1 but closed by the master's own hand4 ,the translation of that is that1 by a decisive act of ,christ's in the future1 the time for entrance will he ended4 ,as in reference to each stage of life1 specific opportunities are given in it for securing specific results1 and these can never be recovered if the stage is past2 so mortal life1 as a whole1 is the time for entrance1 and if it is not used for that purpose1 entrance is impossible4 ,if the youth will not learn1 the man will be ignorant4 ,if the sluggard will not plough because the weather is cold1 he will 'beg in harvest4' ,if we do not strive to enter at the gate1 it is vain to seek entrance when the ,master's own hand has barred it4 ,the language of our ,lord here seems to shut us up to the conclusion that life is the time in which we can gain our entrance4 ,it is no kindness to suggest that perhaps ,he does not shut the door quite fast4 ,we know1 at all events1 that it is wide open now4 ,the words put into the mouths of the excluded sufficiently define their characters1 and the reasons why they sought in vain4 ,why did they want to be in8 ,because they wished to get out of the cold darkness into the warm light of the bountiful house4 ,but they neither knew the conditions of entrance nor had they any desire after the true blessings within4 ,their deficiencies are plainly marked in their pleas for admission4 ,at first1 they simply ask for entrance1 as if thinking that to wish was to have4 ,then1 when the ,householder says that ,he knows nothing about them1 and cannot let strangers in1 they plead as their qualification that they had eaten and drunk in ,his presence1 and that ,he had taught in their streets4 ,in these words1 the relations of ,christ's contemporaries are described1 and their immediate application to them is plain4 ,outward connection with ,jesus gave no claim to share in ,his kingdom4 ,we have to learn the lesson which we who live amidst a widely diffused1 professing ,christianity sadly need4 ,no outward connection with ,christ1 in ,christian ordinances or profession1 will avail to establish a claim to have the door opened for us4 ,a man may be a most respectable and respected church-member1 and have listened to ,christian teaching all his days1 and have in life a vague wish to be 'saved1' and yet be hopelessly unfit to enter1 and therefore irremediably shut out4 ,the ,householder's answer1 in its severity and calmness1 indicates the inflexible impossibility of opening to such seekers4 ,it puts stress on two things--the absence of any vital relationship between ,him and them1 and their moral character4 ,he knows nothing about them1 and not to be known by the ,master of the house is necessarily to be shut out from ,his household4 ,they are known of the ,shepherd who know ,him and hear ,his voice4 ,they who are not must stay in the desert4 ,such mutual knowledge is the basis of all righteousness1 and righteousness is the essential condition of entrance4 ,these seekers are represented as still working iniquity4 ,they had not changed their moral nature4 ,they wished to enter heaven1 but they still loved evil4 ,how could they come in1 even if the door had been open8 ,let us learn that1 while faith is the door1 without holiness no man shall see the ,lord4 ,the worker of iniquity has only an outward relation to ,jesus4 ,inwardly he is separated from ,him1 and1 at last1 the outward relation will be adjusted to the inward1 and departure from ,him will be inevitable1 and that is ruin4 ,,iii4 ,boldly and searchingly personal as the preceding words had been1 the final turn of ,christ's answer must have had a still sharper and more distasteful edge4 ,he had struck a blow at ,jewish trust in outward connection with ,messiah as ensuring participation in ,his kingdom4 ,he now says that the ,gentiles shall fill the vacant places4 ,many ,jews will be unable to enter1 for all their seeking1 but still there will be many saved2 for troops of hated ,gentiles shall come from every corner of the earth1 and the sight of them sitting beside the fathers of the nation1 while ,israel after the flesh is shut out1 will move the excluded to weeping--the token of sorrow1 which yet has in it no softening nor entrance-securing effect1 because it passes into 'gnashing of teeth1' the sign of anger4 ,such sorrow worketh death4 ,such fierce hatred1 joined with stiff-necked obstinacy1 has characterised the ,jew ever since ,jerusalem fell4 ',if ,god spared not the natural branches1 take heed lest ,he also spare not thee4' ,israel was first1 and has become last4 ,the same causes which sent it from the van to the rear have worked like effects in ',christendom1' as witness ,asia ,minor and the mosques into which ,christian churches have been turned4 ,these causes will produce like effects wherever they become dominant4 ,any church and any individual ,christian who trusts in outward connection with ,christ1 and works iniquity1 will sooner or later fall into the rear1 and if repentance and faith do not lead it or him through the strait gate1 will be among those 'last' who are so far behind that they are shut out altogether4 ,let us 'be not high-minded1 but fear4' ,,christ',s ,,message ,,to ,,herod ',and he said unto them1 ,go ye1 and tell that fox1 ,behold1 ,i cast out devils1 and ,i do cures to-day and to-morrow1 and the third day ,i shall be perfected4 #cc4 ,nevertheless ,i must walk to-day1 and to-morrow1 and the day following3 for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of ,jerusalem4'--,,luke xiii4 #cb1 #cc4 ,even a lamb might be suspicious if wolves were to show themselves tenderly careful of its safety4 ,pharisees taking ,christ's life under their protection were enough to suggest a trick4 ,these men came to ,christ desirous of posing as counterworking ,herod's intention to slay ,him4 ,our ,lord's answer1 bidding them go and tell ,herod what ,he immediately communicates to them1 shows that ,he regarded them as in a plot with that crafty1 capricious kinglet4 ,and evidently there was an understanding between them4 ,for some reason or other1 best known to his own changeable and whimsical nature1 the man who at one moment was eagerly desirous to see ,jesus1 was at the next as eagerly desirous to get ,him out of his territories2 just as he admired and murdered ,john the ,baptist4 ,the ,pharisees1 on the other hand1 desired to draw ,him to ,jerusalem1 where they would have ,him in their power more completely than in the northern district4 ,if they had spoken all their minds they would have said1 ',go hence1 or else we cannot kill ,thee4' ,so ,christ answers the hidden schemes1 and not the apparent solicitude1 in the words that ,i have taken for my text4 ,they unmask the plot1 they calmly put aside the threats of danger4 ,they declare that ,his course was influenced by far other considerations4 ,they show that ,he clearly saw what it was towards which ,he was journeying4 ,and then1 with sad irony1 they declare that it1 as it were1 contrary to prophetic decorum and established usage that a prophet should be slain anywhere but in the streets of the bloody and sacred city4 ,there are many deep things in the words1 which ,i cannot touch in the course of a single sermon2 but ,i wish now1 at all events1 to skim their surface1 and try to gather some of their obvious lessons4 ,i4 ,first1 then1 note ,christ's clear vision of ,his death4 ,there is some difficulty about the chronology of this period with which ,i need not trouble you4 ,it is enough to note that the incident with which we are concerned occurred during that last journey of our ,lord's towards ,jerusalem and ,calvary1 which occupies so much of this ,gospel of ,luke4 ,at what point in that fateful journey it occurred may be left undetermined4 ,nor need ,i enter upon the question as to whether the specification of time in our text1 'to-day1 and to-morrow1 and the third day1' is intended to be taken literally1 as some commentators suppose1 in which case it would be brought extremely near the goal of the journey2 or whether1 as seems more probable from the context1 it is to be taken as a kind of proverbial expression for a definite but short period4 ,that the latter is the proper interpretation seems to be largely confirmed by the fact that there is a slight variation in the application of the designation of time in the two verses of our text1 'the third day' in the former verse being regarded as the period of the perfecting1 whilst in the latter verse it is regarded as part of the period of the progress towards the perfecting4 ,such variation in the application is more congruous with the idea that we have here to deal with a kind of proverbial expression for a limited and short period4 ,our ,lord is saying in effect1 ',my time is not to be settled by ,herod4 ,it is definite1 and it is short4 ,it is needless for him to trouble himself2 for in three days it will be all over4 ,it is useless for him to trouble himself1 or for you ,pharisees to plot1 for until the appointed days are past it will not be over1 whatever you and he may do4' ,the course ,he had yet to run was plain before ,him in this last journey1 every step of which was taken with the ,cross full in view4 ,now the worst part of death is the anticipation of death2 and it became ,him who bore death for every man to drink to its dregs that cup of trembling which the fear of it puts to all human lips4 ,we rightly regard it as a cruel aggravation of a criminal's doom if he is carried along a level1 straight road with his gibbet in view at the end of the march4 ,but so it was that ,jesus ,christ travelled through life4 ,my text comes at a comparatively late period of ,his history4 ,a few months or weeks at the most intervened between ,him and the end4 ,but the consciousness which is here so calmly expressed was not of recent origin4 ,we know that from the period of ,his transfiguration ,he began to give ,his death a very prominent place in ,his teaching1 but it had been present with ,him long before ,he thus laid emphasis upon it in ,his communications with ,his disciples4 ,for1 if we accept ,john's ,gospel as historical1 we shall have to throw back ,his first public references to the end to the very beginning of ,his career4 ,the cleansing of the ,temple1 at the very outset of ,his course1 was vindicated by ,him by the profound words1 ',destroy this ,temple1 and in three days ,i will raise it up4' ,during the same early visit to the capital city ,he said to ,nicodemus1 ',as ,moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness1 even so must the ,son of ,man be lifted up4' ,so ,christ's career was not like that of many a man who has begun1 full of sanguine hope as a possible reformer and benefactor of his fellows1 and by slow degrees has awakened to the consciousness that reformers and benefactors need to be martyrs ere their ideals can be realised4 ,there was no disillusioning in ,christ's experience4 ,from the commencement ,he knew that ,he came1 not only to minister1 but also 'to give ,his life a ransom for the many4' ,and it was not a mother's eye1 as a reverent modern painter has profoundly1 and yet erroneously1 shown us in his great work in our own city gallery--it was not a mother's eye that first saw the shadow of the ,cross fall on her unconscious ,son1 but it was ,himself that all through ,his earthly pilgrimage knew ,himself to be the ,lamb appointed for the sacrifice4 ,this ,isaac toiled up the hill1 bearing the wood and the knife1 and knew where and who was the ,offering4 ,brethren1 ,i do not think that we sufficiently realise the importance of that element in our conceptions of the life of ,jesus ,christ4 ,what a pathos it gives to it all6 ,what a beauty it gives to ,his gentleness1 to ,his ready interest in others1 to ,his sympathy for all sorrow1 and tenderness with all sin6 ,how wonderfully it deepens the significance1 the loveliness1 and the pathos of the fact that 'the ,son of ,man came eating and drinking1' remembering everybody but ,himself1 and ready to enter into all the cares and the sorrows of other hearts1 if we think that all the while there stood1 grim and certain1 before ,him that ,calvary with its ,cross6 ,thus1 through all ,his path1 ,he knew to what ,he was journeying4 ,,ii4 ,then again1 secondly1 let me ask you to note here our ,lord's own estimate of the place which ,his death holds in relation to ,his whole work4 ,notice that remarkable variation in the expression in our text4 ',the third day ,i shall be perfected4444 ,it cannot be that a prophet perish out of ,jerusalem4' ,then1 somehow or other1 the 'perishing' is 'perfecting4' ,there may be a doubt as to the precise rendering of the word translated by 'perfecting'2 but it seems to me that the only meaning congruous with the context is that which is suggested by the translation of our ,authorised ,version1 and that our ,lord does not mean to say 'on the third day ,i shall complete ,my work of casting out devils and curing diseases1' but that ,he masses the whole of ,his work into two great portions--the one of which includes all ,his works and ministrations of miracles and of mercy2 and the other of which contains one unique and transcendent fact1 which outweighs and towers above all these others1 and is the perfecting of ,his work1 and the culmination of ,his obedience1 service1 and sacrifice4 ,now1 of course1 ,i need not remind you that the 'perfecting' thus spoken of is not a perfecting of moral character or of individual nature1 but that it is the same perfecting which the ,epistle to the ,hebrews speaks about when it says1 ',being made perfect1 ,he became the ,author of eternal salvation to all them which obey ,him4' ,that is to say1 it is ,his perfecting in regard to office1 function1 work for the world1 and not the completion or elevation of ,his individual character4 ,and this 'perfecting' is effected in ,his 'perishing4' ,now ,i want to know in what conceivable sense the death of ,jesus ,christ can be the culmination and crown of ,his work1 without which it would be a torso1 an incomplete fragment1 a partial fulfilment of the ,father's design1 and of ,his own mission1 unless it be that that death was1 as ,i take it the ,new ,testament with one voice in all its parts declares it to be1 a sacrifice for the sins of the world4 ,i know of no construing of the fact of the death on the ,cross which can do justice to the plain words of my text1 except the old-fashioned belief that therein ,he made atonement for sin1 and thereby1 as the ,lamb of ,god1 bore away the sins of the world4 ,other great lives may be crowned by fair deaths1 which henceforward become seals of faithful witness1 and appeals to the sentiments of the heart1 but there is no sense that ,i know of in which from ,christ's death there can flow a mightier energy than from such a life1 unless in the sense that the death is a sacrifice4 ,now ,i know there has been harm done by the very desire to exalt ,christ's great sacrifice on the ,cross2 when it has been so separated from ,his life as that the life has not been regarded as a sacrifice1 nor the death as obedience4 ,rather the sacrificial element runs through ,his whole career1 and began when ,he became flesh and tabernacled amongst us2 but yet as being the apex of it all1 without which it were all-imperfect1 and in a special sense redeeming men from the power of death1 that ,cross is set forth by ,his own word4 ,for ,him to 'perish' was to 'be perfected4' ,as the ancient prophet long before had said1 ',when ,his soul shall make an offering for sin1' then1 paradoxical as it may seem1 the dead ,man shall 'see1' and 'shall see ,his seed4' ,or1 as ,he ,himself said1 ',if a corn of wheat fall into the ground it abideth alone1 but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit4' ,i do not want to insist upon any theories of ,atonement4 ,i do want to insist that ,christ's own estimate of the significance and purpose and issue of ,his death shall not be slurred over1 but that1 recognising that ,he ,himself regarded it as the perfecting of ,his work1 we ask ourselves very earnestly how such a conception can be explained if we strike out of our ,christianity the thought of the sacrifice for the sins of the world4 ,unless we take ,paul's gospel1 ',how that ,he died for our sins according to the ,scriptures1' ,i for one do not believe that we shall ever get ,paul's results1 ',old things are passed away2 all things are become new4' ,if you strike the ,cross off the dome of the temple1 the fires on its altars will soon go out4 ,a ,christianity which has to say much about the life of ,jesus1 and knows not what to say about the death of ,christ1 will be a ,christianity that will neither have much constraining power in our lives1 nor be able to breathe a benediction of peace over our deaths4 ,if we desire to be perfected in character1 we must have faith in that sacrificial death which was the perfecting of ,christ's work4 ,,iii4 ,and so1 lastly1 notice our ,lord's resolved surrender to the discerned ,cross4 ,there is much in this aspect in the words of my text which ,i cannot touch upon now2 but two or three points ,i may briefly notice4 ,note then1 ,i was going to say1 the superb heroism of ,his calm indifference to threats and dangers4 ,he will go hence1 and relieve the tyrant's dominions of ,his presence2 but ,he is careful to make it plain that ,his going has no connection with the futile threatenings by which they have sought to terrify ,him4 ',nevertheless'--although ,i do not care at all for them or for him--'nevertheless ,i must journey to-day and tomorrow6 ,but that is not because ,i fear death1 but because ,i am going to ,my death2 for the prophet must die in ,jerusalem4' ,we are so accustomed to think of the 'gentle ,jesus1 meek and mild' that we forget the 'strong ,son of ,god4' ,if we were talking about a man merely1 we should point to this calm1 dignified answer as being an instance of heroism1 but we do not feel that that word fits ,him4 ,there are too many vulgar associations connected with it1 to be adapted to the gentleness of ,his fixed purpose that blenched not1 nor faltered1 whatsoever came in the way4 ,light is far more powerful than lightning4 ,meekness may be1 and in ,him was1 wedded to a will like a bar of iron1 and a heart that knew not how to fear4 ,if ever there was an iron hand in a velvet glove it was the hand of ,christ4 ,and although the perspective of virtues which ,christianity has introduced1 and which ,christ exhibited in ,his life1 gives prominence to the meek and the gentle1 let us not forget that it also enjoins the cultivation of the 'wrestling thews that throw the world4' ',quit you like men2 be strong2 let all your deeds be done in charity4' ,then note1 too1 the solemn law that ruled ,his life4 ',i must walk4' ,that is a very familiar expression upon ,his lips4 ,from that early day when ,he said1 ',wist ye not that ,i must be about ,my ,father's business1' to that last when ,he said1 ',the ,son of ,man must be lifted up1' there crops out1 ever and anon1 in the occasional glimpses that ,he allows us to have of ,his inmost spirit1 this reference of all ,his actions to a necessity that was laid upon ,him1 and to which ,he ever consciously conformed4 ,that necessity determined what ,he calls so frequently ',my time2 ,my hour'2 and influenced the trifles1 as they are called1 as well as the great crises1 of ,his career4 ,it was the ,father's will which made the ,son's must4 ,hence ,his unbroken communion and untroubled calm4 ,if we want to live near ,god1 and if we want to have lives of peace amidst convulsions1 we1 too1 must yield ourselves to that all encompassing sovereign necessity1 which1 like the great laws of the universe1 shapes the planets and the suns in their courses and their stations2 and holds together two grains of dust1 or two motes that dance in the sunshine4 ,to gravitation there is nothing great and nothing small4 ,god's must covers all the ground of our lives1 and should ever be responded to by our ',i will4' ,and that brings me to the last point1 and that is1 our ,lord's glad acceptance of the necessity and surrender of the ,cross4 ,what was it that made ,him willing to take that 'must' as the law of ,his life8 ,first1 a ,son's obedience2 second1 a ,brother's love4 ,there was no point in ,christ's career1 from the moment when in the desert ,he put away the temptation to win the kingdoms of the world by other than the ,god-appointed means1 down to the last moment when on ,his dying ears there fell another form of the same temptation in the taunt1 ',let ,him come down from the cross1 and we will believe on ,him'2 when ,he could not1 if ,he had chosen to abandon ,his mission1 have saved ,himself4 ,no compulsion1 no outward hand impelling ,him1 drove ,him along that course which ended on ,calvary2 but only that ,he would save others1 and therefore ',himself ,he cannot save4' ,true1 there were natural human shrinkings1 just as the weight and impetus of some tremendous billow buffeting the bows of the ship makes it quiver2 but this never affected the firm hand on the rudder1 and never deflected the vessel from its course4 ,christ's 'soul was troubled1' but ,his will was fixed1 and it was fixed by ,his love to us4 ,like one of the men who in after ages died for ,his dear sake1 ,he may be conceived as refusing to be bound to the stake by any bands1 willing to stand there and be destroyed because ,he wills4 ,nothing fastened ,him to the ,cross but ,his resolve to save the world1 in which world was included each of us sitting listening and standing speaking1 now4 ,oh1 brethren6 shall not we1 moved by such love1 with like cheerfulness of surrender1 give ourselves to ,him who gave ,himself for us8 ,,the ,,lessons ,,of ,a ,,feast ',and it came to pass1 as ,he went into the house of one of the chief ,pharisees to eat bread on the ,sabbath day1 that they watched ,him4 #b4 ,and1 behold1 there was a certain man before ,him which had the dropsy4 #c4 ,and ,jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and ,pharisees1 saying1 ,is it lawful to heal on the ,sabbath day8 #d4 ,and they held their peace4 ,and ,he took him1 and healed him1 and let him go2 #e4 ,and answered them1 saying1 ,which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit1 and will not straightway pull him out on the ,sabbath day8 #f4 ,and they could not answer ,him again to these things4 #g4 ,and ,he put forth a parable to those which were bidden1 when ,he marked how they chose out the chief rooms2 saying unto them1 #h4 ,when thou art bidden of any man to a wedding1 sit not down in the highest room1 lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him2 #i4 ,and he that bade thee and him come and say to thee1 ,give this man place2 and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room4 #aj4 ,but when thou art bidden1 go and sit down in the lowest room2 that when he that bade thee cometh1 he may say unto thee1 ,friend1 go up higher3 then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee4 #aa4 ,for whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased2 and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted4 #ab4 ,then said ,he also to him that bade ,him1 ,when thou makest a dinner or a supper1 call not thy friends1 nor thy brethren1 neither thy kinsmen1 nor thy rich neighbours2 lest they also bid thee again1 and a recompense be made thee4 #ac4 ,but when thou makest a feast1 call the poor1 the maimed1 the lame1 the blind3 #ad4 ,and thou shalt be blessed2 for they cannot recompense thee3 for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just4' --,,luke xiv4 #a-ad4 ,jesus never refused an invitation1 whether the inviter were a ,pharisee or a publican1 a friend or a foe4 ,he never mistook the disposition of ,his host4 ,he accepted 'greetings where no kindness is1' and on this occasion there was none4 ,the entertainer was a spy1 and the feast was a trap4 ,what a contrast between the malicious watchers at the table1 ready to note and to interpret in the worst sense every action of ,his1 and ,him loving and wishing to bless even them6 ,the chill atmosphere of suspicion did not freeze the flow of ,his gentle beneficence and wise teaching4 ,his meek goodness remained itself in the face of hostile observers4 ,the miracle and the two parables are aimed straight at their errors4 ,i4 ,how came the dropsical man there8 ,possibly he had simply strayed in to look on at the feast1 as the freedom of manners then would permit him to do4 ,the absence of any hint that he came hoping for a cure1 and of any trace of faith on his part1 or of speech to him on ,christ's1 joined with his immediate dismissal after his cure1 rather favours the supposition that he had been put as the bait of the trap1 on the calculation that the sight of him would move ,jesus to heal him4 ,the setters of the snare were 'watching' whether it would work1 and ,jesus 'answered' their thoughts1 which were1 doubtless1 visible in their eyes4 ,his answer has three stages--a question which is an assertion1 the cure1 and another affirming question4 ,all three are met with sulky silence1 which speaks more than words would have done4 ,the first question takes the 'lawyers' on their own ground1 and in effect asserts that to heal did not break the ,sabbath4 ,jesus challenges denial of the lawfulness of it1 and the silence of the ,pharisees confesses that they dare not deny4 ',the bare fact of healing is not prohibited1' they might have said1 'but the acts necessary for healing are4' ,but no acts were necessary for this ,healer's power to operate4 ,the outgoing of ,his will had power4 ,their finespun distinctions of deeds lawful and unlawful were spiders' webs1 and ,his act of mercy flew high above the webs1 like some fair winged creature glancing in the sunshine1 while the spider sits in his crevice balked4 ,the broad principle involved in ,jesus' first question is that no ,sabbath law1 no so-called religious restriction1 can ever forbid helping the miserable4 ,the repose of the ,sabbath is deepened1 not disturbed1 by activity for man's good4 ,the cure is told without detail1 probably because there were no details to tell4 ,there is no sign of request or of faith on the sufferer's part2 there seems to have been no outward act on ,christ's beyond 'taking' him1 which appears simply to mean that ,he called him nearer1 and then1 by a simple exercise of ,his will1 healed him4 ,there is no trace of thanks or of wonder in the heart of the sufferer1 who probably never had anything more to do with his benefactor4 ,silently he comes on the stage1 silently he gets his blessing1 silently he disappears4 ,a strange1 sad instance of how possible it is to have a momentary connection with ,jesus1 and even to receive gifts from ,his hand1 and yet to have no real1 permanent relation to ,him6 ,the second question turns from the legal to a broader consideration4 ,the spontaneous workings of the heart are not to be dammed back by ceremonial laws4 ,need calls for immediate succour4 ,you do not wait for the ,sabbath's sun to set when your ox or your ass is in a pit4 7,the reading 'son' instead of 'ox1' as in the ,revised ,version margin1 is incongruous47 ,jesus is appealing to the instinctive wish to give immediate help even to a beast in trouble1 and implies that much more should the same instinct be allowed immediate play when its object is a man4 ,the listeners were self-condemned1 and their obstinate silence proves that the arrow had struck deep4 ,,ii4 ,the cure seems to have taken place before the guests seated themselves4 ,then came a scramble for the most honourable places1 on which ,he looked with perhaps a sad smile4 ,again the silence of the guests is noticeable1 as well as the calm assumption of authority by ,jesus1 even among such hostile company4 ,where ,he comes a guest1 ,he becomes teacher1 and by divine right ,he rebukes4 ,the lesson is given1 says ,luke1 as 'a parable1' by which we are to understand that our ,lord is not here giving1 as might appear if ,his words are superficially interpreted1 a mere lesson of proper behaviour at a feast1 but is taking that behaviour as an illustration of a far deeper thing4 ,possibly some too ambitious guest had contrived to seat himself in the place of honour1 and had had to turn out1 and1 with an embarrassed mien1 had to go down to the very lowest place1 as all the intermediate ones were full4 ,his eagerness to be at the top had ended in his being at the bottom4 ,that is a 'parable1' says ,jesus1 an illustration in the region of daily life1 of large truths in morals and religion4 ,it is a poor motive for outward humility and self-abasement that it may end in higher honour4 ,and if ,jesus was here only giving directions for conduct in regard to men1 ,he was inculcating a doubtful kind of morality4 ,the devil's darling sin ,is the pride that apes humility4' ,jesus was not recommending that1 but what is crafty ambition1 veiling itself in lowliness for its own purposes1 when exercised in outward life1 becomes a noble1 pure1 and altogether worthy1 thing in the spiritual sphere4 ,for to desire to be exalted in the kingdom is wholly right1 and to humble one's self with a direct view to that exaltation is to tread the path which ,he has hallowed by ,his own footsteps4 ,the true aim for ambition is the honour that cometh from ,god only1 and the true path to it is through the valley2 for ',god resisteth the proud1 but giveth grace to the humble4' ,,iii4 ,unbroken silence still prevailed among the guests1 but again ,jesus speaks as teacher1 and now to the host4 ,a guest does not usually make remarks on the composition of the company1 ,jesus could make no 'recompense' to ,his entertainer1 but to give him this counsel4 ,again1 ,he inculcated a wide general lesson under the guise of a particular exhortation appropriate to the occasion4 ,probably the bulk of the guests were well-to-do people of the host's own social rank1 and1 as probably1 there were onlookers of a lower degree1 like the dropsical man4 ,the prohibition is not directed against the natural custom of inviting one's associates and equals1 but against inviting them only1 and against doing so with a sharp eye to the advantages to be derived from it4 ,that weary round of giving a self-regarding hospitality1 and then getting a return dinner or evening entertainment from each guest1 which makes up so much of the social life among us1 is a pitiful affair1 hollow and selfish4 ,what would ,jesus say--what does ,jesus say--about it all8 ,the sacred name of hospitality is profaned1 and the very springs of it dried up by much of our social customs1 and the most literal application of our ,lord's teaching here is sorely needed4 ,but the words are meant as a 'parable1' and are to be widened out to include all sorts of kindnesses and helps given in the sacred name of charity to those whose only claim is their need4 ',they cannot recompense thee'--so much the better1 for1 if an eye to their doing so could have influenced thee1 thy beneficence would have lost its grace and savour1 and would have been simple selfishness1 and1 as such1 incapable of future reward4 ,it is only love that is lavished on those who can make no return which is so free from the taint of secret regard to self that it is fit to be recognised as love in the revealing light of that great day1 and therefore is fit to be 'recompensed in the resurrection of the just4' ,,excuses ,,not ,,reasons ',they all with one consent began to make excuse4 --,,luke xiv4 #ah4 ,jesus ,christ was at a feast in a ,pharisee's house4 ,it was a strange place for ,him--and ,his words at the table were also strange4 ,for ,he first rebuked the guests1 and then the host2 telling the former to take the lower rooms1 and bidding the latter widen his hospitality to those that could not recompense him4 ,it was a sharp saying2 and one of the other guests turned the edge of it by laying hold of our ,lord's final words3 ',thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just1' and saying1 no doubt in a pious tone and with a devout shake of the head1 ',blessed is he that shall eat bread in the ,kingdom of ,god4' ,it was a very proper thing to say1 but there was a ring of conventional1 commonplace piety about it1 which struck unpleasantly on ,christ's ear4 ,he answers the speaker with that strange story of the great feast that nobody would come to1 as if ,he had said1 ',you pretend to think that it is a blessed thing to eat bread in the ,kingdom of ,god1 ,why6 ,you will not eat bread when it is offered to you4' ,i dare say you all know enough of the parable to make it unnecessary for me to go over it4 ,a great feast is prepared2 invitations1 more or less general1 are sent out at first1 everything is ready2 and1 behold1 there is a table1 and nobody to sit at it4 ,a strange experience for a hospitable man6 ,and so he sends his servants to beat up the unwilling guests1 and1 one after another1 with more or less politeness1 refuses to come4 ,i need not follow the story further4 ,in the latter part of the parable our ,lord shadows the transference of the blessings of the ,kingdom to the ,gentiles1 outcasts as the ,jews thought them1 skulking in the hedges and tramping on the highways4 ,in the first part ,he foreshadows the failure of ,his own preaching amongst ,his own people4 ,but ,jews and ,englishmen are very much alike4 ,the way in which these invited guests treated the invitation to this feast is being repeated1 day by day1 by thousands of men round us2 and by some of ourselves4 ',they all1 with one consent1 began to make excuse4' ,i4 ,the first thing that ,i would desire you to notice is the strangely unanimous refusal4 ,the guests' conduct in the story is such as life and reality would afford no example of4 ,no set of people1 asked to a great banquet1 would behave as these people in the parable do4 ,then1 is the introduction of such an unnatural trait as this a fault in the construction of narrative8 ,no6 ,rather it is a beauty1 for the very point of the story is the utter unnaturalness of the conduct described1 and the contrast that is presented between the way in which men regard the lower blessings from which these people are represented as turning1 and in which they regard the loftier blessings that are offered4 ,nobody would turn his hack upon such a banquet if he had the chance of going to it4 ,what1 then1 shall we say of those who1 by platoons and regiments1 turn their backs upon this higher offer8 ,the very preposterous unnaturalness of the conduct1 if the parable were a true story1 points to the deep meaning that lies behind it3 that in that higher region the unnatural is the universal1 or all but universal4 ,and1 indeed1 it is so4 ,one would almost venture to say that there is a kind of law according to which the more valuable a thing is the less men care to have it2 or1 if you like to put it into more scientific language1 the attraction of an object is in the inverse ratio to its worth4 ,small things1 transitory things1 material things1 everybody grasps at2 and the number of graspers steadily decreases as you go up the scale in preciousness1 until1 when you reach the highest of all1 there are the fewest that want them4 ,is there anything lower than good that merely gratifies the body8 ,is there anything that the most of men want more8 ,are there many things lower in the scale than money8 ,are there many things that pull more strongly8 ,is not truth better than wealth8 ,are there more pursuers of it than there are of the former8 ,for one man who is eager to know1 and counts his life well spent1 in following knowledge ',like a sinking star1 ,beyond the furthest bounds of human thought1' there are a hundred who think it rightly expended in the pursuit after the wealth that perishes4 ,is not goodness higher than truth1 and are not the men that are content to devote themselves to becoming wise more numerous than those that are content to devote themselves to becoming pure8 ,and1 topmost of all1 is there anything to be compared with the gifts that are held out to us in that great ,saviour and in ,his message8 ,and is there anything that the mass of men pass by with more unanimous refusal than the offered feast which the great ,king of humanity has provided for ,his subjects8 ,what is offered for each of us1 pressed upon us1 in the gift of ,jesus ,christ8 ,help1 guidance1 companionship1 restfulness of heart1 power of obedience1 victory over self1 control of passions1 supremacy over circumstances1 tranquillity deep and genuine1 death abolished1 ,heaven opened1 measureless hopes following upon perfect fruition1 here and hereafter4 ,these things are all gathered into1 and their various sparkles absorbed in1 the one steady light of that one great encyclopaediacal word--,salvation4 ,these gifts are going begging1 lying at our doors1 offered to every one of us1 pressed upon all on the simple condition of taking ,christ for ,saviour and ,king4 ,and what do we do with them8 ',they all1 with one consent1 began to make excuse4' ,one hears of barbarous people that have no use for the gold that abounds in their country1 and do not think it half as valuable as glass beads4 ,that is how men estimate the true and the trumpery treasures which ,christ and the world offer4 ,i declare it seems to me that1 calmly looking at men's nature1 and their duration1 and then thinking of the aims of the most of them1 we should not be very far wrong if we said an epidemic of insanity sits upon the world4 ,for surely to turn away from the gold and to hug the glass beads is very little short of madness4 ',this their way is their folly1 and their posterity approve their sayings4' ,and now notice that this refusal may be1 and often in fact is1 accompanied with lip recognition of the preciousness of the neglected things4 ,that ,pharisee who put up the pillow of his pious sentiment--a piece of cant1 because he did not feel what he was saying--to deaden the cannon-ball of ,christ's word1 is only a pattern of a good many of us who think that to say1 ',blessed is he that eateth bread in the ,kingdom of ,god1' with the proper unctuous roll of the voice1 is pretty nearly as good as to take the bread that is offered to us4 ,there are no more difficult people to get at than the people1 of whom ,i am sure ,i have some specimens before me now1 who bow their heads in assent to the word of the ,gospel1 and by bowing them escape its impact1 and let it whistle harmlessly over4 ,you that believe every word that ,i or my brethren preach1 and never dream of letting it affect your conduct--if there be degrees in that lunatic asylum of the world1 surely you are candidates for the highest place4 ,,ii4 ,now1 secondly1 notice the flimsy excuses4 ',they all1 with one consent1 began4' ,i do not suppose that they had laid their heads together1 or that our ,lord intends us to suppose that there was a conspiracy and concert of refusal1 but only that without any previous consultation1 all had the same sentiments1 and offered substantially the same answer4 ,all the reasons that are given come to one and the same thing--viz4 occupation with present interests1 duties1 possessions1 or affections4 ,there are differences in the excuses which are not only helps to the vividness of the narrative1 but also express differences in the speakers4 ,one man is a shade politer than the others4 ,he puts his refusal on the ground of necessity4 ,he 'must1' and so he courteously prays that he may be held excused4 ,the second one is not quite so polite2 but still there is a touch of courtesy about him too4 ,he does not pretend necessity as his friend had done1 but he simply says1 ',i am going'2 and that is not quite so courteous as the former answer1 but still he begs to be excused4 ,the last man thinks that he has such an undeniable reason that he may be as brusque as he likes1 and so he says1 ',i have married a wife1 and therefore ,i cannot come' and ,i do not make any apologies4 ,so with varying degrees of apparent recognition of the claims of host and feast1 the ground of refusal is set forth as possessions in two cases1 and as affections in the third2 and these so fill the men's hearts and minds that they have no time to attend to the call that summons them to the feast4 ,now it is obvious to note that the alleged necessity in one of these excuses was no necessity at all4 ,who made the 'must'8 ,the man himself4 ,the field would not run away though he waited till to-morrow4 ,the bargain was finished1 for he had bought it4 ,there was no necessity for his going1 and the next day would have done quite as well as to-day2 so the 'must' was entirely in his own mind4 ,that is to say1 a great many of us mask inclinations under the garb of imperative duties and say1 ',we are so pressed by necessary obligations and engagements that we really have not got any time to attend to these higher questions which you are trying to press upon us4' ,you remember the old story4 ',i must live1' said the thief4 ',i do not see the necessity1' said the judge4 ,a man says1 ',i must be at business to-morrow morning at half-past eight4 ,how can ,i think about religion8' ,well1 if you really must1 you can think about it4 ,but if you are only juggling and deceiving yourself with inclinations that pose as necessities1 the sooner the veil is off the better1 and you understand whereabouts you are1 and what is your true position in reference to the ,gospel of ,jesus ,christ4 ,but then let me1 only in a word1 remind you that the other side of the excuse is a very operative one4 ',i have married a wife1 and therefore ,i cannot come4' ,there are some of us around whom the strong grasp of earthly affections is flung so embracingly and sweetly that we cannot1 as we think1 turn our loves upward and fix them upon ,god4 ,fathers and mothers1 husbands and wives1 parents and children1 remember ,christ's deep words1 ',a man's foes shall be they of his own household'2 and be sure that the prediction is fulfilled many a time by the hindrances of their love even more than by the opposition of their hatred4 ,all these excuses refer to legitimate things4 ,it is perfectly right that the man should go and see after his field1 perfectly right that the ten bullocks should be harnessed and tried1 perfectly right that the sweetness of wedded love should be tasted and drunk1 perfectly wrong that any of them should be put as a reason for not accepting ,christ's offer4 ,let us take the lesson that legitimate business and lawful and pure affections may ruin a soul1 and may constitute the hindrance that blocks its road to ,god4 ,brethren1 ,i said that these were flimsy excuses4 ,i shall have to explain what ,i mean by that in a moment4 ,as excuses they are flimsy2 but as reasons which actually operate with hundreds of people1 preventing them from being ,christians1 they are not flimsy2 they are most solid and real4 ,our ,lord does not mean them as exhaustive4 ,there are a great many other grounds upon which different types of character turn away from the offered blessings of the ,gospel1 which do not come within view of the parable4 ,but although not exhaustive they are widely operative4 ,i wonder how many men and women there are listening to me now of whom it is true that they are so busy with their daily occupations that they have not time to be religious1 and of how many men1 and perhaps more especially women1 among us at this moment it is true that their hearts are so ensnared with loves that belong to earth--beautiful and potentially sacred and elevating as these are--that they have not time to turn themselves to the one eternal ,lover of their souls4 ,let me beseech you1 dear friends--and you especially who are strangers to this place and to my voice--to do what ,i cannot1 and would not if ,i could1 lay these thoughts on your own hearts1 and ask yourselves1 ',is it ,i8' ,and then before ,i pass from this point of my discourse1 remember that the contrariety between these duties and the acceptance of the offered feast existed only in the imagination of the men that made them4 ,there is no reason why you should not go to the feast and see after your field4 ,there is no reason why you should not love your wife and go to the feast4 ,god's summons comes into collision with many wishes1 but with no duties or legitimate occupations4 ,the more a man accepts and lives upon the good that ,jesus ,christ spreads before him1 the more fit will he be for all his work1 and for all his enjoyments4 ,the field will be better tilled1 the bullocks will be better driven1 the wife will be more wisely1 tenderly1 and sacredly loved if in your hearts ,christ is enthroned1 and whatsoever you do you do as for ,him4 ,it is only the excessive and abusive possession of ,his gifts and absorption in our duties and relations that turns them into impediments in the path of our ,christian life4 ,and the flimsiness of the excuse is manifest by the fact that the contrarity is self-created4 ,,iii4 ,lastly1 note the real reason4 ,i have said that as pretexts the three explanations were unsatisfactory4 ,when a man pleads a previous engagement as a reason for not accepting an invitation1 nine times out of ten it is a polite way of saying1 ',i do not want to go4' ,it was so in this case4 ,how all these absolute impossibilities1 which made it perfectly out of the question that the three recreants should sit down at the table1 would have melted into thin air if1 by any chance1 there had come into their minds a wish to be there6 ,they would have found means to look after the field and the cattle and the home1 and to be in their places notwithstanding1 if they had wanted4 ,the real reason that underlies men's turning away from ,christ's offer is1 as ,i said in the beginning of my remarks1 that they do not care to have it4 ,they have no inclinations and no tastes for the higher and purer blessings4 ,brother1 do not let us lose ourselves in generalities4 ,i am talking about you1 and about the set of your inclinations and tastes4 ,and ,i want you to ask yourself whether it is not a fact that some of you like oxen better than ,god2 whether it is not a fact that if the two were there before you1 you would rather have a good big field made over to you than have the food that is spread upon that table4 ,well then what is the cause of the perverted inclination8 ,why is it that when ,christ says1 ',child1 come to ,me1 and ,i will give thee pardon1 peace1 purity1 power1 hope1 ,heaven1 ,myself1' there is no responsive desire kindled in the heart8 ,why do ,i not want ,god8 ,why do ,i not care for ,jesus ,christ8 ,why do the blessings about which preachers are perpetually talking seem to me so shadowy1 so remote from anything that ,i need1 so ill-fitting to anything that ,i desire8 ,there must be something very deeply wrong4 ,this is what is wrong1 your heart has shaken itself loose from dependence upon ,god2 and you have no love as you ought to have for ,him4 ,you prefer to stand alone4 ,the prodigal son1 having gone away into the far country1 likes the swine's husks better than the bread in his father's house1 and it is only when the supply of the latter coarse dainty gives out that the purer taste becomes strong4 ,strange1 is it not8 but yet it is true4 ,now there are one or two things that ,i want to say about this indifference1 resulting from preoccupation and from alienation1 and which hides its ugliness behind all manner of flimsy excuses4 ,one is that the reason itself is utterly unreasonable4 ,i have said the true reason is indifference4 ,can anybody put into words which do not betray the absurdity of the position1 the conduct of the man who says1 ',i do not want ,god2 give me five yoke of oxen4 ,that is the real good1 and ,i will stick by that4' ,there is one mystery in the world1 and if it were solved everything would be solved2 and that mystery is that men turn away from ,god and cleave to earth4 ,no account can be given of sin4 ,no account can be given of man's preference for the lesser and the lower2 and neglect of the greater and the higher1 except to say it is utterly inexplicable and unreasonable4 ,i need not say such indifference is shameful ingratitude to the yearning love which provides1 and the infinite sacrifice by which was provided1 this great feast to which we are asked4 ,it cost ,christ pains1 and tears1 and blood1 to prepare that feast1 and ,he looks to us1 and says to us1 ',come and drink of the wine which ,i have mingled1 and eat of the bread which ,i have provided at such a cost4' ,there are monsters of ingratitude1 but there are none more miraculously monstrous than the men who look1 as some of us are doing1 untouched on ,christ's sacrifice1 and listen unmoved to ,christ's pleadings4 ,the excuses will disappear one day4 ,we can trick our consciences2 we can put off the messengers2 we cannot deceive the ,host4 ,all the thin curtains that we weave to veil the naked ugliness of our unwillingness to accept ,christ will be burnt up one day4 ,and ,i pray you to ask yourselves1 ',what shall ,i say when ,he comes and asks me1 ,why was thy place empty at ,my table8' ',and he was speechless4' ,do not1 dear brethren1 refuse that gift1 lest you bring upon yourselves the terrible and righteous wrath of the ,host whose invitation you are slighting1 and at whose table you are refusing to sit4 ,,the ,,rash ,,builder ',which of you1 intending to build a tower1 sitteth not down first1 and counteth the cost1 whether he have sufficient to finish it8'--,,luke xiv4 #bh4 ,christ sought for no recruits under false pretences1 but rather discouraged than stimulated light-hearted adhesion4 ,his constant effort was to sift the crowds that gathered round ,him4 ,so here great multitudes are following ,him1 and how does ,he welcome them8 ,does ,he lay ,himself out to attract them8 ,luke tells us that ,he turned and faced the following multitude2 and then1 with a steady hand1 drenched with cold water the too easily kindled flame4 ,was that because ,he did not wish them to follow ,him8 ,he desired every soul in that crowd for ,his own1 and ,he knew that the best way to attract is sometimes to repel2 and that a plain statement of the painful consequences of a course will quench no genuine enthusiasm1 but may turn a mere flash in the pan into a purpose that will flame through a life4 ,so our ,lord lays down in stringent words the law of discipleship as being self-sacrifice2 the abandonment of the dearest1 and the acceptance of the most painful4 ,and then ,he illustrates the law by these two expanded similes or condensed parables1 of the rash builder and the rash soldier4 ,each contains a side of the ,christian life1 and represents one phase of what a true disciple ought to be4 ,i wish to look with you now at the first of these two comparisons4 ,i4 ,consider then1 first1 the building1 or the true aim of discipleship4 ,the building of the tower represents what every human life ought to aim at1 the rearing up of a strong1 solid structure in which the builder may dwell and be at rest4 ,but then remember we are always building1 consciously or unconsciously4 ,by our transitory actions we are all rearing up a house for our souls in which we have to dwell2 building character from out of the fleeting acts of conduct1 which character we have to carry with us for ever4 ,soft invertebrate animals secrete their own shells4 ,that is what we are doing-making character1 which is the shield of self1 as it were2 and in which we have to abide4 ,my friend1 what are you building8 ,a prison2 a mere garden-house of lustful delights2 or a temple fortress in which ,god may dwell reverenced1 and you may abide restful8 ,observe that whilst all men are thus unconsciously and habitually rearing up a permanent abode by their transient actions1 every life that is better than a brute's ought to have for its aim the building up of ourselves into firm strength4 ,the development of character is what we ought to ask from1 and to secure by1 this fleeting life of ours4 ,not enjoyment2 that is a miserable aim4 ,not the satisfaction of earthly desires2 not the prosperity of our business or other ordinary avocations4 ,the demand that we should make upon life1 and the aim which we should have clearly before us in all that we do1 is that it may contribute to the formation of a pure and noble self1 to the development of character into that likeness to ,jesus ,christ1 which is perfection and peace and blessedness4 ,and while that is true about all life1 it is eminently true in regard to the highest form of life1 which is the ,christian life4 ,there are dreadful mistakes and imperfections in the ordinary vulgar conception of what a ,christian is1 and what he is a ,christian for4 ,what do you think men and women are meant to be ,christians for8 ,that they may get away from some material and outward hell8 ,possibly4 ,that they may get celestial happiness8 ,certainly4 ,but are these the main things8 ,by no means4 ,what people are meant to be ,christians for is that they may be shaped into the likeness of ,jesus ,christ2 or to go back to the metaphor of my text1 the meaning and aim of ,christian discipleship is not happiness1 but the building up of the tower in which the man may dwell4 ,ah1 friend2 is that your notion of what a ,christian is2 and of what he is a ,christian for1 to be like the ,master8 ,alas6 alas6 how few of us1 honestly and continually and practically1 lay to heart the stringent and grand conception which underlies this metaphor of our ,lord's1 who identifies the man that was thinking of being ,his disciple with the man that sits down intending to build a tower4 ,,ii4 ,so1 secondly1 note the cost of the building1 or the conditions of discipleship4 ,building is an expensive amusement1 as many a man who has gone rashly in for bricks and mortar has found out to his cost4 ,and the most expensive of all sorts of building is the building up of ,christian character4 ,that costs more than anything else1 but there are a number of other things less noble and desirable1 which share with it1 to some extent1 in the expenditure which it involves4 ,discipleship demands constant reference to the plan4 ,a man that lives as he likes1 by impulse1 by inclination1 or ignobly yielding to the pressure of circumstances and saying1 ',i could not help myself1 ,i was carried away by the flood1' or ',everybody round about me is doing it1 and ,i could not be singular'--will never build anything worth living in4 ,it will be a born ruin--if ,i may so say4 ,there must be continual reference to the plan4 ,that is to say1 if a man is to do anything worth doing1 there must be a very clear marking out to himself of what he means to secure by life1 and a keeping of the aim continually before him as his guide and his pole-star4 ,did you ever see the pretty architect's plans1 that were all so white and neat when they came out of his office1 after the masons have done with them-all thumb-marked and dirty8 ,i wonder if your ,bibles are like that8 ,do we refer to the standard of conduct with anything like the continual checking of our work by the architect's intention1 which every man who builds anything that will stand is obliged to practise8 ,consult your plan1 the pattern of your ,master1 the words of your ,redeemer1 the gospel of your ,god1 the voice of judgment and conscience1 and get into the habit of living1 not like a vegetable1 upon what happens to be nearest its roots1 nor like a brute1 by the impulses of the unreasoning nature1 but clear above these put the understanding1 and high above that put the conscience1 and above them all put the will of the ,lord4 ,consult your plan if you want to build your tower4 ,then1 further1 another condition is continuous effort4 ,you cannot 'rush' the building of a great edifice4 ,you have to wait till the foundations get consolidated1 and then by a separate effort every stone has to be laid in its bed and out of the builder's hands4 ,so by slow degrees1 with continuity of effort1 the building rises4 ,now there has been a great deal of what ,i humbly venture to call one-sidedness talked about the way by which ,christian character is to be developed and perfected4 ,and one set of the ,new ,testament metaphors upon that subject has been pressed to the exclusion of the others1 and the effortless growth of the plant has been presented as if it were the complete example of ,christian progress4 ,i know that ,jesus ,christ has said3 ',first the blade1 then the ear2 after that the full corn in the ear4' ,but ,i know that ,he has also said1 ',which of you1 intending to build a tower'--and that involves the idea of effort2 and that ,he has further said1 ',or what king1 going to make war against another king'--and that involves the idea of antagonism and conflict4 ,and so1 on the whole1 ,i lay it down that this is one of the conditions of building the tower1 that the energy of the builder should never slacken1 but1 with continual renewal of effort1 he should rear his life's building4 ,and then1 still further1 there is the fundamental condition of all2 and that is1 self-surrender4 ,our ,lord lays this down in the most stringent terms in the words before my text1 where ,he points to two directions in which that spirit is required to manifest itself4 ,one is detachment from persons that are dearest1 and even from one's own selfish life2 the other is the acceptance of things that are most contrary to one's inclinations1 against the grain1 painful and hard to bear4 ,and so we may combine these two in this statement3 ,if any man is going to build a ,christlike life he will have to detach himself from surrounding things and dear ones1 and to crucify self by suppression of the lower nature and the endurance of evils4 ,the preceding parable which is connected in subject with the text1 the story of the great supper1 and the excuses made for not coming to it1 represents two-thirds of the refusals as arising from the undue love for1 and regard to1 earthly possessions1 and the remaining third as arising from the undue love to1 and regard for1 the legitimate objects of affection4 ,and these are the two chords that hold most of us most tightly4 ,it is not ,christianity alone1 dear brethren1 that says that if you want to do anything worth doing1 you must detach yourself from outward wealth4 ,it is not ,christianity alone that says that1 if you want to build up a noble life1 you must not let earthly love dominate and absorb your energy2 but it is ,christianity that says so most emphatically1 and that has best reason to say so4 ,concentration is the secret of all excellence4 ,if the river is to have any scour in it that will sweep away pollution and corruption1 it must not go winding and lingering in many curves1 howsoever flowery may be the banks1 nor spreading over a broad bed1 but you must straighten it up and make it deep that it may run strong4 ,and if you will diffuse yourself all over these poor1 wretched worldly goods1 or even let the rush of your heart's outflow go in the direction of father and mother1 wife and children1 brethren and sisters1 forgetting ,him1 then you will never come to any good nor be of use in this world4 ,but if you want to be ,christians after ,christ's pattern1 remember that the price of the building is rigidly to sacrifice self1 'to scorn delights and live laborious days1' and to keep all vagrant desires and purposes within rigid limits1 and absolutely subordinated to ,himself4 ,on the other hand1 there is to be the acceptance of what is painful to the lower nature4 ,unpleasant consequences of duty have to be borne1 and the lower self1 with its appetites and desires1 has to be crucified4 ,the vine must be mercilessly pruned in tendrils1 leaves1 and branches even1 though the rich sap may seem to bleed away to waste1 if we are to grow precious grapes out of which may be expressed the wine of the ,kingdom4 ,we must be dead to much if we are to be alive to anything worth living for4 ,now remember that ,christ's demand of self-surrender1 self-sacrifice1 continuous effort1 rigid limitation1 does not come from any mere false asceticism1 but is inevitable in the very nature of the case1 and is made also by all worthy work4 ,how much every one of us has had to shear off our lives1 how many tastes we have had to allow to go ungratified1 how many capacities undeveloped1 in how many directions we have had to hedge up our way1 and not do1 or be this1 that1 or the other2 if we have ever done anything in any direction worthy the doing6 ,concentration and voluntary limitation1 in order to fix all powers on the supreme aim which judgment and conscience have enjoined is the condition of all excellence1 of all sanity of living1 and eminently of all ,christian discipleship4 ,,iii4 ,further1 note the failures4 ,the tower of the rash builder stands a gaunt1 staring ruin4 ,whosoever throws himself upon great undertakings or high aims1 without a deliberate forecast of the difficulties and sacrifices they involve1 is sure to stop almost before he has begun4 ,many a man and woman leaves the starting-point with a rush1 as if they were going to be at the goal presently1 and before they have run fifty yards turn aside and quietly walk out of the course4 ,i wonder how many of you began1 when you were lads or girls1 to study some language1 and stuck before you had got through twenty pages of the grammar1 or to learn some art1 and have still got the tools lying unused in a dusty corner4 ,and how many of you who call yourselves ,christians began in the same fashion long ago to run the race8 ',ye did run well4' ,what did hinder you8 ,what hindered ,atalanta8 ,the golden apples that were flung down on the path4 ,oh1 the ,church is full of these abortive ,christians2 ruins from their beginning1 standing gaunt and windowless1 the ground-plan a great palace1 the reality a hovel that has not risen a foot for the last ten years4 ,i wonder if there are any stunted ,christians of that sort in this congregation before me1 who began under the influence of some impulse or emotion1 genuine enough1 no doubt1 but who had taken no account of how much it would cost to finish the building4 ,and so the building is not finished1 and never will be4 ,but ,i should remark here that what ,i am speaking about as failure is not incomplete attainment of the aim4 ,for all our lives have to confess that they incompletely attain their aim2 and lofty aims1 imperfectly realised1 and still maintained1 are the very salt of life1 and beautiful 'as the new moon with a ragged edge1 e'en in its imperfection beautiful4' ,paul was an old man and an advanced ,christian when he said1 ',not as though ,i had already attained1 either were already perfect1 but ,i follow after4' ,and the highest completeness to which the ,christian builder can reach in this life is the partial accomplishment of his aim and the persistent adherence to and aspiration after the unaccomplished aim4 ,it is not these incomplete but progressive and aspiring lives that are failures1 but it is the lives of men who have abandoned high aims1 and have almost forgotten that they ever cherished them4 ,and what does our ,lord say about such8 ,that everybody laughs at them4 ,it is not more than they deserve4 ,an out-and-out ,christian will often be disliked1 but if he is made a mock of there will be a soupon of awe and respect even in the mockery4 ,half-and-half ,christians get1 and richly deserve1 the curled lip and sarcasm of a world that knows when a man is in earnest1 and knows when he is an incarnate sham4 ,,iv4 ,lastly1 ,i would have you observe the inviting encouragement hidden in the apparent repelling warning4 ,if we read my text isolated1 it may seem as if the only lesson that our ,lord meant to be drawn from it was a counsel of despair4 ',unless you feel quite sure that you can finish1 you had better not begin4' ,is that what ,he meant to say8 ,i think not4 ,he did mean to say1 ',do not begin without opening your eyes to what is involved in the beginning4' ,but suppose a man had taken ,his advice1 had listened to the terms1 and had said1 ',i cannot keep them1 and ,i am going to fling all up1 and not try any more'--is that what ,jesus ,christ wanted to bring him to8 ,surely not4 ,and that it is not so arises plainly enough from the observation that this parable and the succeeding one are both sealed up1 as it were1 with ',so likewise1 whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath1 he cannot be ,my disciple4' ,now1 if ,i may so say1 there are two kinds of 'forsaking all that we have4' ,one is the forsaking by which we become disciples2 and the other the forsaking by which we continue true disciples4 ,the conviction that they had not sufficient to finish is the very conviction that ,christ wished to root in the minds of the crowds4 ,he exhibits the difficulties in order that they may feel they cannot cope with them4 ,what then8 ,that they may 'forsake' all their own power to cope with them4 ,that is the first kind of 'forsaking all that we have4' ,that makes a disciple4 ,the recognition of my own utter impotence to do the things which yet ,i see must be done1 is the underside of trust in ,him4 ,and that trust in ,him brings the power that makes it possible for us to do the things which we cannot of ourselves do1 and the consciousness of the impotence to do which is the first step toward doing them4 ,it is the self-sufficient man who is sure to be bankrupt before he has finished his building2 but he who has no confidence in himself1 and recognises the fact that he cannot build1 will go to ,jesus ,christ and say1 ',lord1 ,i am poor and needy4 ,come ,thou ,thyself and be my strength4' ,such a forsaking of all that we have in the recognition of our own poverty and powerlessness brings into the field an ,ally for our reinforcement that has more than the twenty thousand that are coming against us1 and will make us strong4 ,and then1 if1 knowing our weakness1 our misery1 our poverty1 and cleaving to ,jesus ,christ in simple confidence in ,his divine power breathed into our weakness1 and ,his abundant riches lavished upon our poverty1 we cast ourselves into the work to which ,he calls us by ,his grace1 then we shall find that the sweet and certain assurance that we have ,him for the possession and the treasure of our lives will make parting with everything else1 not painful1 but natural and necessary and a joy1 as the expression of our supreme love to ,him4 ,it should not1 and would not be difficult to fling away paste gems and false riches if our hands were filled with the jewels that ,christ bestows4 ,and it will not be difficult to slay the old man when the new ,christ lives in us1 by our faith and submission4 ,so1 dear brethren1 it all comes to this4 ,we are all builders2 what kind of a work is your life's work going to turn out8 ,are you building on the foundation1 taking ,jesus ,christ for the anchor of your hope1 for the basis of your belief1 for the crown of your aims1 for your all and in all8 ,are you building upon ,him8 ,if so1 then the building will stand when the storm comes and the 'hail sweeps away the refuges' that other men have built elsewhere4 ,but are you building on that foundation the gold of self-denial1 the silver of white purity1 the precious stones of variously-coloured and ,christlike virtues8 ,then your work will indeed be incomplete1 but its very incompleteness will be a prophecy of the time when 'the headstone shall be brought forth with shoutings'2 and you may humbly trust that the day which 'declares every man's work of what sort it is' will not destroy yours1 but that it will gleam and flash in the light of the revealing and reflecting fires4 ,see to it that you are building for eternity1 on the foundation1 with the fair stones which ,jesus ,christ gives to all those who let ,him shape their lives4 ,he is at once1 ,architect1 ,material1 ,foundation2 and in ,him 'every several building fitly framed together groweth into a holy temple in the ,lord4' ',,that ,,which ,,was ,,lost' ',an hundred sheep 444 ten pieces of silver1444 two sons4'--,,luke ,,xv4 #d1h1aa4 ,the immediate occasion of these three inimitable parables1 which have found their way to the heart of the world1 needs to be remembered in order to grasp their import and importance4 ,they are intended to vindicate ,christ's conduct in associating with outcasts and disreputable persons whom ,his ,pharisaical critics thought a great deal too foul to be touched by clean hands4 ,they were not meant to set forth with anything like completeness either what wanderers had to do to go back to ,god1 or what ,god had done to bring wanderers back to ,himself4 ,if this had been remembered1 many misconceptions1 widespread and mischievous1 especially affecting the meaning of the last of the three parables--that of the ,prodigal ,son--would have been avoided4 ,the purpose of the parables accounts for ,christ's accepting the division which ,his antagonists made of men1 into 'righteous1' like themselves1 and 'unclean1' like the publicans and sinners4 ,there was a far deeper truth to be spoken about the condition of humanity than that4 ,but for the purposes of ,his argument ,christ passes it by4 ,the remembrance of the intention of the parables explains their incompleteness as a statement of what people call 'the way of salvation4' ,they were not meant to teach us that1 but they were meant to show us that a human instinct which prizes lost things because they are lost has something corresponding to it in the divine nature1 and so to vindicate the conduct of ,christ4 ,i venture to isolate these three statements of the subjects of the parables1 because ,i think that looking at the threefold aspect in which the one general thought is presented may help us to some useful considerations4 ,i4 ,i ask you1 then1 to look with me1 first1 at the varying causes of loss4 ,the sheep was lost1 the drachma was lost1 the son was lost4 ,but in each case the reason for the loss was different4 ,whilst ,i would avoid all fanciful inserting into our ,lord's words of more than they can fairly bear1 ,i would also avoid superficial evacuating them of any of their depth of significance4 ,so ,i think it is not unintentional nor unimportant that in these three metaphors there are set forth three obviously distinct operative causes for man's departure from ,god4 ,the sheep did not intend to go anywhere1 either to keep with or to leave the shepherd4 ,it simply knew that grass was sweet1 and that there1 ahead of it1 was another tuft1 and it went after that4 ,so it nibbled itself away out of the path1 out of the shepherd's care1 out of the flock's companionship4 ,it was heedless2 and therefore it was lost4 ,now that is a fair statement of facts in regard to thousands of men1 of whom ,i have no doubt there are some listening to me now4 ,they do not intend any mischief1 they have no purpose of rebellion or transgression1 but they live what we call animal lives4 ,the sheep knows only where the herbage is abundant and fresh3 and it goes there4 ,an animal has no foresight1 and is the happier because it cannot look before and after4 ,it has only a rudimentary conscience1 if it has that4 ,its inclinations are restrained by no sense of obligation4 ,many men live just so1 without restraint upon appetite1 without checking of inclination1 without foresight except of the material good which a certain course of conduct may get4 ,so1 all unwitting1 meaning no mischief1 they wander further and further from the right road1 and find themselves at last in a waterless desert4 ,dear friends1 am ,i speaking to any now who have too much yielded to inclinations1 who have been unwilling to look forward to the end1 and ask themselves what all will come to at the last1 and who scarcely know what it is to take heed unto their ways1 except in so far as worldly prudence may dictate certain courses of conduct for the purpose of securing certain worldly and perishable ends8 ,i would plead1 especially with the younger portion of my congregation1 to take the touching picture of this first parable as a solemn prophecy of what certainly befalls every man who sets out upon his path without careful consideration of whither it leads to at the last2 and who lives for the present1 in any of its forms1 and who lets himself be led by inclinations or appetites4 ,the animal does so1 and1 as a rule1 its instincts are its sufficient guide4 ,but you and ,i are blessed or cursed1 as the case may be1 with higher powers1 which1 if we do not use1 we shall certainly land in the desert4 ,if a man who is meant to guide himself by intelligence1 reason1 will1 foresight1 conscience1 chooses to go down to the level of the beast1 the faculties that serve the beast will not serve the man4 ,and even the sheep is lost from the flock if it yields only to these4 ,but how it speaks of the ,lord's tender sympathy for the wanderers that ,he should put in the forefront of the parables this explanation of the condition of men1 and should not at first charge it upon them as sin1 but only as heedlessness and folly6 ,there is much that in itself is wrong and undesirable1 the criminality of which is diminished by the fact that it was heedlessly done1 though the heedlessness itself is a crime4 ,now turn to the second parable4 ,the coin was heavy1 so it fell2 it was round1 so it rolled2 it was dead1 so it lay4 ,and there are people who are things rather than persons1 so entirely have they given up their wills1 and so absolutely do they let themselves be determined by circumstances4 ,it was not the drachma that lost itself1 but it was the law of gravitation that lost it1 and it had no power of resistance4 ,this also is an explanation--partial1 as ,i shall have to show you in a moment1 but still real1--of a great deal of human wandering4 ,there are masses of men who have no more power to resist the pressure of circumstances and temptations than the piece of silver had when it dropped from the woman's open palm and trundled away into some dark corner4 ,that lightens the darkness of much of the world's sin4 ,but for you to abnegate the right and power of resisting circumstances is to abdicate the sovereignty with which ,god has crowned you4 ,all men are shaped by externals1 but the shape which the externals impose upon us is settled by ourselves4 ,here are two men1 for instance1 exposed to precisely the same conditions3 but one of them yields1 and is ruined2 the other resists1 and is raised and strengthened4 ,as ,jesus ,christ1 so all things have a double operation4 ,they are 'either a savour of life unto life or a savour of death unto death4' ,there is the stone4 ,you may build upon it1 or you may stumble over it3 you take your choice4 ,here is the adverse circumstance4 ,you may rule it1 or you may let it rule you4 ,circumstances and outward temptations are the fool's masters1 and the wise man's servants4 ,it all depends on the set of the sail and the firmness of the hand that grasps the tiller1 which way the wind shall carry the ship4 ,the same breeze speeds vessels on directly opposite courses1 and so the same circumstances may drive men in two contrary directions1 sending the one further and further away from1 and drawing the other nearer and nearer to1 the haven of their hearts4 ,dear friends1 as we have to guard against the animal life of yielding to inclinations and inward impulse1 of forgetting the future1 and of taking no heed to our paths1 so1 unless we wish to ruin ourselves altogether1 we have to fight against the mechanical life which1 with a minimum of volition1 lets the world do with us what it will4 ,and sure ,i am that there are men and women in this audience at this time who have let their lives be determined by forces that have swept them away from ,god4 ,in the third parable the foolish boy had no love to his father to keep him from emigrating4 ,he wanted to be his own master1 and to get away into a place where he thought he could sow his wild oats and no news of it ever reach the father's house4 ,he wanted to have the fingering of the money1 and to enjoy the sense of possession4 ,and so he went off on his unblessed road to the harlots and the swine's trough4 ,and that is no parable2 that is a picture4 ,the other two were parabolical representations2 this is the thing itself4 ,for carelessness of the bonds that knit a heart to ,god2 hardness of an unresponsive heart unmelted by benefits2 indifference to the blessedness of living by a ,father's side and beneath ,his eye2 the uprising of a desire of independence and the impatience of control2 the exercise of self will--these are causes of loss that underlie the others of which ,i have been speaking1 and which make for every one of us the essential sinfulness of our sin4 ,it is rebellion1 and it is rebellion against a ,father's love4 ,now1 notice1 that whilst the other two that we have been speaking about do partially explain the terrible fact that we go away from ,god1 their explanation is only partial1 and this grimmer truth underlies them4 ,there are modern theories1 as there were ancient ones1 that say3 ',oh6 sin is a theological bugbear4 ,there is not any such thing4 ,it is only indifference1 ignorance1 error4' ,and then there are other theorists that say3 ',sin6 ,there is no sin in following natural laws and impulses4 ,circumstances shape men2 heredity shapes them4 ,the notion that their actions are criminal is a mere figment of an exploded superstition4' ,yes6 and down below the ignorance1 and inadvertence1 and error1 and heredity1 and domination of externals1 there lies the individual choice in each case4 ,the man knows--however he sophisticates himself1 or uses other people to provide him with sophistries--that he need not have done that thing unless he had chosen to do it4 ,you cannot get beyond or argue away that consciousness4 ,and so ,i say that all these immoral teachings1 which are very common to-day1 omit from the thing that they profess to analyse the very characteristic element of it1 which is1 as our ,lord taught us1 not the following inclination like a silly sheep2 not the rolling away1 in obedience to natural law1 like the drachma2 but the rising up of a rebellious will that desires a separation1 and kicks against control1 as in the case of the son4 ,so1 dear friends1 whilst ,i thankfully admit that much of the darkness of human conduct may be lightened by the representations of our two first parables1 ,i cannot but feel that we have to leave to ,god the determination in each case of how far these have diminished individual criminality2 and that we have to remember for ourselves that our departure from ,god is not explicable unless we recognise the fact that we have chosen rather to be away from ,him than to be with ,him2 and that we like better to have our goods at our own disposal1 and to live as it pleases ourselves4 ,,ii4 ,so note1 secondly1 the varying proportions of loss and possession4 ,a hundred sheep2 ten drachmas2 two sons4 ,the loss in one case is #a per cent41 a trifle2 in the other case #aj per cent41 more serious2 in the last case #ej per cent41 heartbreaking4 ,now1 ,i do not suppose that our ,lord intended any special significance to be attached to these varying numbers4 ,rather they were simply suggested by the cast of the parable in which they respectively occurred4 ,a hundred sheep is a fair average flock2 ten pieces of silver are the modest hoard of a poor woman2 two sons are a family large enough to represent the contrast which is necessary to the parable4 ,but still we may permissibly look at this varying proportion in order to see whether it1 too1 cannot teach us something4 ,it throws light upon the owner's care and pains in seeking4 ,in one aspect1 these are set forth most strikingly by the parable in which the thing lost bears the smallest proportion to the thing still retained4 ,the shepherd might well have said3 ',one in a hundred does not matter much4 ,i have got the ninety and nine4' ,but he went to look for it4 ,but1 in another aspect1 the woman1 of course1 has a more serious loss to face1 and possibly seeks with more anxiety4 ,and when you come up to the last case1 where half the household is blotted out1 as it were1 then we can see the depth of anxiety and pains and care which must necessarily follow4 ,but beyond the consideration that the ascending proportion suggests increasing pains and anxiety1 there is another lesson1 which seems to me even more precious1 and it is this1 that it matters very little to the loser how much he keeps1 or what the worth of the lost thing is4 ,there is something in human nature which makes anything that is lost precious by reason of its loss4 ,nobody can tell how large a space a tree fills until it is felled4 ,if you lose one tiny stone out of a ring1 or a bracelet1 it makes a gap1 and causes annoyance altogether disproportionate to the lustre that it had when it was there4 ,a man loses a small portion of his fortune in some unlucky speculation1 and the loss annoys him a great deal more than the possession solaced him1 and he thinks more about the hundreds that have vanished than about the thousands that remain4 ,men are made so4 ,it is a human instinct1 that apart altogether from the consideration of its intrinsic worth1 and the proportion it bears to that which is still possessed1 the lost thing draws1 and the loser will take any pains to find it4 ,so ,christ says1 ,when a woman will light a candle and sweep the house and search diligently till she finds her lost sixpence 7for the drachma was worth little more71 and will bring in all her neighbours to rejoice with her1 that is like ,god2 and the human instinct which prizes lost things1 not because of their value1 but because they are lost1 has something corresponding to it in the heart of the ,majesty of the heavens4 ,it is ,christ's vindication1 of course1 as ,i need not remind you1 of ,his own conduct4 ,he says in effect1 to these ,pharisees1 ',you are finding fault with ,me for doing what we all do4 ,i am only acting in accordance with a natural human instinct2 and when ,i thus act ,god ,himself is acting in and through ,me4' ,if ,i had time1 ,i think ,i could show that this principle1 brought out in my texts1 really sweeps away one of the difficulties which modern science has to suggest against ,evangelical ,christianity4 ,we hear it said1 ',how can you suppose that a speck of a world like this1 amidst all these flaming orbs that stud the infinite depths of the heavens1 is of so much importance in ,god's sight that ,his ,son came down to die for it8' ,the magnitude of the world1 as compared with others1 has nothing to do with the question4 ,god's action is determined by its moral condition4 ,if it be true that here is sin1 which rends men away from ,him1 and that so they are lost1 then it is supremely natural that all the miracles of the ,christian revelation should follow4 ,the rationale of the ,incarnation lies in this1 ',a certain man had a hundred sheep4444 ,one of them went astray 444 and ,he went into the wilderness and found it4' ,,iii4 ,now ,i meant to have said a word about the varying glimpses that we have here1 into ,god's claims upon us1 and ,his heart4 ,ownership is the word that describes ,his relation to us in the first two parables2 love is the word that describes it in the third4 ,but the ownership melts into love1 because ,god does not reckon that ,he possesses men by natural right of creation or the like1 unless they yield their hearts to ,him1 and give themselves1 by their own joyful self-surrender1 into ,his hands4 ,but ,i must not be tempted to speak upon that matter2 only1 before ,i close1 let me point you to that most blessed and heart-melting thought1 that ,god accounts ,himself to have lost something when a man goes away from ,him4 ,that word 'the lost' has another1 and in some senses a more tragical1 significance in ,scripture4 ,the lost are lost to themselves and to blessedness4 ,the word implies destruction2 but it also carries with it this1 that ,god prizes us1 is glad to have us1 and1 ,i was going to say1 feels an incompleteness in ,his possessions when men depart from ,him4 ,oh1 brethren1 surely such a thought as that should melt us2 and if1 as is certainly the case1 we have strayed away from ,him into green pastures1 which have ended in a wilderness1 without a blade of grass2 or if we have rolled away from ,him in passive submission to circumstances2 or if we have risen up in rebellion against ,him1 and claimed our separate right of possession and use of the goods that fall to us1 if we would only think that ,he considers that ,he has lost us1 and prizes us because we are lost to ,him1 and wants to get us back again1 surely1 surely it would draw us to ,himself4 ,think of the greatness of the love into which the ownership is merged1 as measured by the infinite price which ,he has paid to bring us back1 and let us all say1 ',i will arise and go to my ,father4' ,,the ,,prodigal ,,and ,,his ,,father ',and ,he said1 ,a certain man had two sons3 #ab4 ,and the younger of them said to his father1 ,father1 give me the portion of goods that falleth to me4 ,and he divided unto them his living4 #ac4 ,and not many days after the younger son gathered all together1 and took his journey into a far country1 and there wasted his substance with riotous living4 #ad4 ,and when he had spent all1 there arose a mighty famine in that land2 and he began to be in want4 #ae4 ,and he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country2 and he sent him into his fields to feed swine4 #af4 ,and he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat3 and no man gave unto him4 #ag4 ,and when he came to himself1 he said1 ,how many hired servants of my father's have bread enough1 and to spare1 and ,i perish with hunger6 #ah4 ,i will arise and go to my father1 and will say unto him1 ,father1 ,i have sinned against ,heaven1 and before thee1 #ai4 ,and am no more worthy to be called thy son3 make me as one of thy hired servants4 #bj4 ,and he arose1 and came to his father4 ,but when he was yet a great way off1 his father saw him1 and had compassion1 and ran1 and fell on his neck1 and kissed him4 #ba4 ,and the son said unto him1 ,father1 ,i have sinned against ,heaven1 and in thy sight1 and am no more worthy to be called thy son4 #bb4 ,but the father said to his servants1 ,bring forth the best robe1 and put it on him2 and put a ring on his hand1 and shoes on his feet3 #bc4 ,and bring hither the fatted calf1 and kill it2 and let us eat1 and be merry3 #bd4 ,for this my son was dead1 and is alive again2 he was lost1 and is found4 ,and they began to be merry4'--,,luke xv4 #aa-bd4 ,the purpose of the three parables in this chapter has to be kept in mind4 ,christ is vindicating ,his action in receiving sinners1 which had evoked the murmurings of the ,pharisees4 ,the first two parables1 those of the lost sheep and the lost drachma1 appeal to the common feeling which attaches more importance to lost property just because it is lost than to that which is possessed safely4 ,this parable rises to a higher level4 ,it appeals to the universal emotion of fatherhood1 which yearns over a wandering child just because he has wandered4 ,we note a further advance1 in the proportion of one stray sheep to the ninety-nine1 and of one lost coin to the nine1 contrasted with the sad equality of obedience and disobedience in the two sons4 ,one per cent41 ten per cent41 are bearable losses1 but fifty per cent4 is tragic4 ,i4 ,the first part 7vs4 #aa-af7 tells of the son's wish to be his own master1 and what came of it4 ,the desire to be independent is good1 but when it can only be attained by being dependent on him whose authority is irksome1 it takes another colour4 ,this foolish boy wished to be able to use his father's property as his own1 but he had to get the father's consent first4 ,it is a poor beginning of independence when it has to be set up in business by a gift4 ,that is the essential absurdity in our attempts to do without ,god and to shake off ,his control4 ,we can only get power to seem to do it by misusing ,his gifts4 ,when we say1 ',who is ,lord over us8' the tongues which say it were given us by ,him4 ,the next step soon followed4 ',not many days after1' of course1 for the sense of ownership could not be kept up while near the father4 ,a man who wishes to enjoy worldly good without reference to ,god is obliged1 in self-defence1 to hustle ,god out of his thoughts as soon and as completely as possible4 ,the 'far country' is easily reached2 and it is far1 though a step can land us in it4 ,a narrow bay may compel a long journey round its head before those on its opposite shores can meet4 ,sin takes us far away from ,god1 and the root of all sin is that desire of living to one's self which began the prodigal's evil course4 ,the third step in his downward career1 wasting his substance in riotous living1 comes naturally after the two others2 for all self-centred life is in deepest truth waste1 and the special forms of gross dissipation to which youth is tempted are only too apt to follow the first sense of being their own masters1 and removed from the safeguards of their earthly father's home4 ,many a lad in our great cities goes through the very stages of the parable1 and1 when a mother's eye is no longer on him1 plunges into filthy debauchery4 ,but living which does not outrage the proprieties may be riotous all the same2 for all conduct which ignores ,god and asserts self as supreme is flagrantly against the very nature of man1 and is reckless waste4 ,such a 'merry' life is sure to be 'short4' ,there is always famine in the land of forgetfulness of ,god1 and when the first gloss is off its enjoyments1 and one's substance is spent1 its pinch is felt4 ,the unsatisfied hunger of heart1 which dogs godless living1 too often leads but to deeper degradation and closer entanglement with low satisfactions4 ,men madly plunge deeper into the mud in hope of finding the pearl which has thus far eluded their search4 ,a miserable thing this young fool had made of his venture1 having spent his capital1 and now being forced to become a slave1 and being set to nothing better than to feed swine4 ,the godless world is a hard master1 and has very odious tasks for its bondsmen4 ,the unclean animals are fit companions for one who made himself lower than they1 since filth is natural to them and shameful for him4 ,they are better off than he is1 for husks do nourish them1 and they get their fill1 but he who has sunk to longing for swine's food cannot get even that4 ,the dark picture is only too often verified in the experience of godless men4 ,,ii4 ,the wastrel's returning sanity is described in verses #ag-bj;a4 ',he came to himself4' ,then he had been beside himself before4 ,it is insanity to try to shake off ,god1 to aim at independence1 to wander from ,him1 to fling away our 'substance1' that is1 our true selves1 and to starve among the swine-troughs4 ,he remembers the bountiful housekeeping at home1 as starving men dream of feasts1 and he thinks of himself with a kind of pity and amazement4 ,there is no sign that his conscience smote him1 or that his heart woke in love to his father4 ,his stomach1 and it only1 urged him to go home4 ,he did1 indeed1 feel that he had been wrong1 and had forfeited the right to be called a son1 but he did not care much for losing that name1 or even for losing the love to which it had the right1 if only he could get as much to eat as one of the hired servants1 whose relation to the master was less close1 and1 in patriarchal times1 less happy1 than that of slaves born in the house4 ,one good thing about the lad was that he did not let the grass grow under his feet1 but1 as soon as he had made the resolution1 began to carry it into effect4 ,the bane of many a resolve to go back to ,god is that it is 'sicklied o'er' by procrastination4 ,the ragged prodigal has not much to leave which need hold him1 but many such a one says1 ',i will arise and go to my father to-morrow1' and lets all the to-morrows become yesterdays1 and is sitting among the swine still4 ,low as the prodigal's motive for return was1 the fact of his return was enough4 ,so is it in regard to our attitude to the gospel4 ,men may be drawn to give heed to its invitations from the instinct of self-preservation1 or from their sense of hungry need1 and the belief that in it they will find the food they crave for1 while there may be little consciousness of longing for more from the ,father than the satisfaction of felt wants4 ,the longing for a place in the ,father's heart will spring up later1 but the beginning of most men's taking refuge in ,god as revealed in ,christ is the gnawing of a hungry heart4 ,the call to all is1 ',ho1 every one that thirsteth1 come ye to the waters1 and he that hath no money2 come ye1 buy1 and eat4' ,,iii4 ,the climax of the parable1 for which all the rest is but as scaffolding1 is the father's welcome 7vs4 #bj;b-#bd74 ,filial love may die in the son's heart1 but paternal yearning lives in the father's4 ,the wanderer's heart would be likely to sink as he came nearer the father's tent4 ,it had seemed easy to go back when he acted the scene in imagination1 but every step homewards made the reality more difficult4 ,no doubt he hesitated when the old home came in sight1 and perhaps his resolution would have oozed out at his finger ends if he had had to march up alone in his rags1 and run the gauntlet of servants before he came to speech with his father4 ,so his father's seeing him far off and running to meet him is exquisitely in keeping1 as well as movingly setting forth how ,god's love goes out to meet ,his returning prodigals4 ,that divine insight which discerns the first motions towards return1 that divine pity which we dare venture to associate with ,his infinite love1 that eager meeting the shamefaced and slow-stepping boy half-way1 and that kiss of welcome before one word of penitence or request had been spoken1 are all revelations of the heart of ,god1 and its outgoings to every wanderer who sets his face to return4 ,beautifully does the father's welcome make the son's completion of his rehearsed speech impossible4 ,it does not prevent his expression of penitence1 for the more ,god's love is poured over us1 the more we feel our sin4 ,but he had already been treated as a son1 and could not ask to be taken as a servant4 ,beautifully1 too1 the father gives no verbal answer to the lad's confession1 for his kiss had answered it already2 but he issues instructions to the servants which show that the pair have now reached the home and entered it together4 ,the gifts to the prodigal are probably significant4 ,they not only express in general the cordiality of the welcome1 but seem to be capable of specific interpretations1 as representing various aspects of the blessed results of return to ,god4 ,the robe is the familiar emblem of character4 ,the prodigal son is treated like the high-priest in ,zechariah's vision2 his rags are stripped off1 and he is clothed anew in a dress of honour4 ',them he also justified3 and whom he justified1 them he also sanctified4' ,the ring is a token of wealth1 position1 and honour4 ,it is also a sign of delegated authority1 and is an ornament to the hand4 ,so ,god gives ,his prodigals1 when they come back1 an elevation which unforgiven beings do not reach1 and sets them to represent ,him1 and arrays them in strange beauty4 ,no doubt the lad had come back footsore and bleeding1 and the shoes may simply serve to keep up the naturalness of the story4 ,but probably they suggest equipment for the journey of life4 ,that is one of the gifts that accompany forgiveness4 ,our feet are shod with the preparedness of the gospel of peace4 ,last of all comes the feast4 ,heaven keeps holiday when some poor waif comes shrinking back to the ,father4 ,the prodigal had been content to sink his sonship for the sake of a loaf1 but he could not get bread on such terms4 ,he had to be forgiven and bathed in the outflow of his father's love before he could be fed2 and1 being thus received1 he could not but be fed4 ,the feast is for those who come back penitently1 and are received forgivingly1 and endowed richly by the ,father in heaven4 ,,gifts ,,to ,,the ,,prodigal '444 ,bring forth the best robe1 and put it on him2 and put a ring on his hand1 and shoes on his feet3 #bc4 ,and bring hither the fatted calf1 and kill it4444' --,,luke ,,xv4 #bb1 #bc4 ,god's giving always follows ,his forgiving4 ,it is not so with us4 ,we think ourselves very magnanimous when we pardon2 and we seldom go on to lavish favours where we have overlooked faults4 ,perhaps it is right that men who have offended against men should earn restoration by acts1 and should have to ride quarantine1 as it were1 for a time4 ,but ,i question whether forgiveness is ever true which is not1 like ,god's1 attended by large-hearted gifts4 ,if pardon is only the non-infliction of penalty1 then it is natural enough that it should be considered sufficient by itself1 and that the evildoer should not be rewarded for having been bad4 ,but if pardon is the outflow of the love of the offended to the offender1 then it can scarcely be content with simply giving the debtor his discharge1 and turning him into the world penniless4 ,however that may be with regard to men1 ,god's forgiveness is essentially the communication of ,god's love to us sinners1 as if we had never sinned at all4 ,and1 that being so1 that love cannot stay its working until it has given all that it can bestow or we can receive4 ,god does not do things by halves2 and ,he always gives when ,he forgives4 ,now that is the great truth of the last part of this immortal parable4 ,and it is one of the points in which it differs from1 and towers high above1 the two preceding ones4 ,the lost sheep was carried back to the pastures1 turned loose there1 needed no further special care1 and began to nibble as if nothing had happened4 ,the lost drachma was simply put back in the woman's purse4 ,but the lost son was pardoned1 and1 being pardoned1 was capable of receiving1 and received1 greater gifts than he had before4 ,these gifts are very remarkably detailed in the words of our text4 ,now1 of course1 it is always risky to seek for a spiritual interpretation of every point in a parable1 many of which points are mere drapery4 ,but1 on the other hand1 we may very easily fall into the error of treating as insignificant details which really are meant to be full of instruction4 ,and ,i cannot help thinking--although many would differ from me1--that this detailed enumeration of the gifts to the prodigal is meant to be translated into the terms of spiritual experience4 ,so ,i desire to look at them as suggesting for us the gifts of ,god which accompany forgiveness4 ,i take the catalogue as it stands--the ,robe1 the ,ring1 the ,shoes1 the ,feast4 ,i4 ,first1 the ,robe4 ',bring forth the best robe1 and put it on him4' ,that was the command4 ,this detail1 of course1 like all the others1 refers back to1 and casts light upon1 the supposed condition of the spendthrift when he came back4 ,there he stood1 ragged1 with the stain of travel and the stench of the pig-sty upon his garments1 some of them1 no doubt1 remains of the tawdry finery that he had worn in the world2 wine-spots1 and stains1 and filth of all sorts on the rags4 ,the father says1 ',take them all off him1 and put the best robe upon him4' ,what does that mean8 ,well1 we all know the very familiar metaphor by which qualities of mind1 traits of character1 and the like are described as being the dress of the spirit4 ,we talk about being 'arrayed in purity1' 'clad in zeal1' 'clothed with humility1' 'vested with power1' and so on4 ,if we turn to ,scripture1 we find running through it a whole series of instances of this metaphor1 which guide us at once to its true meaning4 ,zechariah saw in vision the high priest standing at the heavenly tribunal1 clad in filthy garments4 ,a voice said1 ',take away the filthy garments from him1' and the interpretation is added3 ',behold6 ,i have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee1 and ,i will clothe thee with a change of raiment4' ,you remember our ,lord's parable of the man with a wedding garment4 ,you remember the ,apostle ,paul's frequent use of the metaphor of 'putting off the old man1 putting on the new4' ,you remember1 finally1 the visions of the last days1 in which the ,seer in ,patmos saw the armies in heaven that followed their victorious ,commander1 'clothed in fine linen1 white and pure1 which is the righteousness of the saints4' ,if we put all these together1 surely ,i am not forcing a meaning on a non-significant detail1 when ,i say that here we have shadowed for us the great thought1 that the result of the divine forgiveness coming upon a man is that he is clothed with a character which fits him to sit down at his ,father's table4 ,they tell us that forgiveness is impossible1 because things done must have their consequences1 and that character is the slow formation of actions1 precipitated1 as it were1 from our deeds4 ,that is all true4 ,but it does not conflict with this other truth that there may and does come into men's hearts1 when they set their faith on ,jesus ,christ1 a new power which transforms the nature and causes old things to pass away4 ,god's forgiveness revolutionises a life4 ,similar effects follow even human pardons for small offences4 ,brute natures are held in by penalties1 and to them pardon means impunity1 and impunity means licence1 and licence means lust4 ,but wherever there is a heart with love to the offended in it1 there is nothing that will so fill it with loathing of its past self as the assurance that the offended1 though loved1 ,one loves1 and is not offended1 and that free forgiveness has come4 ,whether is it the rod or the mother's kiss that makes a child hate its sin most8 ,and if we lift our thoughts to ,him1 and think how ,he1 up there in the heavens1 ',who mightest vengeance best have took1' bends over us in frank1 free forgiveness1 then surely that1 more than all punishments or threatenings or terrors1 will cause us to turn away from our evil1 and to loathe the sins which are thus forgiven4 ,the prophet went very deep when he said1 ',thou shalt be ashamed and confounded1 and never open thy mouth any more because of thine iniquity1 when ,i am pacified towards thee for all that thou hast done1 saith the ,lord4' ,but not only so1 there is given along with forgiveness1 and wrapped up in it1 a new power1 which makes all things new1 and changes a man4 ,it would be a poor ,gospel for me to stand up and preach if ,i had only to proclaim to men the divine forgiveness2 and if that only meant that hell's door was barred and some outward heaven was flung open4 ,but the true ,gospel offers forgiveness as preliminary to the bestowal of the highest gifts of ,god4 ,the pardoned man is stripped of his rags and clothed with a new nature which ,god ,himself bestows4 ,that is what we all need4 ,we have not all been in the pig-sty2 we have not all fallen into gross sin4 ,we have all turned our backs on our ,father2 we have all wanted to be independent2 we have all preferred the far-off land to being near home4 ,and1 dear brethren1 the character that you have made for yourselves clings to you like the poisoned ,nessus' shirt to ,hercules4 ,you cannot strip it off4 ,you may get part of it away1 but you cannot entirely cast it from your limbs1 nor free yourselves from the entanglements of its tatters4 ,go to ,god1 and ,he will smile away your sin1 and ,his forgiving love will melt the stains and the evil1 as the sun this morning drank up the mists2 and they who come knowing themselves to be foul1 and needing forgiveness1 will surely receive from ,him 'the fine linen white and pure1 the righteousness of saints4' ,,ii4 ,the ,ring4 ,this prodigal lad only wanted to be placed in the position of a slave1 but his father said1 ',put a ring on his finger4' ,the ring is an emblem of wealth1 position1 honour2 that is one signification of this gift to the penitent4 ,still further1 it is an ornament to the hand on which it glistens2 that is another4 ,it is a sign of delegated authority and of representative character2 as when ,joseph was exalted to be the second man in ,egypt1 and ,pharaoh's signet ring was plucked off and placed upon his finger4 ,all these thoughts are1 as it seems to me1 clustered in1 and fairly deducible from1 this one detail4 ,freedom1 exaltation1 dignity of position are expressed4 ,and that opens up a thought which needs to be set forth with many reservations1 and much guarding1 but still is true--viz41 that1 by the mercy and miraculous loving-kindness and quickening power of ,god in the ,gospel1 it is possible that the lower a man falls the higher he may rise4 ,i know1 of course1 that it is better to be innocent than to be cleansed4 ,i know1 and every man that looks into his own heart knows1 that forgiven sins may leave scars2 that the memory may be loaded with many a foul and many a painful remembrance2 that the fetters may be stricken off the limbs1 but the marks of them1 and the way of walking that they compelled1 may persist long after deliverance4 ,but ,i know1 too1 that redeemed men are higher in final position than angels that never fell2 and that1 though it is too much to say that the greater the sinner the greater the saint1 it still remains true that sin repented and forgiven may be1 as it were1 an elevation upon which a man may stand to reach higher than1 apparently1 he otherwise would in the divine life4 ,and so1 though ,i do not say to any man1 ,make the experiment2 for1 indeed1 the poorest of us has sins enough to get all the benefit out of repentance and forgiveness which is included in them1 yet1 if there is any man here--and ,i hope there is--saying to himself1 ',i have got too low down ever to master this1 that1 or the other evil2 ,i have stained myself so foully that ,i cannot hope to have the black marks erased1' ,i say to such2 ',remember that the man who ended with a ring on his finger1 honoured and dignified1 was the man that had herded with pigs1 and stank1 and all but rotted1 with his fleshly crimes4' ,and so nobody need doubt but that for him1 however low he has gone1 and however far he has gone1 there is restoration possible to a higher dignity than the pure spirits that never transgressed at any time ,god's commandment will ever attain2 for he who has within himself the experience of repentance1 of pardon1 and who has come into living contact with ,jesus ,christ as ,redeemer1 can teach angels how blessed it is to be a child of ,god4 ,nor less distinctly are the other two things which ,i have referred to brought out in this metaphor4 ,not only is the ring the sign of dignity1 but it is also the sign of delegated authority and representative character4 ,god sets poor penitents to be ,his witnesses in ,his world1 and to do ,his work here4 ,and a ring is an ornament to the hand that wears it2 which being translated is this3 where ,god gives pardon1 ,he gives a strange beauty of character1 to which1 if a man is true to himself1 and to his ,redeemer1 he will assuredly attain4 ,there should be no lives so lovely1 none that flash with so many jewelled colours1 as the lives of the men and women who have learned what it is to be miserable1 what it is to repent1 what it is to be forgiven4 ,so1 though our 'hands have been full of blood1' as the prophet says1 though they have dabbled in all manner of pollution1 though they have been the ready instruments of many evil things1 we may all hope that1 cleansed and whitened1 even our hands will not want the lustre of that adornment which the loving father clasped upon the fingers of his penitent boy4 ,,iii4 ,further1 ',shoes on his feet4' ,no doubt he had come back barefooted and filthy and bleeding1 and it was needful for the 'keeping' of the narrative that this detail should appear4 ,but ,i think it is something more than drapery4 ,does it not speak to us of equipment for the walk of life8 ,god does prepare men for future service1 and for every step that they have to take1 by giving to them ,his forgiveness for all that is past4 ,the sense of the divine pardon will in itself fit a man1 as nothing else will1 for running with patience the race that is set before him4 ,god does communicate1 along with ,his forgiveness1 to every one who seeks it1 actual power to 'travel on life's common way in cheerful godliness'2 and his feet are 'shod with the preparedness of the gospel of peace4' ,ah1 brethren1 life is a rough road for us all1 and for those whose faces are set towards duty1 and ,god1 and self-denial1 it is especially so1 though there are many compensating circumstances4 ,there are places where sharp flints stick up in the path and cut the feet4 ,there are places where rocks jut out for us to stumble over4 ,there are all the trials and sorrows that necessarily attend upon our daily lives1 and which sometimes make us feel as if our path were across heated ploughshares1 and every step was a separate agony4 ,god will give us1 if we go to ,him for pardon1 that which will defend us against the pains and the sorrows of life4 ,the bare foot is cut by that which the shod foot tramples upon unconscious4 ,there are foul places on all our paths1 over which1 when we pass1 if we have not something else than our own naked selves1 we shall certainly contract defilement4 ,god will give to the penitent man1 if he will have it1 that which will keep his feet from soil1 even when they walk amidst filth4 ,and if1 at any time1 notwithstanding the defence1 some mud should stain the foot1 and he that is washed needs again to wash his feet1 the ,master1 with the towel and the basin1 will not be far away4 ,there are enemies and dangers in life4 ,a very important part of the equipment of the soldier in antiquity was the heavy boot1 which enabled him to stand fast1 and resist the rush of the enemy4 ,god will give to the penitent man1 if he will have it1 that which will set his foot upon a rock1 'and establish his goings1' and which 'will make him able to withstand in the evil day1 and having done all1 to stand4' ,brethren1 defence1 stability1 shielding from pains1 and protection against evil are all included in this great promise1 which each of us may realise1 if we will1 for ourselves4 ,,iv4 ,lastly1 the ,feast4 ,now that comes into view in the parable1 mainly as teaching us the great truth that ,heaven keeps holiday1 when some poor waif comes shrinking back to his ,father4 ,but ,i do not touch upon that truth now1 though it is the main significance of this last part of the story4 ,the prodigal was half starving1 and the fatted calf was killed 'for him1' as his ill-conditioned brother grumbled4 ,remember what it was that drove him back--not his heart1 nor his conscience1 but his stomach4 ,he did not bethink himself to go back1 because dormant filial affection woke up1 or because a sense that he had been wrong stirred in him1 but because he was hungry2 and well he might be1 when 'the husks that the swine did eat' were luxuries beyond his reach4 ,thank ,god for the teaching that even so low a motive as that is accepted by ,god2 and that1 if a man goes back1 even for no better reason--as long as he does go back1 he will be welcomed by the ,father4 ,this poor boy was quite content to sink his sonship for the sake of a loaf2 and all that he wanted was to stay his hunger4 ,so he had to learn that he could not get bread on the terms that he desired1 and that what he wished most was not what he needed first4 ,he had to be forgiven and bathed in the outflow of his father's love before he could be fed4 ,and1 being thus received1 he could not fail to be fed4 ,so the message for us is1 first1 forgiveness1 and then every hunger of the heart satisfied2 all desires met2 every needful nourishment communicated1 and the true bread ours for ever1 if we choose to eat4 ',the meek shall eat and be satisfied4' ,i need not draw the picture--that picture of which there are many originals sitting in these pews before me--of the men that go for ever roaming with a hungry heart1 through all the regions of life separate from ,god2 and whether they seek their nourishment in the garbage of the sty1 or whether fastidiously they look for it in the higher nutriment of mind and intellect and heart1 still are condemned to be unfilled4 ,brethren1 ',why do you spend your money for that 444 which satisfies not8' ,here is the true way for all desires to be appeased4 ,go to ,god in ,jesus ,christ for forgiveness1 and then everything that you need shall be yours4 ',i counsel thee to buy of ,me 444 white raiment that thou mayest be clothed4' ',he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever4' ,,the ,,follies ,,of ,,the ,,wise ',the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light4'--,,luke xvi4 #h4 ,the parable of which these words are the close is remarkable in that it proposes a piece of deliberate roguery as1 in some sort1 a pattern for ,christian people4 ,the steward's conduct was neither more nor less than rascality1 and yet1 says ,christ1 ',do like that6' ,the explanation is to be found mainly in the consideration that what was faithless sacrifice of his master's interests1 on the part of the steward1 is1 in regard to the ,christian man's use of earthly gifts1 the right employment of the possessions which have been entrusted to him4 ,but there is another vindication of the singular selection of such conduct as an example1 in the consideration that what is praised is not the dishonesty1 but the foresight1 realisation of the facts of the case1 promptitude1 wisdom of various kinds exhibited by the steward4 ,and so says our ,lord--shutting out the consideration of ends1 and looking only for a moment at means1--the world can teach the ,church a great many lessons2 and it would be well for the ,church if its members lived in the fashion in which the men of the world do4 ,there is eulogium here1 a recognition of splendid qualities1 prostituted to low purposes2 a recognition of wisdom in the adaptation of means to an end2 and a limitation of the recognition1 because it is only in their generation that 'the children of this world are wiser than the children of light4' ,i4 ,so we may look1 first1 at these two classes1 which our ,lord opposes here to one another4 ',the children of this world' would have1 for their natural antithesis1 the children of another world4 ,the 'children of light' would have1 for their natural antithesis1 'the children of darkness4' ,but our ,lord so orders ,his words as to suggest a double antithesis1 one member of which has to be supplied in each case1 and ,he would teach us that whoever the children of this world may be1 they are 'children of darkness'2 and that the 'children of light' are so1 just because they are the children of another world than this4 ,thus ,he limits ,his praise1 because it is the sons of darkness that1 in a certain sense1 are wiser than the enlightened ones4 ,and that is what makes the wonder and the inconsistency to which our ,lord is pointing4 ,we can understand a man being a consistent1 thorough-paced fool all through4 ,but men whose folly is so dashed and streaked with wisdom1 and others whose wisdom is so spotted and blurred with folly1 are the extraordinary paradoxes which experience of life presents to us4 ,the children of this world are of darkness2 the children of light are the children of another world4 ,now ,i need not spend more than a sentence or two in further explaining these two antitheses4 ,i do not intend to vindicate them1 or to vindicate our ,lord's distinct classification of men into these two halves4 ,what does ,he mean by the children of this world8 ,the old ,hebrew idiom1 the children of so-and-so1 simply suggests persons who are so fully possessed and saturated with a given quality1 or who belong so entirely to a given person1 as that they are spoken of as if they stood to it1 or to him1 in the relation of children to their parents4 ,and a child of this world is a man whose whole thoughts1 aims1 and objects of life are limited and conditioned by this material present4 ,but the word which is employed here1 translated rightly enough 'world1' is not the same as that which is often used1 especially in ,john's writings1 for the same idea4 ,although it conveys a similar idea1 still it is different4 ,the characteristic quality of the visible and material world which is set forth by the expression here employed is its transiency4 ',the children of this epoch' rather than 'of this world' is the meaning of the phrase4 ,and it suggests1 not so much the inadequacy of the material to satisfy the spiritual1 as the absurdity of a man fixing his hopes and limiting his aims and life-purpose within the bounds of what is destined to fade and perish4 ,fleeting wealth1 fleeting honours1 mortal loves1 wisdom1 and studies that pass away with the passing away of the material2 these1 however elevating some of them may be1 however sweet some of them may be1 however needful all of them are in their places1 are not the things to which a man can safely lash his being1 or entrust his happiness1 or wisely devote his life4 ,and therefore the men who1 ignoring the fact that they live and the world passes1 make themselves its slaves1 and itself their object1 are convicted by the very fact of the disproportion between the duration of themselves and of that which is their aim1 of being children of the darkness4 ,then we come to the other antithesis4 ,the children of light are so in the measure in which their lives are not dependent exclusively upon1 nor directed solely towards1 the present order and condition of things4 ,if there be a this1 then there is a that4 ,if there be an age which is qualified as being present1 then that implies that there is an age or epoch which is yet to come4 ,and that coming 'age' should regulate the whole of our relations to that age which at present is4 ,for life is continuous1 and the coming epoch is the outcome of the present4 ,as truly as 'the child is father of the man1' so truly is ,eternity the offspring of ,time1 and that which we are to-day determines that which we shall be through the ages4 ,he that recognises the relations of the present and the future1 who sees the small1 limited things of the moment running out into the dim eternity beyond1 and the track unbroken across the gulfs of death and the broad expanse of countless years1 and who therefore orders the little things here so as to secure the great things yonder1 he1 and only he1 who has made time the 'lackey to eternity1' and in his pursuit of the things seen and temporal1 regards them always in the light of things unseen and eternal1 is a child of light4 ,,ii4 ,the second consideration suggested here is the limited and relative wisdom of the fools4 ,the children of this world1 who are the children of darkness1 and who at bottom are thoroughly unwise1 considered relatively1 'are wiser than the children of light4' ,the steward is the example4 ',a rogue is always'--as one of our thinkers puts it--'a roundabout fool4' ,he would have been a much wiser man if he had been an honester one2 and1 instead of tampering with his lord's goods1 had faithfully administered them4 ,but1 shutting out the consideration of the moral quality of his action1 look how much there was in it that was wise1 prudent1 and worthy of praise4 ,there were courage1 fertility of resource1 a clear insight into what was the right thing to do4 ,there was a wise adaptation of means to an end4 ,there was promptitude in carrying out the wise means that suggested themselves to him4 ,the design was bad4 ,granted4 ,we are not talking about goodness1 but about cleverness4 ,so1 very significantly1 in the parable the person cheated cannot help saying that the cheat was a clever one4 ,the 'lord1' although he had suffered by it1 'commended the unjust steward1 because he had done wisely4' ,did you never know in ,manchester some piece of sharp practice1 about which people said1 ',ah1 well1 he is a clever fellow1' and all but condoned the immorality for the sake of the smartness8 ,the lord and the steward belong to the same level of character2 and vulpine sagacity1 astuteness1 and qualities which ensure success in material things seem to both of them to be of the highest value4 ',the children of this world1 in their generation'--but only in it--are wiser than the children of light4' ,now ,i draw a very simple1 practical lesson1 and it is just this1 that if ,christian men1 in their ,christian lives1 would practise the virtues that the world practises1 in pursuit of its shabby aims and ends1 their whole ,christian character would be revolutionised4 ,why1 a boy will spend more pains in learning to whistle than half of you do in trying to cultivate your ,christian character4 ,the secret of success religiously is precisely the same as the secret of success in ordinary things4 ,look at the splendid qualities that go to the making of a successful housebreaker4 ,audacity1 resource1 secrecy1 promptitude1 persistence1 skill of hand1 and a hundred others1 are put into play before a man can break into your back kitchen and steal your goods4 ,look at the qualities that go to the making of a successful amuser of people4 ,men will spend endless time and pains1 and devote concentration1 persistence1 self-denial1 diligence1 to learning how to play upon some instrument1 how to swing upon a trapeze1 how to twist themselves into abnormal contortions4 ,jugglers and fiddlers1 and circus-riders and dancers1 and people of that sort spend far more time upon efforts to perfect themselves in their profession1 than ninety-nine out of every hundred professing ,christians do to make themselves true followers of ,jesus ,christ4 ,they know that nothing is to be got without working for it1 and there is nothing to be got in the ,christian life without working for it any more than in any other4 ,shut out the end for a moment1 and look at the means4 ,from the ranks of criminals1 of amusers1 and of the purely worldly men of business that we come in contact with every day1 we may get lessons that ought to bring a blush to all our cheeks1 when we think to ourselves how a wealth of intellectual and moral qualities and virtues1 such as we do not bring to bear on our ,christian lives1 are by these men employed in regard of their infinitely smaller pursuits4 ,oh1 brethren6 we ought to be our own rebukes1 for it is not only other people who show forth in other fields of life the virtues that would make so much better ,christians of us1 if we used them in ours1 but that we ourselves carry within ourselves the condemning contrast4 ,look at your daily life6 ,do you give anything like the effort to grow in the knowledge of your ,lord and ,saviour1 ,jesus ,christ1 that you do to make or maintain your position in the world8 ,when you are working side by side with the children of this world for the same objects1 you keep step with them1 and are known to be diligent in business as they are4 ,when you pass into the church1 what do you do there8 ,are we not ice in one half of our lives1 and fire in the other8 ,we may well lay to heart these solemn words of our ,lord1 and take shame when we think that not only do the unwise1 who choose the world as their portion1 put us to shame in their self-denial1 their earnestness1 their absorption1 their clear insight into facts1 their swiftness in availing themselves of every opportunity1 their persistence and their perseverance1 but that we rebuke ourselves because of the difference between the earnestness with which we follow the things that are of this world1 and the languor of our pursuit after the things that are unseen and eternal4 ,of course the reasons for the contrast are easy enough to apprehend1 and ,i do not need to spend time upon them4 ,the objects that so have power to stimulate and to lash men into energy1 continuously through their lives1 lie at hand1 and a candle near will dim the sunshine beyond4 ,these objects appeal to sense1 and such make a deeper impression than things that are shown to the mind1 as every picture-book may prove to us4 ,and we1 in regard to the aims of our ,christian life1 have to make a continual effort to bring and keep them before us1 or they are crowded out by the intrusive vulgarities and dazzling brilliances of the present4 ,and so it comes to pass that the men who hunt after trifles that are to perish set examples to the men who say that they are pursuing eternal realities4 ',go to the ant1 thou sluggard1 consider her ways and be wise4' ,go to the men of the world1 thou ,christian1 and do not let it be said that the devil's scholars are more studious and earnest than ,christ's disciples4 ,,iii4 ,lastly1 note the conclusive folly of the partially wise4 ',in their generation1' says ,christ2 and that is all that can be said1 ,the circle runs round its #cfj degrees1 and these people take a segment of it1 say forty-five degrees1 and all the rest is as non-existent4 ,if ,i am to call a man a wise man out and out1 there are two things that ,i shall have to be satisfied about concerning him4 ,the one is1 what is he aiming at8 and the other1 how does he aim at it8 ,in regard to the means1 the men of the world bear the bell1 and carry away the supremacy4 ,let in the thought of the end1 and things change4 ,two questions reduce all the world's wisdom to stark1 staring insanity4 ,the first question is1 ',what are you doing it for8' ,and the second question is1 ',and suppose you get it1 what then8' ,nothing that cannot pass the barrier of these two questions satisfactorily is other than madness1 if taken to be the aim of a man's life4 ,you have to look at the end1 and the whole circumference of the circle of the human being1 before you serve out the epithets of 'wise' and 'foolish4' ,i need not dwell on the manifest folly of men who give their lives to aims and ends of which ,i have already said that they are disproportioned to the capacity of the pursuer4 ,look at yourselves1 brothers2 these hearts of yours that need an infinite love for their satisfaction1 these active spirits of yours that can never be at rest in creatural perfection2 these troubled consciences of yours that stir and moan inarticulately over unperceived wounds until they are healed by ,christ4 ,how can any man with a heart and a will1 and a progressive spirit and intellect1 find what he needs in anything beneath the stars8 ',whose image and superscription hath it8 ,they say unto ,him1 ,caesar's'2 we say ',god's4' ',render unto ,god the things that are ,god's4' ,the man who makes anything but ,god his end and aim is relatively wise and absolutely foolish4 ,let me remind you too1 that the same sentence of folly passes1 if we consider the disproportion between the duration of the objects and of him who makes them his aim4 ,you live1 and if you are a wise man1 your treasures will be of the kind that last as long as you4 ',they call their lands after their own name2 they think that their houses shall continue for ever4 ,they go down into the dust4 ,their glory shall not descend after them1' and1 therefore1 'this1 their way1 is their folly4' ,brethren1 all that ,i would say may be gathered into two words4 ,let there be a proportion between your aims and your capacity4 ,that signifies1 let ,god be your end4 ,and let there be a correspondence between your end and your means4 ,that signifies1 ',thou shalt love the ,lord thy ,god with all thy heart1 and with all thy soul1 and with all thy strength1 and with all thy mind4' ,or else1 when everything comes to be squared up and settled1 the epitaph on your gravestone will deservedly be2 ',thou fool 6' ,,two ,,kinds ,,of ,,riches ',he that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much3 and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much4 #aa4 ,if therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon1 who will commit to your trust the true riches8 #ab4 ,and if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's1 who shall give you that which is your own8'--,,luke xvi4 #aj-ab4 ,that is a very strange parable which precedes my text1 in which our ,lord takes a piece of crafty dishonesty on the part of a steward who had been embezzling his lord's money as in some sense an example for us ,christian people1 ,there are other instances in which ,he does the same thing1 finding a soul of goodness in things evil1 as1 for instance1 in the parable of the ,unjust ,judge4 ,similar is the ,new ,testament treatment of war or slavery1 both of which diabolical things are taken as illustrations of what in the highest sphere are noble and heavenly things4 ,but having delivered the parable1 our ,lord seems1 in the verses that ,i have read1 to anticipate the objection that the unfaithfulness of the steward can never be an example for ,god's stewards2 and in the words before us1 amongst other things1 ,he says substantially this1 that whilst the steward's using his lord's wealth in order to help his lord's debtors was a piece of knavery and unfaithfulness1 in us it is not unfaithfulness1 but the very acme of faithfulness4 ,in the text we have the thought that there are two kinds of valuable things in the world1 a lower and a higher2 that men may be very rich in regard to the one1 and very poor in regard to the other4 ,in respect to these1 ',there is that maketh himself rich1 and yet hath nothing2 there is that maketh himself poor1 and yet hath great riches4' ,more than that1 the noblest use of the lower kind of possessions is to secure the possession of the highest4 ,and so ,he teaches us the meaning of life1 and of all that we have4 ,now1 there are three things in these words to which ,i would turn your attention--the two classes of treasure1 the contrast of qualities between these two1 and the noblest use of the lower4 ,i4 ,the ,two ,classes of ,treasure4 ,now1 we shall make a great mistake if we narrow down the interpretation of that word 'mammon' in the context 7which is 'that which is least1' etc41 here7 to be merely money4 ,it covers the whole ground of all possible external and material possessions1 whatsoever things a man can only have in outward seeming1 whatsoever things belong only to the region of sense and the present4 ,all that is in the world1 in fact1 is included in the one name4 ,and you must widen out your thoughts of what is referred to here in this prolonged contrast which our ,lord runs between the two sets of treasures1 so as to include1 not only money1 but all sorts of things that belong to this sensuous and temporal scene4 ,and1 on the other hand1 there stands opposite to it1 as included in1 and meant by1 that which is 'most1' 'that which is the true riches1' 'that which is your own'2 everything that holds of the unseen and spiritual1 whether it be treasures of intellect and lofty thought1 or whether it be pure and noble aims1 or whether it be ideals of any kind1 the ideals of art1 the aspirations of science1 the lofty aims of the scholar and the student--all these are included4 ,and the very same standard of excellence which declares that the treasures of a cultivated intellect1 of a pure mind1 of a lofty purpose1 are higher than the utmost of material good1 and that 'wisdom is better than rubies1' the very same standard1 when applied in another direction1 declares that above the treasures of the intellect and the taste are to be ranked all the mystical and great blessings which are summoned up in that mighty word salvation4 ,and we must take a step further1 for neither the treasures of the intellect1 the mind1 and the heart1 nor the treasures of the spiritual life which salvation implies1 can be realised and reached unless a man possesses ,god4 ,so in the deepest analysis1 and in the truest understanding of these two contrasted classes of wealth you have but the old antithesis3 the world--and ,god4 ,he that has ,god is rich1 however poor he may be in reference to the other category2 and he that has ,him not is poor1 however rich he may be4 ',the lines are fallen to me in pleasant places1' says the ,psalmist2 and ',i have a goodly heritage1' because he could also say1 ',god is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever4' ,so there is the antithesis1 the things of time and sense1 the whole mass of them knit together on the one hand2 the single ,god alone by ,himself on the other4 ,of these two classes of valuable things our ,lord goes on next to tell us the relative worth4 ,for we have here ,,ii4 ,the ,contrast between the ,two4 ,that contrast is threefold1 as you observe1 'that which is least4' or1 perhaps better1 'that which is very little4' and 'that which is much4' ,that is a contrast in reference to degree4 ,but degree is a shallow word1 which does not cover the whole ground1 nor go down to the depths4 ,so our ,lord comes next to a contrast in regard to essential nature1 'the unrighteous mammon' and 'the true riches4' ,but even these contrasts in degree and in kind do not exhaust all the contrasts possible1 for there is another1 the contrast in reference to the reality of our possession3 'that which is another's'2 'that which is your own4' ,let us1 then1 take these three things1 the contrast in degree1 the contrast in kind1 the contrast in regard to real possession4 ,first1 then1 and briefly1 mental and spiritual and inward blessings1 salvation1 ,god1 are more than all externals4 ,our ,lord gathers all the conceivable treasures of earth1 jewels and gold and dignities1 and scenes of sensuous delights1 and everything that holds to the visible and the temporal1 and piles them into one scale1 and then ,he puts into the other the one name1 ,god2 and the pompous nothings fly up and are nought1 and have no weight at all4 ,is that not true8 ,does it need any demonstration1 any more talk about it8 ,no6 ,but then comes in sense and appeals to us1 and says1 ',you cannot get beyond my judgment4 ,these things are good4' ,jesus ,christ does not say that they are not1 but sense regards them as far better than they are4 ,they are near us1 and a very small object near us1 by the laws of perspective1 shuts out a mightier one beyond us4 ,we in ,manchester live in a community which is largely based on1 and actuated and motived in its diligence by the lie that material good is better than spiritual good1 that it is better to be a rich man and a successful merchant than to be a poor and humble and honest student2 that it is better to have a balance at your bankers than to have great and pure and virginal thoughts in a clean heart2 that a man has done better for himself when he has made a fortune than when he has ,god in his heart4 ,and so we need1 and ,god knows it was never more needed in ,manchester than to-day1 that we should preach and preach and preach1 over and over again1 this old-fashioned threadbare truth1 which is so threadbare and certain that it has lost its power over the lives of many of us1 that all that1 at its mightiest1 is very little1 and that this1 at its least1 is very much4 ,dear brethren1 you and ,i know how hard it is always1 especially how hard it is in business lives1 to keep this as our practical working faith4 ,we say we believe1 and then we go away and live as if we believed the opposite4 ,i beseech you listen to the scale laid down by ,him who knew all things in their measure and degree1 and let us settle it in our souls1 and live as if we had settled it1 that it is better to be wise and good than to be rich and prosperous1 and that ,god is more than a universe of worlds1 if we have ,him for our own4 ,but to talk about a contrast in degree degrades the reality1 for it is no matter of difference of measurement1 but it is a matter of difference of kind4 ,and so our ,lord goes on to a deeper phase of the contrast1 when ,he pits against one another 'the unrighteous mammon' and 'the true riches4' ,now1 there is some difficulty in that contrast4 ,the two significant terms do not seem to be precise opposites1 and possibly they are not intended to be logically accurate counterparts of each other4 ,but what is meant by 'the unrighteous mammon'8 ,i do not suppose that the ordinary explanation of that verse is quite adequate4 ,we usually suppose that by so stigmatising the material good1 ,he means to suggest how hard it is to get it--and you all know that--and how hard it is to keep it1 and how hard it is to administer it1 without in some measure falling into the sin of unrighteousness4 ,but whilst ,i dare say that may be the signification intended1 if we were to require that the word here should be a full and correct antithesis to the other phrase1 'the true riches1' we should need to suppose that 'unrighteous' here meant that which falsely pretended to be what it was not4 ,and so we come to the contrast between the deceitfulness of earthly good and the substantial reality of the heavenly4 ,will any fortune1 even though it goes into seven figures1 save a man from the miseries1 the sorrows1 the ills that flesh is heir to8 ,does a great estate make a man feel less desolate when he stands by his wife's coffin8 ,will any wealth 'minister to a mind diseased'8 ,will a mountain of material good calm and satisfy a man's soul8 ,you see faces just as discontented1 looking out of carriage windows1 as you meet in the street4 ',uneasy lies the head that wears a crown4' ,there is no proportion between abundance of external good of any kind and happy hearts4 ,we all know that the man who is rich is not happier than the poor man4 ,and ,i1 for my part1 believe that the raw material of happiness is very equally distributed through the world1 and that it is altogether a hallucination by which a poor man thinks1 ',if ,i were wealthy like that other man1 how different my life would be4' ,no1 it would not2 you would be the same man4 ,the rich man that fancies that because he is rich he is 'better off1' as they say1 than his poor brother1 and the poor man who thinks that he would be 'better off' if he were richer than he is now1 are the same man turned inside out1 so to speak2 and common to both of them is that fallacy1 that wealth and material good contribute much to the real blessedness and nobleness of the man who happens to own it4 ,but then1 perhaps1 we have rather to regard this unrighteous mammon as so designated from another point of view4 ,you will remember that all through the context our ,lord has been insisting on the notion of stewardship4 ,and ,i take it that what ,he means here is to remind us that whenever we claim any of our possessions1 especially our external ones1 as our own1 we thereby are guilty of defrauding both ,god and man1 and are unrighteous1 and it is unrighteous thereby4 ,stewardship is a word which describes our relation to all that we have4 ,forget that1 and then whatever you have becomes 'the unrighteous mammon4' ,there is the point in which ,christ's teaching joins hands with a great deal of unchristian teaching in this present day which is called ,socialism and ,communism4 ,christianity is not communistic4 ,it asserts as against other men your right of property1 but it limits that right by this1 that if you interpret your right of property to mean the right to 'do what you like with your own1' ignoring your stewardship to ,god1 and the right of your fellows to share in what you have1 then you are an unfaithful steward1 and your mammon is unrighteous4 ,and that principle1 the true communism of ,christianity1 has to be worked into modern society in a way that some of us do not dream of1 before modern society will be organised on ,christian principles4 ,these words of my text are no toothless words which are merely intended to urge ,christian people on to a sentimental charity1 and to a niggardly distribution of part of their possessions3 but they underlie the whole conception of ownership1 as the ,new ,testament sets it forth4 ,wherever the stewardship that we owe to ,god1 and the participation that we owe to men1 are neglected in regard to anything that we have1 there ,god's good gifts are perverted and have become 'unrighteous mammon4' ,and1 then1 on the other hand1 our ,lord sets forth here the contrast in regard to 'the true riches'1 which are such1 inasmuch as they really correspond to the idea of wealth being a true good to a man1 and making him rich to all the intents of bliss4 ,he that has the treasures of a pure mind1 of a lofty aim1 of a quiet conscience1 of a filled and satisfied and therefore calmed heart2 he that has the treasure of salvation2 he that has the boundless wealth of ,god---he has the bullion1 while the poor rich people that have the material good have the scrip of an insolvent company1 which is worth no more than the paper on which it is written4 ,there are two currencies--one solid metal1 the other worthless paper4 ,the one is 'true riches1' and the other the 'unrighteous mammon4' ,then there is a last contrast1 and that is with regard to the reality of our possession4 ,on the one hand1 that which ,i fondly call my own is by our ,lord stamped with the proprietor's mark1 of somebody else1 'that which is ,another's4' ,it was ,his before ,he gave it1 it was ,his when ,he gave it1 it is ,his after ,he has given it4 ,my name is never to be written on my property so as to erase the name of the ,owner4 ,i am a steward2 ,i am a trustee2 it all belongs to ,him4 ,that is one rendering of this word4 ,but the phrase may perhaps point in another direction4 ,it may suggest how shadowy and unreal1 as being merely external1 and how transitory is our ownership of wealth and outward possessions4 ,a man says1 ',it is mine4' ,what does he mean by that8 ,it is not his own in any real sense4 ,i get more good out of a rich man's pictures1 or estate1 if ,i look at them with an eye that loves them1 than he does4 ,the world belongs to the man that can enjoy it and rightly use it4 ,and the man that enjoys it and uses it aright is the man who lives in ,god4 ,nothing is really yours except that which has entered into the substance of your soul1 and become incorporated with your very being1 so that1 as in wool dyed in the grain1 the colour will never come out4 ,what ,i am1 that ,i have2 what ,i only have1 that1 in the deepest sense1 ,i have not4 ',shrouds have no pockets1' says the ,spanish proverb4 ',his glory will not descend after him1' says the psalm4 ,that is a poor possession which only is outward whilst it lasts1 and which ends so soon4 ,but there is wealth that comes into me4 ,there are riches that cannot be parted from me4 ,i can make my own a great inheritance1 which is wrought into the very substance of my being1 and will continue so inwrought1 into whatsoever worlds or states of existence any future may carry me4 ,so1 and only so1 is anything my own4 ,let these contrasts dominate our lives4 ,i see our space is gone2 ,i must make this sermon a fragment1 and leave what ,i intended to have made the last part of it for possible future consideration4 ,only let me press upon you in one closing word this1 that the durable riches are only found in ,god1 and the riches that can be found in ,god are brought to every one of us by ,him 'in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge1' of goodness and grace4 ,if we will make ourselves poor1 by consciousness of our need1 and turn with faith to ,jesus1 then we shall receive from ,him those riches which are greatest1 which are true1 which are our own in that they pass into our very being1 in that they were destined for us from all eternity by the love of ,god2 and in having them we shall be rich indeed1 and for ever4 ,,the ,,gains ,,of ,,the ,,faithful ,,steward ',if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's1 who shall give you that which is your own8' --,,luke xvi4 #ab4 ,in a recent sermon on this context ,i dealt mainly with the threefold comparison which our ,lord runs between the higher and the lower kind of riches4 ,the one is stigmatised as 'that which is least1' the unrighteous mammon1' 'that which is another's'2 whilst the higher is magnified as being 'that which is most1' 'the true riches1' 'your own4' ,what are these two classes8 ,on the one hand stand all possessions which1 in and after possession1 remain outside of a man1 which may survive whilst he perishes1 or perish while he survives4 ,on the other hand are the riches which pass into him1 and become inseparable from him4 ,noble aims1 high aspirations1 pure thoughts1 treasures of wisdom1 treasures of goodness--these are the real wealth corresponding to man's nature1 destined for his enrichment1 and to last with him for ever4 ,but we may gather the whole contrast into two words3 the small1 the 'unrighteous1' the wealth which being mine is not mine but remains another's1 and foreign to me1 is the world4 ,the great riches1 the 'true riches1' the good destined for me1 and for which ,i am destined1 is ,god4 ,in these two words you have the antithesis1 the real antithesis1 ,god versus the world4 ,now let us turn rather to the principle which our ,lord here lays down1 in reference to these two classes of good1 or of possessions4 ,he tells us that the faithful use of the world helps us to the possession of ,god2 or1 to put it into other words1 that how we handle money and what money can buy1 has a great deal to do with our religious enjoyment and our religious life1 and that that is true1 both in regard to our partial possession of ,god here and now1 and to our perfect possession of ,him in the world to come4 ,now ,i wish to say one or two very plain things about this matter1 and ,i hope that you will not turn away from them because they are familiar and trite4 ,considering how much of your lives1 especially as regards men of business1 is taken up with money1 its acquisition1 its retention1 its distribution1 there are few things that have more to do with the vigour or feebleness of your ,christian life than the way in which you handle these perishable things4 ,i wish to say a word or two1 first1 about ,i4 ,what our ,lord means by this faithfulness to which ,he attaches such tremendous issues4 ,now1 you will remember1 that the starting point of my text is that parable of the unjust steward1 whose conduct1 knavish as it was1 is in some sense presented by our ,lord to ,his disciples1 and to us1 as a pattern4 ,but my text1 and the other two verses which are parallel with it1 seem to have amongst their other purposes this3 to put in a caveat against supposing that it is the unfaithfulness of the steward which is recommended for our imitation4 ,and so the first point that is suggested in regard to this matter of faithfulness about the handling of outward good is that we have to take care that it is rightly acquired1 for though the unjust steward was commended for the prudent use that he made of dishonestly acquired gain1 it is the prudent use1 and not the manner of the acquisition which we are to take as our examples4 ,initial unfaithfulness in acquisition is not condoned or covered over by any pious and benevolent use hereafter4 ,mediaeval barons left money for masses4 ,plenty of ,protestants do exactly the same thing4 ,brewers will build cathedrals1 and found picture galleries1 and men that have made their money foully will fancy that they atone for that by leaving it for some charitable purpose4 ,the caustic but true wit of a ,scottish judge said about a great bequest which was supposed to be--whether rightly or wrongly1 ,i know not--of that sort1 that it was 'the heaviest fire insurance premium that had been paid in the memory of man4' ',the money does not stink1' said the ,roman ,emperor1 about the proceeds of an unsavoury tax4 ,but the money unfaithfully won does stink when it is thrown into ,god's treasury4 ',the price of a dog shall not come into the sanctuary of the ,lord4' ,do not think that money doubtfully won is consecrated by being piously spent4 ,but there are more things than that here1 for our ,lord sums up the whole of a ,christian man's duties in regard to the use of this external world and all its good1 in that one word 'faithful1' which implies discharge of responsibility1 recognition of obligation1 the continual consciousness that we are not proprietors but stewards4 ,unless we carry that consciousness with us into all the phases of our connection with perishable goods they become--as ,i shall have to show you in a moment1--hindrances instead of helps to our possession of ,god4 ,i am not going to talk revolutionary socialism1 or anything of that sort1 but ,i am bound to reiterate my own solemn conviction that until1 practically as well as theoretically1 the ,christian ,church in all its branches brings into its creed1 and brings out in its practice1 the great thought of stewardship1 especially in regard to material and external good1 but also in regard to the durable riches of salvation1 the nations will be full of unrest1 and thunder-clouds heavily boding storm and destruction will lower on the horizon4 ,what we have1 we have that we may impart2 what we have in all forms of having1 we have because we have received4 ,we are distributing centres1 that is all--,i was going to say like a nozzle1 perforated with many holes1 at the end of the spout of a watering-can4 ,that is a ,christian man's relation to his possessions4 ,we are stewards4 ',it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful' ,now let me ask you to notice-- ,,ii4 ,the bearing of this faithfulness in regard to the lower wealth on our possession of the higher4 ,jesus says in this context1 twice over1 that faithfulness with regard to the former is the condition of our being entrusted with the latter4 ,now1 remember1 by way of illustration of this thought1 what all this outward world of goodness and beauty is mainly meant for4 ,what8 ,it is all but scaffolding by which1 and within the area of which1 the building may arise4 ,the meaning of the world is to make character4 ,all that we have1 aye6 and all that we do1 and the whole of the events and circumstances with which we come in contact here on earth1 are then lifted to their noblest function1 and are then understood in their deepest meaning when we look upon them as we do upon the leaping-poles and bars and swings of a gymnasium1--as meant to develop thews and muscles1 and make men of us4 ,that is what they are here for1 and that is what we are here for4 ,not enjoyment1 and not sorrow1 except in so far as these two are powers in developing character1 not plunging ourselves in the enjoyments of sense4 ,wealth and poverty1 gain and loss1 love gratified and love marred1 possessions sweet1 when preserved1 and possessions that become sweeter by being removed2 all these are simply meant as whetstones on which the keen blade may be sharpened1 as forces against which1 trying ourselves1 our deftness and strength may be increased4 ,they are all meant to make us men1 and if we faithfully use these externals with a recognition of their source1 with a wise estimate of their subordination so as that our desires shall not cleave to them solely1 and with a fixed determination to use them as ministers to make ourselves nobler1 wiser1 stronger1 liker to ,god and ,his ,christ1 then the world will minister to our possession of ,god1 and being 'faithful in that which is least1' we shall thereby be more capable of receiving that which is greatest4 ,but if1 on the other hand1 we so forget our true wealth1 and become so besotted and absorbed in our adhesion to1 and our desires after1 fleeting good1 then the capacities that were noble will fade and shrivel1 being unused2 aims and purposes that were elevated and pure will die out unsatisfied2 windows in our souls which commanded a wide1 glorious prospect will gradually be bricked up2 burdens which hinder our running will be piled upon our backs1 and the world will have conquered us1 whilst we are dreaming that we have conquered the world4 ,you look at a sea anemone in a pool on the rocks when the tide is out1 all its tendrils outstretched1 and its cavity wide open4 ,some little bit of seaweed1 or some morsel of half-putrefying matter1 comes in contact with it1 and instantly every tentacle is retracted1 and the lips are tightly closed1 so that you could not push a bristle in4 ,and when your tentacles draw themselves in to clutch the little portion of worldly good1 of whatever sort it is1 that has come into your hold1 there is no room to get ,god in there1 and being 'unfaithful in that which is least' you have made it impossible that you should possess 'that which is most4' ,ah6 there are some of us that were far better ,christians long ago1 when we were poorer men1 than we are to-day1 and there are some of us that know what it is to have the heart so filled with baser liquors that there is no room for the ethereal nectar4 ,if the world has filled my soul1 where is ,god to dwell8 ,there is another way in which we may look at this matter4 ,i have said that the main use of these perishable and fragmentary good things around us is to develop character1 by our administration of them4 ,another way of putting the same thought is that their main use is to show us ,god4 ,if we faithfully use the lesser good it will become transparent1 and reveal to us the greater4 ,we hear a great deal about deepening the spiritual life by prayers1 and conventions1 and ,bible readings and the like4 ,i have no word to say except in full sympathy with all such4 ,but ,i do believe that the best means1 the most powerful means1 by which the great bulk of ,christian men could deepen their spiritual lives would be a more honest and thoroughgoing attempt to 'be faithful in that which is least4' ,we have so much to do with it necessarily1 that few1 if any1 things have more power in shaping our whole characters than our manner of administering the wealth1 the material good1 that comes to our hands4 ,and so1 dear brethren1 ,i beseech you remember that the laws of perspective are such as that a minute thing near at hand shuts out the vision of a mighty thing far off1 and a hillock by my side will hide the ,himalayas at a distance1 and a sovereign may block out ,god2 and 'that which is least' has the diabolical power of seeming greater to us than1 and of obscuring our vision of1 'that which is most4' ,may ,i remind you that all these thoughts about the bearing of faithfulness in administering the lower of our possessions1 on the attainment of higher1 apply to us whatever be the amount of these outward goods that we have8 ,i suppose there were not twelve poorer men in all ,palestine that day than the twelve to whom my text was originally addressed4 ,three of them had left their nets and their fishing-boats1 one of them we know had left his counting-house1 as a publican1 and all his receipts and taxes behind him4 ,what they had we know not1 but at all events they were the poor of this world4 ,do not any of you that happen to be modestly or poorly off think that my sermon is a sermon for rich men4 ,it is not what we have1 but how we handle it1 that is in question4 ',the cares of this world1 and the deceitfulness of riches1' were bracketed together by ,jesus ,christ as the things that 'choke the word1' and make it unfruitful4 ,the poor man who wants1 and the rich man who uses unfaithfully1 are alike hit by the words of my text4 ,now1 further1 let me ask you to look at ,,iii4 ,the bearing of faithfulness in this life on the fuller possession of our true riches in the life hereafter4 ,there lies under this whole context a striking conception of life here in its relation to the life hereafter1 ,a father sets his son1 or a master sets his apprentice1 to some small task1 an experiment made upon a comparatively worthless body1 supplies him with material which it does not much matter whether he spoils or not1 and then if by practice the hand becomes deft1 he is set to better work4 ,god sets us to try our 'prentice hands here in the world1 and if we administer that rightly1 not necessarily perfectly1 but so as to show that there are the makings of a good workman in us by ,his gracious help1 then the next life comes1 with its ampler margin1 with its wider possibilities1 with its nobler powers1 and there we are set to use in loftier fashion the powers which we made our own being here4 ',thou hast been faithful over a few things1 ,i will make thee ruler over many things4' ,i have said that the great use of the world and all its wealth is to make character4 ,i have said that that character determines our capacity for the possession of ,god4 ,i have said that our administration of worldly wealth is one chief factor in determining our character4 ,now ,i say that that character persists4 ,there are great changes1 changes the significance and the scope and the consequences of which we can never know here4 ,but the man remains1 in the main direction of his being1 in the character which he has made for himself by his use of ,god's world and of ,christ's ,spirit4 ,and so the way in which we handle the trivialities and temporalities here has eternal consequences4 ,we sit in a low room with the telegraph instrument in front of us1 and we click off our messages1 and they are recorded away yonder1 and we shall have to read them one day4 ,transient causes produce permanent effects4 ,the seas which laid down the great sandstone deposits that make so large a portion of the framework of this world have long since evaporated4 ,but the footprints of the seabird that stalked across the moist sand1 and the little pits made by the raindrops that fell countless millenniums ago on the red ooze1 are there yet1 and you may see them in our museums4 ,and so our faithfulness1 or our unfaithfulness1 here has made the character which is eternal1 and on which will depend whether we shall1 in the joys of that future life1 possess ,god in fullness1 or whether we shall lose ,him1 as our portion and our ,friend4 ,now1 dear brethren1 do not forget that all this that ,i have been saying is the second page in ,christ's teaching2 and the first page is an entirely different one4 ,i have been saying that we make character1 and that character determines our possession of ,god and ,his grace4 ,but there is another thing to be said4 ,the central thought of ,christ's gospel is that ,god1 in ,his sweetness1 in ,his pardoning mercy1 in ,his cleansing ,spirit1 is given to the very men whose characters do not deserve it4 ,and the same ,lord who said1 ',if ye have not been faithful in that which is least1 who shall give you that which is greatest8' says also from the heavens1' ,i counsel thee to buy of ,me gold tried in the fire1 that thou mayest be rich4' ,my text1 and the principle that is involved in it1 do not contradict the great truth that we are saved by simple faith1 however unworthy we are4 ,that is the message to begin with4 ,and unless you have received it you are not standing in the place where the message that ,i have been insisting upon has a personal bearing on you4 ,but if you have taken ,christ for your salvation1 remember1 ,christian brother and sister1 that it is not the same thing in regard either to your ,christian life on earth1 or to your heavenly glory1 whether you have been living faithfully as stewards in your handling of earth's perishable good1 or whether you have clung to it as your real portion1 have used it selfishly1 and by it have hidden ,god from your hearts4 ,to ,christian men is addressed the charge that we trust not in the uncertainty of riches1 but in the living ,god1 and that we be 'rich in good works1 ready to distribute1 willing to communicate1 that we lay up in store for ourselves a good foundation against the time to come'2 and so 'lay hold on the life that is life indeed4' ,,dives ,,and ,,lazarus ',there was a certain rich man1 which was clothed in purple and fine linen1 and fared sumptuously every day3 #bj4 ,and there was a certain beggar named ,lazarus1 which was laid at his gate1 full of sores1 #ba4 ,and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table3 moreover the dogs came and licked his sores4 #bb4 ,and it came to pass1 that the beggar died1 and was carried by the angels into ,abraham's bosom3 the rich man also died1 and was buried2 #bc4 ,and in hell he lifted up his eyes1 being in torments1 and seeth ,abraham afar off1 and ,lazarus in his bosom4 #bd4 ,and he cried1 and said1 ,father ,abraham1 have mercy on me1 and send ,lazarus1 that he may dip the tip of his finger in water1 and cool my tongue2 for ,i am tormented in this flame4 #be1 ,but ,abraham said1 ,son1 remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things1 and likewise ,lazarus evil things3 but now he is comforted1 and thou art tormented4 #bf4 ,and besides all this1 between us and you there is a great gulf fixed3 so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot2 neither can they pass to us1 that would come from thence4 #bg4 ,then he said1 ,i pray thee therefore1 father1 that thou wouldest send him to my father's house3 #bh4 ,for ,i have five brethren2 that he may testify unto them lest they also come into this place of torment4 #bi4 ,abraham saith unto him1 ,they have ,moses and the prophets2 let them hear them4 #cj4 ,and he said1 ,nay1 father ,abraham3 but if one went unto them from the dead1 they will repent4 #ca4 ,and he said unto him1 ,if they hear not ,moses and the prophets1 neither will they be persuaded1 though one rose from the dead4' --,luke xvi4 #ai-ca4 ,this1 the sternest of ,christ's parables1 must be closely connected with verses #ac and #ad4 ,keeping them in view1 its true purpose is plain4 ,it is meant to rebuke1 not the possession of wealth1 but its heartless1 selfish use4 ,christ never treats outward conditions as having the power of determining either character or destiny4 ,what a man does with his conditions settles what he is and what becomes of him4 ,nor does the parable teach that the use of wealth is the only determining factor1 but1 as every parable must do1 it has to isolate the lesson it teaches in order to burn it into the hearers4 ,there are three parts in the story--the conduct of the rich man1 his fate1 and the sufficiency of existing warnings to keep us from his sin and his end4 ,i4 ,properly speaking1 we have here1 not a parable--that is1 a representation of physical facts which have to be translated into moral or religious truths--but an imaginary narrative1 embodying a normal fact in a single case4 ,the rich man does not stand for something else1 but is one of the class of which ,jesus wishes to set forth the sin and fate4 ,it is very striking that neither he nor the beggar is represented as acting1 but each is simply described4 ,the juxtaposition of the two figures carries the whole lesson4 ,it has sometimes been felt as a difficulty that the one is not said to have done anything bad1 nor the other to have been devout or good2 and some hasty readers have thought that ,jesus was here teaching the communistic doctrine that wealth is sin1 and that poverty is virtue4 ,no such crude trash came from ,his lips4 ,but ,he does teach that heartless wallowing in luxury1 with naked1 starving beggars at the gate1 is sin which brings bitter retribution4 ,the fact that the rich man does nothing is ,his condemnation4 ,he was not damned because he had a purple robe and fine linen undergarments1 nor because he had lived in abundance1 and every meal had been a festival1 but because1 while so living1 he utterly ignored ,lazarus1 and used his wealth only for his own gratification4 ,nothing more needs to be said about his character2 the facts sufficiently show it4 ,still less needs to be said about that of ,lazarus4 ,in this part of the narrative he comes into view simply as the means of bringing out the rich man's heartlessness and self-indulgence4 ,for the purposes of the narrative his disposition was immaterial2 for it is not our duty to help only deserving or good people4 ,manhood and misery are enough to establish the right to sympathy and succour4 ,there may be a hint of character in the name ',lazarus1' which probably means ',god is help4' ,since this is the only name in the parables1 it is natural to give it significance1 and it most likely suggests that the beggar clung to ,god as his stay4 ,it may glance1 too1 at the riddle of life1 which often seems to mock trust by continued trouble4 ,little outward sign had ,lazarus of divine help1 yet he did not cast away his confidence4 ,no doubt1 he sometimes got some crumbs from ,dives' table1 but not from ,dives4 ,that the dogs licked his sores does not seem meant as either alleviation or aggravation1 but simply as vividly describing his passive helplessness and utterly neglected condition4 ,neither he nor any one drove them off4 ,but the main point about him is that he was at ,dives' gate1 and therefore thrust before ,dives' notice1 and that he got no help4 ,the rich man was not bound to go and hunt for poor people1 but here was one pushed under his nose1 as it were4 ,translate that into general expressions1 and it means that we all have opportunities of beneficence laid in our paths1 and that our guilt is heavy if we neglect these4 ',the poor ye have always with you4' ,the guilt of selfish use of worldly possessions is equally great whatever is the amount of possessions4 ,doing nothing when ,lazarus lies at our gate is doing great wickedness4 ,these truths have a sharp edge for us as well as for the ',pharisees who were covetous'2 and they are wofully forgotten by professing ,christians4 ,,ii4 ,in the second part of the narrative1 our ,lord follows the two1 who had been so near each other and yet so separated1 into the land beyond the grave4 ,it is to be especially noticed that1 in doing so1 ,he adopts the familiar ,rabbinical teaching as to ,hades4 ,he does not thereby stamp these conceptions of the state of the dead with ,his assent2 for the purpose of the narrative is not to reveal the secrets of that land1 but to impress the truth of retribution for the sin in question4 ,it would not be to a group of ,pharisaic listeners that ,he would have unveiled that world4 ,he takes their own notions of it--angel bearers1 ,abraham's bosom1 the two divisions in ,hades1 the separation1 and yet communication1 between them4 ,these are ,rabbis' fancies1 not ,christ's revelations4 ,the truths which ,he wished to force home lie in the highly imaginative conversation between the rich man and ,abraham1 which also has its likeness in many a ,rabbinical legend4 ,the difference between the ends of the two men has been often noticed1 and lessons1 perhaps not altogether warranted1 drawn from it4 ,but it seems right to suppose that the omission of any notice of the beggar's burial is meant to bring out that the neglect and pitilessness1 which had let him die1 left his corpse unburied4 ,perhaps the dogs that had licked his sores tore his flesh4 ,a fine sight that would be from the rich man's door6 ,the latter had to die too1 for all his purple1 and to be swathed in less gorgeous robes4 ,his funeral is mentioned1 not only because pomp and ostentation went as far as they could with him1 but to suggest that he had to leave them all behind4 ',his glory shall not descend after him4' ,the terrible picture of the rich man's torments solemnly warns us of the necessary end of a selfish life such as his4 ,the soul that lives to itself does not find satisfaction even here2 but1 when all externals are left behind1 it cannot but be in torture4 ,that is not drapery4 ,character makes destiny1 and to live to self is death4 ,observe1 too1 that the relative positions of ,dives and ,lazarus are reversed--the beggar being now the possessor of abundance and delights1 while the rich man is the sufferer and the needy4 ,further note that the latter now desires to have from the former the very help which in life he had not given him1 and that the retribution for refusing succour here is its denial hereafter4 ,there had been no sharing of 'good things' in the past life1 but the rich man had asserted his exclusive rights to them4 ,they had been 'thy good things' in a very sinful sense1 and ,lazarus had bean left to carry his evil things alone4 ,there shall be no communication of good now4 ,earth was the place for mutual help and impartation4 ,that world affords no scope for it2 for there men reap what they have sown1 and each character has to bear its own burden4 ,finally1 the ineffaceableness of distinctions of character1 and therefore of destiny1 is set forth by the solemn image of the great gulf which cannot be crossed4 ,it is indeed to be remembered that our ,lord is speaking of 'the intermediate state1' before resurrection and final judgment1 and that1 as already remarked1 the intention of the narrative is not to reveal the mysteries of the final state4 ,but still the impression left by the whole is that life here determines life hereafter1 and that character1 once set and hardened here1 cannot be cast into the melting-pot and remoulded there4 ,,iii4 ,the last part of the narrative teaches that the fatal sin of heartless selfishness is inexcusable4 ,the rich man's thought for his brethren was quite as much an excuse for himself4 ,he thought that1 if he had only known1 things would have been different4 ,he shifts blame from himself on to the insufficiency of the warnings given him4 ,and the two answers put into ,abraham's mouth teach the sufficiency of ',moses and the prophets1' little as these say about the future1 and the impossibility of compelling men to listen to a divine message to which they do not wish to listen4 ,the fault lies1 not in the deficiency of the warnings1 but in the aversion of the will4 ,no matter whether it is ,moses or a spirit from ,hades who speaks1 if men do not wish to hear1 they will not hear4 ,they will not be persuaded--for persuasion has as much1 or more1 to do with the heart and inclination than with the head4 ,we have as much witness from heaven as we need4 ,the worst man knows more of duty than the best man does4 ,dives is in torments because he lived for self2 and he lived for self1 not because he did not know that it was wrong1 but because he did not choose to do what he knew to be right4 ,,memory ,,in ,,another ,,world ',abraham said1 ,son1 remember6'--,,luke xvi4 #be4 ,it is a very striking thought that ,christ1 if ,he be what we suppose ,him to be1 knew all about the unseen present which we call the future1 and yet was all but silent in reference to it4 ,seldom is it on ,his lips at all4 ,of arguments drawn from another world ,he has very few4 ,sometimes ,he speaks about it1 but rather by allusion than in anything like an explicit revelation4 ,this parable out of which my text is taken1 is perhaps the most definite and continuous of ,his words about the invisible world2 and yet all the while it lay there before ,him2 and standing on the very verge of it1 with it spread out clear before ,his gaze1 ,he reads off but a word or two of what ,he sees1 and then shuts it in in darkness1 and says to us1 in the spirit of a part of this parable1 ',you have ,moses and the prophets--hear them3 if these are not enough1 it will not be enough for you if all the glories of heaven and all the ghastliness of hell are flashed and flamed before you4' ,we1 too1 if we are to 'prophesy according to the proportion of faith1' must not leave out altogether references to a future life in its two departments1 and such motives as may be based upon them2 only1 ,i think1 we ought always to keep them in the same relative amount to the whole of our teaching in which ,christ kept them4 ,this parable1 seeing that it is a parable1 of course cannot be trusted as if it were a piece of simple dogmatic revelation1 to give us information1 facts1 so as to construct out of it a theory of the other world4 ,we are always in the double danger in parables1 of taking that for drapery which was meant to be essence1 and taking that for essence which was meant to be drapery4 ,and so ,i do not profess to read from this narrative any very definite and clear knowledge of the future2 but ,i think that in the two words which ,i have ventured to take as a text1 we get the basis of very impressive thoughts with regard to the functions of memory in another world4 ',son1 remember6' ,it is the voice1 the first voice1 the perpetual voice1 which meets every man when he steps across the threshold of earth into the presence chamber of eternity4 ,all the future is so built upon and interwoven with the past1 that for the saved and for the lost alike this word might almost be taken as the motto of their whole situation1 as the explanation of their whole condition4 ,memory in another world is indispensable to the gladness of the glad1 and strikes the deepest note in the sadness of the lost4 ,there can be no need to dwell at any length on the simple introductory thought1 that there must be memory in a future state4 ,unless there were remembrance1 there could be no sense of individuality4 ,a man cannot have any conviction that he is himself1 but by constant1 though often unconscious1 operation of this subtle act of remembrance4 ,there can be no sense of personal identity except in proportion as there is clearness of recollection4 ,then again1 if that future state be a state of retribution1 there must be memory4 ,otherwise1 there might be joy1 and there might be sorrow1 but the why and the wherefore of either would be entirely struck out of a man's consciousness1 and the one could not be felt as reward1 nor the other as punishment4 ,if1 then1 we are to rise from the grave the same men that we are laid in it1 and if the future life has this for its characteristic1 that it is a state either of recompense and reward1 or of retribution and suffering1 then1 for both1 the clearness and constant action1 of memory are certainly needed4 ,but it is not to the simple fact of its existence that ,i desire to direct your attention now4 ,i wish1 rather1 to suggest to you one or two modifications under which it must apparently work in another world4 ,when men remember there1 they will remember very differently from the way in which they remember here4 ,let us look at these changes-constituting it1 on the one hand1 an instrument of torture2 and1 on the other1 a foundation of all our gladness4 ,i4 ,first1 in another state1 memory will be so widened as to take in the whole life4 ,we believe that what a man is in this life1 he is more in another1 that tendencies here become results yonder1 that his sin1 that his falsehood1 that his whole moral nature1 be it good or bad1 becomes there what it is only striving to be here4 ,we believe that in this present life our capacities of all sorts are hedged in1 thwarted1 damped down1 diluted1 by the necessity which there is for their working through this material body of ours4 ,we believe that death is the heightening of a man's stature--if he be bad1 the intensifying of his badness2 if he be good1 the strengthening of his goodness4 ,we believe that the contents of the intellectual nature1 the capacities of that nature also1 are all increased by the fact of having done with earth and having left the body behind4 ,it is1 ,i think1 the teaching of common-sense1 and it is the teaching of the ,bible4 ,true1 that for some1 that growth will only be a growth into greater power of feeling greater sorrow4 ,such an one grows up into a ,hercules2 but it is only that the ,nessus shirt may wrap round him more tightly1 and may gnaw him with a fiercer agony4 ,but whether saved or lost--he that dies is greater than when yet living2 and all his powers are intensified and strengthened by that awful experience of death and by what it brings with it4 ,memory partakes in the common quickening4 ,there are not wanting analogies and experiences in our present life to let us see that1 in fact1 when we talk about forgetting we ought to mean nothing more than the temporary cessation of conscious remembrance4 ,everything which you do leaves its effect with you for ever1 just as long-forgotten meals are in your blood and bones to-day4 ,every act that a man performs is there4 ,it has printed itself upon his soul1 it has become a part of himself3 and though1 like a newly painted picture1 after a little while the colours sink in1 why is that8 ,only because they have entered into the very fibre of the canvas1 and have left the surface because they are incorporated with the substance1 and they want but a touch of varnish to flash out again6 ,we forget nothing1 in the sense of not being able1 some time or another1 to recall it2 we forget much in the sense of ceasing for a time to have it in our thoughts4 ,for we know1 in our own case1 how strangely there come swimming up before us1 out of the depths of the dim waters of oblivion--as one has seen some bright shell drawn from the sunless sea-caves1 and gleaming white and shapeless far down before we had it on the surface--past thoughts1 we know not whence or how4 ,some one of the million of hooks1 with which all our life is furnished1 has laid hold of some subtle suggestion which has been enough to bring them up into consciousness4 ,we said we had forgotten them4 ,what does it mean8 ,only that they had sunk into the deep1 beneath our consciousness1 and lay there to be brought up when needful4 ,there is nothing more strange than the way in which some period of my life1 that ,i supposed to be an entire blank--if ,i will think about it for a little while1 begins to glimmer into form4 ,as the developing solution brings out the image on the photographic plate1 so the mind has the strange power1 by fixing the attention1 as we say 7a short word which means a long1 mysterious thing7 upon that past that is half-remembered and half-forgotten1 of bringing it into clear consciousness and perfect recollection4 ,and1 there are instances1 too1 of a still more striking kind1 familiar to some of us how in what people call morbid states1 men remember their childhood1 which they had forgotten for long years4 ,you may remember that old story of the dying woman beginning to speak in a tongue unknown to all that stood around her bed4 ,when a child she had learned some northern language1 in a far-off land4 ,long before she had learned to shape any definite remembrances of the place1 she had been taken away1 and not having used1 had forgotten the speech4 ,but at last there rushed up again all the old memories1 and the tongue of the dumb was loosed1 and she spake6 ,people would say1 'the action of disease4' ,it may be1 but that explains nothing4 ,perhaps in such states the spirit is working in a manner less limited by the body than in health1 and so showing some slight prelude of its powers when it has shuffled off this mortal coil4 ,but be that as it may1 these morbid phenomena1 and the other more familiar facts already referred to1 unite to show us that the sphere of recollection is much wider than that occupied at any given moment by memory4 ,recollection is the servant of ,memory1 as our great poet tells us in his wise allegory1 and 'does on him still attend1 ,to reach whenever he for ought does send4' ,we cannot lay aside anything that we have ever done or been so utterly but that that servant can find it and bring it to his lord4 ,we forget nothing so completely but that we shall be able to recall it4 ,of that awful power we may say1 without irreverence1 ',thou hast set our iniquities before thee1 our secret sins in the light of thy countenance4' ,the fragmentary remembrances which we have now1 lift themselves above the ocean of forgetfulness like islands in some ,archipelago1 the summits of sister hills1 though separated by the estranging sea that covers their converging sides and the valleys where their roots unite4 ,the solid land is there1 though hidden4 ,drain off the sea1 and there will be no more isolated peaks1 but continuous land4 ,in this life we have but the island memories heaving themselves into sight1 but in the next the ,lord shall 'cause the sea to go back by the breath of ,his mouth1' and the channels of the great deep of a human heart's experiences and actions shall be laid bare4 ',there shall be no more sea'2 but the solid land of a whole life will appear when ,god says1 ',son1 remember6' ,so much1 then1 for my first consideration--namely1 that memory in a future state will comprehend the whole of life4 ,another thing is1 that memory in a future state will probably be so rapid as to embrace all the past life at once4 ,we do not know1 we have no conception of1 the extent to which our thinking1 and feeling1 and remembrance1 are made tardy by the slow vehicle of this bodily organisation in which the soul rides4 ,but we have in our own lives instances enough to make us feel that there lie in us dormant1 mysterious powers by which the rapidity of all our operations of thought and feeling will be enhanced marvellously1 like the difference between a broad-wheeled waggon and an express train6 ,at some turning point of your life1 when some great joy flashed1 or some great shadow darkened upon you all at once2 when some crisis that wanted an instantaneous decision appeared--why1 what regions of thought1 purpose1 plan1 resolution2 what wilderness of desolate sorrow1 and what paradises of blooming gladness1 your soul has gone through in a moment4 ,well1 then1 take another illustration3 ,a sleeper1 feeling a light finger laid upon his shoulder1 does not know what it is2 in an instant he awakes and says1 ',is it you8' but between that touch and that word there may be a whole life run through1 a whole series of long events dreamt and felt4 ,as on the little retina of an eye there can be painted on a scale inconceivably minute1 every tree and mountain-top in the whole wide panorama--so1 in an instant1 one may run through almost a whole lifetime of mental acts4 ,then1 again1 you remember that illustration1 often used on this subject1 about the experience of those who have been brought face to face with sudden death1 and escaped it4 ,the drowning man1 when he comes to himself1 tells us1 that in the interval betwixt the instant when he felt he was going and the passing away of consciousness1 all his life stood before him2 as if some flash in a dark midnight had lighted up a whole mountain country--there it all was6 ,ah1 brethren6 we know nothing yet about the rapidity with which we may gather before us a whole series of events2 so that although we have to pass from one to another1 the succession may be so swift1 as to produce in our own minds the effect of all being co-existent and simultaneous4 ,as the child flashing about him a bit of burning stick1 may seem to make a circle of flame1 because the flame-point moves so quickly--so memory1 though it does go from point to point1 and dwells for some inconceivably minute instant on each part of the remembrance1 may yet be gifted with such lightning speed1 with such rapidity and awful quickness of glance1 as that to the man himself the effect shall be that his whole life is spread out there before him in one instant1 and that he1 ,godlike1 sees the end and the beginning side by side4 ,yes2 from the mountain of eternity we shall look down1 and behold the whole plain spread before us4 ,down here we get lost and confused in the devious valleys that run off from the roots of the hills everywhere1 and we cannot make out which way the streams are going1 and what there is behind that low shoulder of hill yonder3 but when we get to the summit peak1 and look down1 it will all shape itself into one consistent whole1 and we shall see it all at once4 ,the memory shall be perfect--perfect in the range of its grasp1 and perfect in the rapidity with which it brings up all its objects before us at every instant4 ,once more3 it seems as if1 in another world1 memory would not only contain the whole life1 and the whole life simultaneously2 but would perpetually attend or haunt us4 ,a constant remembrance6 ,it does not lie in our power even in this world1 to decide very much whether we shall remember or forget4 ,it does not come within a man's will to forget or to remember4 ,he cannot say1 ',i will remember'2 for if he could1 he would have remembered already4 ,he cannot say1 ',i will forget'2 for the very effort fixes his attention on the obnoxious thing4 ,all that we can do1 when we seek to remember1 is to wander back to somewhere about that point in our life where the shy thing lurks1 and hope to catch some sight of it in the leafy coverts3 and all we can do1 when we want to forget1 is to try and fill our mind with other subjects1 and in the distractions of them to lose the oppressive and burdensome thoughts4 ,but we know that that is but a partial remedy1 that we cannot succeed in doing it4 ,there are presences that will not be put by4 ,there are memories that will start up before us1 whether we are willing or not4 ,like the leprosy in the ,israelite's house1 the foul spot works its way out through all the plaster and the paint2 and the house is foul because it is there4 ,oh1 my friend6 you are a happy and a singular man if there is nothing in your life that you have tried to bury1 and the obstinate thing will not be buried1 but meets you again when you come away from its fancied grave4 ,i remember an old castle where they tell us of a foul murder committed in a vaulted chamber with a narrow window1 by torchlight one night2 and there1 they say1 there are the streaks and stains of blood on the black oak floor2 and they have planed1 and scrubbed1 and planed again1 and thought they were gone--but there they always are1 and continually up comes the dull reddish-black stain1 as if oozing itself out through the boards to witness to the bloody crime again6 ,the superstitious fable is a type of the way in which a foul thing1 a sinful and bitter memory--gets ingrained into a man's heart4 ,he tries to banish it1 and gets rid of it for a while4 ,he goes back again1 and the spots are there1 and will be there for ever2 and the only way to get rid of them is to destroy the soul in which they are4 ,memory is not all within the power of the will on earth3 and probably1 memory in another world is still more involuntary and still more constant4 ,why8 ,because ,i read in the ,bible that there is work in another world for ,god's servants to do2 but ,i do not read that there is work for anybody else but ,god's servants to do4 ,the work of an unforgiven sinner is done when he dies1 and that not only because he is going into the state of retribution1 but because no rebel's work is going to be suffered in that world4 ,the time for that is past4 ,and so1 if you will look1 all the teachings of the ,bible about the future state of those who are not in blessedness1 give us this idea--a monotonous continuance of idleness1 shutting them up to their own contemplations1 the memories of the past and the agonies of the future4 ,there are no distractions for such a man in another world4 ,he has thought1 he has conscience1 he has remembrance4 ,he has a sense of pain1 of sin1 of wrong1 of loss4 ,he has one 'passive fixed endurance1 all eternal and the same'2 but ,i do not read that his pain is anodyned and his sorrow soothed by any activity that his hand finds to do4 ,and1 in a most tragic sense1 we may say1 'there is neither work1 nor labour1 nor device1' in that dark world where the fruits of sin are reaped in monotonous suffering and ever-present pain4 ,a memory1 brethren1 that iwill have its own way--what a field for sorrow and lamentation that is1 when ,god says at last1 ',now go--go apart2 take thy life with thee2 read it over2 see what thou hast done with it6' ,one old ,roman tyrant had a punishment in which he bound the dead body of the murdered to the living body of the murderer1 and left them there scaffolded4 ,and when that voice comes1 ',son1 remember6' to the living soul of the godless1 unbelieving1 impenitent man1 there is bound to him the murdered past1 the dead past1 his own life2 and1 in ,milton's awful and profound words1 ',which way ,i fly is hell--myself am hell6' ,there is only one other modification of this awful faculty that ,i would remind you of2 and that is1 that in a future life memory will be associated with a perfectly accurate knowledge of the consequences and a perfectly sensitive conscience as to the criminality of the past4 ,you will have cause and consequence put down before you1 meeting each other at last4 ,there will be no room then to say1 ',i wonder how such and such a thing will work out1' ',i wonder how such a thing can have come upon me'2 but every one will have his whole life to look back upon1 and will see the childish sin that was the parent of the full-grown vice1 and the everlasting sorrow that came out of that little and apparently transitory root4 ,the conscience1 which here becomes hardened by contact with sin1 and enfeebled because unheeded1 will then be restored to its early sensitiveness and power1 as if the labourer's horny palm were to be endowed again with the softness of the infant's little hand4 ,if you will take and think about that1 brother1 there is enough--without any more talk1 without any more ghastly1 sensual external figures--there is enough to make the boldest tremble2 a memory embracing all the past1 a memory rapidly grasping and constantly bringing its burden1 a judgment which admits of no mistakes1 and a conscience which has done with palliations and excuses6 ,it is not difficult to see how that is an instrument of torture4 ,it is more difficult to see how such a memory can be a source of gladness2 and yet it can4 ,the old ,greeks were pressed with that difficulty3 they said to themselves1 ,if a man remembers1 there can be no ,elysium for him4 ,and so they put the river of forgetfulness1 the waters of ,lethe1 betwixt life and the happy plains4 ,ah1 we do not want any river of oblivion betwixt us and everlasting blessedness4 ,calvary is on this side1 and that is enough6 ,certainly it is one of the most blessed things about 'the faith that is in ,christ ,jesus1' that it makes a man remember his own sinfulness with penitence1 not with pain--that it makes the memory of past transgressions full of solemn joy1 because the memory of past transgressions but brings to mind the depth and rushing fullness of that river of love which has swept them all away as far as the east is from the west4 ,oh1 brother1 brother6 you cannot forget your sins2 but it lies within your own decision whether the remembrance shall be thankfulness and blessedness1 or whether it shall be pain and loss for ever4 ,like some black rock that heaves itself above the surface of a sunlit sea1 and the wave runs dashing over it1 and the spray1 as it falls down its sides1 is all rainbowed and lightened1 and there comes beauty into the mighty grimness of the black thing2--so a man's transgressions rear themselves up1 and ,god's great love1 coming sweeping itself against them and over them1 makes out of the sin an occasion for the flashing more brightly of the beauty of ,his mercy1 and turns the life of the pardoned penitent into a life of which even the sin is not pain to remember4 ,so1 then1 lay your hand upon ,christ ,jesus4 ,put your heart into ,his keeping4 ,go to ,him with your transgressions1 ,he will forget them1 and make it possible for you to remember them in such a way that the memory will become to you the very foundation of all your joy1 and will make heaven's anthem deeper and more harmonious when you say1 ',now unto ,him that hath washed us from our sins in ,his own blood1 and hath made us kings and priests unto ,god1 unto ,him be glory for ever and ever6' ,and1 on the other hand1 if not1 then1 ',son1 remember6' will be the word that begins the future retribution1 and shuts you up with a wasted past1 with a gnawing conscience1 and an upbraiding heart3 to say1 ',i backward cast my ee ,on prospects drear6 ,and forward1 though ,i canna see1 ,i guess and fear6' ,,god',s ,,slaves ',doth ,he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him6 ,i trow not4 #aj4 ,so likewise ye1 when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you1 say1 ,we are unprofitable servants3 we have done that which was our duty to do4' --,,luke xvii4 #i-aj4 ,there are two difficulties about these words4 ,one is their apparent entire want of connection with what precedes--viz41 the disciples' prayer1 ',lord1 increase our faith1' and the other is the harshness and severity of tone which marks them1 and the view of the less attractive side of man's relation to ,god which is thrown into prominence in them4 ,he must be a very churlish master who never says ',thank you1' however faithful his servant's obedience may be4 ,and he must be a very inconsiderate master1 who has only another kind of duty to lay upon the shoulders of the servant that has come in after a long day's ploughing and feeding of cattle4 ,perhaps1 however1 the one difficulty clears away the other1 and if we keep firm hold of the thought that the words of my text1 and those which are associated with them1 are an answer to the prayer1 ',lord1 increase our faith1' the stern and somewhat repelling characteristics of the words may somewhat change4 ,i4 ,so ,i look1 first1 at the husk of apparent harshness and severity4 ,the relation between master and hired servant is not the one that is in view1 but the relation between a master and the slave who is his property1 who has no rights1 who has no possessions1 whose life and death and everything connected with him are at the absolute disposal of his master4 ,it is a foul and wicked relation when existing between men1 and it has been full of cruelty and atrocities4 ,but ,jesus ,christ lays ,his hand upon it1 and says1 ',that is the relation between men and ,god2 that is the relation between men and ,me4' ,and what is involved therein8 ,absolute authority2 so that the slave is but1 as it were1 an animated instrument in the hand of the master1 with no will of his own1 and no rights and no possessions4 ,that is not all of our relation to ,god1 blessed be ,his ,name6 ,but that is in our relation to ,him1 and the highest title that a man can have is the title which the ,apostles in after days bound upon their foreheads as a crown of honour--',a slave of ,jesus ,christ4' ,then1 if that relation is laid as being the basis of all our connection with ,god1 whatever else there may be also involved1 these two things which in the human relation are ugly and inconsiderate1 and argue a very churlish and selfish nature on the part of the human master1 belong essentially to our relation to ,god4 ',which of you1 having a servant1 ploughing or feeding cattle1 will say unto him 444 when he has come from the field1 ,go 7immediately7 and sit down to meat1 and will not rather say unto him1 ,make ready wherewith ,i may sup1 and gird thyself and serve me1 till ,i have eaten and drunken3 and afterward thou shalt eat and drink8' ,you will get your supper by-and-by1 but you are here to work1 says the master1 and when you have finished one task1 that does not involve that you are to rest2 it involves only that you are to take up another4 ,and however wearisome has been the ploughing amongst the heavy clods all day long1 and tramping up and down the furrows1 when you come in you are to clean yourself up1 and get my supper ready1 'and afterward thou shalt eat and drink4' ,as ,i have said1 such a speech would argue a harsh human master1 but is there not a truth which is not harsh in it in reference to us and ,god8 ,duty never ends4 ,the eternal persistence through life of the obligation to service is what is taught us here1 as being inherent in the very relation between the ,lord and ,owner of us all and us ,his slaves4 ,moralists and irreligious teachers say grand things about the eternal sweep of the great law of duty4 ,the ,christian thought is the higher one1 ',thou hast beset me behind and before1 and laid ,thine hand upon me1' and wherever ,i am ,i am under obligation to serve ,thee1 and no past record of work absolves me from the work of the present4 ,from the cradle to the grave ,i walk beneath an all-encompassing1 overarching firmament of duty4 ,as long as we draw breath we are bound to the service of ,him whose slaves we are1 and whose service is perfect freedom4 ,such is the bearing of this apparently repulsive representation of our text1 which is not so repulsive if you come to think about it4 ,it does not in the least set aside the natural craving for recreation and relaxation and repose4 ,it does not overlook ,god's obligation to keep ,his slave alive1 and in good condition for doing ,his work1 by bestowing upon him the things that are needful for him1 but it does meet that temptation which comes to us all to take that rest which circumstances may make manifestly not ,god's will1 and it says to us1 ',forget the things that are behind1 and reach forth unto the things that are before4' ,you have done a long day's work with plough or sheep-crook4 ,the reward for work is more work4 ,come away indoors now1 and nearer the ,master1 prepare ,his table4 ',which of you1 having a servant1 will not do so with him8' ,and that is how ,he does with us4 ,then1 the next thought here1 which1 as ,i say1 has a harsh exterior1 and a bitter rind1 is that one of the slave doing his work1 and never getting so much as 'thank you' for it4 ,but if you lift this interpretation too1 into the higher region of the relation between ,god and ,his slaves down here1 a great deal of the harshness drops away4 ,for what does it come to8 ,just to this1 that no man among us1 by any amount or completeness of obedience to the will of ,god establishes claims on ,god for a reward4 ,you have done your duty--so much the better for you1 but is that any reason why you should be decorated and honoured for doing it8 ,you have done no more than your duty4 ',so1 likewise1 ye1 when ye have done all things that are commanded you'--even if that impossible condition were to be realised--'say we are unprofitable servants'2 not in the bad sense in which the word is sometimes used1 but in the accurate sense of not having brought any profit or advantage1 more than was ,his before1 to the ,master whom we have thus served4 ,it is a blessed thing for a man to call himself an unprofitable servant2 it is an awful thing for the ,master to call him one4 ,if we say 'we are unprofitable servants1' we shall be likely to escape the solemn words from the ,lord's lips3 ',take ye away the unprofitable servant1 and cast him into outer darkness4' ,there are two that may use the word1 ,christ the ,judge1 and man the judged1 and if the man will use it1 ,christ will not4 ',if we judge ourselves we shall not be judged4' ,now1 although1 as ,i have said about the other part of this text1 it is not meant to exhaust our relations to ,god1 or to say the all-comprehensive word about the relation of obedience to blessedness2 it is meant to say ',merit lives from man to man1 ,and not from man1 ,o ,lord6 to ,thee4' ,no one can reasonably build upon his own obedience1 or his own work1 nor claim as by right1 for reward1 heaven or other good4 ,so my text is the anticipation of ,paul's teaching about the impossibility of a man's being saved by his works1 and it cuts up by the root1 not only the teaching as to a treasure of 'merits of the saints1' and 'works of supererogation1' and the like2 but it tells us1 too1 that we must beware of the germs of that self-complacent way of looking at ourselves and our own obedience1 as if they had anything at all to do with our buying either the favour of ,god1 or the rewards of the faithful servant4 ,,ii4 ,now1 all that ,i have been saying may sound very harsh4 ,let us take a second step1 and try if we can find out the kernel of grace in the harsh husk4 ,i hold fast by the one clue that ,jesus ,christ is here replying to the ,apostle's prayer1 ',lord1 increase our faith4' ,he had been laying down some very hard regulations for their conduct1 and1 naturally1 when they felt how difficult it would be to come within a thousand miles of what ,he had been bidding them1 they turned to ,him with that prayer4 ,it suggests that faith is there1 in living operation1 or they would not have prayed to ,him for its increase4 ,and how does ,he go about the work of increasing it8 ,in two ways1 one of which does not enter into my present subject4 ,first1 by showing the disciples the power of faith1 in order to stimulate them to greater effort for its possession4 ,he promised that they might say to the fig tree1 ',be thou plucked up and planted in the sea1' and it should obey them4 ,the second way was by this context of which ,i am speaking now4 ,how does it bear upon the ,apostles' prayer8 ,what is there in this teaching about the slave and his master1 and the slave's work1 and the incompatibility of the notion of reward with the slave's service1 to help to strengthen faith8 ,there is this that this teaching beats down every trace of self-confidence1 and if we take it in and live by it1 makes us all feel that we stand before ,god1 whatever have been our deeds of service1 with no claims arising from any virtue or righteousness of our own4 ,we come empty-handed4 ,if the servant who has done all that is commanded has yet to say1 ',i can ask nothing from ,thee1 because ,i have done it1 for it was all in the line of my duty1' what are we to say1 who have done so little that was commanded1 and so much that was forbidden8 ,so1 you see1 the way to increased faith is not by any magical communication from ,christ1 as the ,apostles thought1 but by taking into our hearts1 and making operative in our lives1 the great truth that in us there is nothing that can make a claim upon ,god1 and that we must cast ourselves1 as deserving nothing1 wholly into ,his merciful hands1 and find ourselves held up by ,his great unmerited love4 ,get the bitter poison root of self-trust out of you1 and then there is some chance of getting the wholesome emotion of absolute reliance on ,him into you4 ,jesus ,christ1 if ,i might use a homely metaphor1 in these words pricks the bladder of self-confidence which we are apt to use to keep our heads above water4 ,and it is only when it is pricked1 and we1 like the ,apostle1 feel ourselves beginning to sink1 that we fling out a hand to ,him1 and clutch at ,his outstretched hand1 and cry1 ',lord1 save me1 ,i perish6' ,one way to increase our faith is to be rooted and grounded in the assurance that duty is perennial1 and that our own righteousness establishes no claim whatever upon ,god4 ,,iii4 ,finally1 we note the higher view into which1 by faith1 we come4 ,i have been saying1 with perhaps vain repetition1 that the words of our text and context do not exhaust the whole truth of man's relation to ,god4 ,they do exhaust the truth of the relation of ,god to any man that has not faith in his heart1 because such a man is a slave in the worst sense1 and any obedience that he renders to ,god's will externally is the obedience of a reluctant will1 and is hard and harsh1 and there is no end to it1 and no good from it4 ,but if we accept the position1 and recognise our own impotence1 and non-desert1 and humbly say1 ',not by works of righteousness which we have done1 but by ,his mercy ,he saves us1' then we come into a large place4 ,the relation of master and slave does not cover all the ground then4 ',henceforth1 ,i call you not slaves1 but friends1' ,and when the wearied slave comes into the house1 the new task is not a new burden1 for he is a son as well as a slave2 but the work is a delight1 and it is a joy to have something more to do for his ,father4 ,if our service is the service of sons1 sweetened by love1 then there will be abundant thanks from the ,father1 who is not only our owner1 but our lover4 ,for ,christian service--that is to say1 service based upon faith and rendered in love--does minister delight to our ,father in heaven1 and ,he ,himself has called it an 'odour of a sweet smell1 acceptable unto ,god4' ,and if our service on earth has been thus elevated and transformed from the compulsory obedience of a slave to the joyful service of a son1 then our reception when at sundown the plough is left in the furrow and we come into the house will be all changed too4 ',which of you1 having a servant1 will say to him1 ,go and sit down to meat1 and will not rather say to him1 ,make ready whilst ,i eat and drink8' ,that is the law for earth1 but for heaven it is this1 ',blessed are those servants whom the ,lord1 when ,he cometh1 shall find watching4 ,verily1 ,i say unto you1 that ,he shall gird ,himself1 and make them to sit down to meat1 and will come forth and serve them4' ,the husk is gone now1 ,i think1 and the kernel is left4 ,loving service is beloved by ,god1 and rewarded by the ministering1 as a servant of servants1 to us by ,him who is ,king of kings and ,lord of lords4 ',lord1 increase our faith1' that we may so serve ,thee on earth1 and so be served by ,thee in heaven4 ,,where ,,are ,,the ,,nine8 ',and it came to pass1 as ,he went to ,jerusalem1 that ,he passed through the midst of ,samaria and ,galilee4 #ab4 ,and as ,he entered into a certain village1 there met ,him ten men that were lepers1 which stood afar off3 #ac4 ,and they lifted up their voices1 and said1 ,jesus1 ,master1 have mercy on us4 #ad4 ,and when ,he saw them1 ,he said unto them1 ,go show yourselves unto the priests4 ,and it came to pass1 that1 as they went1 they were cleansed4 #ae4 ,and one of them1 when he saw that he was healed1 turned back1 and with a loud voice glorified ,god4 #af4 ,and fell down on his face at ,his feet1 giving ,him thanks3 and he was a ,samaritan4 #ag4 ,and ,jesus answering said1 ,were there not ten cleansed8 but where are the nine8 #ah4 ,there are not found that returned to give glory to ,god1 save this stranger4 #ai4 ,and ,he said unto him1 ,arise1 go thy way1 thy faith hath made thee whole4'--,,luke xvii4 #aa-ai4 ,the melancholy group of lepers1 met with in one of the villages on the borders of ,samaria and ,galilee1 was made up of ,samaritans and ,jews1 in what proportion we do not know4 ,the common misery drove them together1 in spite of racial hatred1 as1 in a flood1 wolves and sheep will huddle close on a bit of high ground4 ,perhaps they had met in order to appeal to ,jesus1 thinking to move ,him by their aggregated wretchedness2 or possibly they were permanently segregated from others1 and united in a hideous fellowship4 ,i4 ,we note the lepers' cry and the ,lord's strange reply4 ,of course they had to stand afar off1 and the distance prescribed by law obliged them to cry aloud1 though it must have been an effort1 for one symptom of leprosy is a hoarse whisper4 ,sore need can momentarily give strange physical power4 ,their cry indicates some knowledge4 ,they knew the ,lord's name1 and had dim notions of ,his authority1 for ,he is addressed as ,jesus and as ,master4 ,they knew that ,he had power to heal1 and they hoped that ,he had 'mercy1' which they might win for themselves by entreaty4 ,there was the germ of trust in the cry forced from them by desperate need4 ,but their conceptions of ,him1 and their consciousness of their own necessities1 did not rise above the purely physical region1 and ,he was nothing to them but a healer4 ,still1 low and rude as their notions were1 they did present a point of contact for ,christ's 'mercy1' which is ever ready to flow into every heart that is lowly1 as water will into all low levels4 ,jesus seems to have gone near to the lepers1 for it was 'when ,he saw1' not when ,he heard1 them that ,he spoke4 ,it did not become ,him to 'cry1 nor cause ,his voice to be heard in the street1' nor would ,he cure as from afar1 but ,he approaches those whom ,he heals1 that they may see ,his face1 and learn by it ,his compassion and love4 ,his command recognised and honoured the law1 but its main purpose1 no doubt1 was to test1 and thereby to strengthen1 the leper's trust4 ,to set out to the priest while they felt themselves full of leprosy would seem absurd1 unless they believed that ,jesus could and would heal them4 ,he gives no promise to heal1 but asks for reliance on an implied promise4 ,he has not a syllable of sympathy2 ,his tender compassion is carefully covered up4 ,he shuts down1 as it were1 the lantern-slide1 and not a ray gets through4 ,but the light was behind the screen all the while4 ,we1 too1 have sometimes to act on the assumption that ,jesus has granted our desires1 even while we are not conscious that it is so4 ,we1 too1 have sometimes to set out1 as it were1 for the priests1 while we still feel the leprosy4 ,,ii4 ,we note the healing granted to obedient faith4 ,the whole ten set off at once4 ,they had got all they wanted from the ,lord1 and had no more thought about ,him4 ,so they turned their backs on ,him4 ,how strange it must have been to feel1 as they went along1 the gradual creeping of soundness into their bones6 ,how much more confidently they must have stepped out1 as the glow of returning health asserted itself more and more6 ,the cure is a transcendent1 though veiled1 manifestation of ,christ's power2 for it is wrought at a distance1 without even a word1 and with no vehicle4 ,it is simply the silent forth-putting of ,his power4 ',he spake1 and it was done' is much1 for only a word which is divine can affect matter4 ,but ',he willed1 and it was done1' is even more4 ,,iii4 ,we note the solitary instance of thankfulness4 ,the nine might have said1 ',we are doing what the ,healer bade us do2 to go back to ,him would be disobedience4' ,but a grateful heart knows that to express its gratitude is the highest duty1 and is necessary for its own relief4 ,how like us all it is to hurry away clutching our blessings1 and never cast back a thought to the giver6 ,this leper's voice had returned to ,him1 and his 'loud' acknowledgments were very different from the strained croak of his petition for healing4 ,he knew that he had two to thank--,god and ,jesus2 he did not know that these two were one4 ,his healing has brought him much nearer ,jesus than before1 and now he can fall at ,his feet4 ,thankfulness knits us to ,jesus with a blessed bond4 ,nothing is so sweet to a loving heart as to pour itself out in thanks to ,him4 ',and he was a ,samaritan4' ,that may be ,luke's main reason for telling the story1 for it corresponds to the universalistic tendency of his ,gospel4 ,but may we not learn the lesson that the common human virtues are often found abundantly in nations and individuals against whom we are apt to be deeply prejudiced8 ,and may we not learn another lesson--that heretics and heathen may often teach orthodox believers lessons1 not only of courtesy and gratitude1 but of higher things8 ,a heathen is not seldom more sensitive to the beauty of ,christ1 and more touched by the story of ,his sacrifice1 than we who have heard of ,him all our days4 ,,iv4 ,we note ,christ's sad wonder at man's ingratitude and joyful recognition of 'this stranger's' thankfulness4 ,a tone of surprise as well as of sadness can be detected in the pathetic double questions4 ',were not the ten'--all of them1 the ten who stood there but a minute since--'cleansed8 but where are the nine8' ,gone off with their gift1 and with no spark of thankfulness in their selfish hearts4 ',were there none found that returned to give glory to ,god1 save this stranger8' ,the numbers of the thankless far surpass those of the thankful4 ,the fewness of the latter surprises and saddens ,jesus still4 ,even a dog knows and will lick the hand that feeds it1 but ',israel doth not know1 ,my people doth not consider4' ,we increase the sweetness of our gifts by thankfulness for them4 ,we taste them twice when we ruminate on them in gratitude4 ,they live after their death when we bless ,god and thank ,jesus for them all4 ,we impoverish ourselves still more than we dishonour ,him by the ingratitude which is so crying a fault4 ,one sorrow hides many joys4 ,a single crumpled rose-leaf made the fairy princess's bed uncomfortable4 ,some of us can see no blue in our sky if one small cloud is there4 ,both in regard to earthly and spiritual blessings we are all sinners by unthankfulness1 and we all lose much thereby4 ,jesus rejoiced over 'this stranger1' and gave him a greater gift at last than he had received when the leprosy was cleared from his flesh4 ,christ's raising of him up1 and sending him on his way to resume his interrupted journey to the priest1 was but a prelude to ',thy faith hath made thee whole1' or1 as the ,revised ,version margin reads1 'saved thee4' ,surely we may take that word in its deepest meaning1 and believe that a more fatal leprosy melted out of this man's spirit1 and that the faith which had begun in a confidence that ,jesus could heal1 and had been increased by obedience to the command which tried it1 and had become more awed and enlightened by experience of bodily healing1 and been deepened by finding a tongue to express itself in thankfulness1 rose at last to such apprehension of ,jesus1 and such clinging to ,him in grateful love1 as availed to save 'this stranger' with a salvation that healed his spirit1 and was perfected when the once leprous body was left behind1 to crumble into dust4 ,,three ,,kinds ,,op ,,praying ',and ,he spake a parable unto them to this end1 that men ought always to pray1 and not to faint2 #b4 ,saying1 ,there was in a city a judge1 which feared not ,god1 neither regarded man3 #c4 ,and there was a widow in that city2 and she came unto him1 saying1 ,avenge me of mine adversary4 #d4 ,and he would not for a while3 but afterward he said within himself1 ,though ,i fear not ,god1 nor regard man2 #e4 ,yet because this widow troubleth me1 ,i will avenge her1 lest by her continual coming she weary me4 #f4 ,and the ,lord said1 ,hear what the unjust judge saith4 #g4 ,and shall not ,god avenge ,his own elect1 which cry day and night unto ,him1 though ,he bear long with them6 #h4 ,i tell you that ,he will avenge them speedily4 ,nevertheless when the ,son of man cometh1 shall ,he find faith on the earth8 #i4 ,and ,he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous1 and despised others3 #aj4 ,two men went up into the temple to pray2 the one a ,pharisee1 and the other a publican4 #aa4 ,the ,pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself1 ,god1 ,i thank thee1 that ,i am not as ,other men are1 extortioners1 unjust1 adulterers1 or even as this publican4 #aa4 ,i fast twice in the week1 ,i give tithes of all that ,i possess4 #ac4 ,and the publican1 standing afar off1 would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven1 but smote upon his breast1 saying1 ,god be merciful to me a sinner4 #ad4 ,i tell you1 this man went down to his house justified rather than the other3 for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased2 and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted4' --,,luke xviii4 #a-ad4 ,the two parables in this passage are each prefaced by ,luke's explanation of their purpose4 ,they are also connected by being both concerned with aspects of prayer4 ,but the second was apparently not spoken at the same time as the first1 but is put here by ,luke as in an appropriate place4 ,i4 ,the wearisome widow and the unrighteous judge4 ,the similarities and dissimilarities between this parable and that in chapter xi4 #e-h are equally instructive4 ,both take a very unlovely character as open to the influence of persistent entreaty2 both strongly underscore the unworthiness and selfishness of the motive for yielding4 ,both expect the hearers to use common-sense enough to take the sleepy friend and the worried judge as contrasts to1 not parables1 of ,him to whom ,christians pray4 ,but the judge is a much worse man than the owner of the loaves1 and his denial of the justice which it was his office to dispense is a crime2 the widow's need is greater than the man's1 and the judge's cynical soliloquy1 in its unabashed avowal of caring for neither ,god nor man1 and being guided only by regard to comfort1 touches a deep depth of selfishness4 ,the worse he was1 the more emphatic is the exhortation to persistence4 ,if the continual dropping of the widow's plea could wear away such a stone as that1 its like could wear away anything4 ,yes1 and suppose that the judge were as righteous and as full of love and wish to help as this judge was of their opposites2 suppose that instead of the cry being a weariness it was a delight2 suppose1 in short1 that1 to go back to chapter xi41 we 'call on ,him as ,father who1 without respect of persons1 judgeth'3 then our 'continual coming' will surely not be less effectual than hers was4 ,but we must note the spiritual experience supposed by the parable to belong to the ,christian life4 ,that forlorn figure of the widow1 with all its suggestions of helplessness and oppression1 is ,christ's picture of ,his ,church left on earth without ,him4 ,and though of course it is a very incomplete representation1 it is a true presentation of one side and aspect of the devout life on earth4 ',in the world ye shall have tribulation1' and the truer ,his servants are to ,him1 and the more their hearts are with ,christ in ,god1 the more they will feel out of touch with the world1 and the more it will instinctively be their 'adversary4' ,if the widow does not feel the world's enmity1 it will generally be because she is not a 'widow indeed4' ,and another notable fact of ,christian experience underlies the parable2 namely that the ,church's cry for protection from the adversary is often apparently unheard4 ,in chapter xi4 the prayer was for supply of necessities1 here it is for the specific blessing of protection from the adversary4 ,whether that is referred to the needs of the ,church or of the individual1 it is true that usually the help sought is long delayed4 ,it is not only 'souls under the altar' that have to cry ',how long1 ,o ,lord1 dost ,thou not avenge8' ,one thinks of years of persecution for whole communities1 or of long1 weary days of harassment and suffering for individuals1 of multitudes of prayers and groans sent up into a heaven that1 for all the answers sent down1 might as well be empty1 and one feels it hard to hold by the faith that 'verily1 there is a ,god that' heareth4 ,we have all had times when our faith has staggered1 and we have found no answer to our heart's question3 ',why tarry the wheels of ,his chariot8' ,many of us have felt what ,mary and ,martha felt when ',jesus abode still two days in the place where ,he was' after ,he had received their message1 in which they had been so sure of ,his coming at once when ,he heard that 'he whom ,thou lovest is sick1' that they did not ask ,him to come4 ,the delays of ,god's help are a constant feature in ,his providence1 and1 as ,jesus says here1 they are but too likely to take the life out of faith4 ,but over against these we have to place ,jesus' triumphant assurance here3 ',he will avenge them speedily4' ,yes1 the longest delay may yet be 'right early1' for heaven's clock does not beat at the same rate as our little chronometers4 ,god is 'the ,god of patience1' and ,he has waited for millenniums for the establishment of ,his kingdom on earth2 ,his 'own elect' may learn long-suffering from ,him1 and need to take to heart the old exhortation1 ',if the vision tarry1 wait for it1 for it will surely come1 and will not tarry4' ,yes1 ,god's delays are not delays1 but are for our profit that we may always pray and not faint1 and may keep alight the flame of the sure hope that the ,son of man cometh1 and that in ,his coming all adversaries shall be destroyed1 and the widow1 no longer a widow1 but the bride1 go in to the feast and forget her foes1 and 'the days of her mourning be ended4' ,,ii4 ,the ,pharisee and the publican4 ,luke's label on this parable tells us that it was spoken to a group of the very people who were personated in it by the ,pharisee4 ,one can fancy their faces as they listened1 and how they would love the speaker6 ,their two characteristics are self-righteousness and depreciation of every one else1 which is the natural result of such trust in self4 ,the self-adulation was absolute1 the contempt was all-embracing1 for the ,revised ,version rightly renders 'set all others at nought4' ,that may sound exaggerated1 but the way to judge of moral characteristics is to take them in their fullest development and to see what they lead to then4 ,the two pictures heighten each other4 ,the one needs many strokes to bring out the features1 the other needs but one4 ,self-righteousness takes many shapes1 penitence has but one emotion to express1 one cry to utter4 ,every word in the ,pharisee's prayer is reeking with self-complacency4 ,even the expression 'prayed with himself' is significant1 for it suggests that the prayer was less addressed to ,god than to himself1 and also that his words could scarcely be spoken in the hearing of others1 both because of their arrogant self-praise and of their insolent calumnies of 'all the rest4' ,it was not prayer to ,god1 but soliloquy in his own praise1 and it was in equal parts adulation of himself and slander of other men4 ,so it never went higher than the inner roof of the temple court1 and was1 in a very fatal sense1 'to himself4' ,god is complimented with being named formally at first1 and in the first two words1 ',i thank thee1' but that is only formal introduction1 and in all the rest of his prayer there is not a trace of praying4 ,such a self-satisfied gentleman had no need to ask for anything1 so he brought no petitions4 ,he uses the conventional language of thanksgiving1 but his real meaning is to praise himself to ,god1 not to thank ,god for himself4 ,god is named once4 ,all the rest is ,i1 ,i1 ,i4 ,he had no longing for communion1 no aspiration1 no emotion4 ,his conception of righteousness was mean and shallow4 ,and as ,st4 ,bernard notes1 he was not so much thankful for being righteous as for being alone in his goodness4 ,no doubt he was warranted in disclaiming gross sins1 but he was glad to be free from them1 not because they were sins1 but because they were vulgar4 ,he had no right to fling mud either on 'all the rest' or on 'this publican1' and if he had been really praying or giving thanks he would have had enough to think of in ,god and himself without casting sidelong and depreciatory glances at his neighbours4 ,he who truly prays 'sees no man any more1' or if he does1 sees men only as subjects for intercession1 not for contempt4 ,the ,pharisee's notion of righteousness was primarily negative1 as consisting in abstinence from flagrant sins1 and1 in so far as it was positive1 it dealt entirely with ceremonial acts4 ,such a starved and surface conception of righteousness is essential to self-righteousness1 for no man who sees the law of duty in its depth and inwardness can flatter himself that he has kept it4 ,to fast twice a week and to give tithes of all that one acquired were acts of supererogation1 and are proudly recounted as if ,god should feel much indebted to the doer for paying ,him more than was required4 ,the ,pharisee makes no petitions4 ,he states his claims1 and tacitly expects that ,god will meet them4 ,few words are needed to paint the publican2 for his estimate of himself is simple and one1 and what he wants from ,god is one thing1 and one only4 ,his attitude expresses his emotions1 for he does not venture to go near the shining example of all respectability and righteousness1 nor to lift his eyes to heaven4 ,like the penitent psalmist1 his iniquities have taken hold on him1 so that he is 'not able to look up4' ,keen consciousness of sin1 true sorrow for sin1 earnest desire to shake off the burden of sin1 lowly trust in ,god's pardoning mercy1 are all crowded into his brief petition4 ,the arrow thus feathered goes straight up to the throne2 the ,pharisee's prayer cannot rise above his own lips4 ,jesus does not leave ,his hearers to apply the 'parable1' but drives its application home to them1 since ,he knew how keen a thrust was needed to pierce the triple breastplate of self-righteousness4 ,the publican was 'justified'2 that is1 accounted as righteous4 ,in the judgment of heaven1 which is the judgment of truth1 sin forsaken is sin passed away4 ,the ,pharisee condensed his contempt into 'this publican'2 ,jesus takes up the 'this' and turns it into a distinction1 when ,he says1 'this man went down to his house justified4' ,god's condemnation of the ,pharisee and acceptance of the publican are no anomalous aberration of divine justice1 for it is a universal law1 which has abundant exemplifications1 that he that exalteth himself is likely to be humbled1 and he that humbles himself to be exalted4 ,daily life does not always yield examples thereof1 but in the inner life and as concerns our relations to ,god1 that law is absolutely and always true4 ,,entering ,,the ,,kingdom ',and they brought unto ,him also infants1 that ,he would touch them3 but when ,his disciples saw it1 they rebuked them4 #af4 ,but ,jesus called them unto ,him1 and said1 ,suffer little children to come unto ,me1 and forbid them not3 for of such is the kingdom of ,god4 #ag4 ,verily ,i say unto you1 ,whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of ,god as a little child shall in no wise enter therein4 #ah4 ,and a certain ruler asked ,him1 saying1 ,good ,master1 what shall ,i do to inherit eternal life8 #ai4 ,and ,jesus said unto him1 ,why callest thou ,me good8 none is good1 save one1 that is1 ,god4 #bj4 ,thou knowest the commandments1 ,do not commit adultery1 ,do not kill1 ,do not steal1 ,do not bear false witness1 ,honour thy father and thy mother4 #ba4 ,and he said1 ,all these have ,i kept from my youth up4 #bb4 ,now when ,jesus heard these things1 ,he said unto him1 ,yet lackest thou one thing3 sell all that thou hast1 and distribute unto the poor1 and thou shalt have treasure in heaven3 and come1 follow ,me4 #bc4 ,and when he heard this1 he was very sorrowful3 for he was very rich4 #bd4 ,and when ,jesus saw that he was very sorrowful ,he said1 ,how hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of ,god8 #be4 ,for it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye1 than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of ,god4 #bf4 ,and they that heard it said1 ,who then can be saved8 #bg4 ,and ,he said1 ,the things which are impossible with men are possible with ,god4 #bh4 ,then ,peter said1 ,lo1 we have left all1 and followed ,thee4 #bi4 ,and ,he said unto them1 ,verily ,i say unto you1 ,there is no man that hath left house1 or parents1 or brethren1 or wife1 or children1 for the kingdom of ,god's sake1 #cj4 ,who shall not receive manifold more in this present time1 and in world to come life everlasting4'--,,luke xviii4 #ae-cj4 ,in this section ,luke rejoins the other two ,evangelists1 from whom his narrative has diverged since ,luke ix4 #ea4 ,all three bring together these two incidents of the children in ,christ's arms and the young ruler4 ,probably they were connected in time as well as in subject4 ,both set forth the conditions of entering the kingdom1 which the one declares to be lowliness and trust1 and the other to be self-renunciation4 ,i4 ,we have the child-likeness of the subjects of the kingdom4 ,no doubt there was a dash of superstition in the impulse that moved the parents to bring their children to ,jesus1 but it was an eminently natural desire to win a good man's blessing1 and one to which every parent's heart will respond4 ,it was not the superstition1 but the intrusive familiarity1 that provoked the disciples' rebuke4 ,a great man's hangers-on are always more careful of his dignity than he is1 for it increases their own importance4 ,the tender age of the children is to be noted4 ,they were 'babes1' and had to be brought1 being too young to walk1 and so having scarcely yet arrived at conscious1 voluntary life4 ,it is 'of such' that the subjects of the kingdom are composed4 ,what1 then1 are the qualities which1 by this comparison1 ,jesus requires8 ,certainly not innocence1 which would be to contradict all his teaching and to shut out the prodigals and publicans1 and clean contrary to the whole spirit of ,luke's ,gospel4 ,besides1 these scarcely conscious infants were not 'innocent1' for they had not come to the age of which either innocence or guilt can be predicated4 ,what1 then1 had they which the children of the kingdom must have8 ,perhaps the sweet and meek little #acast ,psalm puts us best on the track of the answer4 ,it may have been in our ,lord's mind2 it certainly corresponds to ,his thought4 ',my heart is not haughty1 nor mine eyes lofty4444 ,i have stilled and quieted my soul2 like a weaned child with his mother4' ,the infant's lowliness is not yet humility2 for it is instinct rather than virtue4 ,it makes no claims1 thinks no lofty thoughts of self2 in fact1 has scarcely begun to know that there is a self at all4 ,on the other hand1 clinging trust is the infant's life4 ,it1 too1 is rudimentary and instinctive1 but the impulse which makes the babe nestle in its mother's bosom may well stand for a picture of the conscious trust which the children of the kingdom must have4 ,the child's instinct is the man's virtue4 ,we have ',to travel back ,and tread again that ancient track1' regaining as the conscious temper of our spirits those excellences of humility and trust of which the first faint types may be seen in the infant in arms4 ,the entrance gate is very low1 and1 if we hold our heads high1 we shall not get through it4 ,it must be on our hands and knees that we go in4 ,there is no place in the kingdom for those who trust in themselves4 ,we must rely wholly on ,god manifest in ,his ,son4 ,so intent is ,luke in pointing the lesson that he passes by in silence the infinitely beautiful and touching incident which the world perhaps knows better than any other in our ,lord's life--that of ,his taking the infants in ,his arms and blessing them4 ,in many ways that incident would have been peculiarly suitable for this ,gospel1 which delights to bring out the manhood and universal beneficence of ,jesus4 ,but if ,luke knew of it1 he did not care to bring in anything which would weaken the lesson of the conditions of entering the kingdom4 ,,ii4 ,we have self-renunciation as the condition of entering the kingdom4 ,the conversation with the ruler 7vs4 #ah-bc7 sets forth its necessity2 the sad exclamation to the bystanders 7vs4 #bd-bg7 teaches its difficulty2 and the dialogue with ,peter as representing the twelve 7vs4 #bh-cj71 its reward4 7#a7 ,the necessity of self-renunciation4 ,the ruler's question has much blended good and evil4 ,it expresses a true earnestness1 a dissatisfaction with self1 a consciousness of unattained bliss and a longing for it1 a felt readiness to take any pains to secure it1 a confidence in ,christ's guidance--in short1 much of the child spirit4 ,but it has also a too light estimate of what good is1 a mistaken notion that 'eternal life' can be won by external deeds1 which implies fatal error as to its nature and his own power to do these4 ,this superficial estimate of goodness1 and this over confidence in his ability to do good acts1 are the twin mistakes against which ,christ's treatment of him is directed4 ,adopting ,luke's version of our ,lord's answer1 the counter-question1 which begins it1 lays hold of the polite address1 which had slipped from the ruler's lips as mere form1 and bids him widen out his conceptions of 'good4' ,jesus does not deny that ,he has a right to the title1 but questions this man's right to give it ,him4 ,the ruler thought of ,jesus only as a man1 and1 so thinking1 was too ready with his adjective4 ,conventional phrases of compliment may indicate much of the low notions from which they spring4 ,he who is so liberal with his ascriptions of goodness needs to have his notions of what it is elevated4 ,jesus lays down the great truth which this man1 in his confidence that he by his own power could do any good needed for eternal life1 was perilously forgetting4 ,god is the only good1 and therefore all human goodness must come from ,him2 and if the ruler is to do 'good1' he must first be good1 by receiving goodness from ,god4 ,but the saying has an important bearing on ,christ's character4 ,the world calls ,him good4 ,why8 ,there is none good but ,god4 ,so we are face to face with this dilemma--,either ,jesus ,christ is ,god manifest in the flesh1 or ,he is not good4 ,having thus tried to deepen his conceptions1 and awaken his consciousness of imperfection1 our ,lord meets the man on his own ground by referring him to the ,law1 which abundantly answered his inquiry4 ,the second half of the commandments are alone quoted by ,him2 for they have especially to do with conduct1 and the infractions of them are more easily recognised than those of the first4 ,the ruler expected that some exceptional and brilliant deeds would be pointed out and he is relegated to the old homely duties1 which it is gross crime not to do4 ,a shade of disappointment and impatience is in his protestation that he had done all these ever since he was a lad4 ,no doubt he had1 and his coming to ,jesus confessed that though he had1 the doing had not brought him 'eternal life4' ,are there not many youthful hearts which would have to say the same1 if they would be frank with themselves8 ,they have some longings after a bliss and calm which they feel is not theirs4 ,they have kept within the lines of that second half of the ,decalogue1 but that amount and sort of 'good thing' has not brought peace4 ,jesus looks on all such as ,he did on this young man1 'loves' them1 and speaks further to them as ,he did to him4 ,what was lacking8 ,the soul of goodness1 without which these other things were 'dead works4' ,and what is that soul8 ,absolute self-renunciation and following ,christ4 ,for this man the former took the shape of parting with his wealth1 but that external renunciation in itself was as 'dead' and impotent to bring eternal life as all his other good acts had been4 ,it was precious as a means to an end--the entrance into the number of ,christ's disciples2 and as an expression of that inward self-surrender which is essential for discipleship4 ,the real stress of the condition is in its second half1 ',follow me4' ,he who enters the company of ,christ's followers enters the kingdom1 and has eternal life4 ,if he does not do that1 he may give his goods to feed the poor1 and it profiteth him nothing4 ,eternal life is not the external wages for external acts1 but the outcome and consequence of yielding self to ,jesus1 through whom goodness1 which keeps the law1 flows into the soul4 ,the requirement pierced to the quick4 ,the man loved the world more than eternal life1 after all4 ,but though he went away1 he went sorrowful2 and that was perhaps the presage that he would come back4 7#b7 ,jesus follows him with sad yearning1 and1 we may be sure1 still sought to draw him back4 ,his exclamation is full of the charity which makes allowance for temptation4 ,it speaks a universal truth1 never more needed than in our days1 when wealth has flung its golden chains round so many professing ,christians4 ,how few of us believe that it gets harder for us to be disciples as we grow richer6 ,there are multitudes in our churches who would be far nearer ,christ than they are ever likely to be1 if they would literally obey the injunction to get rid of their wealth4 ,we are too apt to take such commands as applicable only to the individuals who received them1 whereas1 though1 no doubt1 the spirit1 and not the letter1 is the universal element in them1 there are far more of us than we are willing to confess1 who need to obey the letter in order to keep the spirit4 ,what a depth of vulgar adoration of the power of money is in the disciples' exclamation1 ',if rich men cannot get into the kingdom1 who can get in6' ,or perhaps it rather means1 ,if self-renunciation is the condition1 who can fulfil it8 ,the answer points us all to the only power by which we can do good1 and overcome self2 namely by ,god's help4 ,god is 'good1' and we can be good too1 if we look to ,him4 ,god will fill our souls with such sweetness that earth will not be hard to part with4 7#c7 ,the last paragraph of this passage teaches the reward of self-renunciation4 ,peter shoves his oar in1 after his fashion4 ,it would have been better if he had not boasted of their surrender1 but yet it was true that they had given up all4 ,only a fishing-boat and a parcel of old nets1 indeed1 but these were all they had to give2 and ,god's store1 which holds ,his children's surrendered valuables1 has many things of small value in it--cups of cold water and widows' mites lying side by side with crowns and jewels4 ,so ,jesus does not rebuke the almost innocent self-congratulation1 but recognises in it an appeal to his faithfulness4 ,it was really a prayer1 though it sounded like a vaunt1 and it is answered by renewed assurances4 ,to part with outward things for ,christ's sake or for the kingdom's sake--which is the same thing--is to win them again with all their sweetness a hundred-fold sweeter4 ,gifts given to ,him come back to the giver mended by ,his touch and hallowed by lying on ,his altar4 ,the present world yields its full riches only to the man who surrenders all to ,jesus4 ,and the 'eternal life1' which the ruler thought was to be found by outward deeds1 flows necessarily into the heart which is emptied of self1 that it may be filled with ,him who is the life1 and will be perfected yonder4 ,,the ,,man ,,that ,,stopped ,,jesus ',and ,jesus stood1 and commanded him to be brought unto ,him3 and when he was come near1 ,he asked him1 #da4 ,saying1 ,what wilt thou that ,i shall do unto thee8'--,,luke xviii4 #dj-da4 ,this story of the man that stopped ,christ is told by the three ',synoptic' ,evangelists1 and it derives a special value from having occurred within a week of the ,crucifixion4 ,you remember how graphically ,mark tells how the blind man hears who is passing and immediately begins to cry with a loud voice to ,christ to have mercy upon him2 how the officious disciples--a great deal more concerned for the ,master's dignity than ,he was ,himself--tried to silence him2 and how1 with a sturdy persistence and independence of externals which often goes along with blindness1 'he cried the more a great deal' because they did try1 and then how he won the distinction of being the man that stopped ,christ4 ,when ,jesus stood still1 and commanded him to be called1 the crowd wheeled right round at once1 and instead of hindering1 encumbered him with help1 and bade him to 'rise1 and be of good cheer4' ,then he flings away some poor rag that he had had to cover himself sitting there1 and wearing his under-garment only1 comes to ,christ1 and ,jesus asks1 ',what do you want8' ,a promise in the shape of a question4 ,bartimaeus knows what he wants1 and answers without hesitation1 and so he gets his request4 ,now1 ,i think in all this incident1 and especially in its centre part1 which ,i have read1 there are great lessons for us4 ,and the first of them is1 ,i see here a wonderful revelation of ,christ's quick sympathy at a moment when ,he was most absorbed4 ,i said that all this occurred within a week of our ,lord's ,crucifixion4 ,if you will recall the way in which that last journey to ,jerusalem is described in the ,evangelists1 you will see that there was something very extraordinary about the determination and tension of spirit which impelled ,jesus along the road1 all the way from ,galilee4 ,mark says that the disciples followed and were amazed4 ,there was something quite unlike what they had been accustomed to1 in ,his face and bearing1 and it was so strange to them that they were puzzled and frightened4 ,we read1 too1 that their amazement and fright prevented them from going very near ,him on the road2 'as they followed they were afraid4' ,then the story goes on to tell how ,james and ,john1 with their arrogant wish1 did draw closer to ,him1 the rest of them lagging behind1 conscious of a certain unaccustomed distance between ,him and them1 which only the ambitious two dared to diminish4 ,further1 one of the ,evangelists speaks of ,his face being 'set' to go to ,jerusalem1 the gentle lineaments fixed in a new expression of resolution and absorption4 ,the ,cross was flinging its shadow over ,him4 ,he was bracing ,himself up for the last struggle4 ,if ever there was a moment of ,his life when we might have supposed that ,he would be oblivious of externals1 and especially of the individual sorrows of one poor blind beggar sitting by the roadside1 it was that moment4 ,but however plunged in great thoughts about the agonising suffering that ,he was going to front1 and the grand work that ,he was going to do1 and the great victory that ,he was going to win so soon1 ,he had ',a heart at leisure from itself ,to soothe and sympathise4' ,even at that supreme hour ,he stood still and commanded him to be called4 ,i wonder if it is saying too much to say that in the exercise of that power of healing and helping ,bartimaeus1 ,jesus found some relief from the pressure of impending sorrow4 ,brethren1 is not that a lesson for us all8 ,it is not spiritualising1 allegorising1 cramming meanings into an incident that are not in it1 when we say--,think of ,jesus ,christ as one of ourselves1 knowing that ,he was going to ,his death within a week1 and then think of ,him turning to this poor man4 ,is not that a pattern for us8 ,we are often more selfish in our sorrows than in our joys4 ,many of us are inclined1 when we are weighed down by personal sorrows1 to say1 ',as long as ,i have this heavy weight lying on my heart1 how can you expect me to take an interest in the affairs of others1 or to do ,christian work1 or to rise to the calls of benevolence and the cries of need8' ,we do not expect you to do it2 but ,jesus ,christ did it1 'leaving us an example that we should follow in ,his steps4' ,next to the blessed influences of ,god's own ,spirit1 and the peace-bringing act of submission1 there is no such comfort for sorrow1 as to fling ourselves into others' griefs1 and to bear others' burdens4 ,our ,lord1 with ,his face set like a flint1 on the road to the ,cross1 but yet sufficiently free of heart to turn to ,bartimaeus1 reads a lesson that rebukes us all1 and should teach us all4 ,further1 do we not see here a beautiful concrete instance1 on the lower plane1 of the power of earnest desire4 ,no enemy could have stopped ,christ on that road2 no opposition could have stopped ,him1 no beseeching on the part of loving and ignorant friends1 repeating the temptation in the wilderness--or the foolish words of ,peter1 ',this shall not be unto ,thee1' could have stopped ,him4 ,he would have trodden down all such flimsy obstacles1 as a lion 'from the thickets of ,jordan' crashes through the bulrushes1 but this cry stopped ,him1 ',jesus1 thou ,son of ,david1 have mercy on me1 and the ,cross and all else that ,he was hastening to1 great as it was for the world1 had to wait its turn1 for something else had to be done first4 ,there was noise enough on the road1 the tramp of many feet1 the clatter of many eager tongues1 but the voice of one poor man sitting in the dust there by the roadside1 found its way through all the noise to ,christ's ears4 ',which things are an allegory4' ,there is an ocean of praise always1 as ,i might so say breaking upon ,christ's ,throne1 but the little stream of my petitions flows distinguishable through all that sea4 ,as one of our poets says1 we may even think of ,him as 'missing my little human praise' when the voice of one poor boy was not heard4 ,surely amidst all the encouragements that we have to believe that our cry is not sent up into an empty heaven1 nor into deaf ears1 and that all the multitude of creatures that wait before that ,throne do not prevent the individualising knowledge and the individualising love of ,jesus ,christ from coming straight to every one of us1 this little incident is not the least instructive and precious4 ,he that heard ,bartimaeus will hear us4 ,in like manner1 may ,i not say that here we have an illustration of how ,christ1 who has so much besides to do1 would suspend other work1 if it were needful1 in order to do what we need8 ,as ,i have said1 the rest had to wait4 ,bartimaeus stopped ,christ4 ,and our hand1 if it be the hand of faith1 put out to the hem of the garment as ,jesus of ,nazareth passeth by1 will so far stop ,him as that ,he will do what we wish1 if what we wish is in accordance with our highest good4 ,there was another man in ,jericho who stopped ,christ1 on that same journey2 for not only the petition of ,bartimaeus1 but the curiosity--which was more than curiosity--of ,zacchaeus1 stopped ,him1 and ,he who stood still1 though ,he had ,his face set like a flint to go to ,jerusalem1 because ,bartimaeus cried1 stood still and looked up into the sycamore tree where the publican was--the best fruit that ever it bore--and said1 ',zacchaeus2 come down1 ,i must abide at thy house4' ,why must ,he abide8 ,because ,he discerned there a soul that ,he could help and save1 and that arrested ,him on ,his road to the ,cross4 ,so1 dear friends1 amidst all the work of administering the universe which ,he does1 and of guiding and governing and inspiring ,his ,church1 which ,he does1 if you ask for the supply of your need ,he would put that work aside for a moment1 if necessary1 to attend to you4 ,that is no exaggeration2 it is only a strong way of putting the plain truth that ,christ's love individualises each of its objects2 and lavishes itself upon each one of us2 as if there were no other beings in the universe but only our two selves4 ,and then1 remember too1 that what ,bartimaeus got was not taken from anyone else4 ,nobody suffered because ,jesus paused to help him4 ,they sat down in ranks1 five thousand of them1 and as they began to eat1 those that were first served would be looked upon with envious eye by the last 'ranks1' who would be wondering if the bits of bread and the two small fishes were enough to go round4 ,but the first group was fed full and the last group had as much1 and they took up 'of the fragments that remained1 twelve baskets full4' ',enough for all1 enough for each1 ,enough for evermore4' ,there is one more thought rising out of this story4 ,it teaches a wonderful lesson as to the power which ,christ puts into the hand of believing prayer4 ',what wilt thou that ,i shall do unto thee8' ,he had asked the same question a little while before1 under very different circumstances4 ,when ,james and ,john came and tried to beguile ,him into a blind promise1 because they knew that ,it was not likely that they would get what they asked if they said it out at first4 ,he avoided the snare with that same question1 ,to them the question was a refusal2 they had said3 ',master1 we will that ,thou wouldst do whatever we should desire'2 and ,he said3 ',what is it that ye desire8 ,let ,me know that first4' ,but when blind ,bartimaeus cried1 ,jesus smiled down upon him--though his sightless eyeballs could not see the smile1 there would be a smile in the cadence of ,his words--and ,he said3 ',what wouldst thou that ,i should do for thee8' ,to this suppliant that question was a promise--',i will do what you want4' ,he puts the key of the royal treasure-house into the hand of faith1 and says1 ',go in and help yourself4 ,take what you will4' ,only1 of course1 we must remember that there are limitations in the very nature of the case1 imposed not arbitrarily1 but because the very nature of the truest gifts creates them1 and these limitations to some of us sound as if they took all the blessedness out of the act of prayer4 ',we know1' says one of the ,apostles1 'that if we ask anything according to ,his will ,he heareth us4' ,some of us think that that is a very poor kind of charter1 but it sets the necessary limit to the omnipotence of faith4 ',what wouldst thou that ,i should do for thee8' ,unless our answer always1 and at bottom1 is1 ',not my will1 but ,thine1' we have not yet learnt the highest blessing1 nor the truest meaning1 of prayer4 ,for to pray does not mean to insist1 to press our wishes on ,god1 but it means1 first1 to desire that our wills may be brought into harmony with ,his4 ,the old ,rabbis hit upon great truths now and then1 and one of them said1 ',make ,god's will thy will1 that ,he may make thy will ,his will4' ,if any poor1 blind ,bartimaeus remembers that1 and asks accordingly1 he has the key to the royal treasury in his possession1 and he may go in and plunge his hand up to the wrist in jewels and diamonds1 and carry away bars of gold1 and it will all be his4 ,when this man1 who had no sight in his eyeballs1 knew that whatever he wanted he should have1 he did not need to pause long to consider what it was that he wanted most4 ,if you and ,i had that ,aladdin's lamp given to us1 and had only to rub it for a mighty spirit to come that would fulfil our wishes1 ,i wonder if we should be as sure of what we wanted4 ,if we were as conscious of our need as the blind man was of his1 we should pause as little in our response to the question3 ',what wouldst thou that ,i should do for thee8' ',lord6 ,dost ,thou not see that mine eyes are dark8 ,what else but sight can ,i want8' ,jesus still comes to us with the same question4 ,god grant that we may all say2 ',lord1 how canst ,thou ask us8 ,dost ,thou not see that my soul is stained1 my love wandering1 my eyeballs dim8 ,give me ,thyself6' ,if we thus ask1 then the answer will come as quickly to us as it did to this blind man3 ',go thy way6 ,thy faith hath saved thee1' and that ',go thy way' will not be dismissal from the ,presence of our ,benefactor1 but our 'way' will be the same as ,bartimaeus' was1 when he received his sight1 and 'followed ,jesus in the way4' ,,melted ,,by ,,kindness ',and when ,jesus came to the place1 ,he looked up1 and saw him1 and said unto him1 ,zacchaeus1 make haste1 and come down2 for to-day ,i must abide at thy house4' --,,luke xix4 #e4 ,it is characteristic of ,luke that only he tells the story of ,zacchaeus4 ,he always dwells with special interest on incidents bringing out the character of ,christ as the ,friend of outcasts4 ,his is eminently the ,gospel of forgiveness4 ,for example1 we owe to ,him the three supreme parables of the lost sheep1 the lost coin1 and the prodigal son1 as well as those of the ,pharisee and the publican praying in the ,temple2 and of the good ,samaritan4 ,it is he that tells us that all the publicans and sinners came near to ,jesus to hear ,him2 and he loses no opportunity of enforcing the lesson with which this incident closes1 ',the ,son of ,man is come to seek and to save that which was lost4' ,it is because of the light that it throws upon that great thought that he tells this fascinating story of ,zacchaeus4 ,i need not repeat it4 ,we all remember it1 and the quaintness and grotesqueness of part of it fix it in people's memories4 ,we know how the rich tax gatherer1 pocketing his dignity1 and unable to see over the heads of the crowd1 scrambled up into the branches of the sycamore tree that overhung the road2 and there was found by the eye of love1 and surprised by the words of kindness1 which melted him down1 and made a new man of him on the spot4 ,the story seems to me to be full of teaching1 to which ,i desire to turn your attention at this time4 ,i4 ,first1 note the outcast1 drawn by imperfect motives to ,jesus ,christ4 ,it has been supposed that this man was a ,gentile1 but his ,jewish name establishes his origin4 ,and1 if so1 the fact that he was a publican and a ,jew says a good deal about his character4 ,there are some trades which condemn1 to a certain extent1 the men who engage in them4 ,you would not expect to find a man of sensitive honour acting as a professional spy2 or one of earnest religious character keeping a public-house4 ,you would not expect to find a very good ,jew condescending to be the tool of the ,roman ,government4 ,zacchaeus was at the head of the revenue office in ,jericho1 a position of considerable importance1 inasmuch as there was a large volume of trade through that city from its situation near the fords of the ,jordan1 and from the fertility of the plain in which it stood4 ,he had made some money1 and probably made it by very questionable means4 ,he was the object1 not undeservedly1 of the execration and suspicion of his countrymen4 ,italians did not love ,italians who took service under ,austria4 ,irishmen did not love ,irishmen who in the bad old days used to collect church cess4 ,and so ,jews had no very kind feeling towards ,jews who became ,caesar's servants4 ,that a man should be in such a position indicated that he cared more for money than for patriotism1 religion1 or popular approval4 ,his motto was the motto of that ,roman ,emperor who said1 ',money has no smell1' out of whatever cesspool it may have been fished up4 ,but the consciousness of being encompassed by universal hatred would induce the object of it to put on an extra turn of the screw1 and avenge upon individuals the general hostility4 ,so we may take it for granted that ,zacchaeus1 the head of the ,jericho custom-house1 and rich to boot1 was by no means a desirable character4 ,what made him want to see ,jesus ,christ8 ,he said to himself1 curiosity2 but probably he was doing himself injustice1 and there was something else working below than merely the wish to see what sort of man was this ,rabbi ,joshua from ,galilee that everybody was talking about4 ,had he heard that ,jesus had a soft place in ,his heart for his class8 ,or was he1 perhaps1 beginning to get tired of being the butt of universal hatred1 and finding that money scarcely compensated for that8 ,or was there some reaching out towards some undefined good1 and a dissatisfaction with a very defined present1 though unnamed1 evil8 ,probably so4 ,like some of us1 he put the trivial motive uppermost because he was half ashamed of the half-conscious better one4 ,i wonder if there are any here now who said to themselves that they would come out of curiosity to hear the preacher1 or from some such ordinary motive1 and who all the while have1 lying deep below that1 another reason altogether1 a dim feeling that it is not all right between them and ,god1 and that here may be the place to have it put right8 ,at all events1 from whatsoever imperfect motives little ,zacchaeus was perched up in the sycamore there1 he went to see ,christ1 and he got more than he went for4 ,unconsciously we may be drawn1 and imperfect motives may lead us to a perfect ,saviour4 ,he sets us an example in another way4 ,do not be too punctilious about dignity in pursuing aims that you know to be good4 ,it would be a sight to bring jeers and grins on the faces of the crowd to see the rich man of the custom-house sitting up amongst the leaves4 ,but he did not mind about that if he got a good look at the ,rabbi when ,he passed4 ,people care nothing for ridicule if their hearts are set upon a thing4 ,i wish there were more of us who did not mind being laughed at if only what we did helped us to see ,jesus ,christ4 ,do not be afraid of ridicule4 ,it is not a test of truth2 in nine cases out of ten it is the grimace of fools4 ,,ii4 ,then1 further1 notice the self-invited ,guest4 ,when the little procession stopped under the sycamore tree1 ,zacchaeus would begin to feel uncomfortable4 ,he may have had experience in past times of the way in which the great doctors of orthodoxy were in the habit of treating a publican1 and may have begun to be afraid that this new one was going to be like all the rest1 and elicit some kind of mob demonstration against him4 ,the crowd would be waiting with intense curiosity to see what would pass between the ,rabbi and the revenue collector4 ,they would all be very much astonished4 ',zacchaeus6 make haste and come down4 ,to-day ,i must abide at thy house4' ,perhaps it was the first time since he had been a child at his mother's knee that he had heard his name pronounced in tones of kindness4 ,there was not a ragged beggar in ,jericho who would not have thought himself degraded by putting his foot across the threshold that ,jesus now says ,he will cross4 ,it is the only time in which we read that ,jesus volunteered to go into any house4 ,he never offers to go where ,he is not wanted1 any more than ,he ever stays away where ,he is4 ,and so the very fact of ,his saying ',i will abide at thy house1' is to me an indication that1 deep down below ,zacchaeus' superficial and vulgar curiosity1 there was something far more noble which our ,lord fosters into life and consciousness by this offer4 ,many large truths are suggested by it on which we may touch4 ,we have in ,christ's words an illustration of ,his individualising knowledge4 ',zacchaeus1 come down4' ,there is no sign that anybody had told ,christ the name1 or that ,he knew anything about ,zacchaeus before by human knowledge4 ,but the same eye that saw ,nathanael under the fig-tree saw ,zacchaeus in the sycamore2 and1 seeing in secret1 knew without being told the names of both4 ,christ does not name men in vain4 ,he generally1 when ,he uses an individual's name in addressing him1 means either to assert ,his knowledge of his character1 or ,his authority over him1 or in some way or other to bespeak personal adhesion and to promise personal affection4 ,so ,he named some of ,his disciples1 weaving a bond that united each single soul to ,himself by the act4 ,this individualising knowledge and drawing love and authority are all expressed1 as ,i think1 in that one word ',zacchaeus4' ,and these are as true about us as about him4 ,the promises of the ,new ,testament1 the words of ,jesus ,christ1 the great1 broad1 universal 'whosoevers' of ,his assurance and of ,his commandments are as directly meant for each of us as if they were in an envelope with our names upon them and put into our hands4 ,we1 too1 are spoken to by ,him by our names1 and for us1 too1 there may be a personal bond of answering love that knits us individually to the ,master1 as there certainly is a bond of personal regard1 compassion1 affection1 and purpose of salvation in ,his heart in regard of each single soul of all the masses of humanity4 ,i should have done something if ,i should have been able to gather into a point1 that blessedly pierced some heart to let the life in1 the broad truths of the ,gospel4 ',whosoever will1 let him come4' ,say to yourself1 ',that is me4' ',whosoever cometh ,i will in no wise cast out4' ,say to yourself1 ',that is me4' ,and in like manner with all the general declarations1 and especially with that chiefest of them all1 ',god so loved the world that ,he gave ,his only begotten ,son1 that whosoever believeth in ,him should not perish4' ,read it as you may--and you will never read it right until you do--',god so loved me'--,john1 ,mary1 or whatever be your name--',jesus so loved me that if ,i believe upon ,him ,i shall not perish1 but have everlasting life4' ,then1 note1 further1 how here we get the revelation1 in a concrete form1 of ,christ's perfect willingness and desire to make common cause1 and dwell with the most degraded and outcast4 ,i have said that this is the only instance in which ,he volunteered to be a guest4 ,pharisees asked ,him1 and ,he did not refuse4 ,the publican's dwelling1 which was tabooed1 ,he opened the door of by ,his own hand4 ,and that is what ,he always does4 ,this little incident may be taken to be1 not merely a symbol of ,his whole dealings1 but an illustration1 in small1 of the same principle which has its largest embodiment and illustration in the fact of ,his ,incarnation and ,manhood4 ,why did ,jesus ,christ take flesh and dwell among us8 ,because ,he desired to seek and to save that which is lost4 ,why did ,he go into the publican's house1 and brave the sneers of the crowd1 and associate ,himself with the polluted8 ,for the same reason4 ,microscopic crystals and gigantic ones are due to the same forces working in the same fashion4 ,this incident is more than a symbol2 it is a little instance of the operation of the law which finds its supreme and transcendent instance in the fact that the ,eternal ,son of ,god bowed the heavens and came down 'and dwelt among us1 and we beheld ,his glory4' ,his example is our pattern4 ,a ,christian church which does not imitate its ,master in its frank and continual willingness to associate itself with the degraded and the outcast has lost one of the truest signs of its being vitalised with the life of ,christ4 ,there is much in this day in the condition of ,christian communities to make men dissatisfied and fearful4 ,but there is one thing which1 though in all its developments one cannot sympathise with it1 is in its essence wholly good1 and that is the new and quickened consciousness that a church which does not address itself to the outcasts has no business to live2 and that ,christian people who are too proud of their righteousness to go amongst the unclean and the degraded are a great deal more of ,pharisees than ,christians1 and have need to learn which be the first principles of the religion which they profess4 ,self-righteousness gathers up its skirts in holy horror2 perfect righteousness goes cheerily and without fear amongst the outcasts1 for where should the physician go but to the sick1 and where should ,christ be found but in the house of the publican8 ,further1 the saying of our ,lord suggests ,his recognition of the great law that ruled ,his life4 ,chronology here is of much importance4 ,we do not generally remember that the scene with ,zacchaeus was within about a week of the ,crucifixion4 ,our ,lord was on that last journey to ,jerusalem to die1 during the whole of which there was over ,his demeanour a tension of holy impatience1 altogether unlike ,his usual manner1 which astonished and amazed the disciples as they followed ,him4 ,he set ,his face like a flint to go to ,jerusalem2 and strode before them on the way as if ,he were eager to reach the culmination of ,his sufferings and of ,his work4 ,thus borne on the wings of the strong desire to be perfected on the ,cross1 ,he is arrested on ,his path4 ,nothing else was able to stop ,him1 but ',to-day ,i must abide in thy house4' ,there was a soul to be saved2 and the world's sacrifice had to wait till the single soul was secured4 ,christ hurrying1 if ,i may use the word1 at all events steadfastly and without wavering1 pressing towards the ,cross1 let ,his course be stopped by this need4 ,the highest 'must' was obedience to the ,father's will1 and parallel with that need there was the other1 of rescuing the ,father's prodigal sons4 ,so this elder ,brother owned the obligation1 and paused on the road to ,calvary1 to lodge in the house of ,zacchaeus4 ,let us learn the sweet lesson1 and take the large consolations that lie in such a thought4 ,again1 the utterance of this self-invited ,guest suggests ,his over-abundant fulfilment of timid1 half-conscious desires4 ,i said at the beginning of my remarks that only curiosity was on the surface2 but that the very fact that our ,lord addressed ,himself to the man seemed to imply that ,he descried in him something more than mere vulgar curiosity4 ,and the glad leap with which ,zacchaeus came down from his tree might have revealed to ,zacchaeus himself1 as no doubt it did to some of the bystanders1 what it was that he had been dimly wishing4 ,so with us all there are needs1 longings1 half-emerging wishes1 that have scarcely come into the field of consciousness1 but yet have power enough to modify our actions4 ,jesus ,christ understands all about us1 and reads us better than we do ourselves2 and is ready to meet1 and by meeting to bring into full relief1 these vague feelings after an undefined good4 ,brethren1 ,he is to us1 if we will let ,him be1 all that we want2 and ,he is to us all that we need1 although we only half know that we need it1 and never say to ourselves that we wish it4 ,there is a last thought deducible from these words of our ,lord's2 and that is1 ,his leaving a man to decide whether he will have ,him or no4 ',make haste and come down1 for to-day ,i must abide at thy house4 ,yes6 but if ,zacchaeus had stuck in his tree1 ,christ's 'must' would not have been fulfilled4 ,he would have gone on to ,jerusalem if the publican had not scrambled down in haste4 ,he forces ,himself on no man2 ,he withholds ,himself from no man4 ,he respects that awful prerogative of being the architects of our own evil and our own good1 by our own free and unconstrained choice4 ,did you ever think that it was now or never with this publican2 that ,jesus ,christ was never to go through the streets of ,jericho any more2 that it was ,zacchaeus' last chance2 and that1 if he had not made haste1 he would have lost ,christ for ever8 ,and so it is yet4 ,there may be some in this place at this moment to whom ,jesus ,christ is now making ,his last appeal4 ,i know not2 no man knows4 ,a ,rabbi said1 when they asked him when a man should repent1 ',repent on the last day of your lives4' ,and they said1 ',but we do not know when that will be4' ,and he said1 ',then repent now4' ,so ,i say1 because some of you may never hear ,christ's ,gospel again1 and because none of us know whether we shall or not2 make sure work of it now1 and do not let ,jesus ,christ go out of the city and up the road between the hills yonder2 for if once the folds of the ravine shut ,him from sight ,he will never be back in ,jericho1 or seen by ,zacchaeus any more for ever4 ,,iii4 ,and so1 lastly1 notice the outcast melted by kindness4 ,we do not know at what stage in our ,lord's intercourse with the publican he 'stood and said1 ,half of my goods ,i give to the poor1' and so on4 ,but whensoever it was1 it was the sign of the entire revolution that had been wrought upon him by the touch of that loving hand1 and by the new fountain of sympathy and love that he had found in ,jesus ,christ4 ,some people have supposed1 indeed1 that his words do not mark a vow for the future1 but express his practice in the past4 ,but it seems to me to be altogether incongruous that ,zacchaeus should advertise his past good in order to make himself out to be not quite so bad as people thought him1 and1 therefore1 not so unworthy of being ,christ's host4 ,christ's love kindles sense of our sin1 not complacent recounting of our goodness4 ,so ,zacchaeus said1 ',lord6 ,thou hast loved me1 and ,i wonder4 ,i yield1 and fling away my black past2 and1 so far as ,i can1 make restitution for it4' ,the one transforming agency is the love of ,christ received into the heart4 ,i do not suppose that ,zacchaeus knew as much about ,jesus ,christ even after the conversation as we do2 nor did he see ,his love in that supreme death on the ,cross as we do4 ,but the love of the ,lord made a deep dint in his heart1 and revolutionised his whole nature4 ,the thing that will alter the whole current and set of a man's affections1 that will upset his estimate of the relative value of material and spiritual1 and that will turn him inside out and upside down1 and make a new man of him1 is the revelation of the supreme love that in ,jesus ,christ has come into the world1 with an individualising regard to each of us1 and has died on the ,cross for the salvation of us all4 ,nothing else will do it4 ,people had frowned on ,zacchaeus1 and it made him bitter4 ,they had execrated and persecuted him2 and his only response was setting his teeth more firmly and turning the screw a little tighter when he had the chance4 ,you can drive a man into devilry by contempt4 ,if you want to melt him into goodness1 try love4 ,the ,ethiopian cannot change his skin1 but ,jesus ,christ can change his heart1 and that will change his skin by degrees4 ,the one transforming power is faith in the love of ,jesus ,christ4 ,further1 the one test of a true reception of ,him is the abandonment of past evil and restitution for it as far as possible4 ,people say that our ,gospel is unreal and sentimental1 and a number of other ugly adjectives4 ,well6 ,if it ever is so1 it is the fault of the speakers1 and not of the ,gospel4 ,for its demands from every man that accepts it are intensely practical1 and nothing short of a complete turning of his back upon his old self1 shown in the conclusive forsaking of former evil1 however profitable or pleasant1 and reparation for harm done to men1 satisfies them4 ,it is useless to talk about loving ,jesus ,christ and trusting ,him1 and having the sweet assurance of forgiveness1 and a glorious hope of heaven1 unless these have made you break off your bad habits of whatsoever sort they may be1 and cast them behind your backs4 ,strong emotion1 sweet deep feeling1 assured confidence in the sense of forgiveness and the hope of heaven1 are all very well4 ,let us see your faith by your works2 and of these works the chief is--,behold the evil that ,i did1 ,i do it no more3 ',behold6 ,lord6 the half of my goods ,i give to the poor4' ,there was a young ruler1 a chapter before this1 who could not make up his mind to part with wealth in order to follow ,christ4 ,this man has so completely made up his mind to follow ,christ that he does not need to be bidden to give up his worldly goods4 ,the half given to the poor1 and fourfold restoration to those whom he had wronged1 would not leave much4 ,how astonished ,zacchaeus would have been if anybody had said to him that morning1 ',zacchaeus6 before this night falls you will be next door to a pauper1 and you will be a happier man than you are now6' ,so1 dear friends1 like him1 all of us may1 if we will1 and if we need1 make a sudden right-about-face that shall alter the complexion of our whole future4 ,people tell us that sudden conversions are suspicious4 ,so they may be in certain cases4 ,but the moment when a man makes up his mind to change the direction in which his face is set will always be a moment1 however long may be the hesitation1 and the meditation1 and the preparation that led up to it4 ,jesus ,christ is standing before each of us as truly as ,he did before that publican1 and is saying to us as truly as ,he said to him1 ',let ,me in4' ',behold6 ,i stand at the door and knock4 ,if any man open 444 ,i will enter4' ,if ,he comes in ,he will teach you what needs to be turned out if ,he is to stop2 and will make the sacrifice blessed and not painful2 and you will be a happier and a richer man with ,christ and nothing than with all beside and no ,christ4 ,,the ,,trading ,,servants ',then came the first1 saying1 ,lord1 thy pound hath gained ten pounds4444 ,and the second came1 saying1 ,lord1 thy pound hath gained five pounds4' --,,luke xix4#af1 #ah4 ,the ,evangelist1 contrary to his usual practice1 tells us what was the occasion of this parable4 ,it was spoken at ,jericho1 on our ,lord's last journey to ,jerusalem1 ,bethany was but a day's march distant2 ,calvary but a week ahead4 ,an unusual tension of spirit marked our ,lord's demeanour1 and was noticed by the disciples with awe4 ,it infected them1 and the excitable crowd1 which was more than usually excitable because on its way to the passover festival4 ,the air was electric1 and everybody felt that something was impending4 ,they 'thought that the kingdom of ,god should immediately appear4' ,so ,christ spoke this parable to damp down that expectation which might easily flash up into the flame of rebellion4 ,he tells them ,his real programme4 ,he was to go a long way off to receive the kingdom4 ,that was a familiar experience amongst the nations tributary to ,rome1 and more than one of the ,herodian family had passed through it4 ,in the meantime there was to be a period of expectancy4 ,it was to be a long time1 for he had to go to a 'far country1' and it was to be extended enough for the servants to turn their money over many times during ,his absence4 ,when ,he did return it was not to do what they expected4 ,they thought that the kingdom meant ,jewish lordship over subject nations4 ,he teaches them that it meant the destruction of the rebellious citizens1 and a rigid scrutiny of the servants' faithfulness4 ,now1 the words of my two texts bring out in connection with this outline of the future some large lessons which ,i desire to draw4 ,i4 ,notice the small capital that the servants receive to trade with4 ,it was a pound apiece1 which1 numismatic authorities tell us1 is somewhat about the same value as some #f odd of ,english money2 though1 of course1 the purchasing power would be considerably greater4 ,a small amount1 and an equal amount to every servant--these are the two salient points of this parable4 ,they make the broad distinction between it and the other parable1 which is often mixed up with it1 the parable of the talents4 ,there1 instead of the amount being excessively small1 it is exceedingly great2 for a talent was worth some #djj1 and ten talents would be #djjj1 a fair capital for a man to start with4 ,the other point of difference between the two parables1 which belongs to the essence of each1 is that while the gift in the one case is identical1 in the other case it is graduated and different4 ,now1 to suppose that these are but two varying versions of the same parable1 which the ,evangelists have manipulated is1 in my judgment1 to be blind to the plainest of the lessons to be drawn from them4 ,there are two sorts of gifts4 ,in one1 all ,christian men1 the ,master's servants1 are alike2 in another1 they differ4 ,now1 what is the thing in which all ,christians are alike8 ,what gift do they all possess equally2 rich and poor1 largely endowed or slenderly equipped2 'talented'--as we use the word from the parable--or not8 ,the rich man and the poor1 the wise man and the foolish1 the cultured man and the ignorant1 the ,fijian and the ,englishman1 have one thing alike--the message of salvation which we call the ,gospel of the blessed ,lord4 ,that is the 'pound4' ,we all stand upon an equal platform there1 however differently we are endowed in respect of capacities and other matters4 ,all have it2 and all have the same4 ,now if that is the interpretation of this parable1 there are considerations that flow from that thought1 and on which ,i would dwell for a moment4 ,the first of them is the apparent smallness of the gift4 ,you may feel a difficulty in accepting that explanation1 and may have been saying to yourselves that it cannot be correct1 because ,jesus ,christ would never compare the unspeakable gift of ,his message of salvation through ,him1 to that paltry sum4 ,but throw yourselves back to the moment of utterance1 and ,i think you will feel the pathos and power of the metaphor4 ,here was that handful of disciples set in the midst of a hostile world1 dead against them1 with its banded superstitions1 venerable idolatries1 systematised philosophies1 the force of the mightiest instruments of material power that the world had ever seen1 in the organisation and military power of ,rome4 ,and there stood twelve ,galilean men1 with their simple1 unlettered message2 one poor 'pound1' and that was all4 ',the foolishness of preaching1' the message which to 'the ,jews was a stumbling-block1 and to the ,greeks was folly1' was all that they were equipped with4 ,their ,master1 who left them to seek a ,kingdom1 had so little to bestow1 before ,he received ,his crown1 that all that ,he could spare them was that small sum4 ,they had to go into business in a very poor way4 ,they had to be content to do a very insignificant retail trade4 ',the foolishness of ,god is wiser than men2 and the weakness of ,god is stronger than men4' ,the old experience of the leather sling and the five stones out of the brook1 in the hand of the stripling1 that made short work of the brazen armour of the giant1 and penetrated with a whizz into his thick skull1 and laid him prostrate1 was to be repeated4 ',he called his servants1 and gave them'--a pound apiece6 ,if you and ,i1 ,christian men and women1 were true to the ,master's legacy1 and believed that we have in it more wealth than the treasures of wisdom and knowledge or force which the world has laid up1 we should find that our mite was more than they all have in their possession4 ,further1 the texts suggest the purpose for which the pound is given4 ,the servants had to live on it themselves1 no doubt4 ,so have we4 ,they had to trade with it4 ,so have we4 ,now that means two things4 ,we get the ,gospel1 not as some of us lazily suppose1 in order to secure that we shall not be punished for our past sins whilst we live1 and go to heaven when we die4 ,we get it1 not only to enjoy its consolations and its sweetness1 but to do business with4 ,and there are two ways in which this trading is to be done by us4 ,the main one is the honest application of the principles and powers of the ,gospel to the moulding of our own characters1 and the making us better1 purer1 gentler1 more heavenly-minded1 and more ,christlike4 ,that is the first trading that we have to carry on with the ,word4 ,we get it not for an indolent assent1 as so many of us misuse it4 ,we receive it not merely to say1 ',oh ,i believe it1' and there an end1 but that we may bring it to bear upon all our conduct1 and that it may be the chief formative influence in our characters4 ,christian people6 is that what you do with your ,christianity8 ,is the ,gospel moulding you1 hour by hour1 moment by moment8 ,have you brought all its great truths to bear upon your daily lives8 ,have you inwrought its substance into1 not merely your understandings or your emotions1 but your daily conduct8 ,is it indeed the life of your lives1 and the leaven that is leavening your whole character8 ,you have it to trade with2 see that you do not wrap it in a napkin1 and stow it idly away in some corner4 ,then there is the other way of trading and that is1 telling it to others4 ,that is an obligation incumbent on all ,christians4 ,there may be differences in regard to other gifts1 which determine the manner in which each shall use the equal gift which we all possess alike4 ,but these are of subordinate importance4 ,the main thing is to feel that the possession of ,christian faith1 which is our way of receiving the pound1 carries with it indissolubly the obligation of ,christian evangelism4 ,however it may be discharged1 discharged it is to be1 by every true servant4 ,i am sometimes half disposed to think that it would have been better for the ,church if there had never been any men in my position1 on whom the mass of unspiritual1 idle because busy1 and silent because little-loving1 ,christian professors contentedly roll the whole obligation to preach ,god's ,gospel4 ,my brethren1 the world is not going to be evangelised by officials4 ,until all ,christian people wake up to the sense that they have the 'pound' to trade with1 there will be nothing adequate done to bring the world to the obedience and the love of ,jesus ,christ4 ,you say you have the ,gospel2 if you have it what are you doing with it8 ,self-centred ,christianity1 if such a thing were possible1 is a mistake4 ,it is generally a sham2 it is always a crime4 ,a man that puts away his pound1 and never goes out and says1 ',come1 share with me in the wealth that ,i have found in ,jesus ,christ' will be like a miser that puts his hoardings into an old stocking1 and hides it in the ground somewhere4 ,when he goes to dig it up1 he is only too likely to find that all the coins have slipped out4 ,if you want to keep your ,christianity1 let the air into it4 ,if you want it to increase1 sow it4 ,there are hosts of you who would be far happier ,christian people1 if you came out of your shells and traded with your pound4 ,,ii4 ,observe the varying profits of the trading4 ,the one man says1 ',thy pound hath gained ten pounds4' ,the other says1 ',thy pound hath gained five pounds4' ,and the others who are not mentioned1 no doubt1 had also varying results to present4 ,now that inequality of profits from an equal capital to start with1 is but a picturesque way of saying what is1 alas6 too obviously true1 that ,christian people do not all stand on the same level in regard to the use they have made of1 and the benefits they have derived from1 the one equal gift which was bestowed upon them4 ,it is the same to every one at the beginning1 but differences develop as they go on4 ,one man makes twice as much out of it as another does4 ,now1 let us distinctly understand what sort of differences these are which our ,lord signalises here4 ,let me clear away a mistake which may interfere with the true lessons of this parable1 that the differences in question are the superficial ones in apparent results which follow from difference of endowments1 or from difference of influential position4 ,that is the kind of meaning that is often attached to the 'ten pounds' or the 'five pounds' in the text4 ,we think that the ten pounder is the man who has been able to do some large spiritual work for ,jesus ,christ1 that fills the world with its greatness1 the man who has been set in some most conspicuous place1 and by reason of intellectual ability or other talent has been able to gather in many souls into the kingdom2 but that is not ,christ's way of estimating4 ,we should be going dead in the teeth of everything that ,he teaches if we thought that such as these were the differences intended4 ,no1 no6 ,every man that co-operates in a great work with equal diligence and devotion has an equal place in his eyes4 ,the soldier that clapped ,luther on the back as he was going into the ,diet of ,worms1 and said1 ',you have a bigger fight to fight than we ever had2 cheer up1 little monk6' stands on the same level as the great reformer1 if what he did was done from the game motive and with as full consecration of himself4 ,the old law of ,israel states the true principle of ,christian recompense3 they that 'abide by the stuff' have the same share in the spoil as they 'that go down into the battle4' ,all servants who have exercised equal faithfulness and equal diligence stand on the same level and have the same success2 no matter how different may be their estimation in the eyes of men2 no matter how different may be the conspicuousness of the places that they fill in the eyes of the world whilst they live1 or in the records of the ,church when they are dead4 ,equal diligence will issue in equal results in the development of character1 and the only reason for the diversity of results is the diversity of faithfulness and of zeal in trading with the pound4 ,notice1 too1 before ,i go further1 how all who trade make profits4 ,there are no bad debts in that business4 ,there are no investments that result in a loss4 ,everybody that goes into it makes something by it2 which is just to say that any man who is honest and earnest in the attempt to utilise the powers of ,christ's ,gospel for his own culture1 or for the world's good1 will succeed in reality1 however he may seem to fail in appearance4 ,there are no commercial failures in this trading4 ,the man with his ten pounds of profit made them because he worked hardest4 ,the man that made the five made all that his work entitled him to4 ,there was no one who came and said1 ',lord6 ,i put thy pound into my little shop1 and ,i did my best with it1 and it is all gone6' ,every ,christian effort is crowned with success4 ,,iii4 ,lastly1 we have here the final declaration of profits4 ,the master has come back4 ,he is a king now1 but he is the master still1 and he wants to know what has become of the money that was left in the servants' hands4 ,now1 that is but a metaphorical way of bringing to our minds that which we cannot conceive of without metaphor--viz41 the retribution that lies beyond the grave for us all4 ,although we cannot conceive it without metaphor1 we may reach1 through the metaphor to some apprehension1 at any rate1 of the facts that lie behind it4 ,there are two points in reference to this final declaration of profits suggested here4 ,the first is this1 that all the profit is ascribed to the capital4 ,neither of the two men say3 ',i1 with thy pound1 have gained1' but ',thy pound hath gained4' ,that is accurately true4 ,for if ,i accept1 and live by1 any great moral truth or principle1 it is the principle or the truth that is the real productive cause of the change in my life and character4 ,i1 by my acceptance of it1 simply put the belt on the drum that connects my loom with the engine1 but it is the engine that drives the looms and the shuttle1 and brings out the web at last4 ,and so1 ,christian people who1 with ,god's grace in their hearts1 have utilised the 'pound1' and thereby made themselves ,christlike1 have to say1 ',it was not ,i1 but ,christ in me4 ,it was the ,gospel1 and not my faith in the ,gospel1 that wrought this change4' ,is it your teeth or your dinner that nourishes you8 ,is it the ,gospel or your trust in the ,gospel that is the true cause of your sanctifying8 ,with regard to the other aspect of this trading1 the same thing is true4 ,is it my word or ,christ's ,word ministered by me that helps any of my hearers who are helped8 ,surely6 surely6 there is no question about that4 ,it is the 'pound' that gains the 'pounds4' ',paul planted1 ,apollos watered1 but ,god gave the increase4 ,so1 then1 neither is he that planteth anything nor he that watereth1 but ,god that giveth the increase4' ,the other consideration suggested by these words is the exact knowledge of the precise results of a life1 which is possessed at last4 ,each servant knew precisely what was the net outcome of his whole activity4 ,that is exactly what we do not know here1 and never shall1 and never can know4 ,but yonder all illusions will have vanished2 and there will be two sorts of disillusionising then4 ,men1 for instance1 of my profession1 whose names are familiar1 and who hold high places in the esteem of the ,church1 and may be tempted to suppose that they have done a great deal--,i am afraid that many of us will find1 when we get yonder1 that we have not done nearly so much as our admirers in this world1 and we ourselves1 were sometimes tempted to think that we had done4 ,the searching light that comes in will show a great many seamy places in the cloth that looks very sound when it is inspected in the twilight4 ,and there will be another kind of disillusionising4 ,many a man has said1 ',lord6 ,i have laboured in vain1 and spent my strength for nought1' who will find out that he was mistaken1 and that where he saw failure there were solid results2 that where he thought the grain had perished in the furrows1 it had sprung up and borne fruit unto life everlasting4 ',lord6 when saw we ,thee in prison1 and visited ,thee8' ,we never knew that we had done anything of the sort4 ',behold6 ,i was left alone1' said the widowed ,jerusalem when she was restored to her husband1 'these'--children that have gathered round me--'where had they been8' ,we shall know1 for good or bad1 exactly the results of our lives4 ,we shall have to tell them4 ,the slothful servant1 too1 was under this compulsion of absolute honesty4 ,if he had not been so1 do you think he would have ventured to stand up before his master1 a king now1 and insult him to his face8 ,but he had to turn himself inside out1 and tell then what he had thought in his inmost heart4 ,so 'every one of us shall give an account of himself to ,god'2 and like a man in the bankruptcy court1 we shall have to explain our books1 and go into all our transactions4 ,we are working in the dark today4 ,our work will be seen as it is1 in the light4 ,the coral reef rises in the ocean1 and the creatures that made it do not see it4 ,the ocean will be drained away1 and the reef will stand up sheer and distinct4 ,my brother6 ',i counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire'--and when you have bought your pound1 see that you use it2 for 'it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful4' ,,the ,,rewards ,,of ,,the ,,trading ,,servants ',because thou hast been faithful in a very little1 have thou authority over ten cities444 ,be thou also over five cities4'--,,luke xix4 #ag1 #ai4 ,the relation between this parable of the pounds and the other of the talents has often been misunderstood1 and is very noteworthy4 ,they are not two editions of one parable variously manipulated by the ,evangelists1 but they are two parables presenting two kindred and yet diverse aspects of one truth4 ,they are neither identical1 as some have supposed1 nor contradictory1 as others have imagined2 but they are complementary4 ,the parable of the talents represents the servants as receiving different endowments2 one gets five2 another two2 another one4 ,they make the same rate of profit with their different endowments4 ,the man that turned his two talents into four did just as well as he that turned his five into ten4 ,in either case the capital is doubled4 ,since the diligence is the same1 the rewards are the same1 and to each is given the identical same eulogium and the same entrance into the joy of his ,lord4 ,so the lesson of that parable is that1 however unequal are our endowments1 there may be as much diligence shown in the use of the smallest as in the greatest1 and where that is the case1 the man with the small endowments will stand on the same level of recompense as the man with the large4 ,but that is not all4 ,this parable comes in to complete the thoughts4 ,here all the servants get the same gift1 the one pound1 but they make different profits out of it1 one securing twice as much as the other4 ,and1 inasmuch as the diligence has been different1 the rewards are different4 ,so the lesson of this parable is that unequal faithfulness in the use of the same opportunities results in unequal retribution and reward4 ,unequal faithfulness1 ,i say1 because1 of course1 in both parables it is presupposed that the factor in producing the profit is not any accidental circumstance1 but the earnestness and faithfulness of the servant4 ,christ does not pay for results2 ,he pays for motives4 ,and it is not because the man has made a certain number of pounds1 but because in making them he has shown a certain amount of faithfulness1 that he is rewarded4 ,christ does not say1 ',well done6 good and successful servant1' but ',well done6 good and faithful servant4' ,so1 keeping these two sides of the one truth in view1 ,i desire now to draw out two or three of the lessons which seem to me to lie in the principle laid down in my texts1 of the unequal results of the unequal diligence of these servants4 ,i4 ,i would note the solemn view of this present life that underlies the whole4 ',thou hast been faithful in a very little2 have thou authority over five cities4' ,well1 that rests upon the thought that all our present life here is a stewardship1 which in its nature is preparatory to larger work yonder4 ,and that is the point of view from which alone it is right to look at1 and possible to understand1 this else unintelligible and bewildering life on earth4 ,clearly enough1 to anybody that has eyes in his head1 moral ends are supreme in man's relation to nature1 and in man's life4 ,we are here for the sake of making character1 and of acquiring aptitudes and capacities which shall be exercised hereafter4 ,the whole of our earthly career is the exercise of stewardship in regard to all the gifts with which we have been entrusted1 in order that by the right exercise of that stewardship we may develop ourselves and acquire powers4 ,now if it is clear that the whole meaning and end of the present life are to make character1 and that we have to do with the material and the transient only1 in order that1 like the creatures that build up the coral reefs1 we may draw from the ever-varying waves of the ocean that welters around us solid substance which we can pile up into an enduring monument--is this process of making character1 and developing ourselves1 to be cut short by such a contemptible thing as the death of the body8 ,one very distinguished evolutionist1 who has been forced onwards from his position to a kind of theism1 declares that he is driven to a belief in immortality because he must believe in the reasonableness of ,god's work4 ,and it seems to me that if indeed--as is plainly the case--moral ends are supreme in our life's history1 it brings utter intellectual bewilderment and confusion to suppose that these ends are kept in view up till the moment of death1 and that then down comes the guillotine and cuts off all4 ,god does not take the rough ore out of the mine1 and deal with it1 and change it to polished steel1 and shape ,his weapons1 and then take them when they are at their highest temper and their sharpest edge1 and break them across ,his knee4 ,no6 if here we are shaped1 it is because yonder there is work for the tool4 ,so all here is apprenticeship1 and the issues of to-day are recorded in eternity4 ,we are like men perched up in a signal-box by the side of the line2 we pull over a lever here1 and it lifts an arm half a mile off4 ,the smallest wheel upon one end of a shaft may cause another ten times its diameter to revolve1 at the other end of the shaft through the wall there4 ,here we prepare1 yonder we achieve4 ,,ii4 ,note the consequent littleness and greatness of this present4 ',thou hast been faithful in a very little4' ,some of you may remember a recent sermon on the previous part of this parable1 in which ,i tried to bring out an explanation of the small sum with which these servants were entrusted--the pound apiece for their little retail businesses--and found reason to believe that the interpretation of that gift was the ,gospel of ,jesus ,christ which1 in comparison with the world's wisdom and philosophies and material forces1 seemed such a very insignificant thing4 ,if we keep that interpretation in view in treating my present text1 then there is hinted to us the contrast between the necessary limitations and incompletenesses even of the revelation of ,god in ,jesus ,christ which we have here1 and the flood of glory and of light1 which shall pour upon our eyes when the veil of flesh and sense has dropped away4 ,here we know in part2 here1 even with the intervention of the ,eternal and ,incarnate ,word of ,god1 the ,revealer of the ,father1 we see as in a glass darkly2 there face to face4 ,the magnificences and the harmonies of that great revelation of ,god in ,jesus ,christ1 which transcends all human thought and all worldly wisdom1 are but a point1 in comparison with the continent of illumination which shall come to us hereafter4 ',the moon that rules the night' is the revelation that we have to-day1 the reflection and echo of the sun that will rule the unsetting day of the heavens4 ,but ,i pass from that aspect of the words before us to the other1 which1 ,i suppose1 is rather to be kept in view1 in which the faithfulness in a very little points to the smallness of this present1 as measured against that infinite future to which it conducts4 ,much has been said upon that subject1 which is very antagonistic to the real ideas of ,christianity4 ,life here1 and this present1 have been depreciated unduly1 untruly1 and unthankfully4 ,and harm has been done1 not only to the men who accept that estimate1 but to the world that scoffs at it4 ,there is nothing in the ,bible1 which is at all in sympathy with the so-called religious depreciation of the present1 but there is this--'the things that are seen are temporal2 the things that are unseen are eternal4' ,the lower hills look high when beheld from the flat plain that stretches on this side of them2 but1 if the mist lifts1 the great white peaks come out beyond them1 glittering in the sunshine1 and with the untrodden snows on their inaccessible pinnacles2 and nobody thinks about the green foothills1 with the flowers upon them1 any more4 ,brethren1 think away the mist1 for you can1 and open your eyes1 and see the snow-clad hills of eternity1 and then you will understand how low is the elevation of the heights in the foreground4 ,the greatness of the future makes the present little1 but the little present is great1 because its littleness is the parent of the great future4 ',the child is father of the man'2 and earth's narrow range widens out into the infinitude of eternity and of heaven4 ,the only thing that gives real greatness and sublimity to our mortal life is its being the vestibule to another4 ,historically you will find that1 wherever faith in a future life has become dim1 as it has become dim in large sections of the educated classes to-day1 there the general tone of strenuous endeavour has dropped1 and the fatal feeling of ',it is not worth while' begins to creep over society4 ',is life worth living8' is the question that is asked on all sides of us to-day4 ,and the modern recrudescence of pessimism has along with it1 as one of the main thoughts which cut the nerves of effort1 doubt of1 and disbelief in1 a future4 ,it is because the very little opens out into the immeasurably great1 and the passing moments tick us onwards into an unpassing eternity1 that the moments are worth living through1 and the fleeting insignificances of earth's existence become solemn and majestic as the portals of heaven4 ,,iii4 ,notice the future form of activity prepared for by faithful trading4 ',thou hast been faithful in a very little2 have thou authority over ten cities4' ,now ,i do not need to spend a word in dwelling on the contrast between the two pictures of the huckster with his little shop and the pound of capital to begin with1 and the vizier that has control of ten of the cities of his master4 ,that is too plain to need any enforcement4 ,we are all here1 all us ,christian people especially1 like men that keep a small shop1 in a back street1 with a few trivial things in the window1 but we are heirs of a kingdom4 ,that is what ,christ wants us to lay to heart1 so that the little shop shall not seem so very small1 and its smoky obscurity shall be irradiated by true visions of what it will lead to4 ,nor do ,i wish to risk any kind of fanciful and precarious speculations as to the manner and the sphere of the authority that is here set forth2 only ,i would keep to one or two plain things4 ,faithfulness here prepares for participation in ,christ's authority hereafter4 ,for we are not to forget that whilst the master1 the nobleman1 was away seeking the kingdom1 all that he could give his servants was the little stock-in-trade with which he started them1 and that it is because he has won his kingdom that he is able to dispense to them the larger gifts of dominion over the ten and the five cities4 ,the authority is delegated1 but it is more than that-- it is shared4 ,for it is participation in1 and not merely delegation from1 the ,king and ,his rule1 that is set forth in this and in other places of ,scripture1 for 'they shall sit down with ,me on ,my throne1 even as ,i also overcame and am set down with ,my ,father on ,his throne4' ,if1 then1 the rule set forth1 in whatever sphere and in whatever fashion it may be exercised1 is participation in ,christ's authority1 let us not forget that therefore it is a rule of which the manifestation is service4 ,in heaven as on earth1 and for the ,lord in heaven as for the ,lord on earth1 and for the servants in heaven as for the servants on earth1 the law stands irrefragable and eternal--',if any man will be chief among you1 let him be your minister4' ,the authority over the ten cities is the capacity and opportunity of serving and helping every citizen in them all4 ,what that help may be let us leave4 ,it is better to be ignorant than to speculate about matters where there is no possibility of certainty4 ,ignorance is more impressive than knowledge1 only be sure that no dignity can live amidst the pure light of the heavens1 except after the fashion of the dignity of the ,lord of all1 who there1 as here1 is the servant of all4 ,but there is a thought in connection with this great though dim revelation of the future1 which may well be laid to heart by us4 ,and that is1 that however close and direct the dependence on1 and the communion with1 ,jesus ,christ1 the ,king of all ,his servants1 in that future state is1 it shall not be so close and direct as to exclude room for the exercise of brotherly sympathy and brotherly aid4 ,we shall have ,christ for our life and our light and our glory4 ,but there1 as here1 we shall help one another to have ,him more fully1 and to understand ,him more perfectly4 ,what further lies in these great words1 ,i do not venture to guess4 ,enough to know that ,christ will be all in all1 and that ,christ in each will help the others to know ,christ more fully4 ,only remember1 we have to take this great conception of the future as being one that implies largely increased and ennobled activity4 ,a great deal of very cheap ridicule has been cast upon the ,christian conception of the future life as if it was an eternity of idleness and of repose4 ,of repose1 yes2 of idleness1 no6 ,for it is no sinecure to be the governor of ten cities4 ,there will be a good deal of work to be done1 in order to discharge that office properly4 ,only it will be work that does not disturb repose1 and at one and the same moment ,his servants will serve in constant activity1 and gaze upon ,his face in calm contemplation4 ,christ's session at the right hand of ,god does not interfere with ,christ's continual activity here4 ,and1 in like manner1 ,his servants shall rest from their labours1 but not from their work2 they shall serve ,him undisturbed1 and shall repose1 but not idly4 ,,iv4 ,lastly1 our texts remind us of the variety in recompense which corresponds to diversity in faithfulness4 ,i need but say a word about that4 ,the one man gets his ten cities because his faithfulness has brought in ten pounds4 ,the other gets five1 corresponding to his faithfulness4 ,as ,i said1 our ,lord pays1 not for results1 except in so far as these are conditioned and secured by the diligence of ,his servants4 ,and so we come to the old familiar1 and yet too often forgotten1 conception of degrees in dignity1 degrees in nearness to ,him4 ,that thought runs all through the ,new ,testament representations of a future life1 sometimes more clearly1 sometimes more obscurely1 but generally present4 ,it is in entire accordance with the whole conception of that future1 because the ,christian notion of it is not that it is an arbitrary reward1 but that it is the natural outcome of the present2 and1 of course1 therefore1 varying according to the present1 of which it is the outcome4 ,we get what we have wrought for4 ,we get what we are capable of receiving1 and what we are capable of receiving depends upon what has been our faithfulness here4 ,now1 that is perfectly consistent with the other side of the truth which the twin parable sets forth--viz41 that the recompenses of the future are essentially one4 ,all the servants1 who were entrusted with the ,talents1 received the same eulogium1 and entered into the same joy of their ,lord4 ,that is one side of the truth4 ,and the other is1 that the degree in which ,christian people1 when they depart hence1 possess the one gift of eternal life1 and ,christ-shared joy is conditioned by their faithfulness and diligence here4 ,do not let the ,gospel that says ',the gift of ,god is eternal life' make you forget the completing truths1 that the measure in which a man possesses that eternal life depends on his fitness for it1 and that fitness depends on his faithfulness of service and his union with his ,lord4 ,we obscure this great truth often by reason of the way in which we preach the deeper truth on which it rests--forgiveness and acceptance all unmerited1 through faith in ,jesus ,christ4 ,but the two things are not contradictory2 they are complementary4 ,no man will be faithful as a steward who is not full of faith as a penitent sinner4 ,no man will enter into the joy of his ,lord1 who does not enter in through the gate of penitence and trust1 but1 having entered1 we are ranked according to the faithfulness of our service and diligence of stewardship4 ',wherefore1 giving all diligence1 make your calling and election sure1 for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our ,lord and ,saviour ,jesus ,christ4' ,a ,,new ,,kind ,,of ,,king ',and when ,he was come nigh1 even now at the descent of the mount of ,olives1 the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise ,god with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen2 #ch4 ,saying1 ,blessed be the ,king that cometh in the name of the ,lord3 peace in heaven1 and glory in the highest4 #ch4 ,and some of the ,pharisees from among the multitude said unto ,him1 ,master1 rebuke ,thy disciples4 #dj4 ,and ,he answered and said unto them1 ,i tell you that1 if these should hold their peace1 the stones would immediately cry out4 #da4 ,and when ,he was come near1 ,he beheld the city1 and wept over it1 #db4 ,saying1 ,if thou hadst known1 even thou1 at least in this thy day1 the things which belong unto thy peace6 but now they are hid from thine eyes4 #dc4 ,for the days shall come upon thee1 that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee1 and compass thee round1 and keep thee in on every side1 #dd4 ,and shall lay thee even with the ground1 and thy children within thee2 and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another2 because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation4 #de4 ,and he went into the temple1 and began to cast out them that sold therein1 and them that bought2 #df4 ,saying unto them1 ,it is written1 ,my house is the house of prayer3 but ye have made it a den of thieves4 #dg4 ,and ,he taught daily in the temple4 ,but the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy ,him1 #dh4 ,and could not find what they might do3 for all the people were very attentive to hear ,him4'--,,luke xix4 #cg-dh4 ',he went on before4' ,what concentrated determination1 and almost eagerness1 impelled ,his firm and swift steps up the steep1 weary road6 ,mark tells that the disciples followed1 'amazed'--as they well might be--at the unusual haste1 and strange preoccupation on the face1 set as a flint4 ,luke takes no notice of the stay at ,bethany and the sweet seclusion which soothed ,jesus there4 ,he dwells only on the assertion of royalty1 which stamped an altogether unique character on the remaining hours of ,christ's life4 ,i4 ,the narrative brings into prominence ,christ's part in originating the triumphal entry 7vs4 #cj-cd74 ,he sent for the colt with the obvious intention of stimulating the people to just such a demonstration as followed4 ,as to the particulars1 we need only note that the most obvious explanation of ,his knowledge of the circumstances that the messengers would encounter1 is that it was supernatural4 ,only one other explanation is possible2 namely1 that the owners of the animal were secret disciples1 with whom our ,lord had arranged to send for it1 and had settled a sign and countersign1 by which they would know ,his messengers4 ,but that is a less natural explanation4 ,note the remarkable blending of dignity and poverty in ',the ,lord hath need of him4' ,it asserts sovereign authority and absolute rights1 and it confesses need and penury4 ,he is a ,king1 but ,he has to borrow even a colt to make ,his triumphal entry on4 ,though ,he was rich1 for our sakes ,he became poor4 ,jesus then deliberately brought about ,his public entry4 ,he thereby acts in a way perfectly unlike ,his whole previous course4 ,and ,he stirs up popular feelings at a time when they were specially excitable by reason of the approaching ,passover and its crowds4 ,formerly ,he had avoided the danger which ,he now seems to court1 and had gone up to the feast 'as it were in secret4' ,but it was fitting that once1 for the last time1 ,he should assert before the gathered ,israel that ,he was their ,king1 and should make a last appeal4 ,formerly ,he had sought to avoid attracting the attention of the rulers2 now ,he knows that the end is near1 and deliberately makes ,himself conspicuous1 though--or we might say because--,he knew that thereby ,he precipitated ,his death4 ,the nature of ,his dominion is as plainly taught by the humble pomp as is its reality4 ,a pauper ,king1 who makes ,his public entrance into ,his city mounted on a borrowed ass1 with ,his followers' clothes for a saddle1 attended by a shouting crowd of poor peasants1 for weapons or banners had but the branches plucked from other people's trees1 was a new kind of king4 ,we do not need ,matthew's quotation of the prophet's vision of the meek ,king coming to ,zion on an ass1 to understand the contrast of this kingdom with such a dominion as that of ,rome1 or of such princes as the ,herods4 ,gentleness and peace1 a sway that rests not on force nor wealth1 are shadowed in that rustic procession and the pathetic poverty of its leader1 throned on a borrowed colt1 and attended1 not by warriors or dignitaries1 but by poor men unarmed1 and saluted1 not with the blare of trumpets1 but with the shouts of joyful1 though1 alas6 fickle hearts4 ,,ii4 ,we have the humble procession with the shouting disciples and the background of hostile spies4 ,the disciples eagerly caught at the meaning of bringing the colt1 and threw themselves with alacrity into what seemed to them preparation for the public assertion of royalty1 for which they had long been impatient4 ,luke tells us that they lifted ,jesus on to the seat which they hurriedly prepared1 while some spread their garments in the way--the usual homage to a king3 ',ride on triumphantly2 behold1 we lay ,our lusts and proud wills in ,thy way4' ,how different the vision of the future in their minds and ,his6 ,they dreamed of a throne2 ,he knew it was a ,cross4 ,round the southern shoulder of ,olivet they came1 and1 as the long line of the ,temple walls1 glittering in the sunshine across the valley1 burst on the view1 and their approach could be seen from the city1 they broke into loud acclamations1 summoning1 as it were1 ,jerusalem to welcome its ,king4 ,luke's version of their chant omits the ,jewish colouring which it has in the other ,gospels1 as was natural1 in view of his ,gentile readers4 ,christ's royalty and divine commission are proclaimed from a thousand throats1 and then up swells the shout of praise1 which echoes the angels' song at ,bethlehem1 and ascribes to ,his coming1 power to make peace in heaven with an else alienated world1 and thus to make the divine glory blaze with new splendour even in the highest heavens4 ,their song was wiser than they knew1 and touched the deepest1 sweetest mysteries of the unity of the ,son with the ,father1 of reconciliation by the blood of ,his ,cross1 and of the new lustre accruing to ,god's name thereby1 even in the sight of principalities and powers in heavenly places4 ,they meant none of these things1 but they were unconscious prophets4 ,their shouts died away1 and their faith was almost as short-lived4 ,with many of them1 it withered before the branches which they waved4 ,high-wrought emotion is a poor substitute for steady conviction4 ,but cool1 unemotional recognition of ,christ as ,king is as unnatural4 ,if our hearts do not glow with loyal love1 nor leap up to welcome ,him2 if the contemplation of ,his work and its issues on earth and in heaven does not make our dumb tongues sing--we have need to ask ourselves if we believe at all that ,he is the ,king and ,saviour of all and of us4 ,there were cool observers there1 and they make the foil to the glad enthusiasm4 ,note that these ,pharisees1 mingling in the crowd1 have no title for ,jesus but ',teacher4' ,he is no king to them4 ,to those who regard ,jesus but as a human teacher1 the acclamations of those to whom ,he is ,king and ,lord always sound exaggerated4 ,people with no depth of religious life hate religious emotion1 and are always seeking to repress it4 ,a very tepid worship is warm enough for them4 ,formalists detest genuine feeling4 ,propriety is their ideal4 ,no doubt1 too1 these croakers feared that this tumult might come to formidable size1 and bring down ,pilate's heavy hand on them4 ,christ's answer is probably a quoted proverb4 ,it implies ,his entire acceptance of the character which the crowd ascribed to ,him1 ,his pleasure in their praises1 and1 in a wider aspect1 ,his vindication of outbursts of devout feeling1 which shock ecclesiastical martinets and formalists4 ,,iii4 ,we see the sorrowing ,king plunged in bitter grief in the very hour of ,his triumph4 ,who can venture to speak of that infinitely pathetic scene8 ,the fair city1 smiling across the glen1 brings before ,his vision the awful contrast of its lying compassed by armies and in ruins4 ,he hears not the acclamation of the crowd4 ',he wept1' or1 rather1 'wailed1'--for the word does not imply tears so much as cries4 ,that sorrow is a sign of ,his real manhood1 but it is also a part of ,his revelation of the very heart of ,god4 ,the form is human1 the substance divine4 ,the man weeps because ,god pities4 ,christ's sorrow does not hinder ,his judgments4 ,the woes which wring ,his heart will nevertheless be inflicted by ,him4 ,judgment is ,his 'strange work1' alien from ,his desires2 but it is ,his work4 ,the eyes which are as a flame of fire are filled with tears1 but their glance burns up the evil4 ,note the yearning in the unfinished sentence1 ',if thou hadst known4' ,note the decisive closing of the time of repentance4 ,note the minute prophetic details of the siege1 which1 if ever they were spoken1 are a distinct proof of ,his all-seeing eye4 ,and from all let us fix in our hearts the conviction of the pity of the judge1 and of the judgment by the pitying ,christ4 ,,iv4 ,we have ,christ's exercise of sovereign authority in ,his ,father's house4 ,luke gives but a summary in verses #de-dh1 dwelling mainly on two points4 ,first he tells of casting out the traders4 ,two things are brought out in the compressed narrative--the fact1 and the ,lord's vindication of it4 ,as to the former1 it was fitting that at the end of ,his career1 as at the beginning1 ,he should cleanse the ,temple4 ,the two events are significant as ,his first and last acts4 ,the second one1 as we gather from the other ,evangelists1 had a greater severity about it than the first4 ,the need for a second purifying indicated how sadly transient had been the effect of the first1 and was thus evidence of the depth of corruption and formalism to which the religion of priests and people had sunk4 ,christ had come to cleanse the ,temple of the world's religion1 to banish from it mercenaries and self-interested attendants at the altar1 and1 in a higher application of the incident1 to clear away all the degradations and uncleannesses which are associated with worship everywhere but in ,his ,church1 and which are ever seeking1 like poisonous air1 to find their way in thither also1 through any unguarded chink4 ,the vindication of the act is in right royal style4 ,the first cleansing was defended by ,him by pointing to the sanctity of ',my ,father's house'2 the second1 by claiming it as ',my house4' ,the rebuke of the hucksters is sterner the second time4 ,the profanation1 once driven out and returning1 is deeper2 for whereas1 in the first instance1 it had made the ,temple 'a house of merchandise1' in the second it turned it into a 'den of robbers4' ,thus evil assumes a darker tint1 like old oak1 by lapse of time1 and swiftly becomes worse1 if rebuked and chastised in vain4 ,the second part of this summary puts in sharp contrast three things--,christ's calm courage in continuous teaching in the ,temple1 the growing bitter hatred of the authorities1 who drew in their train the men of influence holding no office1 and the eager hanging of the people on ,his words1 which baffled the murderous designs of the rulers4 ,the same intentional publicity as in the entrance is obvious4 ,jesus knew that ,his hour was come1 and willingly presents ,himself a sacrifice4 ,meekly and boldly ,he goes on the appointed way4 ,he sees all the hate working round ,him1 and lets it work4 ,the day's task of winning some from impending ruin shall still be done4 ,so should ,his servants live1 in patient discharge of daily duty1 in the face of death1 if need be4 ,the enemies1 who heard ,his words and found in them only food for deeper hatred1 may warn us of the possibilities of antagonism to ,him that lie in the heart1 and of the terrible judgment which they drag down on their own heads1 who hear1 unmoved1 ,his daily teaching1 and see1 unrepentant1 ,his dying love4 ,the crowd that listened1 and1 in less than a week yelled ',crucify ,him1' may teach us to take heed how we hear1 and to beware of evanescent regard for ,his teaching1 which1 if it do not consolidate into resolved and thoroughgoing acceptance of ,his work and submission to ,his rule1 will certainly cool into disregard1 and may harden into hate4 ,,tenants ,,who ,,wanted ,,to ,,be ,,owners ',then began ,he to speak to the people this parable2 ,a certain man planted a vineyard1 and let it forth to husbandmen1 and went into a far country for a long time4 #aj4 ,and at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen1 that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard3 but the husbandmen beat him1 and sent him away empty4 #aa4 ,and again he sent another servant3 and they beat him also1 and entreated him shamefully1 and sent him away empty4 #ab4 ,and again he sent a third3 and they wounded him also1 and cast him out4 #ac4 ,then said the lord of the vineyard1 ,what shall ,i do8 ,i will send my beloved son3 it may be they will reverence him when they see him4 #ad4 ,but when the husbandmen saw him1 they reasoned among themselves1 saying1 ,this is the heir3 come1 let us kill him1 that the inheritance may be ours4 #ae4 ,so they cast him out of the vineyard1 and killed him4 ,what therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them8 #af4 ,he shall come and destroy these husbandmen1 and shall give the vineyard to others4 ,and when they heard it1 they said1 ,god forbid4 #ag4 ,and he beheld them1 and said1 what is this then that is written1 ,the stone which the builders rejected1 the same is become the head of the corner8 #ah4 ,whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken2 but on whomsoever it shall fall1 it will grind him to powder4 #ai4 ,and the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on ,him2 and they feared the people3 for they perceived that ,he had spoken this parable against them4'--,,luke xx4 #i-ai4 ,as the crisis came near1 ,jesus increased ,his severity and plainness of speech4 ,this parable1 which was spoken very near the end of the protracted duel with the officials in the ,temple1 is transparent in its application1 and hit its mark immediately4 ,the rulers at once perceived that it was directed against them4 ,the cap fitted too well not to be put on4 ,but it contains prophecy as well as history1 and the reference to ,jesus' impending fate is almost as transparent as the indictment of the rulers1 while the prediction of the transference of the vineyard to others is as easy of translation as either of the other points4 ,such plain speaking was fitting for last words4 ,the urgency of ,christ's pleading love1 as much as the intensity of ,his moral indignation1 made them plain4 ,i4 ,we note1 first1 the vineyard1 its lord and its tenants4 ,the metaphor was familiar1 for ,isaiah had 'sung a song touching' ,israel as ,god's vineyard1 and other prophets had caught up the emblem1 so that it had become a commonplace1 known by all4 ,the parable distinctly alludes to ,isaiah's words1 and almost reproduces them4 ,matthew's version enlarges on details of the appliances provided by the owner1 which makes the parallel with ,isaiah still more noticeable4 ,but ,luke summarises these into the simple 'planted4' ,that covers the whole ground4 ,god had given ,israel a system of revelation1 law1 and worship1 which was competent to produce in those who received it1 the fruit of obedience and thankfulness4 ,the husbandmen are primarily the rulers1 as the scribes and chief priests perceived2 but the nation which endorsed1 by permitting their action1 is included4 ,the picture drawn applies to us as truly as to the ,jews4 ,the transference of the vineyard to another set of tenants1 which ,christ threatened at the close of the parable1 has been accomplished1 and so we1 by our possession of the ,gospel1 are entrusted with the vineyard1 and are responsible for rendering the fruits of holy living and love4 ,the owner 'let it out1 and went into another country for a long time4' ,that is a picturesque way of saying that we have apparent possession1 and are left free to act1 ,god not being manifestly close to us4 ,he stands off1 as it were1 from the creatures whom ,he has made1 and gives them room to do as they will4 ,but all our possessions1 as well as the revelation of ,himself in ,christ1 are only let to us1 and we have rent to pay4 ,the collectors sent for the fruit are1 of course1 the series of prophets4 ,luke specifies three--a round number1 indicating completeness4 ,he says nothing about the times between their missions1 but implies that the three covered the whole period till the sending of the son4 ,their treatment was uniform1 as the history of ,israel proved4 ,the habit of rejecting the prophets was hereditary4 ,there is such a thing as national solidarity stretching through ages4 ,the bold charge made by ,stephen was only an echo of this parable1 when he cried1 ',as your fathers did1 so do ye4 ,which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute8' ,each generation made the ancestral sin its own1 and staggered under a heavier burden of guilt1 till1 at last1 came a generation which had to bear the penalty of all the blood of prophets shed from the beginning4 ,nations live1 though their component atoms die1 and only national repudiation of bequeathed sins can avert the crash which1 sooner or later1 avenges them4 ,the husbandmen treated the messengers with increasing contumely and cruelty4 ,content with beating the first1 they added shameful treatment in the second case1 and proceeded to wounding in the third4 ,if ,god's repeated appeals do not melt1 they harden1 the heart4 ,the persistence of ,his messengers leads to fiercer hatred1 if it does not produce yielding love4 ,there is no bitterness equal to that of the man who has often stiffened conscience against the truth4 ,,ii4 ,so far1 no doubt could be entertained of the meaning of the scathing parable4 ,there was probably as little about that of the next part4 ,we cannot but notice the broad distinction which ,jesus draws between ,himself and the mightiest of the prophets4 ,they were the owner's 'slaves'2 ,he was ,his 'beloved ,son4' ,the writer of the ,epistle to the ,hebrews begins his letter with the same contrast1 which he may have learned from the parable4 ,it is a commonplace for us1 but let us ponder how it must have sounded to that hostile1 eager crowd1 and ask ourselves how such assumptions can be reconciled with the 'sweet reasonableness' of ,jesus if he belonged to the same category as an ,isaiah or a ,micah4 ,the yearning of divine love for the fruit of reverence and obedience is wonderfully expressed by the bold putting of an uncertain hope into the owner's mouth4 ,he must have known that he was running a risk in sending his son1 but he so much desires to bring the dishonest workmen back to their duty that he is willing to run it4 ,the highly figurative expression is meant to emphasise ,god's longing for men's hearts1 and ,his patient love which 'hopeth all things' and will not cease from effort to win us so long as an arrow remains in ,his quiver4 ,,iii4 ,our ,lord now passes to prophecy4 ,deep sadness is in ,his tone as ,he tells how the only effect of ,his coming had been to stir up opposition4 ,they 'saw ,him' and were they touched8 ,no1 they only gripped their privileges the tighter1 and determined more fiercely to assert their ownership4 ,nothing is more remarkable in the parable than the calmness of ,jesus in announcing ,his impending fate4 ,he knows it all1 and ,his voice has no tremor1 as ,he tells it as though ,he were speaking of another4 ,the very announcement that ,he penetrated the murderous designs hidden in many of the hearers' hearts would tend to precipitate their execution of these2 but ,he is ready for the ,cross1 and its nearness has no terror1 not because ,he was impassive1 or free from the shrinking proper to flesh1 but because ,he was resolved to save4 ,therefore ,he was resolved to suffer4 ,the husbandmen's reasonings with one another bring into plain words thoughts which probably were not consciously held by any even of the rulers4 ,they open the question as to how far the rulers knew the truth of ,christ's claims4 ,they at least knew what these were1 and they had fought down dawning convictions which1 fairly dealt with1 would have broadened into daylight4 ,they would not have been so fiercely antagonistic if they had not been pricked by an uneasy doubt whether1 after all1 perhaps there was something in these claims4 ,nothing steels men against admitting a truth so surely as the suspicion that1 if they were to inquire a little farther1 they might find themselves believing it4 ,knowledge and ignorance blended in these rulers as in us all4 ,if they had not known at all1 they would not have needed the ,saviour's dying prayer for their forgiveness2 if they had known fully1 its very ground would have been taken away4 ,the motive put into their mouths is the wish to seize the vineyard for their own2 and was not the very soul of the rulers' hostility the determination to keep hold of the prerogatives of their offices1 while priests and people alike were deaf to ,jesus1 because they wished to be no more troubled by being reminded of their obligations to render obedience to ,god8 ,the root of all rejection of ,christ is the desire of self-will to reign supreme4 ,men resent being reminded that they are tenants1 and are determined to assert ownership4 ,jesus carries the hearers beyond the final crime which filled the measure of sin1 and exhausted the resources of ,god4 ,the sharp turn from narrative to question1 in verse #ae1 not only is like the sudden thrust of a spear1 but marks the transition from the present and immediate future to a more distant day4 ,the slaying of the heir was the last act of the vine-dressers4 ,the owner would act next4 ,luke1 like ,mark1 puts the threatening of retribution into ,christ's lips1 while ,matthew makes it the answer of the rulers to his question4 ,luke alone gives the exclamation1 ',god forbid6' ,the ready answer in ,matthew1 and the pious interjection in ,luke1 have the same purpose1--to blunt the application of the parable to themselves by appearing to be unconcerned4 ,their levity and reluctance to take home the lesson moved our ,lord to sternness1 which burned in ,his steadfast eyes as ,he looked on them1 and must have been remembered by some disciple whose memory has preserved that look for us4 ,it was the prelude to a still less veiled prophecy of the fall of ,israel4 ,jesus lays ,his hand on the ancient prophecy of the stone rejected by the builders1 and applies it to ,himself4 ,he is the sure foundation of which ,isaiah had spoken4 ,he is the stone rejected by ,israel1 but elevated to the summit of the building1 and there joining two diverging walls4 ,the solemn warning closing the parable had its special meaning in regard to ,israel1 but its dread force extends to us4 ,to fall on the stone while it lies lowly on the earth is to lame one's self1 but to have it fall on a man when it rushes down from its elevation is ruin utter and irremediable4 ',if they escaped not who refused ,him that spake on earth1 much more shall not we escape1 if we turn away from ,him that speaketh from heaven4' ,,whose ,,image ,,and ,,superscription8 ',whose image and superscription hath it8'--,luke xx4 #bd4 ,it is no unusual thing for antagonists to join forces in order to crush a third person obnoxious to both4 ,so in this incident we have an unnatural alliance of the two parties in ,jewish politics who were at daggers drawn4 ,the representatives of the narrow conservative ,judaism1 which loathed a foreign yoke1 in the person of the ,pharisees and ,scribes1 and the ,herodians1 the partisans of a foreigner and a usurper1 lay their heads together to propose a question to ,christ which they think will discredit or destroy ,him4 ,they would have answered their own question in opposite ways4 ,one would have said1 ',it is lawful to give tribute to ,caesar'2 the other would have said1 ',it is not4' ,but that is a small matter when malice prompts4 ,they calculate1 ',if ,he says1 ,no6 we will denounce ,him to ,pilate as a rebel4 ,if ,he says1 ,yes6 we will go to the people and say1 ,here is a pretty ,messiah for you1 that has no objection to the foreign yoke4 ,either way we shall end ,him4' ,jesus ,christ serenely walks through the cobwebs1 and lays ,his hand upon the fact4 ',let ,me see a silver penny6'--which1 by the bye1 was the amount of the tribute--',whose head is that8' ,the currency of the country proclaims the monarch of the country4 ,to stamp his image on the coin is an act of sovereignty4 ',caesar's head declares that you are ,caesar's subjects1 whether you like it or not1 and it is too late to ask questions about tribute when you pay your bills in his money4' ',render to ,caesar the things that are ,caesar's4' ,does not the other side of ,christ's answer--'to ,god the things that are ,god's'--rest upon a similar fact8 ,does not the parallelism require that we should suppose that the destiny of things to be devoted to ,god is stamped upon them1 whatever they are1 at least as plainly as the right of ,caesar to exact tribute was inferred from the fact that his money was the currency of the country8 ,the thought widens out in a great many directions1 but ,i want to confine it to one special line of contemplation1 and to take it as suggesting to each of us this great truth1 that the very make of men shows that they belong to ,god1 and are bound to yield themselves to ,him4 ,if the answer to the question be plain1 and the conclusion irresistible1 about the penny with the image of ,tiberius1 the answer is no less plain1 nor the conclusion less irresistible1 when we turn the interrogation within1 and1 looking at our own being1 say to ourselves1 ',whose image and superscription hath it8' ,i4 ,first1 then1 note the image stamped upon man1 and the consequent obligation4 ,we can very often tell what a thing is for by noticing its make4 ,the instructed eye of an anatomist will1 from a bone1 divine the sphere in which the creature to whom it belonged was intended to live4 ,just as plainly as gills or lungs1 fins or wings1 or legs and arms1 declare the element in which the creature that possesses them is intended to move1 so plainly stamped upon all our natures is this1 that ,god is our ,lord since we are made in a true sense in ,his image1 and that only in ,him can we find rest4 ,i need not remind you1 ,i suppose1 of the old word1 ',let us make man in our own image4' ,nor need ,i1 ,i suppose1 insist at any length upon the truth that though1 by the fact of man's sin1 the whole glory and splendour of the divine image in which he was made is marred and defaced1 there still remain such solemn1 blessed1 and awful resemblances between man and ,god that there can be no mistake as to which beings in the universe are the most kindred2 nor any misunderstanding as to who it is after whose likeness we are formed1 and in whose love and life alone we can be blessed4 ,i am not going to weary you with thoughts for which1 perhaps1 the pulpit is not the proper place2 but let me just remind you of one or two points4 ,is there any other being on this earth that can say of itself ',i am'8 ,god says ',i am that ,i am'4 ,you and ,i cannot say that1 but we alone1 in this order of things1 possess that solemn and awful gift1 the consciousness of our personal being4 ,and1 brethren1 whoever is able to say to himself ',i am' will never know rest until he can turn to ,god and say ',thou art1' and then1 laying his hand in the ,great ,father's hand1 venture to say ',we are4' ,we are made in ,his image1 in that profoundest of all senses4 ,but to come to something less recondite4 ,we are like ,god in that we can love2 we are like ,him in that we can perceive the right1 and that the right is supreme2 we are like ,him in that we have the power to say ',i will4' ,and these great capacities demand that the creature who thus knows himself to be1 who thus knows the right1 who thus can love1 who thus can purpose1 resolve1 and act1 should find his home and his refuge in fellowship with ,god4 ,but if you take a coin1 and compare it with the die from which it has been struck1 you will find that wherever in the die there is a relief1 in the coin there is a sunken place2 and conversely4 ,so there are not only resemblances in man to the divine nature1 which bear upon them the manifest marks of his destiny1 but there are correspondences1 wants1 on our side1 being met by gifts upon ,his2 hollow emptinesses in us being filled1 when we are brought into contact with ,him1 by the abundance of ,his outstanding supplies and gifts4 ,so the poorest1 narrowest1 meanest life has in it a depth of desire1 an ardour1 and sometimes a pain and a madness of yearning and longing which nothing but ,god can fill4 ,though we often misunderstand the voice1 and so make ourselves miserable by vain efforts1 our 'heart and our flesh1' in every fibre of our being1 'cry out for the living ,god4' ,and what we all want is some one ,pearl of great price into which all the dispersed preciousness and fragmentary brilliances that dazzle the eye shall be gathered4 ,we want a ,person1 a living ,person1 a present ,person1 a sufficient ,person1 who shall satisfy our hearts1 our whole hearts1 and that at one and the same time1 or else we shall never be at rest4 ,because1 then1 we are made dependent1 because we possess these wild desires1 because immortal thirst attaches to our nature1 because we have consciences that need illuminating1 wills that are only free when they are absolutely submissive1 hearts that are dissatisfied1 and left yearning1 after all the sweetnesses of limited1 transient1 and creatural affections1 we bear on our very fronts the image of ,god2 and any man that wisely looks at himself can answer the question1 ',whose image and superscription hath it8' in but one way4 ',in the image of ,god created ,he him4' ,therefore by loving fellowship1 by lowly trust1 by ardour of love1 by submissiveness of obedience1 by continuity of contemplation1 by the sacrifice of self1 we must yield ourselves to ,god if we would pay the tribute manifestly owing to the ,emperor by the fact that ,his image and superscription are upon the coin4 ,,ii4 ,and so let me ask you to look1 in the next place1 at the defacement of the image and the wrong expenditure of the coin4 ,you sometimes get into your hands money on which there has been stamped1 by mischief1 or for some selfish purpose1 the name of some one else than the king's or queen's which surrounds the head upon it4 ,and in like manner our nature has gone through the stamping-press again1 and another likeness has been deeply imprinted upon it4 ,the image of ,god1 which every man has1 is in some senses and aspects ineffaceable by any course of conduct of theirs4 ,but in another aspect it is not like the permanent similitude stamped upon the solid metal of the penny1 but like the reflection1 rather1 that falls upon some polished plate1 or that is cast upon the white sheet from a lantern4 ,if the polished plate be rusty and stained1 the image is faint and indistinct2 if it be turned away from the light the image passes4 ,and that is what some of you are doing4 ,by living to yourselves1 by living day in and day out without ever remembering ,god1 by yielding to passions1 lusts1 ambitions1 low desires1 and the like1 you are doing your very best to erase the likeness which still lingers in your nature4 ,is there any one here that has yielded to some lust of the flesh1 some appetite1 drunkenness1 gluttony1 impurity1 or the like1 and has so sold himself to it1 as that that part of the divine image1 the power of saying ',i will1' has pretty nearly gone8 ,i am afraid there must be some who1 by long submission to passion1 have lost the control that reason and conscience and a firm steady purpose ought to give4 ,is there any man here who1 by long course of utter neglect of the divine love1 has ceased to feel that there is a heart at the centre of the universe1 or that ,he has anything to do with it8 ,brethren1 the awful power that is given to men of degrading themselves till1 lineament by lineament1 the likeness in which they are made vanishes1 is the saddest and most tragical thing in the world4 ',like the beasts that perish1' says one of the psalms1 the men become who1 by the acids and the files of worldliness and sensuality and passion1 have so rubbed away the likeness of ,god that it is scarcely perceptible in them4 ,do ,i speak to some such now8 ,if there is nothing else left there is this1 a hunger for absolute good and for the satisfaction of your desires4 ,that is part of the proof that you are made for ,god1 and that only in ,him can you find rest4 ,all occupations of heart and mind and will and active life with other things to the exclusion of supreme devotion to ,god are1 then1 sacrilege and rebellion4 ,the emperor's head was the token of sovereignty and carried with it the obligation to pay tribute4 ,every fibre in your nature protests against the prostitution of itself to anything short of ,god4 ,you remember the story in the ,old ,testament about that saturnalia of debauchery1 the night when ,babylon fell1 when ,bel-shazzar1 in the very wantonness of godless insolence1 could not be satisfied with drinking his wine out of anything less sacred than the vessels that had been brought from the ,temple at ,jerusalem4 ,that is what many of us are doing1 taking the sacred cup which is meant to be filled with the wine of the kingdom and pouring into it the foaming but poisonous beverages which steal away our brains and make us drunk1 the moment before our empire totters to its fall and we to our ruin4 ',all the consecrated things of the house of the ,lord they dedicated to ,baal1' says one of the narratives in the ,book of ,chronicles4 ,that is what some of us are doing1 taking the soul that is meant to be consecrated to ,god and find its blessedness there1 and offering it to false gods in whose service there is no blessedness4 ,for1 dear friends1 ,i beseech you1 lay this to heart that you cannot thus use the ,godlike being that you possess without bringing down upon your heads miseries and unrest4 ,the raven1 that black bird of evil omen1 went out from the ark1 and flew homeless over the weltering ocean4 ,the souls that seek not ,god fly thus1 strangers and restless1 through a drowned and lifeless world4 ,the dove came back with an olive branch in its beak4 ,souls that are wise and have made their nests in the sanctuary can there fold their wings and be at peace4 ,as the ancient saint said1 ',we are made for ,god1 and only in ,god have we rest4' ',oh1 that thou hadst hearkened to me1 then had thy peace been as a river1 and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea4' ,cannot you see the blessed1 gentle gliding of the full stream through the meadows with the sunshine upon its ripples8 ,such is the heart that has yielded itself to ,god4 ,in solemn contrast to that lovely image1 the same prophet has for a repeated refrain in his book1 ',the wicked is like the troubled sea which cannot rest1' but goes moaning round the world1 and breaking in idle foam upon every shore1 and still is unquiet for evermore4 ,brethren1 only when we render to ,god the thing that is ,god's--our hearts and ourselves-have we repose4 ,,iii4 ,now1 lastly1 notice the restoration and perfecting of the defaced image4 ,because man is like ,god1 it is possible for ,god to become like man4 ,the possibility of ,revelation and of ,redemption by an incarnate ,saviour depend upon the reality of the fact that man is made in the image of ,god4 ,thus there comes to us that divine ,christ1 who lays ',his hands upon both' and being on the one hand the express image of ,his person1 so that ,he can say1 ',he that hath seen ,me hath seen the ,father1' on the other hand 'was in all points made like unto ,his brethren1' with only the exception that the defacement which had obliterated the divine image in them left it clear1 untarnished1 and sharply cut in ,him4 ,therefore1 because ,jesus ,christ has come1 our ,brother1 'bone of our bone1 and flesh of our flesh1' made like unto us1 and in our likeness presenting to us the very image of ,god and eradiation of ,his light1 therefore no defacement that it is possible for men or devils to make on this poor humanity of ours need be irrevocable and final4 ,all the stains may be blotted out1 all the usurping superscriptions may be removed and the original imprint restored4 ,the dints may be elevated1 the too lofty points may be lowered1 the tarnish and the rust may be rubbed off1 and1 fairer than before1 the likeness of ,god may be stamped on every one of us1 'after the image of ,him that created us1' if only we will turn ourselves to that dear ,lord1 and cast our souls upon ,him4 ,christ hath become like us that we might become like ,him1 and therein be partakers of the divine nature4 ',we all1 reflecting as a glass does the glory of the ,lord1 may be changed into the same image from glory to glory4' ,nor do the possibilities stop there1 for we look forward to a time when1 if ,i might pursue the metaphor of my text1 the coinage shall be called in and reminted1 in new forms of nobleness and of likeness4 ,we have before us this great prospect1 that 'we shall be like ,him1 for we shall see ,him as ,he is'2 and in all the glories of that heaven we shall partake1 for all that is ,christ's is ours1 and 'we that have borne the image of the earthly shall also bear the image of the heavenly4' ,i come to you1 then1 with this old question3 ',whose image and superscription hath it8' and the old exhortation founded thereupon3 ',render therefore to ,god the thing that is ,god's'2 and yield yourselves to ,him4 ,another question ,i would ask1 and pray that you may lay it to heart1 ',to what purpose is this waste8' ,what are you doing with the silver penny of your own soul8 ,wherefore do ye 'spend it for that which is not bread8' ,give yourselves to ,god2 trust yourselves to the ,christ who is like you1 and like ,him4 ,and1 resting upon ,his great love you will be saved from the prostitution of capacities1 and the vain attempts to satisfy your souls with the husks of earth2 and whilst you remain here will be made partakers of ,christ's life1 and growingly of ,his likeness1 and when you remove yonder1 your body1 soul1 and spirit will be conformed to ,his image1 and transformed into the likeness of ,his glory1 'according to the mighty working whereby ,he is able even to subdue all things unto ,himself4' ,,when ,,shall ,,these ,,things ,,be8 ',and when ye shall see ,jerusalem compassed with armies1 then know that the desolation thereof is nigh4 #ba4 ,then let them which are in ,judea flee to the mountains2 and let them which are in the midst of it depart out2 and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto4 #bb4 ,for these be the days of vengeance1 that all things which are written may he fulfilled4 #bc4 ,but woe unto them that are with child1 and to them that give suck1 in those days6 for there shall be great distress in the land1 and wrath upon this people4 #bd4 ,and they shall fall by the edge of the sword1 and shall be led away captive into all nations2 and ,jerusalem shall be trodden down of the ,gentiles1 until the times of the ,gentiles be fulfilled4 #be4 ,and there shall be signs in the sun1 and in the moon1 and in the stars2 and upon the earth distress of nations1 with perplexity2 the sea and the waves roaring2 #bf4 ,men's hearts failing them for fear1 and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth2 for the powers of heaven shall be shaken4 #bg4 ,and then shall they see the ,son of man coming in a cloud1 with power and great glory4 #bh4 ,and when these things begin to come to pass1 then look up1 and lift up your heads2 for your redemption draweth nigh4 #bi4 ,and ,he spake to them a parable2 ,behold the fig-tree1 and all the trees2 #cj4 ,when they now shoot forth1 ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand4 #ca4 ,so likewise ye1 when ye see these things come to pass1 know ye that the kingdom of ,god is nigh at hand4 #cb4 ,verily ,i say unto you1 ,this generation shall not pass away till all be fulfilled4 #cc4 ,heaven and earth shall pass away2 but ,my words shall not pass away4 #cd4 ,and take heed to yourselves1 lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting1 and drunkenness1 and cares of this life1 and so that day come upon you unawares4 #ce4 ,for as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth4 #cf4 ,watch ye therefore1 and pray always1 that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass1 and to stand before the ,son of ,man4'--,,luke xxi4 #bj-cf4 ,this discourse of our ,lord's is in answer to the disciples' double question as to the time of the overthrow of the ,temple and the premonitory signs of its approach4 ,the former is answered with the indefiniteness which characterises prophetic chronology2 the latter is plainly answered in verse #bj4 ,the whole passage divides itself in four well-marked sections4 ,i4 ,there is the prediction of the fall of ,jerusalem 7vs4 #bj-bd74 ,the 'sign' of her 'desolation' was to be the advance of the enemy to her walls4 ,armies had been many times encamped round her1 and many times been scattered2 but this siege was to end in capture1 and no angel of the ,lord would stalk by night through the sleeping host1 to stiffen sleep into death1 nor would any valour of the besieged avail4 ,their cause was to be hopeless from the first4 ,flight was enjoined4 ,usually the inhabitants of the open country took refuge in the fortified capital when invasion harrowed their fields2 but this time1 for 'them that are in the country' to 'enter therein' was to throw away their last chance of safety4 ,the ,christians obeyed1 and fled1 as we all know1 across ,jordan to ,pella4 ,the rest despised ,jesus' warning--if they knew it1---and perished4 ,mark the reason for the exhortation not to resist1 but to flee3 ,these are days of vengeance1 that all things which are written may be fulfilled4' ,that is to say1 the besiegers are sent by ,god to execute ,his righteous and long-ago-pronounced judgments4 ,therefore it is vain to struggle against them4 ,behind the ,roman army is the ,god of ,israel4 ,to dash against their cohorts is to throw one's self on the thick bosses of the ,almighty's buckler1 and none who dare do that can 'prosper4' ,submission to ,his retributive hand is the only way to escape being crushed by it4 ,chastisement accepted is salutary1 but kicking against it drives the goad deeper into the rebellious limb4 ,so great is the agony to be1 that what should be a joy1 the birth of children1 will be a woe1 and the sweet duties of motherhood a curse1 while the childless will be happier than the fugitives burdened with helpless infancy4 ,we should note1 too1 that the 'distress' which comes upon the land is presented in darker colours1 and traced to its origin1 in 7,god's7'wrath' dealt out 'unto this people4' ,happier they who 'fall by the edge of the sword' than they who are led 'captive into all the nations4' ,a gleam of hope shoots through the stormy prospect1 for the treading down of ,jerusalem by the ,gentiles has a term set to it4 ,it is to continue 'till the times of the ,gentiles are fulfilled4' ,that expression is important1 for it clearly implies that these 'times' are of considerable duration1 and it thus places a period of undefined extent between the fall of ,jerusalem and the subsequent prophecy4 ,the word used for 'times' generally carries with it the notion of opportunity1 and here seems to indicate that the break-up of the ,jewish national existence would usher in a period in which the ',gentiles' would have the kingdom of ,god offered to them4 ,the history of the world since the city fell is the best comment on this saying4 ,,ii4 ,since the 'times of the ,gentiles' are thus of indefinite duration1 they make a broad line of demarcation between what precedes and what follows them4 ,clearly the prophecy in verses #be-bg is separated in time from the fall of ,jerusalem1 and it is no objection to that view that the separation is not more emphatically pointed out by our ,lord4 ,these verses distinctly refer to ,his last coming to judgment4 ,verse #bg is too grand and too distinctly cast in the mould of the other predictions of that coming to be interpreted of ,his ideal coming in the judgments on the city4 ,the 'signs in sun and moon and stars' may refer in accordance with a familiar symbolism1 to the overthrow of royalties and dominions2 the sea roaring may1 in like manner1 symbolise agitations among the people2 but the 'cloud' and the 'power and great glory' with which the ,son of man comes1 can mean nothing else than what they mean in other prophetic passages2 namely1 ,his visible appearance1 invested with the shekinah light1 and wielding divine authority before the gaze of a world4 ,the city's fall1 then1 was the initial stage of a process1 the duration of which is undefined here1 but implied to be considerable1 and of which the closing stage is the personal coming of ,jesus4 ,the same conclusion is supported by verse #bh1 which treats that fall as the beginning of the fulfilment of the prophecy4 ,,iii4 ,that verse forms a transition to the section containing the illustrative parable and the reiteration of the assurance that ,christ's words would certainly be fulfilled4 ,the disciples might naturally quake at the prospect1 and wonder how they could face the reality4 ,jesus gives them strong words of cheer1 which apply to all dreaded contingencies and to all social convulsions4 ,what is a messenger of destruction to ,christless men and institutions is a harbinger of full 'redemption' to ,his servants4 ,earthquakes but open their prison doors and loose their bands1 they should not shake their hearts4 ,historically the fall of ,jerusalem was a powerful factor in the deliverance of the ,church from ,jewish swaddling-bands which hampered its growing limbs4 ,for all ,christians the destruction of what can perish brings fuller vision and possession of what cannot be shaken4 ,to ,christ's friends1 all things work for good4 ,so the parable which at first sight seems strangely incongruous becomes blessedly significant and fitting4 ,the gladsome blossoming of the trees1 the herald of the glories of summer1 is a strange emblem of such a tragedy1 and summer itself is a still stranger one of that solemn last judgment4 ,but the might of humble trust in ,him who comes to judge makes ,his coming summer-like in the light and warmth with which it floods the soul1 and the rich fruitage which it produces there4 ,observe1 too1 that the parable confirms the idea of a process having stages1 for the lesson of the blossoming fig-tree is not that summer has come1 but that it is nigh4 ,the solemn assurance in verse #cb1 made more weighty by the ',verily ,i say1' seems at first sight to bring the final judgment within the lifetime of the generation of the hearers4 ,but it is noteworthy that the expression 'till all things are fulfilled' is almost verbally identical with that in verse #bb1 which refers only to the destruction of ,jerusalem1 and is therefore most naturally interpreted as having the same restricted application here4 ,the difference between the two phrases is significant1 since in the former the certainty of fulfilment is deduced from the fact of 'the things' being written--that is1 they must be accomplished because they have been foretold in ,scripture1--whereas in the latter ,christ rests the certainty of fulfilment on ,his own word4 ,that majestic assurance in verse #cc comes well from ,his lips1 and makes claim that ,his word shall outlast the whole present material order1 and be fulfilled in every detail4 ,think of a mere man saying that6 ,,iv4 ,exhortations corresponding to the predictions follow4 ,christ's revelation of the future was neither meant to gratify idle curiosity nor to supply a timetable in advance1 but to minister encouragement and to lead to watchfulness4 ,whether 'that day' 7ver4 #cd7 is understood of the fall of ,jerusalem or of the final coming of the ,lord1 it will come 'as a snare' upon men who are absorbed with the earth which they inhabit4 ,they will be captured by it1 as a covey of birds in a field busily picking up grain1 are netted by one sudden fling of the fowler's net4 ,a wary eye would have saved them4 ,the exhortation is as applicable to us1 for1 whatever are our views about unfulfilled prophecy1 death comes to us all at a time which we know not1 as the ,book of ,ecclesiastes1 using the same figure1 says2 ',man knoweth not his time 444 as the birds that are caught in the snare4' ,hearts must be kept above the grosser satisfactions of sense and the less gross cares of life1 being neither stupefied with gorging earth's good1 nor preoccupied with its gnawing anxieties1 both of which are destructive of the clear realisation of the certain future4 ,we are to preserve an attitude of wakefulness and of expectancy1 and1 as the sure way to it1 and to clearing our hearts of perishable delights and shortsighted1 self-consuming cares1 we are to keep them in a continual posture of supplication4 ,if our study of unfulfilled prophecy does that for us1 it will have done what ,jesus means it to do2 if it does not it matters little what theories about its chronology we may adopt4 ,the two stages which we have tried to point out in this passage are clearly marked at the close1 where escaping 'all these things that shall come to pass' and standing 'before the ,son of man' are distinguished4 ,true1 both stages were to be included in the experience of ,christ's hearers1 but they are none the less separate stages4 ,luke's version of this great discourse gives less prominence to the final coming than does ,matthew's1 and does not blend the two stages so inextricably together2 but it gives no hint of the duration of the 'times of the ,gentiles1' and might well leave the impression that these were brief4 ,now in this close setting together of a nearer and a much more remote future1 with little prominence given to the interval between1 our ,lord is but bringing ,his prophecy into line with the constant manner of the older prophets4 ,they and ,he paint the future in perspective1 and the distance1 seen behind the foreground1 seems nearer than it really is4 ,the spectator does not know how many weary miles have to be traversed before the distant blue hills are to be reached1 nor what deep gorges lie between4 ,such bringing together of events far apart in time of fulfilment rests in part on the fact that there have been many 'days of the ,lord1' many 'comings of ,christ1' each of which is a result on a small scale of the same retributive action of the ,judge of all1 as shall be manifested on the largest scale in the last and greatest day of the ,lord4 ,therefore the true use of all these predictions is that which ,christ enforces here2 namely1 that they should lead us to prayerful watchfulness and to living above earth1 its goods and cares4 ,,the ,,lord',s ,,supper ',then came the day of unleavened bread1 when the passover must be killed4 #h4 ,and ,he sent ,peter and ,john1 saying1 ,go and prepare us the passover1 that we may eat4 #i4 ,and they said unto ,him1 ,where wilt thou that we prepare8 #aj4 ,and ,he said unto them1 ,behold1 when ye are entered into the city1 there shall a man meet you1 bearing a pitcher of water2 follow him into the house where he entereth in4 #aa4 ,and ye shall say unto the goodman of the house1 ,the ,master saith unto thee1 ,where is the guestchamber1 where ,i shall eat the passover with ,my disciples8 #ab4 ,and he shall shew you a large upper room furnished3 there make ready4 #ac4 ,and they went1 and found as ,he had said unto them3 and they made ready the passover4 #ad4 ,and when the hour was come1 ,he sat down1 and the twelve apostles with ,him4 #ae4 ,and ,he said unto them1 ,with desire ,i have desired to eat this passover with you before ,i suffer3 #af4 ,for ,i say unto you1 ,i will not any more eat thereof1 until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of ,god4 #ag4 ,and ,he took the cup1 and gave thanks1 and said1 ,take this1 and divide it among yourselves3 #ah4 ,for ,i say unto you1 ,i will not drink of the fruit of the vine1 until the kingdom of ,god shall come4 #ai4 ,and ,he took bread1 and gave thanks1 and brake it1 and gave unto them1 saying1 ,this is ,my body which is given for you3 this do in remembrance of ,me4 #bj4 ,likewise also the cup after supper1 saying1 ,this cup is the new testament in ,my blood1 which is shed for you4'--,,luke xxii4 #g-bj4 ,paul had his account of the ,last ,supper direct from ,christ4 ,luke apparently had his from ,paul1 so that the variations from ,matthew and ,mark are invested with singular interest1 as probably traceable to the ,lord of the feast ,himself4 ,our passage has three sections--the preparation1 the revelation of ,christ's heart1 and the institution of the rite4 ,i4 ,the ,preparation4--,peculiar to ,luke are the names of the disciples entrusted with it1 and the representation of the command1 as preceding the disciples' question ',where8' ,the selection of ,peter and ,john indicates the confidential nature of the task1 which comes out still more plainly in the singular directions given to them4 ,luke's order of command and question seems more precise than that of the other ,gospels1 as making our ,lord the originator instead of merely responsive to the disciples' suggestion4 ,how is the designation of the place which ,christ gives to be understood8 ,was it supernatural knowledge1 or was it the result of previous arrangement with the 'goodman of the house'8 ,most probably the latter2 for he was in so far a disciple that he recognised ,jesus as 'the ,master1' and was glad to have ,him in his house1 and the chamber on the roof was ready 'furnished' when they came4 ,why this mystery about the place8 ,the verses before our passage tell the reason4 ,judas was listening1 too1 for the answer to ',where8' thinking that it would give him the 'opportunity' which he sought 'to betray ,him in the absence of the multitude4' ,jesus had much to say to ,his disciples1 and needed the quiet hours in the upper room1 and therefore sent away the two with directions which revealed nothing to the others4 ,if ,he had told the group where the house was1 the last supper might never have been instituted1 nor the precious farewell words1 the holy of holies of ,john's ,gospel1 ever been spoken4 ,jesus takes precautions to delay the ,cross4 ,he takes none to escape it1 but rather sets ,himself in these last days to bring it near4 ,the variety in ,his action means no change in ,his mind1 but both modes are equally the result of ,his self-forgetting love to us all4 ,so ,he sends away ,peter and ,john with sealed orders1 as it were1 and the greedy ears of the traitor are balked1 and none know the appointed place till ,jesus leads them to it4 ,the two did not come back1 but ,christ guided the others to the house1 when the hour was come4 ,,ii4 ,verses #ad-ah give a glimpse into ,christ's heart as ,he partook1 for the last time1 of the ,passover4 ,he discloses ,his earnest desire for that last hour of calm before ,he went out to face the storm1 and reveals ,his vision of the future feast in the perfect kingdom4 ,that desire touchingly shows ,his brotherhood in all our shrinking from parting with dear ones1 and in our treasuring of the last sweet1 sad moments of being together4 ,that was a true human heart1 'fashioned alike' with ours1 which longed and planned for one quiet hour before the end1 and found some bracing for ,gethsemane and ,calvary in the sanctities of the ,upper ,room4 ,but the desire was not for ,himself only4 ,he wished to partake of that ,passover1 and then to transform it for ever1 and to leave the new rite to ,his servants4 ,our ,lord evidently ate of the ,passover2 for we cannot suppose that ,his words in verse #ae relate to an ungratified wish1 but1 as evidently1 that eating was finished before ,he spoke4 ,we shall best conceive the course of events if we suppose that the earlier stages of the paschal ceremonial were duly attended to1 and that the ,lord's ,supper was instituted in connection with its later parts4 ,we need not discuss what was the exact stage at which our ,lord spoke and acted as in verses #ae-ag4 ,it is sufficient to note that in them ,he gives what ,he does not taste1 and that1 in giving1 ,his thoughts travel beyond all the sorrow and death to reunion and perfected festal joys4 ,these anticipations solaced ,his heart in that supreme hour4 ',for the joy that was set before ,him' ,he 'endured the ,cross1' and this was the crown of ,his joy1 that all ,his friends should share it with ,him1 and sit at ,his table in ,his kingdom4 ,the prophetic aspect of the ,lord's ,supper should never be left out of view4 ,it is at once a feast of memory and of hope1 and is also a symbol for the present1 inasmuch as it represents the conditions of spiritual life as being participation in the body and blood of ,christ4 ,this is where ,paul learned his 'till ,he come'2 and that hope which filled the ,saviour's heart should ever fill ours when we remember ,his death4 ,,iii4 ,verses #ai and #bj record the actual institution of the ,lord's ,supper4 ,note its connection with the rite which it transforms4 ,the ,passover was the memorial of deliverance1 the very centre of ,jewish ritual4 ,it was a family feast1 and our ,lord took the place of the head of the household4 ,that solemnly appointed and long-observed memorial of the deliverance which made a mob of slaves into a nation is transfigured by ,jesus1 who calls upon ,jew and ,gentile to forget the venerable meaning of the rite1 and remember rather ,his work for all men4 ,it is strange presumption thus to brush aside the ,passover1 and in effect to say1 ',i abrogate a divinely enjoined ceremony1 and breathe a new meaning into so much of it as ,i retain4' ,who is ,he who thus tampers with ,god's commandments8 ,surely ,he is either ,one having a co-ordinate authority1 or----8 ,but perhaps the alternative is best left unspoken4 ,the separation of the symbols of the body and blood plainly indicates that it is the death of ,jesus1 and that a violent one1 which is commemorated4 ,the double symbol carries in both its parts the same truth1 but with differences4 ,both teach that all our hopes are rooted in the death of ,jesus1 and that the only true life of our spirits comes from participation in ,his death1 and thereby in ,his life4 ,but in addition to this truth common to both1 the wine1 which represents ,his blood1 is the seal of the 'new covenant4' ,again we mark the extraordinary freedom with which ,christ handles the most sacred parts of the former revelation1 putting them aside as ,he wills1 to set ,himself in their place4 ,he declares1 by this rite1 that through ,his death a new 'covenant' comes into force as between ,god and man1 in which all the anticipations of prophets are more than realised1 and sins are remembered no more1 and the knowledge of ,god becomes the blessing of all1 and a close relationship of mutual possession is established between ,god and us1 and ,his laws are written on loving hearts and softened wills4 ,nor is even this all the meaning of that cup of blessing2 for blood is the vehicle of life1 and whoso receives ,christ's blood on his conscience1 to sprinkle it from dead works1 therein receives1 not only cleansing for the past1 but a real communication of 'the ,spirit of life' which was 'in ,christ' to be the life of his life1 so as that he can say1 ',i live2 yet not ,i1 but ,christ liveth in me4' ,nor is even this all2 for1 as wine is1 all the world over1 the emblem of festivity1 so this cup declares that to partake of ,christ is to have a fountain of joy in ourselves1 which yet has a better source than ourselves4 ,nor is this all2 for 'this cup' is prophecy as well as memorial and symbol1 and shadows the new wine of the kingdom and the marriage supper of the ,lamb4 ',this is ,my body' could not have meant to the hearers1 who saw ,him sitting there in bodily form1 anything but 'this is a symbol of ,my body4' ,it is but the common use of the word in explaining a figurative speech or act4 ',the field is the world2 the tares are the children of the wicked one2 the reapers are the angels1'--and so in a hundred cases4 ,luke alone preserves for us the command to 'do this1' which at once establishes the rite as meant to be perpetual1 and defines the true nature of it4 ,it is a memorial1 and1 if we are to take our ,lord's own explanation1 only a memorial4 ,there is nothing here of sacramental efficacy1 but simply the loving desire to be remembered and the condescending entrusting of some power to recall him to these outward symbols4 ,strange that1 if the communion were so much more1 as the sacramentarian theory makes it1 the feast's own ,founder should not have said a word to hint that it was4 ,and how deep and yet lowly an insight into ,his hold on our hearts the institution of this ordinance shows ,him to have had6 ,the ,greek is1 literally1 ',in order to ,my remembrance4' ,he knew that--strange and sad as it may seem1 and impossible as1 no doubt1 it did seem to the disciples--we should be in constant danger of forgetting ,him2 and therefore1 in this one case1 ,he enlists sense on the side of faith1 and trusts to these homely memorials the recalling1 to our treacherous memories1 of ,his dying love4 ,he wished to live in our hearts1 and that for the satisfaction of ,his own love and for the deepening of ours4 ,the ,lord's ,supper is a standing evidence of ,christ's own estimate of where the centre of ,his work lies4 ,we are to remember ,his death4 ,why should it be selected as the chief treasure for memory1 unless it was something altogether different from the death of other wise teachers and benefactors8 ,if it were in ,his case what it is in all others1 the end of ,his activity for blessing1 and no part of ,his message to the world1 what need is there for the ,lord's ,supper1 and what meaning is there in it1 if ,christ's death were not the sacrifice for the world's sin8 ,surely no view of the significance and purpose of the ,cross but that which sees in it the propitiation for the world's sins accounts for this rite4 ,a ,christianity which strikes the atoning death of ,jesus out of its theology is sorely embarrassed to find a worthy meaning for ,his dying command1 ',this do in remembrance of ,me4' ,but if the breaking of the precious alabaster box of ,his body was needed in order that 'the house' might be 'filled with the odour of the ointment1' and if ,his death was the indispensable condition of pardon and impartation of ,his life1 then 'wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world1 there1' as its vital centre1 shall ,his death be proclaimed1 and this rite shall speak of it for a memorial of ,him1 and 'show the ,lord's death till ,he come4' ,,parting ,,promises ,,and ,,warnings ',and there was also a strife among them1 which of them should be accounted the greatest4 #be4 ,and ,he said unto them1 ,the kings of the ,gentiles exercise lordship over them2 and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors4 #bf4 ,but ye shall not be so3 but he that is greatest among you1 let him be as the younger2 and he that is chief1 as he that doth serve4 #bg4 ,for whether is greater1 he that sitteth at meat1 or he that serveth8 is not he that sitteth at meat8 but ,i am among you as ,he that serveth4 #bh4 ,ye are they which have continued with ,me in ,my temptations4 #bi4 ,and ,i appoint unto you a kingdom1 as ,my ,father hath appointed unto ,me2 #cj4 ,that ye may eat and drink at ,my table in ,my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of ,israel4 #ca4 ,and the ,lord said1 ,simon1 ,simon1 behold1 ,satan hath desired to have you1 that he may sift you as wheat3 #cb4 ,but ,i have prayed for thee1 that thy faith fail not3 and when thou art converted1 strengthen thy brethren4 #cc4 ,and he said unto ,him1 ,lord1 ,i am ready to go with ,thee1 both into prison1 and to death4 #cd4 ,and ,he said1 ,i tell thee1 ,peter1 the cock shall not crow this day1 before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest ,me4 #ce4 ,and ,he said unto them1 ,when ,i sent you without purse1 and scrip1 and shoes1 lacked ye any thing8 ,and they said1 ,nothing4 #cf4 ,then said ,he unto them1 ,but now1 he that hath a purse1 let him take it1 and likewise his scrip3 and he that hath no sword1 let him sell his garment1 and buy one4 #cg4 ,for ,i say unto you1 that this that is written must yet be accomplished in ,me1 ,and ,he was reckoned among the transgressors3 for the things concerning ,me have an end4'--,,luke xxii4 #bd-cg4 ,it was blameworthy1 but only too natural1 that1 while ,christ's heart was full of ,his approaching sufferings1 the ,apostles should be squabbling about their respective dignity4 ,they thought that the half-understood predictions pointed to a brief struggle immediately preceding the establishment of the kingdom1 and they wished to have their rank settled in advance4 ,possibly1 too1 they had been disputing as to whose office was the menial task of presenting the basin for foot-washing4 ,so little did the first partakers of the ,lord's ,supper 'discern the ,lord's body1' and so little did ,his most loving friends share ,his sorrows4 ,i4 ,our ,lord was not so absorbed in ,his anticipations of the near ,cross as to be unobservant of the wrangling among the ,apostles4 ,even then ,his heart was enough at leisure from itself to observe1 to pity1 and to help4 ,so ,he at once turns to deal with the false ideas of greatness betrayed by the dispute4 ,the world's notion is that the true use and exercise of superiority is to lord it over others4 ,tyrants are flattered by the title of benefactor1 which they do not deserve1 but the giving of which shows that1 even in the world1 some trace of the true conception lingers4 ,it was sadly true1 at that time1 that power was used for selfish ends1 and generally meant oppression4 ,one ,egyptian king1 who bore the title ,benefactor1 was popularly known as ,malefactor1 and many another old-world monarch deserved a like name4 ,jesus lays down the law for ,his followers as being the exact opposite of the world's notion4 ,dignity and pre-eminence carry obligations to serve4 ,in ,his kingdom power is to be used to help others1 not to glorify oneself4 ,in other sayings of ,christ's1 service is declared to be the way to become great in the kingdom1 but here the matter is taken up at another point1 and greatness1 already attained on whatever grounds1 is commanded to be turned to its proper use4 ,the way to become great is to become small1 and to serve4 ,the right use of greatness is to become a servant4 ,that has become a familiar commonplace now1 but its recognition as the law for civic and other dignity is all but entirely owing to ,christianity4 ,what conception of such a use of power has the ,sultan of ,turkey1 or the petty tyrants of heathen lands8 ,the worst of ,european rulers have to make pretence to be guided by this law2 and even the ,pope calls himself 'the servant of servants4' ,it is a commonplace1 but like many another axiom1 universal acceptance and almost as universal neglect are its fate4 ,ingrained selfishness fights against it4 ,men admire it as a beautiful saying1 and how many of us take it as our life's guide8 ,we condemn the rulers of old who wrung wealth out of their people and neglected every duty2 but what of our own use of the fraction of power we possess1 or our own demeanour to our inferiors in world or church8 ,have all the occupants of royal thrones or presidential chairs1 all peers1 members of ,parliament1 senators1 and congressmen1 used their position for the public weal8 ,do we regard ours as a trust to be administered for others8 ,do we feel the weight of our crown1 or are we taken up with its jewels1 and proud of ourselves for it8 ,christ's pathetic words1 giving ,himself as the example of greatness that serves1 are best understood as referring to ,his wonderful act of washing the disciples' feet4 ,luke does not record it1 and probably did not know it1 but how the words are lighted up if we bring them into connection with it6 ,,ii4 ,verses #bh to #cj naturally flow from the preceding4 ,they lift a corner of the veil1 and show the rewards1 when the heavenly form of the kingdom has come1 of the right use of eminence in its earthly form4 ,how pathetic a glimpse into ,christ's heart is given in that warm utterance of gratitude for the imperfect companionship of the ,twelve6 ,it reveals ,his loneliness1 ,his yearning for a loving hand to grasp1 ,his continual conflict with temptations to choose an easier way than that of the ,cross4 ,he has known all the pain of being alone1 and feeling in vain for a sympathetic heart to lean on4 ,he has had to resist temptation1 not only in the desert at the beginning1 or in ,gethsemane at the end1 but throughout ,his life4 ,he treasures in ,his heart1 and richly repays1 even a little love dashed with much selfishness1 and faithfulness broken by desertion4 ,we do not often speak of the tempted ,christ1 or of the lonely ,christ1 or of the grateful ,christ1 but in these great words we see ,him as being all these4 ,the rewards promised point onwards to the perfecting of the kingdom in the future life4 ,we notice the profound thought that the kingdom which ,his servants are to inherit is conferred on them1 'as ,my ,father hath appointed unto ,me1'--that is1 that it is a kingdom won by suffering and service1 and wielded by gentleness and for others4 ',if we suffer1 we shall also reign with ,him4' ,the characteristics of the future royalty of ,christ's servants are given in highly figurative language4 ,a state of which we have no experience can only be revealed under forms drawn from experience2 but these are only far-off approximations1 and cannot be pressed4 ,the sacred ,last ,supper suggested one metaphor4 ,it was the last on earth1 but its sanctity would be renewed in heaven1 and sadness and separation and the following grief would not mar the perfect1 perpetual1 joyful feast4 ,what dim visions of rule and delegated authority may lie in the other promise of judging the twelve tribes of ,israel1 we must wait till we go to that world to understand4 ,but this is clear1 that continuing with ,jesus here leads to everlasting companionship hereafter1 in which all desires shall be satisfied1 and we shall share in ,his authority and be representatives of ,his glory4 ,,iii4 ,but ,jesus abruptly recalls ,himself and the ,twelve from these remoter prospects of bliss to the nearer future of trial and separation4 ,the solemn warning to ,peter follows with startling suddenness4 ,why should they be fighting about precedence when they were on the verge of the sorest trial of their constancy8 ,and as for ,peter1 who had1 no doubt1 not been the least loud-voiced in the strife1 he needed most of all to be sobered4 ,our narrow limits forbid our doing even partial justice to the scene with him2 but we note the significant use of the old name ',simon1' reminding the ,apostle of his human weakness1 and its repetition1 giving emphasis to the address4 ,we note1 too1 the partial withdrawal of the veil which hides the spirit world from us1 in the distinct declaration of the agency of a personal tempter1 whose power is limited1 though his malice is boundless1 and who had to obtain ,god's permission ere he could tempt4 ,his sieve is made to let the wheat through1 and to retain the chaff4 ,it will be hard to empty this saying of its force4 ,christ taught the existence and operation of ,satan2 but ,he taught1 too1 that ,he ,himself was ,satan's victorious antagonist and our prevailing intercessor4 ,he is so still4 ,he does not seek to avert conflict from us1 but prays that our faith fail not1 and ,himself1 too1 fulfils the prayer by strengthening us4 ,faith1 then1 conquers1 and withstands ,satan's sifting4 ,if it holds out1 we shall not fall1 though all the winds howl round us4 ,we are not passive between the two antagonists1 but have to take our share in the struggle4 ,partial failures may be followed by recovery1 and even tend to increase our power to strengthen other tempted ones1 by the experience gained of our own weakness1 which deepens humility and forbearance with others' faults1 and by the experience of ,christ's strength1 which makes us able to direct them to the source of all safety4 ,peter's passionate avowal of readiness to bear anything1 if only he was with ,christ1 is the genuine utterance of a warm impulsive heart1 which took too little heed of ,christ's solemn warning1 and fancied that the tide of present feeling would always run as strong as now4 ,emotion fluctuates4 ,steadfast devotion is chary of mortgaging the future by promises4 ,he who knows himself is slow to say1 ',i will1' for he knows that ',oh that ,i may6' is fitter for his weakness4 ,very likely1 if ,peter had been offered fetters or the scaffold then and there1 he would have accepted them bravely2 but it was a different thing in the raw1 cold morning1 after an agitating night1 and the ,master away at the far end of the great hall4 ,a flippant maid's tongue was enough to finish him then4 ,it is sometimes easier to bear a great load for ,christ than a small one4 ,some of us could be martyrs at the stake more easily than confessors among sneering neighbours4 ,jesus had spared the ,apostle in the former warning of his fall1 but ,he spoke plainly at last1 since the former had been ineffectual2 and ,he addressed him by his new name of ,peter1 as if to heighten the sin of denial by recalling the privileges bestowed4 ,,iv4 ,the last part of the passage deals with the new conditions consequent on ,christ's departure4 ,the ,twelve had been exempt from the care of providing for themselves while ,he was with them1 but now they are to be launched into the world alone1 like fledglings from the nest4 ,not that ,his presence is not with them or with us1 but that ,his absence throws the task of providing for wants and guarding against dangers on themselves1 as had not been the case during the blessed years of companionship4 ,hence the injunctions in verse #cf lay down the permanent law for the ,church1 while verse #cg assigns as its reason the speedy fulfilment of the prophecies of ,messiah's sufferings4 ,substantially the meaning of the whole is3 ',i am on the point of leaving you1 and1 when ,i am gone1 you must use common-sense means for provision and protection4 ,i provided for you while ,i was here1 without your co-operation4 ,remember how ,i did so1 and trust ,me to provide in future1 through your co-operation4' ,the life of faith does not exclude ordinary prudence and the use of appropriate means4 ,it is more in accord with ,christ's mind to have a purse to keep money in1 and a wallet for food-stores1 than to go out1 as some good people do1 saying1 ',the ,lord will provide4' ,yes1 ,he will2 but it will be by blessing your common-sense and effort4 ,as to the difficulty felt in the injunction to buy a sword1 our ,lord would be contradicting ,his whole teaching if ,he was here commanding the use of arms for the defence of ,his servants or the promotion of ,his kingdom4 ,that ,he did not mean literal swords is plain from ,his answer to the ,apostles1 who produced the formidable armament of two4 ',it is enough4' ,a couple are plenty to fight the ,roman ,empire with4 ,yes1 two too many1 as was soon seen4 ,the expression is plainly an intensely energetic metaphor1 taking line with purse and scrip4 ,the plain meaning of the whole is that we are called on to provide necessary means of provision and defence1 which ,he will bless4 ,the only sword permitted to ,his followers is the sword of the ,spirit4 ,,christ',s ,,ideal ,,of ,a ,,monarch ,footnote3 ,preached on the occasion of the death of ,queen ,victoria4 ',and ,he said unto them1 ,the kings of the ,gentiles exercise lordship over them2 and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors4 #bf4 ,but ye shall not be so3 but he that is greatest among you1 let him be as the younger2 and he that is chief1 as he that doth serve4'--,,luke xxii4 #be-bf4 ,there have been sovereigns of ,england whose death was a relief4 ,there have been others who were mourned with a certain tepid and decorous regret4 ,but there has never been one on whose bier have been heaped such fragrant wreaths of universal love and sorrow as have been laid upon hers whom we have not yet learned to call by another name than that which has been musical for all these years--the ,queen4 ,why has her people's love thus compassed her8 ,surely1 chiefly because they felt and saw that ,christ's ideal of rule1 as stated in these words of our text1 was her ideal1 which she had gone far to realise4 ,here is the secret of her hold upon her people4 ,here is the reason why1 from almost all the world1 tributes have come1 and as has been well said1 ',they that loved not ,england loved her4' ,now it would be impossible for me to speak words remote from the thought that has been filling the nation's mind in these days4 ,i can add nothing to the many eloquent and just appreciations to which we have listened in this past week1 but ,i can draw your attention to the underlying secret which moulded and shaped that life4 ,and it becomes the pulpit to do so4 ,we ,christians ought to infuse a ,christian element into everything4 ,we should 'not sorrow as others1' nor should we admire as others4 ,we all unite in praising her1 but eulogiums which ignore the ground of the virtues which they extol are superficial and misleading4 ,i ask you to turn to the revelation of the secret of the nation's love and sorrow suggested by the words of my text4 ,christ sets forth1 in two sharply contrasted pictures1 the world's ideal of a king and ,his ideal4 ,the upper room was a strange place1 and the eve of ,calvary was a still stranger time1 for disciples to squabble about pre-eminence4 ,the ,master was absorbed in the thought of ,his ,cross1 the servants were quarrelling about their places in ,his ,kingdom4 ,perhaps it was the foot-washing that brought about the unseemly strife that arose among them1 each desiring to hand on the menial office to another4 ,jesus ,christ did it ,himself2 and to that1 perhaps1 refer the touching words which ,luke gives as following the text2 ',i am among you as he that serveth1' with the towel round ,his loins1 and the basin in ,his hand4 ,the world's ideal of a ,king4 ,now1 the one picture which ,he draws for us here1 the world's ideal of a king1 is the portrait familiar enough to all who know anything about that ancient order of society1 of tyrants and despots1 in ,assyria1 ,babylonia4 ,pharaohs and all the little kings round about ,judaea2 the vile old ,herod and his equally vile brood1 were recent or living examples of what the ,master said when ,he sketched 'the kings of the ,gentiles1' ,they 'lord it over them4' ,arrogant superiority1 imperious masterfulness1 irresponsible wills1 caprices ungoverned1 an absolute oblivion of duties1 no thought of responsibilities--these were the features of that ancient type of monarch3 and which1 in spite of all constitutional hedges and limitations1 there is abundant room for the repetition of1 even in so-called ,christian countries4 ,and then1 side by side with that1 comes another characteristic3 ',they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors4' ,they demand titles which shall credit them with virtues that they never try to possess1 and live in a region filled with the fumes from a thousand venal censers of a flattery which intoxicates and makes giddy4 ,a king in ,egypt1 very near our ,lord's time1 had borne the title 'benefactor1' the very word that is employed here2 even as many a most ungracious sovereign has been called ',your ,most ,gracious ,majesty4' ,the position tempts to such a type4 ,and although the world has outgrown it1 yet1 as ,i have said1 there is ample room for the recurrence to the old and obsolete form1 unless a mightier hindrance than human nature knows1 come in to prevent it4 ,an ancient prophet lamented over the shepherds of ,israel 'that do feed themselves1' and indignantly asked1 'should not the shepherds feed the sheep8' ,he meant precisely the same contrast which is drawn out at length in these two pictures that we have before us now4 ,the ,christian conception4 ',ye shall not be so4' ,the ,christian conception is in sharp contrast to1 and the ,christian realisation of the conception1 should be the absolute opposite of that type to which ,i have already referred4 ',he that is greatest among you1 let him be as the younger'2 that suggests modesty and meekness of demeanour in bearing the loftiest office4 ',and he that is chief as he that doth serve'2 that expresses an activity1 not self-regarding and self-centred1 but ever used for others4 ,the simple words of ,jesus ,christ are the noblest expression of1 and1 as ,i believe1 have been the mightiest impulse in producing1 the modern recognition which1 thank ,god6 is becoming more and more pronounced every day amongst us1 that power means duty1 that elevation means the obligation to stoop1 that true authority expresses itself in service4 ,we see that conviction growing in all classes in ,england4 ,those who are lifted high are learning to-day1 as they never learned before1 the responsibilities and obligations of their position4 ,and those who are low are beginning to apply the principle as they never did before1 and to test the worthiness of the lofty1 highly-endowed1 wealthy1 and noble1 by their discharge of the obligations of their position4 ,and although it anticipates what ,i have to say subsequently1 ,i cannot but ask here1 who shall say how the ,queen's example of authority becoming service has steadied the ,empire1 and made a peaceful transition from the old type of authority to the new1 a possibility8 ,although not directly stated in my text1 there is implied in it another thought1 namely1 that whilst power obliges to service1 service brings power4 ,he that uses his influence1 his authority1 his capacities1 his possessions1 not for himself1 but for his brothers1 will find that by the service he has garnered in a harvest of authority1 and power of command which nothing else can ever give4 ,christ's ideal of a monarch4 ,and now ,i may turn1 without passing beyond the bounds of the pulpit on such an occasion as the present1 to look at the great illustration of the ,christian ideal which the royal life now closed has given4 ,i venture to say that1 without exaggeration1 and without irreverence1 our ,queen might have taken for her own the declaration of our ,lord ,himself on this occasion1 ',i am among you as one that serveth4' ,she served her people by the diligent discharge of the duties that were laid upon her4 ,during a strenuous reign of sixty-three years1 she left no arrears1 nothing neglected1 nothing postponed1 nothing undone4 ,in sorrow as in joy1 when life was young1 and the love of husband and family joys were new1 as when husband and children were taken away1 and she was an old woman1 lonelier because of her throne1 she laboured as 'ever in the great ,taskmaster's eye4' ,that was serving her nation by the will of ,god4 ,she served her people by that swift1 sincere sympathy which claimed a share alike in great national and in small private sorrows4 ,was there some shipwreck or some storm1 that widowed humble fisherfolk in their villages8 ,the ,queen's sympathy was the first to reach them4 ,were the blinds drawn down in some colliery village because of an explosion8 ,the ,queen's message was there to bring a gleam of light into darkened homes4 ,did some great name in literature or science pass away8 ,who but she was first to recognise the loss1 to speak gracious words of appreciation8 ,did some poor shepherd die1 in the strath where she made her ,highland home8 ,the widowed ,queen was beside the widowed peasant1 to share and to solace4 ,knowing sorrow herself only too well1 she had learned to run to the help of the wretched4 ,dowered doubly with a woman's gift of sympathy1 she had not let the altitude of a throne freeze its flow4 ,she served her people yet more by letting them feel that she took them into her confidence1 spreading before them in the days of her widowhood the cherished records that her happy pen had written in the vanished days of her wifehood1 opening her heart to us in mute petition that we might give our hearts to her4 ,she served her people by the simplicity of her tastes and habits in these days of senseless luxury1 and fierce1 sensuous excitement of living4 ,she served her people by the purity of her life1 and so far as she could by putting a barrier around her ,court1 across which nothing that was foul could pass4 ',he that worketh iniquity shall not tarry in my house1' said an ancient king on taking his throne4 ,and our ,queen1 to the utmost of her power1 said the same2 and frowned down--stern for once in a righteous cause--impurity in high places4 ,una had her lion1 and this protest of a woman's delicacy against the vices of modern society is not the least of the services for which we have to thank her4 ,let me remind you that all this patient self-surrender had its root in ,christian faith4 ,she had taken her ,lord for her example because her faith had knit her to ,him as her ,saviour4 ,therefore she1 as no other ,english sovereign1 conquered the heart of the nation1 and was best loved by the best men and women4 ,never was there a more striking confirmation of the truth that whoever in any region reigns to serve will serve to reign4 ,and now1 before ,i close1 let me remind you that the principles which ,i have been trying to express grip us in our several spheres1 quite as tightly as they do those who may be more largely endowed1 or more loftily placed than ourselves4 ,there is no ideal for a ,christian monarch which is not the ideal also for a ,christian peasant4 ,that which is the duty of the highest is no less the duty of the lowest4 ,for us all it remains true that what we have we are bound to use1 not for ourselves1 but as recognising both our stewardship to ,god and the solidarity of humanity2 to use for ,him1 that is to say1 for men4 ,this is the secret of all high1 noble1 blessed life for evermore4 ,and1 brethren1 whilst ,i for one heartily rejoice in the growing consciousness of responsibility which is being diffused through all ranks of society today1 and1 bless ,god1 for one impulse to that recognition which1 as ,i believe1 came from the life now peacefully closed1 ,i shall be no doubt charged by some of you with old-fashioned narrowness if ,i reiterate my own earnest conviction that we can rely on nothing to bring about a thoroughgoing1 a widely-diffused1 and a permanent altruism--to use the modern word--except the force that comes from the motive which ,jesus ,christ ,himself adduced1 in this very conversation1 when ,he said1 ',i am among you as he that serveth4' ,there is our example1 aye6 and more than our example1 lodged in ,him1 and available for us1 by our simple faith in ,him4 ,in love that seeks to copy1 lies the only power that will cast out self1 that 'anarch old1' from his usurped seat in our hearts1 and will throne ,jesus ,christ there4 ,it needs a mighty lever to heave a planet from its orbit1 and to set it circling round another sun2 and there is nothing that will deliver any man1 in any rank of life1 from the dominion of self1 except submission to the dominion of ,him who1 because ,he died to serve1 deserves1 and has won1 the supreme right of authority and dominion over human life4 ,to use anything for self is to miss its highest goodness1 and to mar ourselves4 ,to use anything for ,christ and our brethren is to find its sweetest sweetness1 and to bless ourselves to the very uttermost4 ,self-absorption is self-destruction2 self-surrender is self-acquisition4 ,if we can truly say1 ',i am among you as he that serveth1' if all our possessions suggest to us obligations and all our powers impose on us duties3 then be we prince or peasant1 rich or poor1 entrusted with many talents or with but one1 we shall make the best of life here1 and pass to higher authority1 which is nobler service hereafter4 ,be the servant of all1 and all are yours2 serve ,christ1 and possess yourselves--these are the lessons from that royal life of service4 ,may we learn them6 ,may the ,king walk in his mother's steps and hearken to 'the oracle which his mother taught him6 ,,the ,,lonely ,,christ ',ye are they which have continued with ,me in ,my temptations'--,,luke xxii #bh4 ,we wonder at the disciples when we read of the unseemly strife for precedence which jars on the tender solemnities of the ,last ,supper4 ,we think them strangely unsympathetic and selfish2 and so they were4 ,but do not let us be too hard on them1 nor forget that there was a very natural reason for the close connection which is found in the gospels between our ,lord's announcements of ,his sufferings and this eager dispute as to who should be the greatest in the kingdom4 ,they dimly understood what ,he meant1 but they did understand this much1 that ,his 'sufferings' were immediately to precede ,his 'glory'--and so it is not1 after all1 to be so much wondered at if the apparent approach of these made the settlement of their places in the impending kingdom seem to them a very pressing question4 ,we should probably have thought so too1 if we had been among them4 ,perhaps1 too1 the immediate occasion of this strife who should be accounted the greatest1 which drew from ,christ the words of our text1 may have been the unwillingness of each to injure his possible claim to pre-eminence by doing the servant's tasks at the modest meal4 ,may we not suppose that the basin and the towel were refused by one after another1 with muttered words growing louder and angrier3 ',it is not my place1' says ,peter2 'you1 ,andrew1 take it--and so from hand to hand it goes1 till the ,master ends the strife and takes it ,himself to wash their feet4 ,then1 when ,he had sat down again1 ,he may have spoken the words of which our text is part--in which ,he tells the wrangling disciples what is the true law of honour in ,his kingdom1 namely1 service1 and points to ,himself as the great example4 ,with what emphasis the pathetic incident of the foot-washing invests the clause before our text3 ',i am among you as he that serveth4' ,on that disclosure of the true law of pre-eminence in ,his kingdom there follows in this and following verses the assurance1 that1 unseemly as their strife1 there was reward for them1 and places of dignity there1 because in all their selfishness and infirmity1 they had still clung to their ,master4 ,this being the original purpose of these words1 ,i venture to use them for another4 ,they give us1 if ,i mistake not1 a wonderful glimpse into the heart of ,christ1 and a most pathetic revelation of ,his thoughts and experiences1 all the more precious because it is quite incidental and1 we may say1 unconscious4 ,i4 ,see then1 here1 the tempted ,christ4 ,in one sense1 our ,lord is ,his own perpetual theme4 ,he is ever speaking of ,himself1 inasmuch as ,he is ever presenting what ,he is to us1 and what ,he claims of us4 ,in another sense1 ,he scarcely ever speaks of ,himself1 inasmuch as deep silence1 for the most part1 lies over ,his own inward experiences4 ,how precious1 therefore1 and how profoundly significant is that word here--'in ,my temptations'6 ,so ,he summed up all ,his life4 ,to feel the full force of the expression1 it should be remembered that the temptation in the wilderness was past before ,his first disciple attached himself to ,him1 and that the conflict in ,gethsemane had not yet come when these words were spoken4 ,the period to which they refer1 therefore1 lies altogether within these limits1 including neither4 ,after the former1 ',satan1' we read1 'departed from ,him for a season4' ,before the latter1 we read1 'the prince of this world cometh4' ,the space between1 of which people are so apt to think as free from temptation1 is the time of which our ,lord is speaking now4 ,the time when ,his followers 'companied with ,him' is to ,his consciousness the time of ,his 'temptations4' ,that is not the point of view from which the ,gospel narratives present it1 for the plain reason that they are not autobiographies1 and that ,jesus said little about the continuous assaults to which ,he was exposed4 ,it is not the point of view from which we often think of it4 ,we are too apt to conceive of ,christ's temptations as all gathered together--curdled and clotted1 as it were1 at the two ends of ,his life1 leaving the space between free4 ,but we cannot understand the meaning of that life1 nor feel aright the love and help that breathe from it1 unless we think of it as a field of continual and diversified temptations4 ,how remarkable is the choice of the expression6 ,to ,christ1 ,his life1 looking back on it1 does not so much present itself in the aspect of sorrow1 difficulty or pain1 as in that of temptation4 ,he looked upon all outward things mainly with regard to their power to help or to hinder ,his life's work4 ,so for us1 sorrow or joy should matter comparatively little4 ,the evil in the evil should be felt to be sin1 and the true cross and burden of life should be to us1 as to our ,master1 the appeals it makes to us to abandon our tasks1 and fling away our filial dependence and submission4 ,this is not the place to plunge into the thorny questions which surround the thought of the tempted ,christ4 ,however these may be solved1 the great fact remains1 that ,his temptations were most real and unceasing4 ,it was no sham fight which ,he fought4 ,the story of the wilderness is the story of a most real conflict2 and that conflict is waged all through ,his life4 ,true1 the traces of it are few4 ,the battle was fought on both sides in grim silence1 as sometimes men wage a mortal struggle without a sound4 ,but if there were no other witness of the sore conflict1 the ,victor's shout at the close would be enough4 ,his last words1 ',i have overcome the world1' sound the note of triumph1 and tell how sharp had been the strife4 ,so long and hard had it been that ,he cannot forget it even in heaven1 and from the throne holds forth to all the churches the hope of overcoming1 'even as ,i also overcame4' ,as on some battlefield whence all traces of the agony and fury have passed away1 and harvests wave1 and larks sing where blood ran and men groaned their lives out1 some grey stone raised by the victors remains1 and only the trophy tells of the forgotten fight1 so that monumental word1 ',i have overcome' stands to all ages as the record of the silent1 life-long conflict4 ,it is not for us to know how the sinless ,christ was tempted4 ,there are depths beyond our reach4 ,this we can understand1 that a sinless manhood is not above the reach of temptation2 and this besides1 that1 to such a nature1 the temptations must be suggested from without1 not presented from within4 ,the desire for food is simply a physical craving1 but another personality than ,his own uses it to incite the ,son to abandon dependence for ,his physical life on ,god4 ,the trust in ,god's protection is holy and good1 and it may be truest wisdom and piety to incur danger in dependence on it1 when ,god's service calls1 but a mocking voice without suggests1 under the cloak of it1 a needless rushing into peril at no call of conscience1 and for no end of mercy1 which is not religion but self-will4 ,the desire to have the world for ,his own lay in ,christ's deepest heart1 but the enemy of ,christ and man1 who thought the world his already1 used it as giving occasion to suggest a smoother and shorter road to win all men unto ,him than the ',via ,dolorosa' of the ,cross4 ,so the sinless ,christ was tempted at the beginning1 and so the sinless ,christ was tempted1 in various forms of these first temptations1 throughout ,his life4 ,the path which ,he had to tread was ever before ,him1 the shadow of the ,cross was flung along ,his road from the first4 ,the pain and sorrow1 the shame and spitting1 the contradiction of sinners against ,himself1 the easier path which needed but a wish to become ,his1 the shrinking of flesh--all these made their appeal to ,him1 and every step of the path which ,he trod for us was trodden by the power of a fresh consecration of ,himself to ,his task and a fresh victory over temptation4 ,let us not seek to analyse4 ,let us be content to worship1 as we look1 ,let us think of the tempted ,christ1 that our conceptions of ,his sinlessness may be increased4 ,his was no untried and cloistered virtue1 pure because never brought into contact with seducing evil1 but a militant and victorious goodness1 that was able to withstand in the evil day4 ,let us think of the tempted ,christ that our thankful thoughts of what ,he bore for us may be warmer and more adequate1 as we stand afar off and look on at the mystery of ,his battle with our enemies and ,his4 ,let us think of the tempted ,christ to make the lighter burden of our cross1 and our less terrible conflict easier to bear and to wage4 ,so will ,he 'continue with us in our temptations1' and patience and victory flow to us from ,him4 ,,ii4 ,see here the lonely ,christ4 ,there is no aspect of our ,lord's life more pathetic than that of ,his profound loneliness4 ,i suppose the most utterly solitary man that ever lived was ,jesus ,christ4 ,if we think of the facts of ,his life1 we see how ,his nearest kindred stood aloof from ,him1 how 'there were none to praise1 and very few to love'2 and how1 even in the small company of ,his friends1 there was absolutely none who either understood ,him or sympathised with ,him4 ,we hear a great deal about the solitude in which men of genius live1 and how all great souls are necessarily lonely4 ,that is true1 and that solitude of great men is one of the compensations which run through all life1 and make the lot of the many little1 more enviable than that of the few great4 ',the little hills rejoice together on every side1' but far above their smiling companionships1 the ,alpine peak lifts itself into the cold air1 and though it be 'visited all night by troops of stars1' it is lonely amid the silence and the snow4 ,talk of the solitude of pure character amid evil1 like ,lot in ,sodom1 or of the loneliness of uncomprehended aims and unshared thoughts--who ever experienced that as keenly as ,christ did8 ,that perfect purity must needs have been hurt by the sin of men as none else have ever been4 ,that loving heart yearning for the solace of an answering heart must needs have felt a sharper pang of unrequited love than ever pained another4 ,that spirit to which the things that are seen were shadows1 and the ,father and the ,father's house the ever-present1 only realities must have felt itself parted from the men whose portion was in this life1 by a gulf broader than ever opened between any other two souls that shared together human life4 ,the more pure and lofty a nature1 the more keen its sensitiveness1 the more exquisite its delights1 and the sharper its pains4 ,the more loving and unselfish a heart1 the more its longing for companionship3 and the more its aching in loneliness4 ,very significant and pathetic are many points in the ,gospel story bearing on this matter4 ,the very choice of the ,twelve had for its first purpose1 'that they should be with ,him1' as one of the ,evangelists tells us4 ,we know how constantly ,he took the three who were nearest to ,him along with ,him1 and that surely not merely that they might be 'eyewitnesses of ,his majesty' on the holy mount1 or of ,his agony in ,gethsemane1 but as having a real gladness and strength even in their companionship amid the mystery of glory as amid the power of darkness4 ,we read of ,his being alone but twice in all the gospels1 and both times for prayer4 ,and surely the dullest ear can hear a note of pain in that prophetic word3 ',the hour cometh that ye shall be scattered1 every man to his own1 and shall leave ,me alone'2 while every heart must feel the pitiful pathos of the plea1 ',tarry ye here1 and watch with ,me4' ,even in that supreme hour1 ,he longs for human companionship1 however uncomprehending1 and stretches out ,his hands in the great darkness1 to feel the touch of a hand of flesh and blood--and1 alas1 for poor feeble love6--,he gropes for it in vain4 ,surely that horror of utter solitude is one of the elements of ,his passion grave and sorrowful enough to be named by the side of the other bitterness poured into that cup1 even as it was pain enough to form a substantive feature of the great prophetic picture3 ',i looked for some to take pity1 but there was none2 and for comforters1 but ,i found none4' ,so here1 a deep pain in ,his loneliness is implied in these words of our text which put the disciples' participation in the glories of ,his throne as the issue of their loyal continuance with ,him in the conflict of earth4 ,these1 and these only1 had been by ,his side1 and so much does ,he care for their companionship1 that therefore they shall share ,his dominion4 ,that lonely ,christ sympathises with all solitary hearts4 ,if ever we feel ourselves misunderstood and thrown back upon ourselves2 if ever our hearts' burden of love is rejected2 if our outward lives be lonely and earth yields nothing to stay our longing for companionship2 if our hearts have been filled with dear ones and are now empty or filled only with tears1 let us think of ,him and say1 ',yet ,i am not alone4' ,he lived alone1 alone ,he died1 that no heart might ever be solitary any more4 ',could ye not watch with ,me8' was ,his gentle rebuke in ,gethsemane4 ',lo1 ,i am with you always1' is ,his mighty promise from the throne4 ,in every step of life we may have ,him for a companion1 a friend closer than all others1 nearer us than our very selves1 if we may so say--and in the valley of the shadow of death we need fear no evil1 for ,he will be with us4 ,,iii4 ,see here the grateful ,christ4 ,i almost hesitate to use the word1 but there seems a distinct ring of thanks in the expression1 and in the connection4 ,and we need not wonder at that1 if we rightly understand it4 ,there is nothing in it inconsistent with our ,lord's character and relations to ,his disciples4 ,do you remember another instance in which one seems to hear the same tone1 namely1 in the marked warmth with which ,he acknowledges the beautiful service of ,mary in breaking the fragrant casket of nard upon ,his head8 ,all true love is glad when it is met1 glad to give1 and glad to receive4 ,was it not a joy to ,jesus to be waited on by the ministering women8 ,would ,he not thank them because they served ,him for love8 ,i trow1 yes4 ,and if any one stumbles at the word 'grateful' as applied to ,him1 we do not care about the word so long as it is seen that ,his heart was gladdened by loving friends1 and that ,he recognised in their society a ministry of love4 ,notice1 too1 the loving estimate of what these disciples had done4 ,their companionship had been imperfect enough at the best4 ,they had given ,him but blind affection1 dashed with much selfishness4 ,in an hour or two they would all have forsaken ,him and fled4 ,he knew all that was lacking in them1 and the cowardly abandonment which was so near4 ,but ,he has not a word to say of all this4 ,he does not count jealously the flaws in our work1 or reject it because it is incomplete4 ,so here is the great truth clearly set forth1 that where there is a loving heart1 there is acceptable service4 ,it is possible that our poor1 imperfect deeds shall be an odour of a sweet smell1 acceptable1 well-pleasing to ,him4 ,which of us that is a father is not glad at his children's gifts1 even though they be purchased with his own money1 and be of little use8 ,they mean love1 so they are precious4 ,and ,christ1 in like manner1 gladly accepts what we bring1 even though it be love chilled by selfishness1 and faith broken by doubt1--submission crossed by self-will4 ,the living heart of the disciples' acceptable service was their love1 far less intelligent and entire than ours may be4 ,they were joined to their ,lord1 though with but partial sympathy and knowledge1 in ,his temptations4 ,it is possible for us to be joined to ,jesus ,christ more closely and more truly than they were during ,his earthly life4 ,union with ,him here is union with ,him hereafter4 ,if we abide in ,him amid the shows and shadows of earth1 ,he will continue with us in our temptations1 and so the fellowships begun on earth will be perfected in heaven1 'if so be that we suffer with ,him1 that we may also be glorified together4' ,a ,,great ,,fall ,,and ,a ,,great ,,recovery ',but ,i have prayed for thee1 that thy faith fail not2 and when thou art converted1 strengthen thy brethren4' --,luke xxii4 #cb4 ,our ,lord has just been speaking words of large and cordial praise of the steadfastness with which ,his friends had continued with ,him in ,his temptations1 and it is the very contrast between that continuance and the prevision of the cowardly desertion of the ,apostle which occasioned the abrupt transition to this solemn appeal to him1 which indicates how the forecast pained ,christ's heart4 ,he does not let the foresight of ,peter's desertion chill ,his praise of ,peter's past faithfulness as one of the ,twelve4 ,he does not let the remembrance of ,peter's faithfulness modify ,his rebuke for ,peter's intended and future desertion4 ,he speaks to him1 with significant and emphatic reiteration of the old name of ,simon that suggests weakness1 unsanctified and unhelped3 ',simon1 ,simon1 ,satan hath desired to have you1 that he may sift you as wheat4' ,there is a glimpse given1 a corner of the curtain being lifted1 into a dim region in which faith should not refuse to discern so much light as ,christ has given1 because superstition has so often fancied that it saw what it only dreamed4 ,but passing from that1 the words before us seem to me to suggest a threefold thought of the ,intercessor for tempted souls2 of the consequent re-illumination of eclipsed faith2 and of the larger service for which the discipline of fall and recovery fits him who falls4 ,let me say a word or two about each of these thoughts4 ,i4 ,we have the ,intercessor for tempted souls4 ,notice that majestic 'but' with which my text begins1 ',satan hath desired to have you1 that he may sift you as wheat1 but ,i have prayed for thee4' ,he presents ,himself1 then1 as the ,antagonist1 the confident and victorious ,antagonist1 of whatsoever mysterious1 malignant might may lie beyond the confines of sense1 and ,he says1 ',my prayer puts the hook in leviathan's nose1 and the malevolent desire to sift1 in order that not the chaff but the wheat may disappear1 comes all to nothing by the side of ,my prayer4' ,note the discrimination of the intercession4 ,he 'hath desired to have you'--that is plural2 ',i have prayed for thee'--that is singular4 ,the man that was in the greatest danger was the man nearest to ,christ's heart1 and chiefly the object of ,christ's intercession4 ,so it is always--the tenderest of ,his words1 the sweetest of ,his consolations1 the strongest of ,his succours1 the most pleading and urgent of ,his petitions1 the mightiest gifts of ,his grace1 are given to the weakest1 the neediest1 the men and women in most sorrow and stress and peril1 and they who want ,him most always have ,him nearest4 ,the thicker the darkness1 the brighter ,his light2 the drearier our lives1 the richer ,his presence2 the more solitary we are1 the larger the gifts of ,his companionship4 ,our need is the measure of ,his prayer4 ',satan hath desired to have you1 but thou1 ,peter1 dost stand in the very focus of the danger1 and so on thee are focussed1 too1 the rays of ,my love and care4' ,be sure1 dear friends1 that it is always so for us1 and that when you want ,christ most1 ,christ is most to you4 ,then1 ,i need not touch at any length upon that great subject on which none of us can speak adequately or with full comprehension--viz4 our ,lord as the ,intercessor for us in all our weakness and need4 ,we believe in ,his continual manhood1 we believe that ,he prayed upon earth1 we believe that ,he prays in heaven4 ,his prayer is no mere utterance of words3 it is the presentation of a fact1 the bringing ever before the ,infinite ,divine ,mind1 as it were1 of ,his great work of sacrifice1 as the condition which determines1 and the channel through which flows1 the gift of sustaining grace from ,god ,himself4 ,and so we may be sure that whensoever there come to any of us trials1 difficulties1 conflicts1 temptations1 they are known to our ,brother in the skies1 and the stormier the gales that threaten us1 the closer ,he wraps ,his protection round us4 ,we have an ,advocate and an ,intercessor before the ,throne2 ,his prayer is always heard4 ,oh1 brethren6 how different our endurance would be1 if we vividly believed that ,christ was praying for us6 ,how it would take the sting out of sorrow1 and blunt the edge of temptation1 if we realised that6 ,o for a faith that shall rend the heavens1 and rise above the things seen and temporal1 and behold the eternal order of the universe1 the central ,throne1 and at the right hand of ,god1 the ,intercessor for all who love and trust ,him6 ,,ii4 ,notice again the consequent re-illumination of eclipsed faith4 ',i have prayed for thee1 that thy faith fail not4' ,did it fail8 ,if we look only at ,peter's denial1 we must answer1 ,yes4 ,if we look at the whole of the future life of the ,apostle1 we answer1 ,no4 ,eclipse is not extinction2 the momentary untruthfulness to one's deepest convictions is not the annihilation of these convictions4 ,christ's prayer is never vain1 and ,christ's prayer was answered just because ,peter1 though he fell1 did not lie in the mud1 but staggered to his feet again1 and with sore weeping and many an agony of shame1 struggled onward1 with unconquerable hope1 in the path from which1 for a moment1 he strayed4 ,better one great outburst like his1 the nature of which there is no possibility of mistaking1 than the going on1 as so many professing ,christians do1 from year to year1 walking in a vain show of godliness1 and fancying themselves to be disciples1 when all the while they are recreants and apostates4 ,there is more chance of the recovery of a good man that has fallen into some sin1 'gross as a mountain1 open1 palpable1' than there is of the recovery of those who let their religion trickle out of them in drops1 and never know that their veins are empty until the heart ceases to beat at all4 ,here1 then1 we have two large lessons from which we may take strength1 taught us by this darkening and re-illumination of an eclipsed faith4 ,one is that the sincerest love1 the truest desire to follow ,jesus1 the firmest faith1 may be overborne1 and the whole set of a life contradicted for a time4 ,thank ,god1 there is a vast difference between conduct which is inconsistent with being a ,christian and conduct which is incompatible with being a ,christian4 ,it is dangerous1 perhaps1 to apply the difference too liberally in judging ourselves2 it is imperative to apply it always in judging our fellows4 ,but if it be true that ,peter meant1 down to the very bottom of his heart1 all that he said when he said1 ',i will lay down my life for ,thee1' while yet within a few hours afterwards the sad prophecy of our ,lord was fulfilled--',thou shalt deny ,me thrice6'--let us take the lesson1 not1 indeed1 to abate our horror of the sin1 but on the one hand to cut the comb of our own self-confidence1 and on the other hand to judge with all charity and tenderness the faults of our brethren4 ',be not high-minded1 but fear1' and when we look into the black gulf into which ,peter fell bodily1 let us cry1 ',hold ,thou me up and ,i shall be safe4' ,the other lesson is that the deepest fall may be recovered4 ,our ,lord in the words of our text does not definitely prophesy what ,he subsequently declares in plain terms1 the fall of ,peter1 but ,he implies it when ,he says1 'when thou art converted'--or1 as the ,revised ,version reads it much more accurately1 'when once thou hast turned again strengthen thy brethren4' ,then1 the ,apostle's face had been turned the wrong way for a time1 and he needed to turn right-about-face in order to renew the old direction of his life4 ,he came back for two reasons--one because ,christ prayed for him1 and the other because he 'turned himself4' ,for the only way back is through the valley of weeping and the dark lane of penitence2 and whosoever has denied with ,peter1 or at least grovelled with ,peter1 or perhaps grovelled much more than ,peter1 'denying the ,lord that bought him' by living as if ,he was not his ,lord1 will never come back to the place that ,peter again won for himself1 but by the road by which ,peter went4 ',the ,lord turned and looked upon him1' and ,christ's face1 with love and sorrow and reproach in it1 taught him his sin1 and bowed his heart1 'and he went out and wept bitterly4' ,peter and ,judas both 'went out'2 the one 'went out and hanged himself1' because his conviction of his sin was unaccompanied with a faith in his ,master's love1 and his repentance was only remorse2 and the other 'went out and wept bitterly1' and so came back with a clean heart4 ,and on the ,resurrection morning he was ready for the message3 ',go1 tell ,his disciples1 and ,peter1 ,he goeth before you into ,galilee4' ,and the ,lord appeared to him1 in that conversation1 the existence of which was known1 though the particulars were unknown1 to the rest2 and when ',he appeared unto ,cephas1' spoke his full forgiveness4 ,there is the road back for all wanderers4 ,,iii4 ,the last thought is1 the larger service for which such an experience will fit him who falls4 ',strengthen thy brethren when once thou hast turned again4' ,i need not remind you how nobly the ,apostle fulfilled this commandment4 ,satan desired to have him1 that he might sift him as wheat2 but ,satan's sifting was in order that he might get rid of the wheat and harvest the chaff4 ,his malice worked indirectly the effect opposite to his purpose1 and achieved the same result as ,christ's winnowing seeks to accomplish--namely1 it got rid of the chaff and kept the wheat4 ,peter's vanity was sifted out of him1 his self-confidence was sifted out of him1 his rash presumption was sifted out of him1 his impulsive readiness to blurt out the first thought that came into his head was sifted out of him1 and so his unreliableness and changeableness were largely sifted out of him1 and he became what ,christ said he had in him the makings of being--',cephas1 a rock1' or1 as the ,apostle ,paul1 who was never unwilling to praise the others1 said1 a man 'who looked like a pillar4' ,he 'strengthened his brethren1' and to many generations the story of the ,apostle who denied the ,lord he loved has ministered comfort4 ,to how many tempted souls1 and souls that have yielded to temptation1 and souls that1 having yielded1 are beginning to grope their way back again out of its vulgar delights and surfeiting sweetnesses1 and find that there is a desert to be traversed before they can again reach the place where they stood before1 has that story ministered hope1 as it will minister to the very end6 ,the bone that is broken is stronger1 they tell us1 at the point of junction1 when it heals and grows again1 than it ever was before4 ,and it may well be that a faith that has made experience of falling and restoration has learned a depth of self-distrust1 a firmness of confidence in ,christ1 a warmth of grateful love which it would never otherwise have experienced4 ,the ,apostle about whom we have been speaking seems to have carried in his mind and memory an abiding impression from that bitter experience1 and in his letter when he was an old man1 and all that past was far away1 he writes many words which sound like echoes and reminiscences of it4 ,in the last chapter of his epistle1 in which he speaks of himself as a witness of the sufferings of ,christ1 there are numbers of verses which seem to point to what had happened in the ,upper ,room4 ',ye younger1 submit yourselves unto the elder4' ,jesus ,christ had then said1 ',he that is the greater among you1 let him be as the younger4' ,peter says1 ',be clothed with humility'2 he remembers ,christ wrapping a towel around ,him1 girding ,himself1 and taking the basin4 ,he says1 ',god resisteth the proud1' and he remembers how proud he had been1 with his boast3 ',though all should 444 yet will not ,i1' and how low he fell because he was 'fool' enough to 'trust in his own heart4' ',be sober1 be vigilant2 because your adversary1 the devil1 as a roaring lion1 walketh about1 seeking whom he may devour3 whom resist1 steadfast in the faith4' ',the ,god of all grace stablish1 strengthen1 settle you4' ,he thus strengthened his brethren when he reminded them of the temptation to which he himself had so shamefully succumbed1 and when he referred them for all their strength to the source of it all1 even ,god in ,christ4 ,,gethsemane ',and ,he came out1 and went1 as ,he was wont1 to the mount of ,olives2 and ,his disciples also followed ,him4 #dj4 ,and when ,he was at the place1 ,he said unto them1 ,pray that ye enter not into temptation4 #da4 ,and ,he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast1 and kneeled down1 and prayed1 #db4 ,saying1 ,father1 ,if ,thou be willing1 remove this cup from ,me2 nevertheless1 not ,my will1 but ,thine1 be done4 #dc4 ,and there appeared an angel unto ,him from heaven1 strengthening ,him4 #dd4 ,and1 being in an agony1 ,he prayed more earnestly3 and ,his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground4 #de4 ,and when ,he rose up from prayer1 and was come to ,his disciples1 ,he found them sleeping for sorrow4 #df4 ,and said unto them1 ,why sleep ye8 rise and pray1 lest ye enter into temptation4 #dg4 ,and while ,he yet spake1 beheld a multitude1 and he that was called ,judas1 one of the twelve1 went before them1 and drew near unto ,jesus to kiss ,him4 #dh4 ,but ,jesus said unto him1 ,judas1 betrayest thou the ,son of man with a kiss8 #di4 ,when they which were about ,him saw what would follow1 they said unto ,him1 ,lord1 shall we smite with the sword8 #ej4 ,and one of them smote a servant of the high priest1 and cut off his right ear4 #ea4 ,and ,jesus answered and said1 ,suffer ye thus far4 ,and ,he touched his ear1 and healed him4 #eb4 ,then ,jesus said unto the chief priests1 and captains of the temple1 and the elders1 which were come to ,him1 ,be ye come out1 as against a thief1 with swords and staves8 #ec4 ,when ,i was daily with you in the temple1 ye stretched forth no hands against ,me2 but this is your hour1 and the power of darkness4'--,luke xxii4 #ci-ec4 ',put off thy shoes from off thy feet4' ,cold analysis is out of place here1 where the deepest depth of a ,saviour's sorrows is partly disclosed1 and we see ,him bowing ,his head to the waves and billows that went over ,him1 for our sakes4 ,luke's account is much condensed1 but contains some points peculiar to itself4 ,it falls into two parts--the solemn scene of the agony1 and the circumstances of the arrest4 ,i4 ,we look with reverent awe and thankfulness at that soul-subduing picture of the agonising and submissive ,christ which ,luke briefly draws4 ,think of the contrast between the joyous revelry of the festival-keeping city and the sadness of the little company which crossed the ,kedron and passed beneath the shadow of the olive-trees into the moonlit garden4 ,jesus needed companions there2 but ,he needed solitude still more4 ,so ,he is 'parted from them'2 but ,luke alone tells us how short the distance was--'as it were a stone's throw1' and near enough for the disciples to see and hear something before they slept4 ,that clinging to and separation from ,his humble friends gives a wonderful glimpse into ,christ's desolation then4 ,and how beautiful is ,his care for them1 even at that supreme hour1 which leads to the injunction twice spoken1 at the beginning and end of ,his own prayers1 that they should pray1 not for ,him1 but for themselves4 ,he never asks for men's prayers1 but ,he does for their love4 ,he thinks of ,his sufferings as temptation for the disciples1 and for the moment forgets ,his own burden1 in pointing them the way to bear theirs4 ,did self-oblivious love ever shine more gloriously in the darkness of sorrow8 ,luke omits the threefold withdrawal and return1 but notes three things--the prayer1 the angel appearance1 and the physical effects of the agony4 ,the essentials are all preserved in his account4 ,the prayer is truly 'the ,lord's prayer1' and the perfect pattern for ours4 ,mark the grasp of ,god's fatherhood1 which is at once appeal and submission4 ,so should all prayer begin1 with the thought1 at all events1 whether with the word ',father' or no4 ,mark the desire that 'this cup' should pass4 ,the expression shows how vividly the impending sufferings were pictured before ,christ's eye4 ,the keenest pains of anticipation1 which make so large a part of so many sorrows1 were felt by ,him4 ,he shrank from ,his sufferings4 ,did ,he therefore falter in ,his desire and resolve to endure the ,cross8 ,a thousand times1 no6 ,his will never wavered1 but maintained itself supreme over the natural recoil of ,his human nature from pain and death4 ,if ,he had not felt the ,cross to be a dread1 it had been no sacrifice4 ,if ,he had allowed the dread to penetrate to ,his will1 ,he had been no ,saviour4 ,but now ,he goes before us in the path which all have1 in their degree1 to travel1 and accepts pain that ,he may do ,his work4 ,that acceptance of the divine will is no mere ',if it must be so1 let it be so1' much as that would have been4 ,but ,he receives in ,his prayer the true answer--for ,his will completely coincides with the ,father's1 and 'mine' is 'thine4' ,such conformity of our wills with ,god's is the highest blessing of prayer and the true deliverance4 ,the cup accepted is sweet2 and though flesh may shrink1 the inner self consents1 and in consenting to the pain1 conquers it4 ,luke alone tells of the ministering angel2 and1 according to some authorities1 the forty-third and forty-fourth verses are spurious4 ,but1 accepting them as genuine1 what does the angelic appearance teach us8 ,it suggests pathetically the utter physical prostration of ,jesus4 ,sensuous religion has dwelt on that offensively1 but let us not rush to the opposite extreme1 and ignore it4 ,it teaches us that the manhood of ,jesus needed the communication of divine help as truly as we do4 ,the difficulty of harmonising that truth with ,his divine nature was probably the reason for the omission of this verse in some manuscripts4 ,it teaches the true answer to ,his prayer1 as so often to ours2 namely1 the strength to bear the load1 not the removal of it4 ,it is remarkable that the renewal of the solemn 'agony' and the intenser earnestness of prayer follow the strengthening by the angel4 ,increased strength increased the conflict of feeling1 and the renewed and intensified conflict increased the earnestness of the prayer4 ,the calmness won was again disturbed1 and a new recourse to the source of it was needed4 ,we stand reverently afar off1 and ask1 not too curiously1 what it is that falls so heavily to the ground1 and shines red and wet in the moonlight4 ,but the question irresistibly rises1 ,why all this agony of apprehension8 ,if ,jesus ,christ was but facing death as it presents itself to all men1 ,his shrinking is far beneath the temper in which many a man has fronted the scaffold and the fire4 ,we can scarcely save ,his character for admiration1 unless we see in the agony of ,gethsemane something much more than the shrinking from a violent death1 and understand how there the ,lord made to meet on ,him the iniquity of us all4 ,if the burden that crushed ,him thus was but the common load laid on all men's shoulders1 ,he shows unmanly terror4 ,if it were the black mass of the world's sins1 we can understand the agony1 and rejoice to think that our sins were there4 ,,ii4 ,the arrest4 ,three points are made prominent--the betrayer's token1 the disciples' resistance1 the reproof of the foes1 and in each the centre of interest is our ,lord's words4 ,the sudden bursting in of the multitude is graphically represented4 ,the tumult broke the stillness of the garden1 but it brought deeper peace to ,christ's heart2 for while the anticipation agitated1 the reality was met with calmness4 ,blessed they who can unmoved front evil1 the foresight of which shook their souls6 ,only they who pray as ,jesus did beneath the olives1 can go out from their shadow1 as ,he did1 to meet the foe4 ,the first of the three incidents of the arrest brings into strong prominence ,christ's meek patience1 dignity1 calmness1 and effort1 even at that supreme moment1 to rouse dormant conscience1 and save the traitor from himself4 ,judas probably had no intention by his kiss of anything but showing the mob their prisoner2 but he must have been far gone in insensibility before he could fix on such a sign4 ,it was the token of friendship and discipleship1 and no doubt was customary among the disciples1 though we never hear of any lips touching ,jesus but the penitent woman's1 which were laid on ,his feet1 and the traitor's4 ,the worst hypocrisy is that which is unconscious of its own baseness4 ,every word of ,christ's answer to the shameful kiss is a sharp spear1 struck with a calm and not resentful hand right into the hardened conscience4 ,there is wistful tenderness and a remembrance of former confidences in calling ,him by name4 ,the order of words in the original emphasises the kiss1 as if ,jesus had said1 ',is that the sign you have chosen8 ,could nothing else serve you8 ,are you so dead to all feeling that you can kiss and betray8' ,the ,son of man flashes on ,judas1 for the last time1 the majesty and sacredness against which he was lifting his hand4 ',betrayest thou8' which comes last in the ,greek1 seeks to startle by putting into plain words the guilt1 and so to rend the veil of sophistications in which the traitor was hiding his deed from himself4 ,thus to the end ,christ seeks to keep him from ruin1 and with meek patience resents not indignity1 but with majestic calmness sets before the miserable man the hideousness of his act4 ,the patient ,christ is the same now as then1 and meets all our treason with pleading1 which would fain teach us how black it is1 not because ,he is angry1 but because ,he would win us to turn from it4 ,alas that so often ,his remonstrances fall on hearts as wedded to their sin as was ,judas's6 ,the rash resistance of the disciple is recorded chiefly for the sake of ,christ's words and acts4 ,the anonymous swordsman was ,peter1 and the anonymous victim was ,malchus1 as ,john tells us4 ,no doubt he had brought one of the two swords from the upper room1 and1 in a sudden burst of anger and rashness1 struck at the man nearest him1 not considering the fatal consequences for them all that might follow4 ,peter could manage nets better than swords1 and missed the head1 in his flurry and in the darkness1 only managing to shear off a poor slave's ear4 ,when the ,church takes sword in hand1 it usually shows that it does not know how to wield it1 and as often as not has struck the wrong man4 ,christ tells ,peter and us1 in ,his word here1 what ,his servants' true weapons are1 and rebukes all armed resistance of evil4 ',suffer ye thus far' is a command to oppose violence only by meek endurance1 which wins in the long run1 as surely as the patient sunshine melts the thick ice1 which is ice still1 when pounded with a hammer4 ,if 'thus far' as to ,his own seizure and crucifying was to be 'suffered1' where can the breaking-point of patience and non-resistance be fixed8 ,surely every other instance of violence and wrong lies far on this side of that one4 ,the prisoner heals the wound4 ,wonderful testimony that not inability to deliver ,himself1 but willingness to be taken1 gave ,him into the hands of ,his captors6 ,blessed proof that ,he lavishes benefits on ,his foes1 and that ,his delight is to heal all wounds and stanch every bleeding heart6 ,the last incident here is ,christ's piercing rebuke1 addressed1 not to the poor1 ignorant tools1 but to the prime movers of the conspiracy1 who had come to gloat over its success4 ,he asserts ,his own innocence1 and hints at the preposterous inadequacy of 'swords and staves' to take ,him4 ,he is no 'robber1' and their weapons are powerless1 unless ,he wills4 ,he recalls ,his uninterrupted teaching in the ,temple1 as if to convict them of cowardice1 and perchance to bring to remembrance ,his words there4 ,and then1 with that same sublime and strange majesty of calm submission which marks all ,his last hours1 ,he unveils to these furious persecutors the true character of their deed4 ,the sufferings of ,jesus were the meeting-point of three worlds--earth1 hell1 and heaven4 ',this is your hour4' ,but it was also ,satan's hour1 and it was ,christ's 'hour1' and ,god's4 ,man's passions1 inflamed from beneath1 were used to work out ,god's purpose2 and the ,cross is at once the product of human unbelief1 of devilish hate1 and of divine mercy4 ,his sufferings were 'the power of darkness4' ,mark in that expression ,christ's consciousness that ,he is the light1 and enmity to ,him darkness4 ,mark1 too1 ,his meek submission1 as bowing ,his head to let the black flood flow over ,him4 ,note that ,christ brands enmity to ,him as the high-water mark of sin1 the crucial instance of man's darkness1 the worst thing ever done4 ,mark the assurance that animated ,him1 that the eclipse was but for an 'hour4' ,the victory of the darkness was brief1 and it led to the eternal triumph of the ,light4 ,by dying ,he is the death of death4 ,this ,jonah inflicts deadly wounds on the monster in whose maw ,he lay for three days4 ,the power of darkness was shivered to atoms in the moment of its proudest triumph1 like a wave which is beaten into spray as it rises in a towering crest and flings itself against the rock4 ,,the ,,cross ,,the ,,victory ,,and ,,defeat ,,of ,,darkness ',this is your hour1 and the power of darkness4' --,luke xxii4 #ec4 ,the darkness was the right time for so dark a deed4 ,the surface meaning of these pathetic and far-reaching words of our ,lord's in the garden to ,his captors is to point the correspondence between the season and the act4 ,as ,he has just said1 ',he had been daily with them in the ,temple1' but in the blaze of the noontide they laid no hands upon ,him4 ,they found a congenial hour in the midnight4 ,but the words go a great deal deeper than allusive symbolism of that sort4 ,looking at them as giving us a little glimpse into the thoughts and feelings of ,christ1 we can scarcely help tracing in them the very clear consciousness that ,he was the ,light1 and that all antagonism to ,him was the work of darkness in an eminent and especial sense4 ,but whilst this unobscured consciousness1 which no mere man could venture so unqualifiedly to assert1 is manifest in the words1 there is also in them1 to my ear1 a tone of majestic resignation1 as if ,he said1 ',there6 do your worst6' and bowed ,his head1 as a man might do1 standing breast high in the sea1 that the wave might roll over ,him4 ,and there is in them1 too1 a shrinking as of horror from the surging upon ,him of the black tide to which ,he bows ,his head4 ,but whilst thus pathetic and significant in their indication of the feelings of our ,lord1 they have a wider and a deeper meaning still1 ,i think1 if we ponder them2 inasmuch as they open before us some aspects of ,his sufferings and eminently of ,his ,cross1 which it becomes us all to lay to heart4 ,and it is to these that ,i desire to turn your attention for a few moments4 ,i4 ,i see in them1 then1 first1 this great thought1 that the ,cross of ,jesus ,christ is the centre and the meeting-point for the energies of three worlds4 ',this is your hour4' ,now our ,lord habitually speaks of ,his sufferings1 and of other points in ,his life1 as being ',my hour1' by which1 of course1 ,he means the time appointed to ,him by ,god for the doing of an appointed work4 ,and that idea is distinctly to be attached to the use of the word here4 ,but1 on the other hand1 there is emphasis laid on 'your1' and that hour is thereby designated as a time in which they could do as they would4 ,it was their opportunity1 or1 as we say in our colloquialism1 now was their time when1 unhindered1 they might carry into effect their purposes4 ,so there is given us the thought of ,his passion and death as being the most eminent and awful instance of men being left unchecked to work out whatsoever was in their evil hearts1 and to carry into effect their blackest purposes4 ,but1 on the other hand1 there goes with the phrase the idea to which ,i have already referred2 and 'this is their hour1' not merely in the sense that it was their opportunity1 but also that it was the hour appointed by ,god and allotted them for their doing the thing which their unhindered evil passions impelled them to do4 ,and so we are brought face to face with the most eminent instance of that great puzzle that runs through all life--how ,god works out ,his lofty designs by means of responsible agents1 'making the wrath of men to praise ,him1' and girding ,himself with the remainder4 ,nor is that all4 ,for the next words of my text bring in a third set of powers as in operation4 ',this is your hour' lets us see man overarched by the abyss of the heavens1 'and the power of darkness' lets us see the deep and awful forces that are working beneath and surging upwards into humanity1 and opens the subterranean volcanoes4 ,i do not say that there is any reference here to a personal ,antagonist of good1 in whom these dark tendencies are focussed1 but there is a distinct reference to 'the darkness' as a whole1 a kind of organic whole1 which operates upon men4 ,even when they think themselves to be freest1 and are carrying out their own wicked designs1 they are but the slaves of impulses that come straight from the dark kingdom4 ,if ,i may turn from the immediate purpose of my sermon for a moment1 ,i pray you to consider that solemn aspect of our life1 a film between two firmaments1 like the earth with the waters above and the waters beneath4 ,on the one side it is open and pervious to heavenly influences1 and moulded by the overarching and sovereign will1 and on the other side it is all honeycombed beneath with1 and open to1 the uprisings of evil1 straight from the bottomless pit4 ,but if we turn to the more immediate purpose of the words1 think for a moment of the solemn and wonderful aspect which the ,cross of ,christ assumes1 thus contemplated4 ,three worlds focus their energies upon it--heaven1 earth1 hell4 ,looked at from one side it is all radiant and glorious1 as the transcendent exhibition of the divine love and sweetness and sacrifice and righteousness and tenderness4 ,but the sunshine that plays upon it shifts and passes1 and looked at from another point of view it is swathed in blackness1 as the most awful display of man's unbridled antagonism to the good4 ,and looked at from yet another1 it assumes a still more lurid aspect as the last stroke which the kingdom of darkness attempted to strike in defence of its ancient and solitary reign4 ,so earth1 heaven1 hell1 the ,god that works through man's evil passions1 and yet does not acquit them though ,he utilises them to a lofty issue2 man that is evil and thinks himself free2 and the kingdom of darkness that uses him as its slave--all hare part in that cross1 which is thus the result of such diametrically opposite forces4 ,the divine government which reached its most beneficent ends through the unbridled antagonism of sinful men1 and made even the dark counsels of the kingdom of darkness tributary to the diffusion of the light1 works ever in the same fashion4 ,antagonism and obedience both work out its purposes4 ,let us learn to bow before that all-encompassing ,providence in whose great scheme both are included4 ,let us not confuse ourselves by the attempt to make plain to our reason the harmony of the two certain facts--man's freedom and ,god's sovereignty4 ,enough for us to remember that the sin is none the less though the issue may coincide with the divine purpose1 for sin lies in the motive1 which is ours1 not in the unintended result1 which is ,god's4 ,enough for us to realise the tremendous solemnity of the lives we live1 with all sweet heavenly influences falling on them from above1 and all sulphurous suggestions rising into them from the fires beneath1 and to see to it that we keep our hearts open to the one1 and fast closed against the other4 ',this is your hour'--a time in which you feel yourselves free1 and yet are instruments in the hands of ,god1 and also are tools in the claws of evil4 ,,ii4 ,still further1 my text brings before us the thought that the ,cross is the high-water mark of man's sin4 ',this is the power of darkness'--the specimen instance of what it would and can do4 ,strange to think that1 amidst all the black catalogue of evil deeds that have been done in this world from the beginning1 there is one deed which is the worst1 and that it is this one6 ,not that the doers were 'sinners above all men'3 for that is a question of knowledge and of motives1 but that the deed in itself was the worst thing that ever man did4 ,of course ,i take for granted the belief that ,jesus ,christ is the ,son of ,god2 that ,he came from heaven1 that ,he lived a life of perfect purity and beauty1 and that ,he died on the ,cross as the ,gospel tells us4 ,and taking these things for granted1 is it not true that ,his rejection1 ,his condemnation1 and ,his death do throw the most awful and solemn light upon what poor humanity left to itself1 and yielding to the suggestions and the impulses of the kingdom of darkness1 does when it comes in contact with the ,light8 ,it is the great crucial instance of the incapacity of the average man to behold spiritual beauty and lofty elevation of character4 ,people lament over the blindness of embruted souls to natural beauty1 to art1 to high thinking1 and so on2 but all these1 tragic as they are1 are nothing as compared with this stunning fact1 that perfect righteousness and perfect tenderness and ideal beauty of character walked about the world for thirty and three years1 and that all the wise and religious men who came across ,him thought that the best thing they could do was to crucify ,him4 ,so it has ever been from the days of ,cain and ,abel4 ,as the ,apostle ,john asks1 ',wherefore slew be him8' ,for a very good reason1 ',because his own works were evil1 and his brother's righteous4' ,that is reason enough for killing any prophets and righteous men4 ,it was so in the past1 and in modified forms it is so today4 ,the plain fact is that humanity has in it a depth of incapacity to behold1 and of angry indisposition to admire1 lofty and noble lives4 ,the power of the darkness to blind men is set forth once in the superlative degree that we may all beware of it in the lower instances1 by that fact1 the most tragical in the history of the world1 'the ,light shineth in the darkness1 and the darkness apprehendeth it not4' ,and not only does that ,cross mark the high-water mark of man's blindness1 and of man's hatred to the lofty and the true and the good1 but it marks1 too1 the awful power that seems1 by the very make of the world1 to be lodged on the side of evil and against good4 ,the dice seem to be so terribly loaded4 ,virtue and beauty and truth and tenderness1 and all that is noble and lofty and heart-appealing1 have no chance against a mere piece of savage brutality4 ,and that fact1 which has been repeated over and over again from the beginning1 and so largely makes the misery of mankind1 reaches its very climax1 and most solemn and awful illustration1 in the fact that a handful of ruffians and a detachment of ,roman soldiers were able to put an end to the life of ,god manifest in the flesh4 ,if we have nothing more to say about ,jesus than that ,he lived upon earth and did works of goodness and of beauty for a few short years1 and then died1 and there an end1 it seems to me that the story of the ,death of ,christ is the most despairing page in the whole history of humanity1 and that it accentuates and makes still more dreadful the dreadful old puzzle of how it comes that1 in a world with a ,god in it1 evil seems to be so riotously preponderant and good seems to be ever trodden under foot4 ,either the ,death of ,christ1 if ,he died and did not rise again1 is the strongest argument in the history of mankind for rank atheism1 or else it is true that ,he rose1 the ,king of humanity1 glorified and exalted by the vain attempts of ,his foes4 ,and now notice that this high-water mark1 as ,i have called it1 or climax of human sin1 was reached through very common and ordinary transgressions4 ,judas betrayed ,christ because he had always felt uncomfortable with his earthly tendencies beside that pure spirit1 and also because he wanted to jingle the thirty pieces of silver in his pocket4 ,the priests did ,him to death because ,he claimed the ,messiahship and to be the ,son of ,god1 and their formalism rose against ,him1 and their blindness to all spiritual elevation made them hate ,him4 ,pilate sent ,him to the ,cross because he was a coward1 and thought that the life of a ,jewish peasant was a small thing to give in order to secure his position4 ,and the mob howled at ,his heels1 and wagged their heads as they passed by1 oblivious of ,his miracles and ,his benevolence1 simply because of the vulgar hatred of anything that is lofty1 and because they were so absorbed in material things that they had no eyes for that radiant beauty4 ,in the whole list of these motives there is not a sin that you and ,i do not commit1 nor is there any one of them which may not be reproduced1 and as a matter of fact1 is reproduced1 by hundreds and thousands in this professedly ,christian land4 ,oh1 brethren6 the actual murderers are not the worst criminals1 though their deed be the worst1 considered in itself4 ,those ,roman soldiers who nailed ,his hands to the ,cross1 and went back to their barracks that night1 quite comfortable and unconscious that they had been doing anything beyond their routine military duty1 were innocent and white-handed compared with the men and women among us1 who1 with the additional evidence of the ,cross1 and the empty grave1 and the throne in the heavens1 and the ,christian ,church1 still stand aloof and say1 ',we see no beauty in ,him that we should desire ,him4' ,take care lest your attitude to ,jesus ,christ bring the level of your criminality close up to that high-water mark1 or carry it even beyond it1 for it is possible to 'crucify the ,son of ,god afresh1' and they who do so have the greater guilt4 ,,iii4 ,now1 lastly1 my text suggests that the temporary triumph of the darkness is the eternal victory of the light4 ',this is your hour'--not the next4 ',this is your hour4' ,sixty minutes tick1 and it will be gone4 ,when ,christ was beaten ,he was ,conqueror1 and as ,he looked upon ,his ,cross ,he said1 ',i have overcome the world4' ,the eclipse which hung over the little hill and the land of ,palestine1 during the long hours of that slowly passing day1 ended before ,he died4 ,and ,his death was but the passing for a brief moment of the shadow of death across the bright luminary which1 when the shadow has passed1 shines out and 'with new spangled beams1 flames in the forehead of the morning sky4' ,the darkness triumphed1 and in its triumph it was overcome4 ,he1 by dying1 is the death of death4 ,this ,jonah inflicted a mortal wound on the loathly monster in whose maw ,he lay for three days4 ,he1 by bearing the penalty of sin1 takes away the penalty of it for us all4 ,he1 in the quenching of the light of ,his life in the night of death1 reveals ,god more than even ,he did in ,his life1 and is never more truly the ,illuminator of mankind than when ,he lies in the darkness of the grave and brings immortality to light4 ,he1 by ,his death1 delivers men from the kingdom of darkness1 and translates them into ,his own kingdom2 giving them new powers for holiness1 new hopes1 inspiriting them to rebellion against the tyrants that have dominion over them2 and thus conquering when ,he falls4 ,the power of the darkness is broken like a crested wave1 toppling over at its highest and dissolving in ineffectual spray4 ,so we have encouragement for all momentary checks and defeats1 if there be such in our experience1 when we are doing ,christ's work4 ,the history of the ,church repeats in all ages1 generation after generation1 the same law to which the ,master submitted3 ',except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die it abideth alone2 but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit4' ,we conquer when we are overcome2 ,christ conquered so1 and ,his servants after ,him4 ,and now apply all these principles which ,i have so imperfectly stated to your own personal lives4 ,men and the kingdom of darkness over-reached and outwitted themselves when they slew ,jesus ,christ4 ,and so all antagonism to ,him1 whether it be theoretical or whether it be practical1 and alienation of heart only1 is suicidal folly4 ,when it most succeeds it is nearest the breaking point of utter failure1 like a man sawing off the branch on which he sits4 ,every man that sets himself against ,god in ,christ1 either to argue ,him down and talk ,him out of existence1 or to 'break ,his bands asunder and cast away ,his cords1' has begun a ,sisyphean task which will never come to any good4 ,all sin is essentially irrational and opposed to the whole motion of the universe1 and must necessarily be annihilated and come to nothing4 ,the coarse title of one of our old ,english plays carries a great truth in it2 ',the ,devil is an ,ass1' and for the man that obeys the kingdom of darkness the right epitaph is ',thou fool6 ,oh1 brothers6 do not fling yourselves into that hopeless struggle4 ,put yourselves on the right side in this age-long conflict1 of which the issue was determined before evil was1 and was accomplished when ,christ died4 ,for be sure of this1 that as certainly as ',the darkness is past1 and the true ,light now shineth1' so certainly all they that fight against the light--and all men fight against it who shut their eyes to it--are engaged in a conflict of which only one issue is possible1 and that is defeat1 bitter1 complete1 absolute4 ,rather let us all1 though we be evil1 and though there be a bad self in us that knows itself to be evil and hates the ,light--let us all go to it4 ,it may pain the eye1 but it is the only cure for the ophthalmia4 ,let us go to it1 spread ourselves out before it1 and say1 ',search me1 ,o ,christ1 and try me1 and see if there be any wicked way in me4 ,lead me1 a blind man1 into the light4' ,and ,his answer will come3 ',i am the ,light of the world2 he that followeth ,me shall not walk in darkness1 but shall have the ,light of life4' ,,in ,,the ,,high ,,priest',s ,,palace ',then took they ,him1 and led ,him1 and brought ,him into the high priest's house4 ,and ,peter followed afar off4 #ee4 ,and when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall1 and were set down together1 ,peter sat down among them4 #ef4 ,but a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire1 and earnestly looked upon him1 and said1 ,this man was also with ,him4 #eg4 ,and he denied ,him1 saying1 ,woman1 ,i know ,him not4 #eh4 ,and1 after a little while1 another saw him1 and said1 ,thou art also of them4 ,and ,peter said1 ,man1 ,i am not4 #ei4 ,and about the space of one hour after another confidently affirmed1 saying1 ,of a truth this fellow also was with ,him2 for he is a ,galilean4 #fj4 ,and ,peter said1 ,man1 ,i know not what thou sayest4 ,and immediately1 while he yet spake1 the cock crew4 #fa4 ,and the ,lord turned1 and looked upon ,peter3 and ,peter remembered the word of the ,lord1 how ,he had said unto him1 ,before the cock crow1 thou shalt deny ,me thrice4 #fb4 ,and ,peter went out1 and wept bitterly4 #fc4 ,and the men that held ,jesus mocked ,him and smote ,him4 #fd4 ,and when they had blindfolded ,him1 they struck ,him on the face1 and asked ,him1 saying1 ,prophesy1 who is it that smote ,thee8 #fe4 ,and many other things blasphemously spake they against ,him4 #ff4 ,and as soon as it was day1 the elders of the people1 and the chief priests1 and the scribes1 came together1 and led ,him into their council1 #fg4 ,saying1 ,art ,thou the ,christ8 tell us4 ,and ,he said unto them1 ,if ,i tell you1 ye will not believe3 #fh4 ,and ,if ,i also ask you1 ye will not answer ,me1 nor let ,me go4 #fi4 ,hereafter shall the ,son of man sit on the right hand of the power of ,god4 #gj4 ,then said they all1 ,art ,thou then the ,son of ,god8 ,and ,he said unto them1 ,ye say that ,i am4 #ga4 ,and they said1 ,what need we any further witness8 for we ourselves have heard of ,his own mouth4'--,,luke xxii4 #ed-ga4 ,the present passage deals with three incidents1 each of which may be regarded either as an element in our ,lord's sufferings or as a revelation of man's sin4 ,he is denied1 mocked1 and formally rejected and condemned4 ,a trusted friend proves faithless1 the underlings of the rulers brutally ridicule ,his prophetic claims1 and their masters vote ,him a blasphemer for assenting ,his divinity and ,messiahship4 ,i4 ,we have the failure of loyalty and love in ,peter's denials4 ,i may observe that ,luke puts all ,peter's denials before the hearing by the council1 from which it is clear that the latter was later than the hearing recorded by ,matthew and ,john4 ,the first denial probably took place in the great hall of the high priest's official residence1 at the upper end of which the prisoner was being examined1 while the hangers--on huddled round the fire1 idly waiting the event4 ,the morning air bit sharply1 and ,peter1 exhausted1 sleepy1 sad1 and shivering1 was glad to creep near the blaze4 ,its glinting on his face betrayed him to a woman's sharp eye1 and her gossiping tongue could not help blurting out her discovery4 ,curiosity1 not malice1 moved her2 and there is no reason to suppose that any harm would have come to ,peter1 if he had said1 as he should have done1 ',yes1 ,i am ,his disciple4' ,the day for persecuting the servants was not yet come1 but for the present it was ,jesus only who was aimed at4 ,no doubt1 cowardice had a share in the denials1 but there was more than that in them4 ,peter was worn out with fatigue1 excitement1 and sorrow4 ,his susceptible nature would be strongly affected by the trying scenes of the last day1 and all the springs of life would be low4 ,he was always easily influenced by surroundings1 and just as1 at a later date1 he was 'carried away' by the presence at ,antioch of the ,judaisers1 and turned his back on the liberal principles which he had professed1 so now he could not resist the current of opinion1 and dreaded being unlike even the pack of menials among whom he sat4 ,he was ashamed of his ,master and hid his colours1 not so much for fear of bodily harm as of ridicule4 ,was there not a deeper depth still in his denials1 even the beginnings of doubt whether1 after all1 ,jesus was what he had thought ,him8 ,christ prayed that ,peter's 'faith' should not 'fail' or be totally eclipsed1 and that may indicate that the assault was made on his 'faith' and that it wavered1 though it recovered steadfastness4 ,if he had been as sure of ,christ's work and nature as when he made his great confession1 he could not have denied ,him4 ,but the sight of ,jesus bound1 unresisting1 and evidently at the mercy of the rulers1 might well make a firmer faith stagger4 ,we have not to steel ourselves to bear bodily harm if we confess ,christ2 but many of us have to run counter to a strong current flowing around us1 and to be alone in the midst of unsympathising companions ready to laugh and gibe1 and some of us are tempted to waver in our convictions of ,christ's divinity and redeeming power1 because ,he still seems to stand at the bar of the wise men and leaders of opinion1 and to be treated by them as a pretender4 ,it is a wretched thing to be persecuted out of one's ,christianity in the old-fashioned fire and sword style2 but it is worse to be laughed out of it or to lose it1 because we breathe an atmosphere of unbelief4 ,let the doctors at the top of the hall and the lackeys round the fire who take their opinions from them say what they like1 but let them not make us ashamed of ,jesus4 ,peter slipped away to the gateway1 and there1 apparently1 was again attacked1 first by the porteress and then by others1 which occasioned the second denial1 while the third took place in the same place1 about an hour afterwards4 ,one sin makes many4 ,the devil's hounds hunt in packs4 ,consistency requires the denier to stick to his lie4 ,once the tiniest wing tip is in the spider's web1 before long the whole body will be wrapped round by its filthy1 sticky threads4 ,if ,peter had been less confident1 he would have been more safe4 ,if he had said less about going to prison and death1 he would have had more reserve fidelity for the time of trial4 ,what business had he thrusting himself into the palace8 ,over-reliance on self leads us to put ourselves in the way of temptations which it were wiser to avoid4 ,had he forgotten ,christ's warnings8 ,apparently so4 ,christ predicts the fall that it may not happen1 and if we listen to ,him1 we shall not fall4 ,the moment of recovery seems to have been while our ,lord was passing from the earlier to the later examination before the rulers4 ,in the very floodtide of ,peter's oaths1 the shrill cock-crow is heard1 and at the sound the half-finished denial sticks in his throat4 ,at the same moment he sees ,jesus led past him1 and that look1 so full of love1 reproof1 and pardon1 brought him back to loyalty1 and saved him from despair4 ,the assurance of ,christ's knowledge of our sins against ,him melts the heart1 when the assurance of ,his forgiveness and tender love comes with it4 ,then tears1 which are wholly humble but not wholly grief1 flow4 ,they do not wash away the sin1 but they come from the assurance that ,christ's love1 like a flood1 has swept it away4 ,they save from remorse1 which has no healing in it4 ,,ii4 ,we have the rude taunts of the servants4 ,the mockery here comes from ,jews1 and is directed against ,christ's prophetic character1 while the later jeers of the ,roman soldiers make a jest of ,his kingship4 ,each set lays hold of what seems to it most ludicrous in ,his pretensions1 and these servants ape their masters on the judgment seat1 in laughing to scorn this ,galilean peasant who claimed to be the ,teacher of them all4 ,rude natures have to take rude ways of expression1 and the vulgar mockery meant precisely the same as more polite and covert scorn means from more polished people2 namely1 rooted disbelief in ,him4 ,these mockers were contented to take their opinions on trust from priests and rabbis4 ,how often1 since then1 have ,christ's servants been objects of popular odium at the suggestion of the same classes1 and how often have the ignorant people been misled by their trust in their teachers to hate and persecute their true ,master6 ,jesus is silent under all the mockery1 but then1 as now1 ,he knows who strikes ,him4 ,his eyes are open behind the bandage1 and see the lifted hands and mocking lips4 ,he will speak one day1 and ,his speech will be detection and condemnation4 ,then ,he was silent1 as patiently enduring shame and spitting for our sakes4 ,now ,he is silent1 as long-suffering and wooing us to repentance2 but ,he keeps count and record of men's revilings1 and the day comes when ,he whose eyes are as a flame of fire will say to every foe1 ',i know thy works4' ,,iii4 ,we have the formal rejection and condemnation by the council4 ,the hearing recorded in verses #ff to #ga took place 'as soon as it was day1' and was apparently a more formal official ratification of the proceedings of the earlier examination described by ,matthew and ,john4 ,the ruler's question was put simply in order to obtain material for the condemnation already resolved on4 ,our ,lord's answer falls into two parts1 in the first of which ,he in effect declines to recognise the bona fides of ,his judges and the competency of the tribunal1 and in the second goes beyond their question1 and claims participation in divine glory and power4 ',if ,i tell you1 ye will not believe'2 therefore ,he will not tell them4 ,jesus will not unfold ,his claims to those who only seek to hear them in order to reject1 not to examine1 them4 ,silence is ,his answer to ingrained prejudice masquerading as honest inquiry4 ,it is ever so4 ,there is small chance of truth at the goal if there be foregone conclusions or biased questions at the starting-point4 ',if ,i ask you1 ye will not answer4' ,they had taken refuge in judicious but self-condemning silence when ,he had asked them the origin of ,john's mission and the meaning of the ,one ,hundred and ,tenth ,psalm1 and thereby showed that they were not seeking light4 ,jesus will gladly speak with any who will be frank with ,him1 and let ,him search their hearts2 but ,he will not unfold ,his mission to such as refuse to answer ,his questions4 ,but while thus ,he declines to submit ,himself to that tribunal1 and in effect accuses them of obstinate blindness and a fixed conclusion to reject the claims which they were pretending to examine1 ,he will not leave them without once more asserting an even higher dignity than that of ,messiah4 ,as a prisoner at their bar1 ,he has nothing to say to them2 but as their ,king and future ,judge1 ,he has something4 ,they desire to find materials for sentence of death1 and though ,he will not give these in the character of a criminal before ,his judges1 ,he also desires that the sentence should pass1 and ,he will declare ,his divine prerogatives and fall possession of divine power in the hearing of the highest court of the nation4 ,it was fitting that the representatives of ,israel1 however prejudiced1 should hear at that supreme moment the full assertion of full deity4 ,it was fitting that ,israel should condemn itself1 by treating that claim as blasphemy4 ,it was fitting that ,jesus should bring about ,his death by ,his twofold claim--that made to the ,sanhedrim1 of being the ,son of ,god1 and that before ,pilate1 of being the ,king of the ,jews4 ,the whole scene teaches us the voluntary character of ,christ's ,death1 which is the direct result of this tremendous assertion4 ,it carries our thoughts forward to the time when the criminal of that morning shall be the ,judge1 and the judges and we shall stand at ,his bar4 ,it raises the solemn question1 ,did ,jesus claim truly when ,he claimed divine power8 ,if truly1 do we worship ,him8 ,if falsely1 what was ,he8 ,it mirrors the principles on which ,he deals with men universally1 answering 'him that cometh1 according to the multitude of his idols1' and meeting hypocritical pretences of seeking the truth about ,him with silence1 but ever ready to open ,his heart and the witness to ,his claims to the honest and docile spirits who are ready to accept ,his words1 and glad to open their inmost secrets to ,him4 ,,christ',s ,,look ',and the ,lord turned and looked upon ,peter4' --,luke xxii4 #fa4 ,all four ,evangelists tell the story of ,peter's threefold denial and swift repentance1 but we owe the knowledge of this look of ,christ's to ,luke only4 ,the other ,evangelists connect the sudden change in the denier with his hearing the cock crow only1 but according to ,luke there were two causes co-operating to bring about that sudden repentance1 for1 he says1 ',immediately1 while he yet spake1 the cock crew4 ,and the ,lord turned and looked upon ,peter4' ,and we cannot doubt that it was the ,lord's look enforcing the fulfilment of ,his prediction of the cock-crow that broke down the denier4 ,now1 it is very difficult1 if not impossible1 to weave a consecutive whole out of the four versions of the story of ,peter's triple denial4 ,but this at least is clear from them all1 that ,jesus was away at the upper1 probably the raised1 end of the great hall1 and that if any of the three instances of denial took place within that building1 it was at such a distance that neither could the words be heard1 nor could a look from one end of it to the other have been caught4 ,i think that if we try to localise1 and picture the whole scene ourselves1 we are obliged to suppose that that look1 which smote ,peter into swift collapse of penitence1 came as the ,lord ,jesus was being led bound down the hall out through the porch1 past the fire1 and into the gloomy archway1 on ,his road to further suffering4 ,as ,he was thus brought for a moment close to him1 'the ,lord turned and looked upon ,peter1' and then ,he passed from his sight for ever1 as he would fear4 ,i wish1 then1 to deal--although it must be very imperfectly and inadequately--with that look that changed this man4 ,and ,i desire to consider two things about it3 what it said1 and what it did4 ,i4 ,what it said4--,it spoke of ,christ's knowledge1 of ,christ's pain1 of ,christ's love4 ,of ,christ's knowledge--,i have already suggested that we cannot suppose that the ,prisoner at one end of the hall1 intensely occupied with the questionings and argumentation of the priests1 and with the false witnesses1 could have heard the denial1 given in tones subdued by the place1 at the other end4 ,still less could ,he have heard the denials in louder tones1 and accompanied with execrations1 which seemed to have been repeated in the porch without4 ,but as ,he passed the ,apostle that look said3 ',i heard them all--denials and oaths and passion2 ,i heard them all4' ,no wonder that after the ,resurrection1 ,peter1 with that remembrance in his mind1 fell at the ,master's feet and said1 ',lord6 ,thou knowest all things4 ,thou didst know what ,thou didst not hear1 my muttered recreancy and treason1 and my blurted out oaths of denial4 ,thou knowest all things4' ,no wonder that when he stood up amongst the ,apostles after the ,resurrection and the ,ascension1 and was the mouthpiece of their prayers1 remembering this scene as well as other incidents1 he began his prayer with ',thou1 ,lord1 which knowest the hearts of all men4' ,but let us remember that this--call it1 if you like1 supernatural--knowledge which ,jesus ,christ had of the denial1 is only one of a great body of facts in ,his life1 if we accept these ,gospels1 which show that1 as one of the ,evangelists says1 at almost the beginning of his history1 ',he needed not that any man should testify of man1 for ,he knew what was in man4' ,it is precisely on the same line1 as ,his first words to ,peter1 whom ,he greeted as he came to ,him with ',thou art ,simon2 thou shalt be ,cephas4' ,it is entirely on the same line as the words with which ,he greeted another of this little group1 ',when thou wast under the fig-tree ,i saw thee4' ,it is on the same line as the words with which ,he penetrated to the unspoken thoughts of ,his churlish entertainer when ,he said1 ',simon6 ,i have somewhat to say unto thee4' ,it is on the lines on which we have to think of that ,lord now as knowing us all4 ,he looks still from the judgment-seat1 where ,he does not stand as a criminal1 but sits as the supreme and omniscient ,arbiter of our fates1 and ,judge of our actions4 ,and ,he beholds us1 each of us1 moment by moment1 as we go about our work1 and often1 by our cowardice1 by our faithlessness1 by our inconsistencies1 'deny the ,lord that bought' us4 ,it is an awful thought1 and therefore do men put it away from them3 ',thou ,god seest me4' ,but it is stripped of all its awfulness1 while it retains all its purifying and quickening power1 when we think1 as our old hymn has it3 ',though now ascended up on high1 ,he bends on earth a ,brother's eye4' ,and we have not only to feel that the eye that looks upon us is cognisant of our denials1 but that it is an eye that pities our infirmities1 and knowing us altogether1 loves us better than we know4 ,oh6 if we believed in ,christ's look1 and that it was the look of infinite love1 life would be less solitary1 less sad1 and we should feel that wherever ,his glance fell there ,his help was sure1 and there were illumination and blessedness4 ,the look spoke of ,christ's knowledge4 ,again1 it spoke of ,christ's pain4 ,peter had not thought that he was hurting his ,master by his denials2 he only thought of saving himself4 ,and1 perhaps1 if it had come into his loving and impulsive nature1 which yielded to the temptation the more readily because of the same impulsiveness which also led it to yield swiftly to good influences1 if he had thought that he was adding another pang to the pains of his ,lord whom he had loved through all his denial1 even his cowardice would have plucked up courage to 'confess1 and deny not but confess1' that he belonged to the ,christ4 ,but he did not remember all that4 ,and now there came into his mind--from that look1 the bitter thought1 ',i have wrung ,his heart with yet another pang1 and at this supreme moment1 when there is so much to rack and pain2 ,i have joined the tormentors4' ,and so1 do we not pain ,jesus ,christ8 ,mysterious as it is1 yet it seems as if1 since it is true that we please ,him when we are obeying ,him1 it must be somehow true that we pain ,him when we deny ,him1 and some kind of shadow of grief may pass even over that glorified nature when we sin against ,him1 and forget ,him1 and repay ,his love with indifference1 and reject ,his counsel4 ,we know that in ,his earthly life there was no bitterer pang inflicted upon ,him than the one which the ,psalmist prophesied1 ',he that ate bread with ,me hath lifted up his heel against ,me4' ,and we know that in the measure in which human nature is purified and perfected1 in that measure does it become more susceptible and sensitive to the pain of faithless friends4 ,chilled love1 rejected endeavours to help--which are1 perhaps1 the deepest and the most spiritual of sorrows which men can inflict upon one another1 ,jesus ,christ experienced in full measure1 heaped up and running over4 ,and we1 even we today1 may be 'grieving the ,holy ,spirit of ,god1 whereby we are sealed unto the day of redemption4' ,christ's knowledge of the ,apostle's denials brought pain to ,his heart4 ,again1 the look spoke of ,christ's love4 ,there was in it saddened disapprobation1 but there was not in it any spark of anger2 nor what1 perhaps1 would be worse1 any ice of withdrawal or indifference4 ,but there even at that supreme moment1 lied against by false witnesses1 insulted and spit upon by rude soldiers1 rejected by the priests as an impostor and a blasphemer1 and on ,his road to the ,cross1 when1 if ever1 ,he might have been absorbed in ,himself1 was ,his heart at leisure from itself1 and in divine and calm self-oblivion could think of helping the poor denier that stood trembling there beneath ,his glance4 ,that is of a piece with the majestic1 yet not repelling calm1 which marks the ,lord in all ,his life1 and which reaches its very climax in the ,passion and on the ,cross4 ,just as1 whilst nailed there1 ,he had leisure to think of the penitent thief1 and of the weeping mother1 and of the disciple whose loss of his ,lord would be compensated by the gaining of her to take care of1 so as ,he was being borne to ,pilate's judgment1 ,he turned with a love that forgot itself1 and poured itself into the denier's heart4 ,is not that a divine and eternal revelation for us8 ,we speak of the love of a brother who1 sinned against seventy times seven1 yet forgives4 ,we bow in reverence before the love of a mother who cannot forget1 but must have compassion on the son of her womb4 ,we wonder at the love of a father who goes out to seek the prodigal4 ,but all these are less than that love which beamed lambent from the eye of ,christ1 as it fell on the denier1 and which therein1 in that one transitory glance1 revealed for the faith and thankfulness of all ages an eternal fact4 ,that love is steadfast as the heavens1 firm as the foundations of the earth4 ',yea6 the mountains may depart and the hills be removed1 but ,my loving kindness shall not depart1 neither shall the covenant of ,my peace be removed4' ,it cannot be frozen1 into indifference4 ,it cannot be stirred into heat of anger4 ,it cannot be provoked to withdrawal4 ,repelled1 it returns2 sinned against1 it forgives2 denied1 it meekly beams on in self-revelation2 it hopeth all things1 it beareth all things4 ,and ,he who1 as ,he passed out to ,pilate's bar1 cast ,his look of love on the denier1 is looking upon each of us1 if we would believe it1 with the same look1 pitiful and patient1 reproachful1 and yet forgiving1 which unveils all ,his love1 and would fain draw us in answering love1 to cast ourselves at ,his feet1 and tell ,him all our sin4 ,and now1 let us turn to the second point that ,i suggested4 ,,ii4 ,what the look did4 ,first1 it tore away the veil that hid ,peter's sin from himself4 ,he had not thought that he was doing anything wrong when he denied4 ,he had not thought about anything but saving his own skin4 ,if he had reflected for a moment no doubt he would have found excuses1 as we all can do4 ,but when ,christ stood there1 what had become of the excuses8 ,as by a flash he saw the ugliness of the deed that he himself had done4 ,and there came1 no doubt1 into his mind in aggravation of the denial1 all that had passed from that very first day when he had come to ,christ's presence1 all the confidences that had been given to him1 how his wife's mother had been healed1 how he himself had been cared for and educated1 how he had been honoured and distinguished1 how he had boasted and vowed and hectored the day before4 ,and so he 'went out and wept bitterly4' ,now our sin captures us by lying to us1 by blinding our consciences4 ,you cannot hear the shouts of the men on the bank warning you of your danger when you are in the midst of the rapids1 and so our sin deafens us to the still small voice of conscience4 ,but nothing so surely reveals to us the true moral character of any of our actions1 be they right or wrong1 as bringing them under ,christ's eye1 and thinking to ourselves4 ',durst ,i do that if ,he stood there beside me and saw it8' ,peter could deny ,him when ,he was at the far end of the hall4 ,he could not have denied ,him if he had had ,him by his side4 ,and if we will take our actions1 especially any of them about which we are in doubt1 into ,his presence1 then it will be wonderful how conscience will be enlightened and quickened1 how the fiend will start up in his own shape1 and how poor and small the motives which tempted so strongly to do wrong will come to look1 when we think of adducing them to ,jesus4 ,what did a maid-servant's flippant tongue matter to ,peter then8 ,and how wretchedly inadequate the reason for his denial looked when ,christ's eye fell upon him4 ,the most recent surgical method of treating skin diseases is to bring an electric light1 ten times as strong as the brightest street lights1 to bear upon the diseased patch1 and fifty minutes of that search-light clears away the disease4 ,bring the beam from ,christ's eye to bear on your lives1 and you will see a great deal of leprosy1 and scurf1 and lupus1 and all that you see will be cleared away4 ,the look tore down the veil4 ,what more did it do8 ,it melted the denier's heart into sorrow4 ,i can quite understand a conscience being so enlightened as to be convinced of the evil of a certain course1 and yet there being none of that melting into sorrow1 which1 as ,i believe1 is absolutely necessary for any permanent victory over sins4 ,no man will ever conquer his evil as long as he only shudderingly recoils from it4 ,he has to be broken down into the penitential mood before he will secure the victory over his sin4 ,you remember the profound words in our ,lord's pregnant parable of the seeds1 how one class which transitorily was ,christian1 had for its characteristic that immediately with joy they received the word4 ,yes2 a ,christianity that puts repentance into a parenthesis1 and talks about faith only1 will never underlie a permanent and thorough moral reformation4 ,there is nothing that brings 'godly sorrow1' so surely as a glimpse of ,christ's love2 and nothing that reveals the love so certainly as the 'look4' ,you may hammer at a man's heart with law1 principle1 and moral duty1 and all the rest of it1 and you may get him to feel that he is a very poor creature1 but unless the sunshine of ,christ's love shines down upon him1 there will be no melting1 and if there is no melting there will be no permanent bettering4 ,and there was another thing that the look did4 ,it tore away the veil from the sin2 it made rivers of water flow from the melted heart in sorrow of true repentance2 and it kept the sorrow from turning into despair4 ,judas 'went out and hanged himself4' ,peter 'went out and wept bitterly4' ,what made the one the victim of remorse1 and the other the glad child of repentance8 ,how was it that the one was stiffened into despair that had no tears1 and the other was saved because he could weep8 ,because the one saw his sin in the lurid light of an awakened conscience1 and the other saw his sin in the loving look of a pardoning ,lord4 ,and that is how you and ,i ought to see our sins4 ,be sure1 dear friend1 that the same long-suffering1 patient love is looking down upon each of us1 and that if we will1 like ,peter1 let the look melt us into penitent self-distrust and heart-sorrow for our clinging sins1 then ,jesus will do for us1 as ,he did for that penitent denier on the ,resurrection morning4 ,he will take us apart by ourselves and speak healing words of forgiveness and reconciliation1 so that we1 like him1 will dare in spite of our faithlessness1 to fall at ,his feet and say1 ',lord1 ,thou knowest all things2 ,thou knowest that ,i1 erst faithless and treacherous1 love ,thee2 and all the more because ,thou hast forgiven the denial and restored the denier4' ',,the ,,rulers ,,take ,,counsel ,,together' ',and the whole multitude of them arose1 and led ,him unto ,pilate4 #b4 ,and they began to accuse ,him1 saying1 ,we found this fellow perverting the nation1 and forbidding to give tribute to ,caesar1 saying that ,he ,himself is ,christ a ,king4 #c4 ,and ,pilate asked ,him1 saying1 ,art thou the ,king of the ,jews8 ,and ,he answered him and said1 ,thou sayest it4 #d4 ,then said ,pilate to the chief priests and to the people1 ,i find no fault in this man4 #e4 ,and they were the more fierce1 saying1 ,he stirreth up the people teaching throughout all ,jewry1 beginning from ,galilee to this place4 #f4 ,when ,pilate heard of ,galilee1 he asked whether the man were a ,galilean4 #g4 ,and as soon as he knew that ,he belonged unto ,herod's jurisdiction1 he sent ,him to ,herod1 who himself also was at ,jerusalem at that time4 #h4 ,and when ,herod saw ,jesus1 he was exceeding glad3 for he was desirous to see ,him of a long season1 because he had heard many things of ,him2 and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by ,him4 #i4 ,then he questioned with ,him in many words2 but ,he answered him nothing4 #aj4 ,and the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused ,him4 #aa4 ,and ,herod with his men of war set ,him at nought1 and mocked ,him1 and arrayed ,him in a gorgeous robe1 and sent ,him again to ,pilate4 #ab4 ,and the same day ,pilate and ,herod were made friends together3 for before they were at enmity between themselves4'--,,luke xxiii4 #a-ab4 ,luke's canvas is all but filled by the persecutors1 and gives only glimpses of the silent ,sufferer4 ,but the silence of ,jesus is eloquent1 and the prominence of the accusers and judges heightens the impression of ,his passive endurance4 ,we have in this passage the ,jewish rulers with their murderous hate2 ,pilate contemptuously indifferent1 but perplexed and wishing to shirk responsibility2 and ,herod with his frivolous curiosity4 ,they present three types of unworthy relations to ,jesus ,christ4 ,i4 ,we see first the haters of ,jesus4 ,so fierce is their hatred that they swallow the bitter pill of going to ,pilate for the execution of their sentence4 ,john tells us that they began by trying to get ,pilate to decree the crucifixion without knowing ,jesus' crime2 but that was too flagrant injustice1 and too blind confidence in them1 for ,pilate to grant4 ,so they have to manufacture a capital charge on the spot1 and they are equal to the occasion4 ,by the help of two lies1 and one truth so twisted as to be a lie1 they get up an indictment1 which they think will be grave enough to compel the procurator to do as they wish4 ,their accusation1 if it had been ever so true1 would have been ludicrous on their lips2 and we may be sure that1 if it had been true1 they would have been ,jesus' partisans1 not ,his denouncers4' ,the ,gracchi complaining of sedition' are nothing to the ,sanhedrim accusing a ,jew of rebellion against ,rome4 ,every man in that crowd was a rebel at heart1 and would have liked nothing better than to see the standard of revolt lifted in a strong hand4 ,pilate was not so simple as to be taken in by such an accusation from such accusers1 and it fails4 ,they return to the charge1 and the 'more urgent' character of the second attempt is found in its statement of the widespread extent of ,christ's teaching1 but chiefly in the cunning introduction of ,galilee1 notoriously a disaffected and troublesome district4 ,what a hideous and tragic picture we have here of the ferocity of the hatred1 which turned the very fountains of justice and guardians of a nation into lying plotters against innocence1 and sent these ,jewish rulers cringing before ,pilate1 pretending loyalty and acknowledging his authority6 ,they were ready for any falsehood and any humiliation1 if only they could get ,jesus crucified4 ,and what had excited their hatred8 ,chiefly ,his teachings1 which brushed aside the rubbish both of ceremonial observance and of ,rabbinical casuistry1 and placed religion in love to ,god and consequent love to man2 then ,his attitude of opposition to them as an order2 and finally ,his claim1 which they never deigned to examine1 to be the ,son of ,god4 ,that1 they said1 was blasphemy1 as it was1 unless it were true1--an alternative which they did not look at4 ,so blinded may men be by prejudice1 and so mastered by causeless hatred of ,him who loves them all6 ,these ,jewish rulers were men like ourselves4 ,instead of shuddering at their crime1 as if it were something far outside of anything possible for us1 we do better if we learn from it the terrible depths of hostility to ,jesus1 the tragic blindness to ,his character and love1 and the degradation of submission to usurpers1 which must accompany denial of ,his right to rule over us4 ',they hated ,me without a cause1' said ,christ2 but ,he pointed to that hatred as sure to be continued towards ,him and ,his servants as long as 'the world' continues the world4 ,,ii4 ,we have ,pilate1 indifferent and perplexed4 ,luke's very brief account should be supplemented by ,john's1 which shows us how important the conversation1 so much abbreviated by ,luke1 was4 ,of course ,pilate knew the priests and rulers too well to believe for a moment that the reason they gave for bringing ,jesus to him was the real one1 and his taking ,jesus apart to speak with ,him shows a wish to get at the bottom of the case4 ,so far he was doing his duty1 but then come the faults4 ,these may easily be exaggerated1 and we should remember that ,pilate was the most ignorant1 and therefore the least guilty1 of all the persons mentioned in this passage4 ,he had probably never heard the name of ,jesus till that day1 and saw nothing but an ordinary ,jewish peasant1 whom his countrymen1 like the incomprehensible and troublesome people they were1 wished1 for some fantastic reason1 to get killed4 ,but that dialogue with his ,prisoner should have sunk deeper into his mind and heart4 ,he was in long and close enough contact with ,jesus to have seen glimpses of the light1 which1 if followed1 would have led to clear recognition4 ,his first sin was indifference1 not unmingled with scorn1 and it blinded him4 ,christ's lofty and wonderful explanation of the nature of ,his kingdom and ,his mission to bear witness to the truth fell on entirely preoccupied ears1 which were quick enough to catch the faintest whispers of treason1 but dull towards 'truth4' ,when ,jesus tried to reach his conscience by telling him that every lover of truth would listen to ,his voice1 he only answered by the question1 to which he waited not for an answer1 ',what is truth8' ,that was not the question of a theoretical sceptic1 but simply of a man who prided himself on being 'practical1' and left all talk about such abstractions to dreamers4 ,the limitations of the ,roman intellect and its characteristic over-estimate of deeds and contempt for pure thought1 as well as the spirit of the governor1 who would let men think what they chose1 as long as they did not rebel1 spoke in the question4 ,pilate is an instance of a man blinded to all lofty truth and to the beauty and solemn significance of ,christ's words1 by his absorption in outward life4 ,he thinks of ,jesus as a harmless fanatic4 ,little did he know that the truth1 which he thought moonshine1 would shatter the ,empire1 which he thought the one solid reality4 ,so called practical men commit the same mistake in every generation4 ',all flesh is as grass2444 the word of the ,lord endureth for ever4' ,further1 ,pilate sinned in prostituting his office by not setting free the prisoner when he was convinced of ,his innocence4 ',i find no fault in this man1' should have been followed by immediate release4 ,every moment afterwards1 in which ,he was kept captive1 was the condemnation of the unjust judge4 ,he was clearly anxious to keep his troublesome subjects in good humour1 and thought that the judicial murder of one ,jew was a small price to pay for popularity4 ,still he would have been glad to have escaped from what his official training had taught him to recoil from1 and what some faint impression1 made by his patient prisoner1 gave him a strange dread of4 ,so he grasps at the mention of ,galilee1 and tries to gain two good ends at once by handing ,jesus over to ,herod4 ,the relations between ,antipas and him were necessarily delicate1 like those between the ,english officials and the rajahs of native states in ,india2 and there had been some friction1 perhaps about 'the ,galileans1 whose blood' he 'had mingled with their sacrifices4' ,if there had been difficulties in connection with such a question of jurisdiction1 the despatch of ,jesus to ,herod would be a graceful way of making the amende honorable1 and would also shift an unpleasant decision on to ,herod's shoulders4 ,pilate would not be displeased to get rid of embarrassment1 and to let ,herod be the tool of the priests' hate4 ,how awful the thought is of the contrast between ,pilate's conceptions of what he was doing and the reality6 ,how blind to ,christ's beauty it is possible to be1 when engrossed with selfish aims and outward things6 ,how near a soul may be to the light1 and yet turn away from it and plunge into darkness6 ,how patient that silent prisoner1 who lets ,himself be bandied about from one tyrant to another1 not because they had power1 but because ,he loved the world1 and would bear the sins of every one of us6 ,how terrible the change when these unjust judges and ,he will change places1 and ,pilate and ,herod stand at ,his judgment-seat6 ,,iii4 ,we have the wretched1 frivolous ,herod4 ,this is the murderer of ,john ,baptist--'that fox1' a debauchee1 a coward1 and as cruel as sensuous4 ,he had all the vices of his worthless race1 and none of the energy of its founder4 ,he is by far the most contemptible of the figures in this passage4 ,note his notion of1 and his feeling to1 ,jesus4 ,he thought of our ,lord as of a magician or juggler1 who might do some wonders to amuse the vacuous ennui of his sated nature4 ,time was when he had felt some twinge of conscience in listening to the ,baptist1 and had almost been lifted to nobleness by that strong arm4 ,time was1 too1 when he had trembled at hearing of ,jesus1 and taken ,him for his victim risen from a bloody grave4 ,but all that is past now4 ,the sure way to stifle conscience is to neglect it4 ,do that long and resolutely enough1 and it will cease to utter unheeded warnings4 ,there will be a silence which may look like peace1 but is really death4 ,herod's gladness was more awful and really sad than ,herod's fear4 ,better to tremble at ,god's word than to treat it as an occasion for mirth4 ,he who hates a prophet because he knows him to be a prophet and himself to be a sinner1 is not so hopeless as he who only expects to get sport out of the messenger of ,god4 ,then note the ,lord's silence4 ,herod plies ,jesus with a battery of questions1 and gets no answer4 ,if there had been a grain of earnestness in them all1 ,christ would have spoken4 ,he never is silent to a true seeker after truth4 ,but it is fitting that frivolous curiosity should be unanswered1 and there is small likelihood of truth being found at the goal when there is nothing more noble than that temper at the starting-point4 ,christ's silence is the penalty of previous neglect of ,christ's and ,his forerunner's words4 ,jesus guides ,his conduct by ,his own precept1 ',give not that which is holy unto the dogs'2 and ,he knows1 as we never can1 who come into that terrible list of men to whom it would only add condemnation to speak of even ,his love4 ,the eager hatred of the priests followed ,jesus to ,herod's palace1 but no judicial action is recorded as taking place there4 ,their fierce earnestness of hate seems out of place in the frivolous atmosphere4 ,the mockery1 in which ,herod is not too dignified to join his soldiers1 is more in keeping4 ,but how ghastly it sounds to us1 knowing whom they ignorantly mocked6 ,cruelty1 inane laughter1 hideous pleasure in an innocent man's pain1 disregard of law and justice--all these they were guilty of2 and ,herod1 at any rate1 knew enough of ,jesus to give a yet darker colouring to his share in the coarse jest4 ,but how the loud laugh would have fallen silent if some flash had told who ,jesus was6 ,is there any of our mirth1 perhaps at some of ,his servants1 or at some phase of ,his gospel1 which would in like manner stick in our throats if ,his judgment throne blazed above us8 ,ridicule is a dangerous weapon4 ,it does more harm to those who use it than to those against whom it is directed4 ,herod thought it an exquisite jest to dress up his prisoner as a king2 but ,herod has found out1 by this time1 whether he or the ,nazarene was the sham monarch1 and who is the real one4 ,christ was as silent under mockery as to ,his questioner4 ,he bears all1 and ,he takes account of all4 ,he bears it because ,he is the world's ,sacrifice and ,saviour4 ,he takes account of it1 and will one day recompense it1 because ,he is the world's ,king1 and will be its ,judge4 ,where shall we stand then--among the silenced mockers1 or among the happy trusters in ,his ,passion and subjects of ,his dominion8 ,a ,,soul',s ,,tragedy ',then ,herod questioned with ,him in many words2 but ,he answered him nothing4'--,,luke xxiii4 #i4 ,four ,herods play their parts in the ,new ,testament story4 ,the first of them is the grim old tiger who slew the infants at ,bethlehem1 and soon after died4 ,this ,herod is the second--a cub of the litter1 with his father's ferocity and lust1 but without his force4 ,the third is the ,herod of the earlier part of the ,acts of the ,apostles1 a grandson of the old man1 who dipped his hands in the blood of one ,apostle1 and would fain have slain another4 ,and the last is ,herod ,agrippa1 a son of the third1 who is only remembered because he once came across ,paul's path1 and thought it such a good jest that anything should be supposed capable of making a ,christian out of him4 ,there is a singular family likeness in the whole of them1 and a very ugly likeness it is4 ,this one was sensual1 cruel1 cunning1 infirm of purpose1 capricious like a child or a savage4 ,roman policy amused him with letting him play at being a ruler1 but kept him well in hand4 ,and ,i suppose he was made a worse man by the difficulties of his position as a subject-prince4 ,now ,i wish to put together the various incidents in this man's life recorded in the ,gospels1 and try to gather some lessons from them for you4 ,i4 ,first1 ,i take him as an example of half-and-half convictions1 and of the inner discord that comes from these4 ,i do not need to remind you of the shameful story of his repudiation of his own wife1 and of his disgusting alliance with the wife of his half-brother1 who was herself his niece4 ,she was the stronger spirit1 a ,biblical ,lady ,macbeth1 the ,jezebel to this ,ahab2 and1 to complete the parallel1 ,elijah was not far away4 ,john the ,baptist's outspoken remonstrances of course made an implacable enemy of ,herodias1 who did all she could to compass his death1 but was unable to manage that1 though she secured his imprisonment4 ,the reason for her inability is given by the ,evangelist ,mark1 in words which are very inadequately rendered by our ,authorised ,version1 but may be found more correctly translated in the ,revised ,version4 ,it is there said that ,king ',herod feared ,john'--the gaoler afraid of his prisoner6--'knowing that he was a just man and a holy'--goodness is awful4 ,the worst men know it1 and it extorts respect4 ',and kept him safe'--from ,herodias1 that is4 ',and when he heard him he was perplexed'--drawn this way and that way by these two magnets1 alternately veering to lust and to purity1 hesitating between the kisses of the beautiful temptress at his side and the words of the prophet4 ,and yet1 with strange inconsistency1 in all his vacillations 'he heard him gladly'2 for his better part approved the nobler voice4 ,and so he staggered on1 having religion enough to spoil some of his sinful delights1 but not enough to shake them off4 ,that is a picture for which in its essence many a man and woman among us might have sat4 ,for ,i suppose that there is nothing more common than these half-and-half convictions which1 like inefficient bullets1 get part way through the armoured shell of a ship1 and there stick harmless4 ,many of us have the clearest convictions in our understandings1 which have never penetrated to that innermost chamber of all1 where the will sits sovereign4 ,it is so about little things1 it is so about great ones4 ,nothing is more common than that a man shall know perfectly well that some possibly trivial habit stands in the way of something that it is his interest or his duty to pursue2 but the knowledge lies inoperative in the outermost part of him4 ,it is so in regard to graver things4 ,the majority of the slaves of any vice whatsoever know perfectly well that they ought to give it up1 and yet nothing comes of the conviction4 ',he was much perplexed4' ,what a picture that is of the state of unrest and conflict into which such half-and-half impressions of duty cast a man4 ,such a one is like a vessel with its head now ,east1 now ,west1 because there is some weak or ignorant steersman at the helm4 ,i know nothing more sure to produce inward unrest and disturbance and desolation than that a man's knowledge of duty should be clear1 and his obedience to that knowledge partial4 ,if we have ,john down in the dungeon1 if conscience is not allowed to be master1 there may be feasting and revelry going on above1 but the stern voice will come up through the grating now and then1 and that will spoil all the laughter4 ',when he heard him1 he was much perplexed4' ,the reason for these imperfect convictions is generally found1 as ,herod shows us1 in the unwillingness to get rid of something which has fastened its claws around us1 and which we love too well1 although we know it is a serpent1 to shake off4 ,if ,herod had once been man enough to screw himself up1 and say to ,herodias1 ',now you pack1 and go about your business6' everything else would have come right in time4 ,but he could not make up his mind to sacrifice the honeyed poison1 and so everything went wrong in time4 ,my friend1 how many of us are prevented from following out our clearest convictions because they demand a sacrifice8 ',if thine eye cause thee to stumble1 pluck it out1 and cast it from thee4 ,it is better for thee4' ,and then1 further1 note that these irresolute convictions and shirking of plain duty are not atoned for by1 though they are often accompanied with1 a strange acquiescence in1 and approval of1 ,god's truth4 ,herod fancied1 inconsistently enough1 that he was making some kind of compensation for disobedience to the message1 by liking to listen to the messenger4 ,and there are a great many of us1 all whose ,christianity consists in giving ear to the words which we never think of obeying4 ,i wonder how many of you there are who fancy that you have no more concern with this sermon of mine than approving or disapproving of it1 as the case may be2 and how many of us there are who1 all our lives long1 have substituted criticism of the ,gospel as ministered by us poor preachers--be it approving or disapproving criticism--for obedience to the ,christ and acceptance of ,his salvation4 ,,ii4 ,we see in ,herod an example of the utter powerlessness of such partial convictions and reformation4 ,i am not going to tell over again the ghastly story of ,john's death1 which no other words than the ,evangelist's can tell half so powerfully4 ,i need only remind you of the degradation of the poor child ,salome to the position of a dancing girl1 the half-tipsy generosity of the excited monarch1 the grim request from lips so young and still reddened by the excitement of the dance1 ,herod's unavailing sorrow1 his fantastic sense of honour which scrupled to break a wicked promise1 but did not scruple to kill a righteous man1 and the ghastly picture of the girl carrying a bleeding head--such a gift6--to her mother4 ,but out of that jumble of lust and blood ,i desire to gather one lesson4 ,there you have--in an extreme form1 it is true--a tremendous illustration of what half-and-half convictions may come to4 ,whether or no we ever get anything like as far on the road as this man did matters very little4 ,the process which brought him there is the thing that ,i seek to point to4 ,it was because he had so long tampered with the voice of his conscience that it was lulled into silence at that last critical moment4 ,and this is always the case1 that if a man is false to the feeblest conviction that he has in regard to the smallest duty1 he is a worse man all over ever after4 ,we cannot neglect any conviction of what we ought to do1 without lowering the whole tone of our characters and laying ourselves open to assaults of evil from which we would once have turned shuddering and disgusted4 ,a partial thaw is generally followed by intenser frost4 ,an abortive insurrection is sure to issue in a more grinding tyranny4 ,a soul half melted and then cooled off is less easy to melt than it was before4 ,and so1 dear brethren1 remember this1 that if you do not swiftly and fully carry out in life and conduct whatsoever you know you ought to be or do1 you cannot set a limit to what1 some time or other1 if a strong and sudden temptation is sprung upon you1 you may become4 ',is thy servant a dog that he should do this thing8' ,yes6 ,but he did it4 ,no mortal reaches the extreme of evil all at once1 says the wise old proverb2 and the path by which a man is let down into depths that he never thought it was possible that he should traverse is by the continual neglect of the small admonitions of conscience4 ,neglected convictions mean1 sooner or later1 an outburst of evil4 ,john's murder may illustrate another thing too--viz4 how simple1 facile weakness of character may be the parent of all enormities4 ,herod did not want to kill ,john4 ,he very much wanted to keep him alive4 ,but he was not man enough to put his foot down1 and say1 ',there6 ,i have said it2 and there is to be no more talk about slaying this prophet of ,god4' ,so the continual drop1 drop1 drop1 of ,herodias' suggestions and wishes wore a hole1 in the loose-textured stone at last2 and he did the thing that he hated to do and had long fought against4 ,why8 ,because he was a poor weak creature4 ,the lesson from this is one that ,i would urge upon all you young people especially1 that in a world like this1 where there are so many more voices soliciting us to evil than inviting us to good1 to be weak is1 in the long run1 to be wicked4 ,so do you cultivate the wholesome habit of saying ',no1' and do not be afraid of anything but of hurting your conscience and sinning against ,god4 ,,iii4 ,once more1 we have in ,herod an example of the awakening of conscience4 ,when ,jesus began to be talked about beyond the narrow limits of the shores of the ,sea of ,galilee1 and especially when ,he began to organise the ,apostolate1 and ,his name was spread abroad1 some rumours reached even the court1 and there were divergent opinions about ,him4 ,one man said1 ,it is ,elias2 and another said1 ,it is a prophet1 'and ,herod said1 ,it is ,john1 whom ,i beheaded4 ,he has risen from the dead1 and therefore mighty works do show forth themselves in him4' ,ah1 brethren6 when a man has1 away back in the chambers of his memory1 some wrong thing1 be it great or be it little1 he is at the mercy of any chance or accident to have it revived in all its vividness4 ,it is an awful thing to walk this world with a whole magazine of combustibles in our memories1 on which any spark may fall and light lurid and sulphurous flames4 ,a chance thing may do it1 a scent1 a look upon a face1 a sound1 or any trifle may bring all at once before the wrongdoer that ancient evil4 ,and no lapse of time makes it less dreadful when it is unveiled4 ,the chance thrust of a boat-hook that gets tangled in the grey hairs of a corpse1 brings it up grim to the surface4 ,press a button1 by accident1 upon a wall in some old castle1 and a door flies open that leads away down into black depths4 ,you and ,i have depths of that sort in our hearts4 ,then there are no more illusions about whose fault the deed was4 ,when ,herod killed ,john1 he said1 ',oh6 ,it is not ,i6 ,it is ,herodias4 ,it is ,salome4 ,it is my oath4 ,it is the respect ,i bear to the people who heard me swear4 ,i must do it1 but ,i am not responsible4' ,but when1 in 'the sessions of silent thought1' the deed came back to him1 ,salome and ,herodias1 the oath1 and the company were all out of sight1 and he said1 ',i6 ,i did it4' ,that is what we all shall have to do some day1 in this world possibly1 in the next certainly4 ,men sophisticate themselves with talk about palliations1 and excuses1 and temptations1 and companions and the like4 ,and philosophers sophisticate themselves nowadays with a great many learned explanations1 which tend to show that a man is not to blame for the wrong things he does4 ,but all that rubbish gets burned up when conscience wakes1 and the doer says1 ',whom ,i beheaded4' ,brethren1 unless we take refuge in the great sacrifice for the sins of the world which ,jesus ,christ has made1 we shall1 possibly in this life1 and certainly hereafter1 be surrounded by a company of our own evil deeds risen from the dead1 and every one of them will shake its gory locks at us1 and say1 ',thou didst it4' ,,iv4 ,the last lesson that ,i gather from this man's life is the final insensibility which these half-and-half convictions tend to produce4 ,jesus ,christ was sent by ,pilate to ,herod as a kind of peace-offering4 ,the two had been squabbling about some question of jurisdiction2 and so1 partly to escape from the embarrassment of having to deal with this enigmatical ,prisoner1 and partly out of a piece of politic politeness1 ,pilate sends ,jesus to ,herod1 because ,he was in his jurisdiction4 ,think of the ,lord of men and angels being handed about from one to the other of these two scoundrels1 as a piece of politeness6 ,when ,christ stands before ,herod1 note that all its former convictions1 partial or entire1 and all its terrors superficial or deep1 have faded clean away from this frivolous soul4 ,all that he feels now is a childish delight in having this well-known ,man before him1 and a hope that1 for his delectation1 ,jesus will work a miracle2 much as he might expect a conjurer to do one of his tricks6 ,that is what killing ,john came to--an incapacity to see anything in ,jesus4 ',and he asked ,him many questions1 and ,jesus answered him nothing4' ,he locked ,his lips4 ,why8 ,he was doing what ,he ,himself enjoined3 ',give not that which is holy to the dogs4 ,cast not your pearls before swine4' ,he said nothing1 because ,he knew it was useless to say anything4 ,so the ,incarnate ,word1 whose very nature and property it is to speak1 was silent before the frivolous curiosity of the man that had been false to his deepest convictions4 ,it is a parable1 brother1 of what is being repeated over and over again amongst us4 ,i dare not say that ,jesus ,christ is ever absolutely dumb to any man on this side of the grave2 but ,i dare not refrain from saying that this condition of insensibility to ,his words is one that we may indefinitely approach1 and that the surest way to approach it and to reach it is to fight down1 or to neglect1 the convictions that lead up to ,him4 ,john was the forerunner of ,christ1 and if ,herod had listened to ,john1 to him ,john would have said3 ',behold the ,lamb of ,god6' ,to you ,i say it1 and beseech you to take that ,lamb of ,god as the ,sacrifice for your sins1 for the ,healer and ,cleanser of your memories and your consciences1 for the ,helper who will enable you joyfully to make all sacrifices to duty1 and to carry into effect every conviction which ,his own merciful hand writes upon your hearts4 ,and oh1 dear friends1 many of you strangers to me1 to whom my voice seldom comes1 let me plead with you not to be content with 'hearing' any of us 'gladly1' but to do what our words point to1 and to follow ,christ the ,saviour4 ,if you hear the ,gospel1 however imperfectly1 as you are hearing it proclaimed now1 and if you neglect it as--must ,i say8--you are doing now1 you will bring another film over your eyes which may grow thick enough to shut out all the light2 you will wind another fold about your hearts which may prove impenetrable to the sword of the ,spirit2 you will put another plug in your ears which may make them deaf to the music of ,christ's voice4 ,do what you know you ought to do1 yield yourselves to ,jesus ,christ4 ,and do it now1 whilst impressions are being made1 lest1 if you let them sleep1 they may never return4 ,felix trembled when ,paul reasoned2 but he waved away the messenger and the message1 and though he sent for ,paul often1 and communed with him1 he never trembled any more4 ',there is a tide in the affairs of men ,which1 taken at the flood1' would lead us into the haven of rest in ,christ2 and1 if allowed to pass1 may leave us1 stranded and shipwrecked1 among the rocks4 ,,jesus ,,and ,,pilate ',and ,pilate1 when he had called together the chief priests and the rulers and the people1 #ad4 ,said unto them1 ,ye have brought this man unto me1 as one that perverteth the people3 and1 behold1 ,i having examined ,him before you1 have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye accuse ,him3 #ae4 ,no1 nor yet ,herod2 for ,i sent you to him3 and lo1 nothing worthy of death is done unto ,him4 #af4 ,i will therefore chastise ,him1 and release ,him4 #ag4 7,for of necessity he must release one unto them at the feast47 #ah4 ,and they cried out all at once1 saying1 ,away with this man1 and release unto us ,barabbas3 #ai4 7,who for a certain sedition made in the city1 and for murder1 was cast into prison47 #bj4 ,pilate therefore1 willing to release ,jesus1 spake again to them4 #ba4 ,but they cried1 saying1 ,crucify ,him1 crucify ,him4 #bb4 ,and he said unto them the third time1 ,why1 what evil hath ,he done8 ,i have found no cause of death in ,him3 ,i will therefore chastise ,him1 and let ,him go4 #bc4 ,and they were instant with loud voices1 requiring that ,he might he crucified4 ,and the voices of them and of the chief priests prevailed4 #bd4 ,and ,pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required4 #be4 ,and he released unto them him that for sedition and murder was cast into prison1 whom they had desired2 but he delivered ,jesus to their will4 #bf4 ,and as they led ,him away1 they laid hold upon one ,simon1 a ,cyrenian1 coming out of the country1 and on him they laid the cross1 that he might bear it after ,jesus4'--,,luke xxiii4 #ac-bf4 ,luke here marks out three stages of the struggle between ,pilate and the ,jews4 ,thrice did he try to release ,jesus2 thrice did they yell their hatred and their demand for ,his blood4 ,then came the shameful surrender by ,pilate1 in which1 from motives of policy1 he prostituted ,roman justice4 ,knowingly he sacrificed one poor ,jew to please his turbulent subjects2 unknowingly he slew the ,christ of ,god4 ,i4 ,the first weak attempt to be just4 ,pilate invested it with a certain formality by convoking a representative gathering of all classes1 'chief priests and the rulers and the people4' ,the nation was summoned to decide solemnly whether they would or would not put their ,messiah to death1 and a ,roman governor was their summoner4 ,surely the irony of fate 7or1 rather1 of ,providence7 could go no further than that4 ,pilate's rsum of the proceedings up to the moment of his speaking is not without a touch of sarcasm1 in the contrast between 'ye' and ',i' and ',herod4' ,it is almost as if he had said1 ',why1 herein is a marvellous thing1 that you should have a quicker scent for rebellion than ,i or ,herod6' ,he was evidently suspicious of the motives which induced the 'rulers' to take the new role of eager defenders of ,roman authority1 and ready to suspect something below such an extraordinary transformation4 ,jews delivering up a ,jew because he was an insurgent against ,caesar1--there must be something under that6 ,he lays stress on their having heard his examination of the accused1 as showing that he had gone into the matter thoroughly1 that the charges had broken down to their knowledge4 ,he represents his sending ,jesus to ,herod as done from the high motive of securing the completest possible investigation1 instead of its being a despicable attempt to shirk responsibility and to pay an empty compliment to an enemy4 ,he reiterates his conviction of ,jesus' innocence1 and then1 after all this flourish about his own carefulness to bring judicial impartiality to bear on the case1 he makes the lame and impotent conclusion of offering to 'chastise ,him4' ,what for8 ,the only course for a judge convinced of a prisoner's innocence is to set him free4 ,but this was a bribe to the accusers1 offered in hope that the smaller punishment would content them4 ,pilate knew that he was perpetrating flagrant injustice in such a suggestion1 and he tried to hide it by using a gentle word4 ',chastise' sounds almost beneficent1 but it would not make the scourging less cruel1 nor its infliction less lawless4 ,compromises are always ticklish to engineer1 but a compromise between justice and injustice is least likely of all to answer4 ,this one signally failed4 ,the fierce accusers of ,jesus were quick to see the sign of weakness1 both in the proposal itself and in their being asked if it would be acceptable to them4 ,not so should a ,roman governor have spoken4 ,if pressure had made the iron wall yield so far1 a little more and it would fall flat1 and let them at their victim4 ,pilate was weak1 vacillating1 did not know what he wished4 ,he wished to do right1 but he wished more to conciliate1 for he knew that he was detested1 and feared to be accused to ,rome4 ,the other side knew what they wanted1 and were resolute4 ,encouraged by the hesitation of ,pilate1 they 'cried out all together4' ,one hears the strident yells from a thousand throats shrieking out the self-revealing and self-destroying choice of ,barabbas4 ,he was a popular hero for the very reason that he was a rebel4 ,he had done what his admirers had accused ,jesus of doing1 and for which they pretended that they had submitted ,him to ,pilate's judgment4 ,the choice of ,barabbas convicts the charges against ,jesus of falsehood and unreality4 ,the choice of ,barabbas reveals the national ideal4 ,they did not want a ,messiah like ,jesus1 and had no eyes for the beauty of ,his character1 nor ears for the words of grace poured into ,his lips4 ,they had no horror of 'a murderer1' and great admiration for a rebel4 ,barabbas was the man after their own heart4 ,a nation that can reject ,jesus and choose ,barabbas is only fit for destruction4 ,a nation judges itself by its choice of heroes4 ,the national ideal is potent to shape the national character4 ,we to-day are sinking into an abyss because of our admiration for the military type of hero2 and there is not such an immense difference between the mob that rejected ,jesus and applauded ,barabbas and the mobs that shout round a successful soldier1 and scoff at the law of ,christ if applied to politics4 ,,ii4 ,the second1 weaker attempt4 ,pilate repeated his proposal of release1 but it was all but lost in the roar of hatred4 ,note the contrast between ',pilate spoke' 7v4 #bj7 and 'they shouted4' ,it suggests his feeble effort swept away by the rush of ferocity4 ,and they have gathered boldness from his hesitation1 and are now prescribing the mode of ,christ's punishment4 ,now first the terrible word ',crucify' is heard4 ,both ,matthew and ,mark tell us that the priests and rulers had 'stirred up' the people to choose ,barabbas1 but apparently the mob1 once roused1 needed no further stimulant4 ,crowds are always cruel1 and they are as fickle as cruel4 ,the very throats now hoarse with fiercely roaring ',crucify ,him' had been strained by shouting ',hosanna' less than a week since4 ,the branches strewed in ,his path had not had time to wither4 ',the voice of the people is the voice of ,god1'--sometimes4 ,but sometimes it sounds very like the voice of the enemy of ,god1 and one would have more confidence in it if it did not so often and so quickly speak1 not only 'in divers1' but in diverse1 'manners4' ,to make it the arbiter of men's merit1 still more to trim one's course so as to catch the breeze of the popular breath1 is folly1 or worse4 ,men admire what they resemble1 or try to resemble1 and ,barabbas has more of his sort than has ,jesus4 ,,iii4 ,the final yielding4 ,it is to ,pilate's credit that he kept up his efforts so long4 ,luke wishes to impress us with his persistency1 as well as with the fixed determination of the ,jews1 by his note of 'the third time4' ,thrice was the choice offered to them1 and thrice did they put away the possibility of averting their doom4 ,but ,pilate's persistency had a weak place1 for he was afraid of his subjects1 and1 while willing to save ,jesus1 was not willing to imperil himself in doing it4 ,self-interest takes the strength out of resolution to do right1 like a crumbling stone in a sea wall1 which lets in the wave that ruins the whole structure4 ,pilate had come to the end of his shifts to escape pronouncing sentence4 ,the rulers had refused to judge ,jesus according to their law4 ,herod had sent ,him back with thanks1 but unsentenced4 ,the ,jews would not have ,him1 but ,barabbas1 released1 nor would they accept scourging in lieu of crucifying4 ,so he has to decide at last whether to be just and fear not1 or basely to give way1 and draw down on his head momentary applause at the price of everlasting horror4 ,luke notices in all three stages the loud cries of the ,jews1 and in this last one he gives special emphasis to them4 ',their voices prevailed4' ,what a condemnation for a judge6 ,he 'gave sentence that what they asked for should be done4' ,baseness in a judge could go no farther4 ,the repetition of the characterisation of ,barabbas brings up once more the hideousness of the people's choice1 and the tragic words 'to their will' sets in a ghastly light the flagrant injustice of the judge1 and yet greater crime of the ,jews4 ,to deliver ,jesus to their will was base2 to entertain such a 'will' towards ,jesus was more than base1--it was 'the ruin of them1 and of all ,israel4' ,our whole lives here and hereafter turn on what is our 'will' to ,him4 ,,words ,,from ,,the ,,cross ',and when they were come to the place which is called ,calvary1 there they crucified ,him1 and the malefactors1 one on the right hand1 and the other on the left4 #cd4 ,then said ,jesus1 ,father1 forgive them2 for they know not what they do4 ,and they parted ,his raiment1 and cast lots4 #ce4 ,and the people stood beholding4 ,and the rulers also with them derided ,him1 saying1 ,he saved others2 let ,him save ,himself1 if ,he be ,christ1 the chosen of ,god4 #cf4 ,and the soldiers also mocked ,him1 coming to ,him and offering ,him vinegar4 #cg4 ,and saying1 if ,thou be the king of the ,jews1 save ,thyself4 #ch4 ,and a superscription also was written over ,him in letters of ,greek1 and ,latin1 and ,hebrew1 ,,this ,,is ,,the ,,king ,,of ,,the ,,jews4 #ci4 ,and one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on ,him1 saying1 ,if ,thou be ,christ1 save ,thyself and us4 #dj4 ,but the other answering rebuked him1 saying1 ,dost not thou fear ,god1 seeing thou art in the same condemnation8 #da4 ,and we indeed justly2 for we receive the due reward of our deeds3 but this ,man hath done nothing amiss4 #db4 ,and he said unto ,jesus1 ,lord1 remember me when ,thou comest into ,thy kingdom4 #dc4 ,and ,jesus said unto him1 ,verily ,i say unto thee1 ,to-day shall thou be with ,me in paradise4 #dd4 ,and it was about the sixth hour1 and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour4 #de4 ,and the sun was darkened1 and the vail of the temple was rent in the midst4 #df4 ,and when ,jesus had cried with a loud voice1 ,he said1 ,father1 into ,thy hands ,i commend ,my spirit3 and having said thus1 ,he gave up the ghost4'--,,luke xxiii4 #cc-df4 ,the calm tone of all the narratives of the ,crucifixion is very remarkable4 ,each ,evangelist limits himself to the bare recording of facts1 without a trace of emotion4 ,they felt too deeply to show feeling4 ,it was fitting that the story which1 till the end of time1 was to move hearts to a passion of love and devotion1 should be told without any colouring4 ,let us beware of reading it coldly6 ,this passage is more adapted to be pondered in solitude1 with the thought1 ',all this was borne for me1' than to be commented on4 ,but a reverent word or two is permissible4 ,luke's account is noticeably independent of the other three4 ,the three sayings of ,christ's1 round which his narrative is grouped1 are preserved by him alone4 ,we shall best grasp the dominant impression which the ,evangelist unconsciously had himself received1 and sought to convey1 by gathering the whole round these three words from the ,cross4 ,i4 ,the first word sets ,jesus forth as the all-merciful ,intercessor and patient friend of sinners4 ,it is very significantly set in the centre of the paragraph 7vs4 #cc-ch7 which recounts the heartless cruelty and mockery of soldiers and rulers4 ,surrounded by that whirlwind of abuse1 contempt and ferocious glee at ,his sufferings1 ,he gave back no taunt1 nor uttered any cry of pain1 nor was moved to the faintest anger1 but let ,his heart go out in pity for all who took part in that wicked tragedy2 and1 while ',he opened not ,his mouth' in complaint or reviling1 ,he did open it in intercession4 ,but the wonderful prayer smote no heart with compunction1 and1 after it1 the storm of mocking and savage triumph hurtled on as before4 ,luke gathers all the details together in summary fashion1 and piles them on one another without enlarging on any4 ,the effect produced is like that of a succession of breakers beating on some lonely rock1 or of blows struck by a battering-ram on a fortress4 ',they crucified ,him1'--there is no need to say who 'they' were4 ,others than the soldiers1 who did the work1 did the deed4 ,contempt gave ,him two malefactors for companions and hung the ,king of the ,jews in the place of honour in the midst4 ,did ,john remember what his brother and he had asked8 ,matter-of-fact indifference as to a piece of military duty1 and shameless greed1 impelled the legionaries to cast lots for the clothes stripped from a living man4 ,what did the crucifying of another ,jew or two matter to them8 ,gaping curiosity1 and the strange love of the horrible1 so strong in the vulgar mind1 led the people1 who had been shouting ,hosanna6 less than a week ago1 to stand gazing on the sight without pity but in a few hearts4 ,the bitter hatred of the rulers1 and their inhuman glee at getting rid of a heretic1 gave them bad preeminence in sin4 ,their scoff acknowledged that ,he had 'saved others1' and their hate had so blinded their eyes that they could not see how manifestly ,his refusal to use ,his power to save ,himself proved ,him the ,son of ,god4 ,he could not save ,himself1 just because ,he would save these scoffing ,rabbis and all the world4 ,the rough soldiers knew little about ,him1 but they followed suit1 and thought it an excellent jest to bring the 'vinegar1' provided in kindness1 to ,jesus with a mockery of reverence as to a king4 ,the gibe was double-barrelled1 like the inscription over the ,cross2 for it was meant to hit both this ,pretender to royalty and ,his alleged subjects4 ,and to all this ,christ's sole answer was the ever-memorable prayer4 ,one of the women who bravely stood at the ,cross must have caught the perhaps low-voiced supplication1 and it breathed so much of the aspect of ,christ's character in which ,luke especially delights that he could not leave it out4 ,it opens many large questions which cannot be dealt with here4 ,all sin has in it an element of ignorance1 but it is not wholly ignorance as some modern teachers affirm4 ,if the ignorance were complete1 the sin would be nonexistent4 ,the persons covered by the ample folds of this prayer were ignorant in very different degrees1 and had had very different opportunities of changing ignorance for knowledge4 ,the soldiers and the rulers were in different positions in that respect4 ,but none were so entirely blind that they had no sin1 and none were so entirely seeing that they were beyond the reach of ,christ's pity or the power of ,his intercession4 ,in that prayer we learn1 not only ,his infinite forgivingness for insults and unbelief levelled at ,himself1 but ,his exaltation as the ,intercessor1 whom the ,father heareth always4 ,the dying ,christ prayed for ,his enemies2 the glorified ,christ lives to make intercession for us4 ,,ii4 ,in the second saying ,christ is revealed as having the keys of ,hades1 the invisible world of the dead4 ,how differently the same circumstances work on different natures6 ,in the one malefactor1 physical agony and despair found momentary relief in taunts1 flung from lips dry with torture1 at the fellow-sufferer whose very innocence provoked hatred from the guilty heart4 ,the other had been led by his punishment to recognise in it the due reward of his deeds1 and thus softened1 had been moved by ,christ's prayer1 and by his knowledge of ,christ's innocence1 to hope that the same mercy which had been lavished on the inflicters of ,his sufferings1 might stretch to enfold the partakers in it4 ,at that moment the dying thief had clearer faith in ,christ's coming in ,his kingdom than any of the disciples had4 ,their hopes were crumbling as they watched ,him hanging unresisting and gradually dying4 ,but this man looked beyond the death so near for both ,jesus and himself1 and believed that1 after it1 ,he would come to reign4 ,we may call him the only disciple that ,christ then had4 ,how pathetic is that petition1 ',remember me'6 ,it builds the hope of sharing in ,christ's royalty on the fact of having shared in ,his ,cross4 ',thou wilt not forget ,thy companion in that black hour1 which will then lie behind us4' ,such trust and clinging1 joined with such penitence and submission1 could not go unrewarded4 ,from ,his ,cross ,jesus speaks in royal style1 as monarch of that dim world4 ,his promise is sealed with ,his own sign-manual1 ',verily1 ,i say4' ,it claims to have not only the clear vision of1 but the authority to determine1 the future4 ,it declares the unbroken continuance of personal existence1 and the reality of a state of conscious blessedness1 in which men are aware of their union with ,him1 the ,lord of the realm and the ,life of its inhabitants4 ,it graciously accepts the penitent's petition1 and assures him that the companionship1 begun on the ,cross1 will be continued there4 ',with ,me' makes ',paradise' wherever a soul is4 ,,iii4 ,the third word from the ,cross1 as recorded by ,luke1 reveals ,jesus as1 in the act of dying1 the ,master of death1 and its ,transformer for all who trust ,him into a peaceful surrender of themselves into the ,father's hands4 ,the circumstances grouped round the act of ,his death bring out various aspects of its significance4 ,the darkness preceding had passed before ,he died1 and it bore rather on ,his sense of desertion1 expressed in the unfathomably profound and awful cry1 ',why hast ,thou forsaken ,me8' ,the rent veil is generally taken to symbolise the unrestricted access into the presence of ,god1 which we have through ,christ's death2 but it is worth considering whether it does not rather indicate the divine leaving of the desecrated shrine1 and so is the beginning of the fulfilment of the deep word1 ',destroy this ,temple4' ,but the centre-point of the section is the last cry which1 in its loudness1 indicated physical strength quite incompatible with the exhaustion to which death by crucifixion was generally due4 ,it thus confirms the view which sees1 both in the words of ,jesus and in the ,evangelist's expression for ,his death1 clear indications that ,he died1 not because ,his physical powers were unable to live longer1 but by the exercise of ,his own volition4 ,he died because ,he chose1 and ,he chose because ,he loved and would save4 ,as ,st4 ,bernard says1 ',who is ,he who thus easily falls asleep when ,he wills8 ,to die is indeed great weakness1 but to die thus is immeasurable power4 ,truly the weakness of ,god is stronger than men4' ,nor let us forget that1 in thus dying1 ,jesus gave us an imitable example1 as well as revealed inimitable power4 ,for1 if we trust ourselves1 living and dying1 to ,him1 we shall not be dragged reluctantly1 by an overmastering grasp against which we vainly struggle1 out of a world where we would fain stay1 but we may yield ourselves willingly1 as to a ,father's hand1 which draws ,his children gently to ,his own side1 and blesses them1 when there1 with ,his fuller presence4 ,,the ,,dying ,,thief ',and he said unto ,jesus1 ,lord1 remember me when ,thou comest into ,thy kingdom4'--,,luke xxiii1 #db4 ,there is an old and true division of the work of ,christ into three parts--prophet1 priest1 and king4 ,such a distinction manifestly exists1 though it may be overestimated1 or rather1 the statement of it may be exaggerated1 if it be supposed that separate acts of ,his discharge these separate functions1 and that ,he ceases to be the one before ,he becomes the other4 ,rather it is true that all ,his work is prophetic1 that all ,his work is priestly1 and that ,his prophetic and priestly work is the exercise of ,his kingly authority4 ,but still the division is a true one1 and helps to set before us1 clearly and definitely1 the wide range of the benefits of ,christ's mission and death4 ,it is noteworthy that these three groups round the ,cross1 the third of which we have to speak of now--that of the 'daughters of ,jerusalem1' that of the deriding scribes and the indifferent soldiers1 and this one of the two thieves--each presents us ,christ in one of the three characters4 ,the words that ,he spoke upon the ,cross1 with reference to others than ,himself1 may be gathered around1 and arranged under1 that threefold aspect of ,christ's work4 ,the prophet said1 ',daughters of ,jerusalem1 weep not for ,me1 but weep for yourselves1 for the days are coming4' ,the priest said1 ',father1 forgive them1 for they know not what they do4 ',the king1 in ,his sovereignty1 ruled the heart of that penitent man from ,his ,cross1 and while the crown shone athwart the smoke and the agony of the death1 the king 'opened the gates of the kingdom of heaven unto all believers' when ,he said1 ',this day shalt thou be with ,me in ,paradise6' ,we shall not attempt1 in dealing with this incident1 to paint pictures4 ,i have a far more important thing to do than even to try to bring vividly before your minds the scene on that little hill of ,calvary4 ,it is the meaning that we are concerned with1 and not the mere externals4 ,i take it for granted1 then1 that we know the details3--the dying man in his agony1 beginning to see dimly1 as his soul closed upon earthly things1 who this was--patient1 loving1 mighty there in ,his sufferings2 and using his last breath to cry1 ',lord1 remember me6'--and the sufferer throned in the majesty of ,his meekness1 and divinity of ,his endurance2 calm1 conscious1 full of felt but silent power1 accepting homage1 bending to the penitence1 loving the sinner1 and flinging open the gates of the pale kingdoms into which ,he was to pass1 with these ,his last words4 ,first1 then1 we see here an illustration of the ,cross in its power of drawing men to itself4 ,it is strange to think that1 perhaps1 at that moment the only human being who thoroughly believed in ,christ was that dying robber4 ,the disciples are all gone4 ,the most faithful of them are recreant1 denying1 fleeing4 ,a handful of women are standing there1 not knowing what to think about it1 stunned but loving2 and alone 7as ,i suppose71 alone of all the sons of men1 the crucified malefactor was in the sunshine of faith1 and could say ',i believe6' ,as everything of the future history of the world and of the ,gospel is typified in the events of the ,crucifixion1 it was fitting that here again and at the last there should be a prophetic fulfilment of ,his own saying1 ',i1 if ,i be lifted up1 will draw all men unto ,me4' ,but mark1 here we have a striking instance of the universal law of the progress of the ,gospel1 in the two-fold effort of the contemplation of the ,cross4 ,by its foot was to be seen the derision of the scribes and the stupor of the soldiery2 and now here are the two thieves--the one chiming in with the universal reproaches2 and the other beholding the same event1 having the same circumstances displayed before him1 and they influence him thus4 ,brethren1 it is just the history of the ,gospel wherever it goes4 ,it is its history now1 and among us4 ,the ,gospel is preached equally to every man4 ,the same message comes to us all1 offering us the same terms4 ,christ stands before each of us in the same attitude4 ,and what is the consequence8 ,a parting of the whole mass of us1 some to one side and some to the other4 ,so1 when you take a magnet1 and hold it to an indiscriminate heap of metal filings1 it will gather out all the iron1 and leave behind all the rest4 ',i1 if ,i be lifted up1' said ,he1 'will draw all men unto ,me4' ,the attractive power will go out over the whole race of ,his brethren2 but from some there will be no response4 ,in some hearts there will be no yielding to the attraction4 ,some will remain rooted1 obstinate1 steadfast in their place2 and to some the lightest word will be mighty enough to stir all the slumbering pulses of their sin-ridden hearts1 and to bring them1 broken and penitent1 for mercy to ,his feet4 ,to the one ,he is 'a savour of life unto life1 and to the other a savour of death unto death4' ,the broadest doctrine of the universal adaptation1 and the universal intention too1 of the ,gospel1 as the 'power of ,god unto salvation1' contains hidden in its depths this undeniable fact1 that1 be the cause what it may 7and as ,i believe1 the cause lies with us1 and is our fault7 this separating1 judging effect follows from all faithful preaching of ,christ's words4 ,he came to judge the world1 'that they which see not' 7as ,he ,himself said7 'might see1 and they which see might be made blind1' ,and on the ,cross that process went on in two men1 alike in necessity1 alike in criminality1 alike in this1 that ,death's icy finger was just being laid upon their heart1 to stop all the flow of its wild blood and passion1 but different in this1 that the one of them turned himself1 by ,god's grace1 and laid hold on the ,gospel that was offered to him1 and the other turned himself away1 and derided1 and died4 ,and now1 there is another consideration4 ,if we look at this man1 this penitent thief1 and contrast him1 his previous history1 and his present feelings1 with the people that stood around1 and rejected and scoffed1 we get some light as to the sort of thing that unfits men for perceiving and accepting the ,gospel when it is offered to them4 ,remember the other classes of persons who were there4 ,there were ,roman soldiers1 with very partial knowledge of what they were doing1 and whose only feeling was that of entire indifference2 and there were ,jewish ,rabbis1 ,pharisees1 ,priests1 and people1 who knew a little more of what they were doing1 and whose feeling was derision and scorn4 ,now1 if we mark the ordinary scriptural representation1 especially as to the last class1 we cannot help seeing that there comes out this principle3--,the thing of all others that unfits men for the reception of ,christ as a ,saviour1 and for the simple reliance on ,his atoning blood and divine mercy1 is not gross1 long profligacy1 and outward1 vehement transgression2 but it is self-complacency1 clean1 fatal self-righteousness and self-sufficiency4 ,why was it that ,scribes and ,pharisees turned away from ,him8 ,for three reasons4 ,because of their pride of wisdom4 ',we are the men who know all about ,moses and the traditions of the elders2 we judge this new phenomenon not by the question1 ,how does it come to our consciences1 and how does it appeal to our hearts8 but we judge it by the question1 ,how does it fit our ,rabbinical learning and subtle casuistical laws8 ,we are the ,priests and the ,scribes2 and the people that know not the law1 they may accept a thing that only appeals to the common human heart1 but for us1 in our intellectual superiority1 living remote from the common wants of the lower class1 not needing a rough outward ,gospel of that sort1 we can do without such a thing1 and we reject it4' ,they turned away from the ,cross1 and their hatred darkened into derision1 and their menaces ended in a crucifixion1 not merely because of a pride of wisdom1 but because of a complacent self-righteousness that knew nothing of the fact of sin1 that never had learned to believe itself to be full of evil1 that had got so wrapped up in ceremonies as to have lost the life2 that had degraded the divine law of ,god1 with all its lightning splendours1 and awful power1 into a matter of 'mint and anise and cummin4' ,they turned away for a third reason4 ,religion had become to them a mere set of traditional dogmas1 to think accurately or to reason clearly about which was all that was needful4 ,worship having become ceremonial1 and morality having become casuistry1 and religion having become theology1 the men were as hard as a nether millstone1 and there was nothing to be done with them until these three crusts were peeled off the heart1 and1 close and burning1 the naked heart and the naked truth of ,god came into contact4 ,brethren1 change the name1 and the story is true about us4 ,god forbid that ,i should deny that every form of gross1 sensual immorality1 'hardens all within' 7as one poor victim of it said71 'and petrifies the feeling4' ,god forbid that ,i should seem to be speaking slightingly of the exceeding sinfulness of such sin1 or to be pouring contempt upon the laws of common morality4 ,do not misapprehend me so4 ,still it is not sin in its outward forms that makes the worst impediment between a man and the ,cross1 but it is sin plus self-righteousness which makes the insurmountable obstacle to all faith and repentance4 ,and oh6 in our days1 when passion is tamed down by so many bonds and chains2 when the power of society lies upon all of us1 prescribing our path1 and keeping most of us from vice1 partly because we are not tempted1 and partly because we have been brought up like some young trees behind a wall1 within the fence of decent customs and respectable manners1--we have far more need to tell orderly1 respectable moral men--',my brother1 that thing that you have is worth nothing1 as settling your position before ,god'2 than to stand up and thunder about crimes which half of us never heard of1 and perhaps only an infinitesimal percentage of us have ever committed4 ,all sin separates from ,god1 but the thing that makes the separation permanent is not the sin1 but the ignorance of the sin4 ,self-righteousness1 aye1 and pride of wisdom1 they--they have perverted many a nature1 many a young man's glowing spirit1 and have turned him away from the ,gospel4 ,if there be a man here who is looking at the simple message of peace and pardon and purity through ,christ1 and is saying to himself1 ,yes2 it may fit the common class of minds that require outward signs and symbols1 and must pin their faith to forms2 but for me with my culture1 for me with my spiritual tendencies1 for me with my new lights1 ,i do not want any objective redemption2 ,i do not want anything to convince me of a divine love1 and ,i do not need any crucified ,saviour to preach to me that ,god is merciful6--this incident before us has a very solemn lesson in it for him4 ,and if there be a man here who is living a life of surface blamelessness1 it has as solemn a lesson for him4 ,look at the ,scribe1 and look at the ,pharisee--religious men in their way1 wise men in their way1 decent and respectable men in their way2 and look at that poor thief that had been caught in the wilderness amongst the caves and dens1 and had been brought red-handed with blood upon his sword1 and guilt in his heart1 and nailed up there in the short and summary process of a ,roman jurisprudence2--and think that ,scribe1 and ,pharisee1 and ,priest1 saw nothing in ,christ2 and that the poor profligate wretch saw this in ,him1--innocence that showed heavenly against his diabolical blackness2 and his heart stirred1 and he laid hold of ,him in the stress of his mighty agony--as a drowning man catches at anything that protrudes from the bank2 and he held and shook it1 and the thing was fast1 and he was safe6 ,not transgression shuts a man out from mercy4 ,transgression1 which belongs to us all1 makes us subjects for the mercy2 but it is pride1 self-righteousness1 trust in ourselves1 which 'bars the gates of mercy on mankind'2 and the men that are condemned are condemned not only because they have transgressed the commandments of ,god1 but 'this is the condemnation1 that light came into the world1 and men loved darkness rather than light1 because their deeds were evil4' ,and then 7and but a word7 we see here1 too1 the elements of which acceptable faith consists4 ,one does not exactly know by what steps or through what process this poor dying thief passed1 which issued in faith--whether it was an impression from ,christ's presence1 whether it was that he had ever heard anything about ,him before1 or whether it was only that the wisdom which dwells with death was beginning to clear his eyes as life ebbed away4 ,but however he came to the conviction1 mark what it was that he believed and expressed1--,i am a sinful man2 all punishment that comes down upon me is richly deserved3 ,this man is pure and righteous2 ',lord1 remember me when ,thou comest into ,thy kingdom6' ,that is all--that is all4 ,that is the thing that saves a man4 ,how much he did know--whether he knew all the depth of what he was saying1 when he said ',lord6' is a question that we cannot answer2 whether he understood what the 'kingdom' was that he was expecting1 is a question that we cannot solve2 but this is clear--the intellectual part of faith may be dark and doubtful1 but the moral and emotional part of it is manifest and plain4 ,there was1 ',i am nothing--,thou art everything3 ,i bring myself and my emptiness unto ,thy great fullness3 fill it and make me blessed6' ,faith has that4 ,faith has in it repentance--repentance has in it faith too4 ,faith has in it the recognition of the certainty and the justice of a judgment that is coming down crashing upon every human head2 and then from the midst of these fears1 and sorrows1 and the tempest of that great darkness1 there rises up in the night of terrors1 the shining of one perhaps pale1 quivering1 distant1 but divinely given hope1 ',my ,saviour6 ,my ,saviour6 ,he is righteous3 ,he has died--,he lives6 ,i will stay no longer2 ,i will cast myself upon ,him6' ,once more--this incident reminds us not only of the attractive power of the ,cross1 but of the prophetic power of the ,cross4 ,we have here the ,cross as pointing to and foretelling the ,kingdom4 ,pointing out1 and foretelling3 that is to say1 of course1 and only1 if we accept the scriptural statement of what these sufferings were1 the ,person that endured them1 and the meaning of their being endured4 ,but the only thing ,i would dwell upon here1 is1 that when we think of ,christ as dying for us1 we are never to separate it from that other solemn and future coming of which this poor robber catches a glimpse4 ,they crowned ,him with thorns1 and they gave ,him a reed for ,his sceptre4 ,that mockery1 so natural to the strong practical ,romans in dealing with one whom they thought a harmless enthusiast1 was a symbol which they who did it little dreamed of4 ,the crown of thorns proclaims a sovereignty founded on sufferings4 ,the sceptre of feeble reed speaks of power wielded in gentleness4 ,the ,cross leads to the crown4 ,the brow that was pierced by the sharp acanthus wreath1 therefore wears the diadem of the universe4 ,the hand that passively held the mockery of the worthless1 pithless reed1 therefore rules the princes of the earth with the rod of iron4 ,he who was lifted up to the ,cross1 was1 by that very act1 lifted up to be a ,ruler and ,commander to the peoples4 ,for the death of the ,cross ,god hath highly exalted ,him to be a ,prince and a ,saviour4 ,the way to glory for ,him1 the power by which ,he wields the kingdom of the world1 is precisely through the suffering4 ,and therefore1 whensoever there arises before us the image of the one1 oh6 let there rise before us likewise the image of the other4 ,the ,cross links on to the kingdom--the kingdom lights up the ,cross4 ,my brother1 the ,saviour comes--the ,saviour comes a ,king4 ,the ,saviour that comes a ,king is the ,saviour that has been here and was crucified4 ,the kingdom that ,he establishes is all full of blessing1 and love1 and gentleness2 and to us 7if we will unite the thoughts of ,cross and ,crown7 there is opened up not only the possibility of having boldness before ,him in the day of judgment1 but there is opened up this likewise--the certainty that ,he 'shall receive of the travail of ,his soul and be satisfied4' ,oh1 remember that as certain as the historical fact--,he died on ,calvary2 so certain is the prophetic fact--,he shall reign1 and you and ,i will stand there6 ,i durst not touch that subject4 ,take it into your own hearts2 and think about it--a kingdom1 a judgment-seat1 a crown1 a gathered universe2 separation1 decision1 execution of the sentence4 ,and oh6 ask yourselves1 ',when that gentle eye1 with lightning in its depths1 falls upon me1 individualises me1 summons out me to its bar--how shall ,i stand8' ',herein is our love made perfect1 that we may have boldness before ,him in the day of judgment1' ',lord1 remember me when ,thou comest into ,thy kingdom4' ,finally4 ,here is the ,cross as revealing and opening the true ,paradise4--',this day shalt thou be with ,me in ,paradise4' ,we have no concern at present with the many subtle inferences as to the state of the dead1 and as to the condition of our ,lord's human spirit before the ,resurrection1 which have been drawn from these words4 ,to me they do seem fairly to bear the broad and single conclusion that the spirits of the saved do enter at death into a state of conscious presence with their ,saviour1 and therefore of joy and felicity4 ,but beyond this we have no firm ground for going4 ,it is of more practical worth to note that the penitent's vague prayer is answered1 and over-answered4 ,he asks1 ',when ,thou comest'--whensoever that may be--'remember me4' ',i shall stand afar off2 do not let me be utterly forgotten4' ,christ answers--',remember thee6 thou shalt be with ,me1 close to ,my side4 ,remember thee when ,i come6--this day shalt thou be with ,me4' ,and what a contrast that is--the conscious blessedness rushing in close upon the heels of the momentary darkness of death4 ,at the one moment there hangs the thief writhing in mortal agony2 the wild shouts of the fierce mob at his feet are growing faint upon his ear2 the city spread out at his feet1 and all the familiar sights of earth are growing dim to his filmy eye4 ,the soldier's spear comes1 the legs are broken1 and in an instant there hangs a relaxed corpse2 and the spirit1 the spirit--is where8 ,ah6 how far away2 released from all its sin and its sore agony1 struggling up at once into such strange divine enlargement1 a new star swimming into the firmament of heaven1 a new face before the throne of ,god1 another sinner redeemed from earth6 ,the conscious immediate blessedness of the departed--be he what he may1 be his life whatsoever it may have been--who at last1 dark1 sinful1 standing with one foot on the verge of eternity1 and poising himself for the flight1 flings himself into the arms of ,christ--the everlasting blessedness1 the ,christ-presence and the ,christ-gladness1 that is the message that the robber leaves to us from his cross4 ,paradise is opened to us again4 ,the ,cross is the true 'tree of life4' ,the flaming cherubim1 and the sword that turneth every way1 are gone1 and the broad road into the city1 the ,paradise of ,god1 with all its beauties and all its peaceful joy--a better ,paradise1 'a statelier ,eden1' than that which we have lost1 is flung open to us for ever4 ,do not trust a death-bed repentance1 my brother4 ,i have stood by many a death-bed1 and few indeed have they been where ,i could have believed that the man was in a condition physically 7to say nothing of anything else7 clearly to see and grasp the message of the ,gospel4 ,there is no limit to the mercy4 ,i know that ,god's mercy is boundless4 ,i know that 'whilst there is life there is hope4' ,i know that a man1 going--swept down that great ,niagara--if1 before his little skiff tilts over into the awful rapids1 he can make one great bound with all his strength1 and reach the solid ground--,i know he may be saved4 ,it is an awful risk to run4 ,a moment's miscalculation1 and skiff and voyager alike are whelming in the green chaos below1 and come up mangled into nothing1 far away down yonder upon the white turbulent foam4 ',one was saved upon the ,cross1' as the old divines used to tell us1 'that none might despair2 and only one1 that none might presume4' ',now is the accepted time1 and now is the day of salvation6' ,,the ,,first ,,easter ,,sunrise ',now1 upon the first day of the week1 very early in the morning1 they came onto the sepulchre1 bringing the spices which they had prepared1 and certain others with them4 #b4 ,and they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre4 #c4 ,and they entered in1 and found not the body of the ,lord ,jesus4 #d4 ,and it came to pass1 as they were much perplexed thereabout1 behold1 two men stood by them in shining garments3 #e4 ,and as they were afraid1 and bowed down their faces to the earth1 they said unto them1 ,why seek ye the living among the dead8 #f4 ,he is not here1 but is risen3 remember how ,he spake unto you when ,he was yet in ,galilee1 #g4 ,saying1 ,the ,son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men1 and be crucified1 and the third day rise again4 #h4 ,and they remembered ,his words1 #i4 ,and returned from the sepulchre1 and told all these things unto the eleven1 and to all the rest4 #aj4 ,it was ,mary ,magdalene1 and ,joanna1 and ,mary the mother of ,james1 and other women that were with them1 which told these things unto the apostles4 #aa4 ,and their words seemed to them as idle tales1 and they believed them not4 #ab4 ,then arose ,peter1 and ran unto the sepulchre2 and stooping down1 he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves1 and departed1 wondering in himself at that which was come to pass4'--,,luke xxiv4 #a-ab4 ,no ,evangelist narrates the act of ,resurrection4 ,apocryphal ,gospels cannot resist the temptation of describing it4 ,why did the ,four preserve such singular reticence about what would have been irresistible to 'myth' makers8 ,because they were not myth-makers1 but witnesses1 and had nothing to say as to an act that no man had seen4 ,no doubt1 the ,resurrection took place in the earliest hours of the first day of the week4 ,the ,sun of ,righteousness rose before the ,easter ,day sun4 ,it was midsummer day for ,him1 while it was but spring for earth's calendar4 ,that early rising has no setting to follow4 ,the divergences of the ,evangelists reach their maximum in the accounts of the ,resurrection1 as is natural if we realise the fragmentary character of all the versions1 the severely condensed style of ,matthew's1 the incompleteness of the genuine ,mark's1 the evidently selective purpose in ,luke's1 and the supplementary design of ,john's4 ,if we add the perturbed state of the disciples1 their separation from each other1 and the number of distinct incidents embraced in the records1 we shall not wonder at the differences1 but see in them confirmation of the good faith of the witnesses1 and a reflection of the hurry and wonderfulness of that momentous day4 ,differences there are2 contradictions there are not1 except between the doubtful verses added to ,mark and the other accounts4 ,we cannot put all the pieces together1 when we have only them to guide us4 ,if we had a complete and independent narrative to go by1 we could1 no doubt1 arrange our fragments4 ,but the great certainties are unaffected by the small divergences1 and the points of agreement are vital4 ,they are1 for example1 that none saw the ,resurrection1 that the first to know of it were the women1 that angels appeared to them at the tomb1 that ,jesus showed ,himself first to ,mary ,magdalene1 that the reports of the ,resurrection were not believed4 ,whether the group with whom this passage has to do were the same as that whose experience ,matthew records we leave undetermined4 ,if so1 they must have made two visits to the tomb1 and two returns to the ,apostles1--one1 with only the tidings of the empty sepulchre1 which ,luke tells2 one1 with the tidings of ,christ's appearance1 as in ,matthew4 ,but harmonistic considerations do not need to detain us at present4 ,sorrow and love are light sleepers1 and early dawn found the brave women on their way4 ,nicodemus had bound spices in with the body1 and these women's love-gift was as 'useless' and as fragrant as ,mary's box of ointment4 ,whatever love offers1 love welcomes1 though ,judas may ask ',to what purpose is this waste8' ,angel hands had rolled away the stone1 not to allow of ,jesus' exit1 for ,he had risen while it was in its place1 but to permit the entrance of the 'witnesses of the ,resurrection4' ,so little did these women dream of such a thing that the empty tomb brought no flash of joy1 but only perplexity to their wistful gaze4 ',what does it mean8' was their thought4 ,they and all the disciples expected nothing less than they did a ,resurrection1 therefore their testimony to it is the more reliable4 ,luke marks the appearance of the angels as sudden by that 'behold4' ,they were not seen approaching1 but at one moment the bewildered women were alone1 looking at each other with faces of dreary wonder1 and the next1 'two men' were standing beside them1 and the tomb was lighted by the sheen of their dazzling robes4 ,much foolish fuss has been made about the varying reports of the angels1 and 'contradictions' have been found in the facts that some saw them and some did not1 that some saw one and some saw two1 that some saw them seated and some saw them standing1 and so on4 ,we know so little of the laws that govern angelic appearances that our opinion as to the probability or veracity of the accounts is mere guess-work4 ,where should a flight of angels have gathered and hovered if not there8 ,and should they not 'sit in order serviceable' about the tomb1 as around the 'stable' at ,bethlehem8 ,their function was to prepare a way in the hearts of the women for the ,lord ,himself1 to lessen the shock1--for sudden joy shocks and may hurt1--as well as to witness that these 'things angels desire to look into4' ,their message flooded the women's hearts with better light than their garments had spread through the tomb4 ,luke's version of it agrees with ,mark and ,matthew in the all-important central part1 ',he is not here1 but is risen' 7though these words in ,luke are not beyond doubt71 but diverges from them otherwise4 ,surely the message was not the mere curt announcement preserved by any one of the ,evangelists4 ,we may well believe that much more was said than any or all of them have recorded4 ,the angels' question is half a rebuke1 wholly a revelation1 of the essential nature of 'the ,living ,one1' who was so from all eternity1 but is declared to be so by ,his rising1 of the incongruity of supposing that ,he could be gathered to1 and remain with1 the dim company of the dead1 and a blessed word1 which turns sorrow into hope1 and diverts sad eyes from the grave to the skies1 for all the ages since and to come4 ,the angels recall ,christ's prophecies of death and resurrection1 which1 like so many of ,his words to the disciples and to us1 had been heard1 and not heard1 being neglected or misinterpreted4 ,they had questioned 'what the rising from the dead should mean1' never supposing that it meant exactly what it said4 ,that way of dealing with ,christ's words did not end on the ,easter morning1 but is still too often practised4 ,if we are to follow ,luke's account1 we must recognise that the women in a company1 as well as ,mary ,magdalene separately1 came back first with the announcement of the empty tomb and the angels' message1 and later with the full announcement of having seen the ,lord4 ,but apart from the complexities of attempted combination of the narratives1 the main point in all the ,evangelists is the disbelief of the disciples1 ',idle tales1' said they1 using a very strong word which appears only here in the ,new ,testament1 and likens the eager story of the excited women to a sick man's senseless ramblings4 ,that was the mood of the whole company1 apostles and all4 ,is that mood likely to breed hallucinations8 ,the evidential value of the disciples' slowness to believe cannot be overrated4 ,peter's race to the sepulchre1 in verse #ab of ,luke xxiv41 is omitted by several good authorities1 and is1 perhaps1 spurious here4 ,if allowed to stand as ,luke's1 it seems to show that the ,evangelist had a less complete knowledge of the facts than ,john4 ,mark1 ,peter's 'interpreter1' has told us of the special message to him from the risen1 but as yet unseen1 ,lord1 and we may well believe that that quickened his speed4 ,the assurance of forgiveness and the hope of a possible future that might cover over the cowardly past1 with the yearning to sob his heart out on the ,lord's breast1 sent him swiftly to the tomb4 ,luke does not say that he went in1 as ,john1 with one of his fine touches1 which bring out character in a word1 tells us that he did2 but he agrees with ,john in describing the effect of what ,peter saw as being only 'wonder1' and the result as being only that he went away pondering over it all1 and not yet able to grasp the joy of the transcendent fact4 ,perhaps1 if he had not had a troubled conscience1 he would have had a quicker faith4 ,he was not given to hesitation1 but his sin darkened his mind4 ,he needed that secret interview1 of which many knew the fact but none the details1 ere he could feel the full glow of the ,risen ,sun thawing his heart and scattering his doubts like morning mists on the hills4 ,,the ,,living ,,dead ',why seek ye the living among the dead6 #f4 ,he is not here1 but is risen4'--,,luke xxiv4 #e1f4 ,we can never understand the utter desolation of the days that lay betwixt ,christ's ,death and ,his ,resurrection4 ,our faith rests on centuries4 ,we know that that grave was not even an interruption to the progress of ,his work1 but was the straight road to ,his triumph and ,his glory4 ,we know that it was the completion of the work of which the raising of the widow's son and of ,lazarus were but the beginnings4 ,but these disciples did not know that4 ,to them the inferior miracles by which ,he had redeemed others from the power of the grave1 must have made ,his own captivity to it all the more stunning2 and the thought which such miracles ending so must have left upon them1 must have been something like1 ',he saved others2 ,himself ,he cannot save4' ,and therefore we can never think ourselves fully back to that burst of strange sudden thankfulness with which these weeping ,marys found those two calm angel forms sitting with folded wings1 like the ,cherubim over the ,mercy-seat1 but overshadowing a better propitiation1 and heard the words of my text1 ',why seek ye the living among the dead8 ,he is not here1 but is risen4' ,but yet1 although the words before us1 in the full depth and preciousness of their meaning1 of course could only be once fulfilled1 we may not only gather from them thoughts concerning that one death and resurrection1 but we may likewise apply them1 in a very permissible modification of meaning1 to the present condition of all who have departed in ,his faith and fear2 since for us1 too1 it is true that1 whenever we go to an open grave1 sorrowing for those whom we love1 or oppressed with the burden of mortality in any shape1 if our eyes are anointed1 we can see there sitting the quiet angel forms2 and if our ears be purged from the noise of earth1 we can hear them saying to us1 in regard to all that have gone away1 ',why seek ye the living in these graves8 ,they are not here2 they are risen1 as ,he said4' ,the thoughts are very old1 brethren4 ,god be thanked that they are old6 ,perhaps to some of you they may come now with new power1 because they come with new application to your own present condition4 ,perhaps to some of you they may sound very weak1 and 'words weaker than your grief will make grief more'2--but such as they are1 let us look at them for a moment or two together now4 ,the first thought1 then1 that these words of the angel messengers1 and the scene in which we find them1 suggest1 is this--,the dead are the living4 ,language1 which is more accustomed and adapted to express the appearances than the realities of things1 leads us astray very much when we use the phrase 'the dead' as if it expressed the continuance of the condition into which men pass in the act of dissolution4 ,it misleads us no less1 when we use it as if it expressed in itself the whole truth even as to that act of dissolution4 ',the dead' and 'the living' are not names of two classes which exclude each other4 ,much rather1 there are none who are dead4 ,the dead are the living who have died4 ,whilst they were dying they lived1 and after they were dead they lived more fully4 ,all live unto ,god4 ',god is not the ,god of the dead1 but of the living4' ,oh1 how solemnly sometimes that thought comes up before us1 that all those past generations which have stormed across this earth of ours1 and then have fallen into still forgetfulness1 live yet4 ,somewhere at this very instant1 they now verily are6 ,we say1 ',they were1 they have been'4 ,there are no have beens6 ,life is life for ever4 ,to be is eternal being4 ,every man that has died is at this instant in the full possession of all his faculties1 in the intensest exercise of all his capacities1 standing somewhere in ,god's great universe1 ringed with the sense of ,god's presence1 and feeling in every fibre of his being that life1 which comes after death1 is not less real1 but more real1 not less great1 but more great1 not less full or intense1 but more full and intense1 than the mingled life which1 lived here on earth1 was a centre of life surrounded with a crust and circumference of mortality4 ,the dead are the living4 ,they lived whilst they died2 and after they die1 they live on for ever4 ,such a conviction has as a matter of fact been firmly grasped as an unquestionable truth and a familiar operative belief only within the sphere of the ,christian revelation4 ,from the natural point of view the whole region of the dead is 'a land of darkness1 without any order1 where the light is as darkness4' ,the usual sources of human certainty fail us here4 ,reason is only able to stammer a peradventure4 ,experience and consciousness are silent4 ',the simple senses' can only say that it looks as if ,death were an end1 the final ,omega4 ,testimony there is none from any pale lips that have come back to unfold the secrets of the prison-house4 ,the history of ,christ's ,death and ,resurrection1 ,his dying words ',this day thou shalt be with ,me in ,paradise1' the full identity of being with which ,he rose from the grave1 the manhood changed and yet the same1 the intercourse of the forty days before ,his ascension1 which showed the continuance of all the old love 'stronger than death1' and was in all essential points like ,his former intercourse with ,his disciples1 though changed in form and introductory to the times when they should see ,him no more in the flesh-these teach us1 not as a peradventure1 nor as a dim hope1 nor as a strong foreboding which may be in its nature prophetic1 but as a certainty based upon a historical fact1 that ,death's empire is partial in its range and transitory in its duration4 ,but1 after we are convinced of that1 we can look again with new eyes even on the external accompaniments of death1 and see that sense is too hasty in its conclusion that death is the final end4 ,there is no reason from what we see passing before our eyes then to believe1 that it1 with all its pitifulness and all its pain1 has any power at all upon the soul4 ,true1 the spirit gathers itself into itself1 and1 poising itself for its flight1 becomes oblivious of what is passing round about it4 ,true1 the tenant that is about to depart from the house in which he has dwelt so long1 closes the windows before he goes4 ,but what is there in the cessation of the power of communication with an outer world--what is there in the fact that you clasp the nerveless hand1 and it returns no pressure2 that you whisper gentle words that you think might kindle a soul under the dull1 cold ribs of death itself1 and get no answer--that you look with weeping gaze to catch the response of affection from out of the poor filmy1 closing1 tearless eyes there1 and look in vain--what is there in all that to lead to the conviction that the spirit is participant of that impotence and silence8 ,is not the soul only self-centring itself1 retiring from1 the outposts1 but not touched in the citadel8 ,is it not only that as the long sleep of life begins to end1 and the waking eye of the soul begins to open itself on realities1 the sights and sounds of the dream begin to pass away8 ,is it not but that the man1 in dying1 begins to be what he fully is when he is dead1 'dead unto sin1' dead unto the world1 that he may 'live unto ,god' that he may live with ,god1 that he may live really8 ,and so we can look upon that ending of life1 and say1 ',it is a very small thing2 it only cuts off the fringes of my life1 it does not touch me at all' ,it only plays round about the husk1 and does not get at the core4 ,it only strips off the circumferential mortality1 but the soul rises up untouched by it1 and shakes the bands of death from off its immortal arms1 and flutters the stain of death from off its budding wings1 and rises fuller of life because of death1 and mightier in its vitality in the very act of submitting the body to the law1 ',dust thou art1 and unto dust shalt thou return4' ,touching but a part of the being1 and touching that but for a moment1 death is no state1 it is an act4 ,it is not a condition1 it is a transition4 ,men speak about life as 'a narrow neck of land1 betwixt two unbounded seas'3 they had better speak about death as that4 ,it is an isthmus1 narrow and almost impalpable1 on which1 for one brief instant1 the soul poises itself2 whilst behind it there lies the inland lake of past being1 and before it the shoreless ocean of future life1 all lighted with the glory of ,god1 and making music as it breaks even upon these dark1 rough rocks4 ,death is but a passage4 ,it is not a house1 it is only a vestibule4 ,the grave has a door on its inner side4 ,we roll the stone to its mouth and come away1 thinking that we have left them there till the ,resurrection4 ,but when the outer access to earth is fast closed1 the inner portal that opens on heaven is set wide1 and ,god says to ,his child1 ',come1 enter into thy chambers and shut thy doors about thee 444 until the indignation be overpast6' ,death is a superficial thing1 and a transitory thing--a darkness that is caused by the light1 and a darkness that ends in the light--a trifle1 if you measure it by duration2 a trifle if you measure it by depth4 ,the death of the mortal is the emancipation and the life of the immortal4 ,then1 brethren1 we may go with the words of my text1 and look upon every green hillock below which any that are dear to us are lying1 and say to ourselves1 ',not here--,god be thanked1 no--not here3 living1 and not dead2 yonder1 with the ,master6' ,oh1 we think far too much of the grave1 and far too little of the throne and the glory6 ,we are far too much the creatures of sense2 and the accompaniments of dissolution and departure fill up our hearts and our eyes4 ,think them all away1 believe them all away1 love them all away4 ,stand in the light of ,christ's life1 and ,christ's death1 and ,christ's rising1 till you feel1 ',thou art a shadow1 not a substance--no real thing at all4' ,yes1 a shadow2 and where a shadow falls there must be sunlight above to cast it4 ,look up1 then1 above the shadow ,death1 above the sin and separation from ,god1 of which it is the shadow6 ,look up to the unsetting light of the ,eternal life on the throne of the universe1 and see bathed in it the living dead in ,christ6 ,god has taken them to ,himself1 and we ought not to think 7if we would think as the ,bible speaks7 of death as being anything else than the transitory thing which breaks down the brazen walls and lets us into liberty4 ,for1 indeed1 if you will examine the ,new ,testament on this subject1 ,i think you will be surprised to find how very seldom--scarcely ever--the word 'death' is employed to express the mere fact of the dissolution of the connection between soul and body4 ,it is strange1 but significant1 that the ,apostles1 and ,christ ,himself1 so rarely use the word to express that which we exclusively mean by it4 ,they use all manner of other expressions as if they felt that the fact remains1 but that all that made it death has gone away4 ,in a real sense1 and all the more real because the external fact continues1 ,christ 'hath abolished death4' ,two men may go down to the grave together3 of one this may be the epitaph1 ',he that believeth in ,christ shall never die'2 and of the other--passing through precisely the same physical experience and appearance1 the dissolution of soul and body1 we may say1--',there1 that is death--death as ,god sent it1 to be the punishment of man's sin4' ,the outward fact remains the same1 the whole inner character of it is altered4 ,as to them that believe1 though they have passed through the experience of painful separation--slow1 languishing departure1 or suddenly being caught up in some chariot of fire2 not only are they living now1 but they never died at all6 ,have you understood 'death' in the full1 pregnant sense of the expression1 which means not only that shadow1 the separation of the body from the soul2 but that reality1 the separation of the soul from life1 because of the separation of the soul from ,god8 ,then1 secondly1 this text1 indeed the whole incident1 may set before us the other consideration that since they have died1 they live a better life than ours4 ,i am not going to enter here1 at any length1 or very particularly1 into what seem to me to be the irrefragable scriptural grounds for holding the complete1 uninterrupted1 and even intensified consciousness of the soul of man1 in the interval between death and the ,resurrection4 ',absent from the body1 present with the ,lord4' ',this day shalt thou be with ,me in ,paradise4' ,these words1 if there were none other1 are surely enough2 seeing that of all that dark region we know only what it pleases ,god to tell us in the ,bible1 and seeing that it does not please ,him to give us more than hints and glimpses of any part of it4 ,but putting aside all attempts to elaborate a full doctrine of the intermediate state from the few ,scripture expressions that bear on it1 ,i merely allege1 in general terms1 that the present life of departed saints is fuller and nobler than that which they possessed on earth4 ,they are even now1 whatever be the details of their condition1 'the spirits of just men made perfect4' ,as yet the body is not glorified--but the spirits of the perfected righteous are now parts of that lofty society whose head is ,christ1 whose members are the angels of ,god1 the saints on earth and the equally conscious redeemed who 'sleep in ,jesus4' ,in what particulars is their life now higher than it was8 ,first1 they have close fellowship with ,christ2 then1 they are separated from this present body of weakness1 of dishonour1 of corruption2 then1 they are withdrawn from all the trouble1 and toil1 and care of this present life2 and then1 and not least surely1 they have death behind them1 not having that awful figure standing on their horizon waiting for them to come up with it4 ,these are some of the elements of the life of the sainted dead4 ,what a wondrous advance on the life of earth they reveal if we think of them6 ,they are closer to ,christ2 they are delivered from the body1 as a source of weakness2 as a hinderer of knowledge2 as a dragger-down of all the aspiring tendencies of the soul2 as a source of sin2 as a source of pain4 ,they are delivered from all the necessity of labour which is agony1 of labour which is disproportionate to strength1 of labour which often ends in disappointment1 of labour which is wasted so often in mere keeping life in1 of labour which at the best is a curse1 though it be a merciful curse too4 ,they are delivered from that 'fear of death' which1 though it be stripped of its sting1 is never extinguished in any soul of man that lives2 and they can smile at the way in which that narrow and inevitable passage bulked so large before them all their days1 and after all1 when they came to it1 was so slight and small6 ,if these are parts of the life of them that 'sleep in ,jesus1' if they are fuller of knowledge1 fuller of wisdom1 fuller of love and capacity of love1 and object of love2 fuller of holiness1 fuller of energy1 and yet full of rest from head to foot2 if all the hot tumult of earthly experience is stilled and quieted1 all the fever beating of this blood of ours for ever at an end2 all the 'slings and arrows of outrageous fortune' done with for ever1 and if the calm face which we looked last upon1 and out of which the lines of sorrow1 and pain1 and sickness melted away1 giving it a nobler nobleness than we had ever seen upon it in life1 is only an image of the restful and more blessed being into which they have passed1--if the dead are thus1 then ',blessed are the dead6' ,no wonder that one aspect of that blessedness--the 'sleeping in ,jesus'--has been the one that the weary have laid hold of at all times2 but do not let us forget what lies even in that figure of sleep1 or distort it as if it meant to express a less vivid life than that here below4 ,i think we sometimes misunderstand what the ,bible means when it speaks about death as a sleep1 by taking it to express the idea that that intermediate state is one of a kind of depressed consciousness1 and of a less full vitality than the present4 ,not so4 ,sleep is rest1 that is one reason for the scriptural application of the word to death4 ,sleep is the cessation of all connection with the external world1 that is another reason4 ,as we play with the names of those that are familiar to us1 so a loving faith can venture to play1 as it were1 with the awful name of ,him who is ,king of ,terrors1 and to minimise it down to that shadow and reflection of itself which we find in the nightly act of going to rest4 ,that may be another reason4 ,but sleep is not unconsciousness2 sleep does not touch the spirit4 ,sleep sets us free from relations to the outer world but the soul works as hard1 though in a different way1 when we slumber as when we wake4 ,people who know what it is to dream1 ought never to fancy that when the ,bible talks about death as sleep1 it means to say to us that death is unconsciousness4 ,by no means4 ,strip the man of the disturbance that comes from a fevered body1 and he will have a calmer soul4 ,strip him of the hindrances that come from a body which is like an opaque tower around his spirit1 with only a narrow slit here and a narrow door there--five poor senses1 with which he can come into connection with an outer universe2 and1 then surely1 the spirit will have wider avenues out to ,god1 and larger powers of reception1 because it has lost the earthly tabernacle which1 just in proportion as it brought the spirit into connection with the earth to which the tabernacle belongs1 severed its connection with the heavens that are above4 ,they who have died in ,christ live a fuller and a nobler life1 by the very dropping away of the body2 a fuller and a nobler life1 by the very cessation of care1 change1 strife and struggle2 and1 above all1 a fuller and nobler life1 because they 'sleep in ,jesus1' and are gathered into ,his bosom1 and wake with ,him yonder beneath the altar1 clothed in white robes1 and with palms in their hands1 'waiting the adoption--to wit1 the redemption of the body4' ,for though death be a progress--a progress to the spiritual existence2 though death be a birth to a higher and nobler state2 though it be the gate of life1 fuller and better than any which we possess2 though the present state of the departed in ,christ is a state of calm blessedness1 a state of perfect communion1 a state of rest and satisfaction2--yet it is not the final and perfect state1 either4 ,and1 therefore1 in the last place1 the better life1 which the dead in ,christ are living now1 leads on to a still fuller life when they get back their glorified bodies4 ,the perfection of man is body1 soul1 and spirit4 ,that is man1 as ,god made him4 ,the spirit perfected1 the soul perfected1 without the bodily life1 is but part of the whole4 ,for the future world1 in all its glory1 we have the firm basis laid that it1 too1 is to be in a real sense a material world1 where men once more are to possess bodies as they did before1 only bodies through which the spirit shall work conscious of no disproportion1 bodies which shall be fit servants and adequate organs of the immortal souls within1 bodies which shall never break down1 bodies which shall never hem in nor refuse to obey the spirits that dwell in them1 but which shall add to their power1 and deepen their blessedness1 and draw them closer to the ,god whom they serve and the ,christ after the likeness of whose glorious body they are fashioned and conformed4 ',body1 soul1 and spirit1' the old combination which was on earth1 is to be the perfect humanity of heaven4 ,the spirits that are perfected1 that are living in blessedness1 that are dwelling in ,god1 that are sleeping in ,christ1 at this moment are waiting1 stretching out 7,i say1 not longing1 but7 expectant hands of faith and hope2 for that they would not be unclothed1 but clothed upon with their house which is from heaven1 that mortality might be swallowed up of life4 ,we have nothing to say1 now and here1 about what that bodily condition may be--about the differences and the identities between it and our present earthly house of this tabernacle4 ,only this we know-reverse all the weakness of flesh1 and you get some faint notion of the glorious body4 ,it is sown in corruption1 dishonour1 and weakness4 ,it is raised in incorruption1 glory1 and power4 ,nay1 more1 it is sown a natural body1 fit organ for the animal life or nature1 which stands connected with this material universe2 'it is raised a spiritual body1' fit servant for the spirit that dwells in it1 that works through it1 that is perfected in its redemption4 ,why1 then1 seek the living among the dead8 ',god giveth ,his beloved sleep'2 and in that peaceful sleep1 realities1 not dreams1 come round their quiet rest1 and fill their conscious spirits and their happy hearts with blessedness and fellowship4 ,and when thus lulled to sleep in the arms of ,christ they have rested till it please ,him to accomplish the number of ,his elect1 then1 in ,his own time1 ,he will make the eternal morning to dawn1 and the hand that kept them in their slumber shall touch them into waking1 and shall clothe them when they arise according to the body of ,his own glory2 and they looking into ,his face1 and flashing back its love1 its light1 its beauty1 shall each break forth into singing as the rising light of that unsetting day touches their transfigured and immortal heads1 in the triumphant thanksgiving ',i am satisfied1 for ,i awake in ,thy likeness4' ',therefore1 comfort one another with these words1' and remember that we are of the day1 not of the night2 let us not1 then1 sleep as do others2 but let us reckon that ,christ hath died for us1 that whether we wake on earth or sleep in the grave1 or wake in heaven1 we may live together with ,him6 ,,the ,,risen ,,lord',s ,,self-,,revelation ,,to ,,wavering ,,disciples ',and1 behold1 two of them went that same day to a village called ,emmaus1 which was from ,jerusalem about threescore furlongs4 #ad4 ,and they talked together of all these things which had happened4 #ae4 ,and it came to pass1 that1 while they communed together and reasoned1 ,jesus ,himself drew near1 and went with them4 #af4 ,but their eyes were holden that they should not know ,him4 #ag4 ,and ,he said unto them1 ,what manner of communications are these that ye have one to another1 as ye walk1 and are sad8 #ah4 ,and the one of them1 whose name was ,cleopas1 answering said unto ,him1 ,art ,thou only a stranger in ,jerusalem1 and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days8 #ai4 ,and ,he said unto them1 ,what things8 ,and they said unto ,him1 ,concerning ,jesus of ,nazareth1 which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before ,god and all the people3 #bj4 ,and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered ,him to be condemned to death1 and have crucified ,him4 #ba4 ,but we trusted that it had been ,he which should have redeemed ,israel3 and besides all this1 to-day is the third day since these things were done4 #bb4 ,yea1 and certain women also of our company made us astonished1 which were early at the sepulchre2 #bc4 ,and when they found not ,his body1 they came1 saying1 that they had also seen a vision of angels1 which said that ,he was alive4 #bd4 ,and certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre1 and found it even so as the women had said3 but ,him they saw not4 #bf4 ,then ,he said unto them1 ,o fools1 and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken3 #bf4 ,ought not ,christ to have suffered these things1 and to enter into ,his glory8 #bg4 ,and beginning at ,moses and all the prophets1 ,he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning ,himself4 #bh4 ,and they drew nigh unto the village1 whither they went3 and ,he made as though ,he would have gone further4 #bi4 ,but they constrained ,him1 saying1 ,abide with us3 for it is toward evening1 and the day is far spent4 ,and ,he went in to tarry with them4 #cj4 ,and it came to pass1 as ,he sat at meat with them1 ,he took bread1 and blessed it1 and brake1 and gave to them4 #ca4 ,and their eyes were opened1 and they knew ,him2 and ,he vanished out of their sight4 #cb ,and they said one to another1 ,did not our heart burn within us1 while ,he talked with us by the way and while ,he opened to us the scriptures8' --,,luke xxiv4 #ac-cb4 ,these two disciples had left their companions after ,peter's return from the sepulchre and before ,mary ,magdalene hurried in with her tidings that she had seen ,jesus4 ,their coming away at such a crisis1 like ,thomas's absence that day1 shows that the scattering of the sheep was beginning to follow the smiting of the shepherd4 ,the magnet withdrawn1 the attracted particles fall apart4 ,what arrested that process8 ,why did not the spokes fall asunder when the centre was removed8 ,john's disciples crumbled away after his death4 ,when ,theudas fell1 all his followers 'were dispersed' and came to nought4 ,the ,church was knit more closely together after the death that1 according to all analogy1 should have scattered it4 ,only the fact of the ,resurrection explains the anomaly4 ,no reasonable men would have held together unless they had known that their ,messianic hopes had not been buried in ,christ's grave4 ,we see the beginnings of the ,resurrection of these hopes in this sweet story4 ,i4 ,we have first the two sad travellers and the third who joins them4 ,probably the former had left the group of disciples on purpose to relieve the tension of anxiety and sorrow by walking1 and to get a quiet time to bring their thoughts into some order4 ,they were like men who had lived through an earthquake2 they were stunned1 and physical exertion1 the morning quiet of the country1 and the absence of other people1 would help to calm their nerves1 and enable them to realise their position4 ,their tone of mind will come out more distinctly presently4 ,here it is enough to note that the 'things which had come to pass' filled their minds and conversation4 ,that being so1 they were not left to grope in the dark4 ',jesus ,himself drew near1 and went with them4' ,honest occupation of mind with the truth concerning ,him1 and a real desire to know it1 are not left unhelped4 ,we draw ,him to our sides when we wish and try to grasp the real facts concerning ,him1 whether they coincide with our prepossessions or not4 ,it is profoundly interesting and instructive to note the characteristics of the favoured ones who first saw the risen ,lord4 ,they were ,mary1 whose heart was an altar of flaming and fragrant love2 ,peter1 the penitent denier2 and these two1 absorbed in meditation on the facts of the death and burial4 ,what attracts ,jesus8 ,love1 penitence1 study of ,his truth4 ,he comes to these with the appropriate gifts for them1 as truly--yea1 more closely--as of old4 ,perhaps the very doubting that troubled them brought ,him to their help4 ,he saw that they especially needed ,him1 for their faith was sorely wounded4 ,necessity is as potent a spell to bring ,jesus as desert4 ,he comes to reward fixed and fervent love1 and ,he comes1 too1 to revive it when tremulous and cold4 ',their eyes were holden1' says ,luke2 and similarly 'their eyes were opened' 7ver4 #ca74 ,he makes the reason for ,his not being recognised a subjective one1 and his narrative affords no support to the theory of a change in our ,lord's resurrection body4 ,how often does ,jesus still come to us1 and we discern ,him not6 ,our paths would be less lonely1 and our thoughts less sad1 if we realised more fully and constantly our individual share in the promise1' ,i am with you always4' ,,ii4 ,we have next the conversation 7vs4 #ag-bh74 ,the unknown new-comer strikes into the dialogue with a question which1 on some lips1 would have been intrusive curiosity1 and would have provoked rude retorts4 ,but there was something in ,his voice and manner which unlocked hearts4 ,does ,he not still come close to burdened souls1 and with a smile of love on ,his face and a promise of help in ,his tones1 ask us to tell ,him all that is in our hearts8 ',communications' told to ,him cease to sadden4 ,those that we cannot tell to ,him we should not speak to ourselves4 ,cleopas naively wonders that there should be found a single man in ,jerusalem ignorant of the things which had come to pass4 ,he forgot that the stranger might know these1 and not know that they were talking about them4 ,like the rest of us1 he fancied that what was great to him was as great to everybody4 ,what could be the subject of their talk but the one theme8 ,the stranger assumes ignorance1 in order to win to a full outpouring4 ,jesus wishes us to put all fears and doubts and shattered hopes into plain words to ,him4 ,speech to ,christ cleanses our bosoms of much perilous stuff4 ,before ,he speaks in answer we are lightened4 ,very true to nature is the eager answer of the two4 ,the silence once broken1 out flows a torrent of speech1 in which love and grief1 disciples' pride in their ,master1 and shattered hopes1 incredulous bewilderment and questioning wonder1 are blended4 ,that long speech 7vs4 #ai-bd7 gives a lively conception of the two disciples' state of mind4 ,probably it fairly represented the thought of all4 ,we note in it the limited conception of ,jesus as but a prophet1 the witness to ,his miracles and teaching 7the former being set first1 as having more impressed their minds71 the assertion of ,his universal appreciation by the 'people1' the charging of the guilt of ,christ's death on 'our rulers1' the sad contrast between the officials' condemnation of ,him and their own fond ,messianic hopes1 and the despairing acknowledgment that these were shattered4 ,the reference to 'the third day' seems to imply that the two had been discussing the meaning of our ,lord's frequent prophecy about it4 ,the connection in which they introduce it looks as if they were beginning to understand the prophecy1 and to cherish a germ of hope in ,his ,resurrection1 or1 at all events1 were tossed about with uncertainty as to whether they dared to cherish it4 ,they are chary of allowing that the women's story was true2 naively they attach more importance to its confirmation by men4 ',but ,him they saw not1' and1 so long as ,he did not appear1 they could not believe even angels saying 'that ,he was alive4' ,the whole speech shows how complete was the collapse of the disciples' ,messianic hopes1 how slowly their minds opened to admit the possibility of ,resurrection1 and how exacting they were in the matter of evidence for it1 even to the point of hesitating to accept angelic announcements4 ,such a state of mind is not the soil in which hallucinations spring up4 ,nothing but the actual appearance of the risen ,lord could have changed these sad1 cautious unbelievers to lifelong confessors4 ,what else could have set light to these rolling smoke-clouds of doubt1 and made them flame heaven-high and world-wide8 ',the ingenuous disclosure of their bewilderment appealed to their ,companion's heart1 as it ever does4 ,jesus is not repelled by doubts and perplexities1 if they are freely spoken to ,him4 ,to put our confused thoughts into plain words tends to clear them1 and to bring ,him as our ,teacher4 ,his reproach has no anger in it1 and inflicts no pain1 but puts us on the right track for arriving at the truth4 ,if these two had listened to the 'prophets1' they would have understood their ,master1 and known that a divine 'must' wrought itself out in ,his ,death and ,resurrection4 ,how often1 like them1 do we torture ourselves with problems of belief and conduct of which the solution lies close beside us1 if we would use it8 ,jesus claimed 'all the prophets' as ,his witnesses4 ,he teaches us to find the highest purpose of the ,old ,testament in its preparation for ,himself1 and to look for foreshadowings of ,his ,death and ,resurrection there4 ,what gigantic delusion of self-importance that was1 if it was not the self-attestation of the ,incarnate ,word1 to whom all the written word pointed6 ,he will still1 to docile souls1 be the ,interpreter of ,scripture4 ,they who see ,him in it all are nearer its true appreciation than those who see in the ,old ,testament everything but ,him4 ,,iii4 ,we have finally the disclosure and disappearance of the ,lord4 ,the little group must have travelled slowly1 with many a pause on the road1 while ,jesus opened the ,scriptures2 for they left the city in the morning1 and evening was near before they had finished their 'threescore furlongs' 7between seven and eight miles74 ,his presence makes the day's march seem short4 ',he made as though ,he would have gone further1' not therein assuming the appearance of a design which ,he did not really entertain1 but beginning a movement which ,he would have carried out if the disciples' urgency had not detained ,him4 ,jesus forces ,his company on no man4 ,he 'would have gone further' if they had not said ',abide with us4' ,he will leave us if we do not keep ,him4 ,but ,he delights to be held by beseeching hands1 and our wishes 'constrain' ,him4 ,happy are they who1 having felt the sweetness of walking with ,him on the weary road1 seek ,him to bless their leisure and to add a more blissful depth of repose to their rest6 ,the humble table where ,christ is invited to sit1 becomes a sacred place of revelation4 ,he hallows common life1 and turns the meals over which ,he presides into holy things4 ,his disciples' tables should be such that they dare ask their ,lord to sit at them4 ,but how often ,he would be driven away by luxury1 gross appetite1 trivial or malicious talk6 ,we shall all be the better for asking ourselves whether we should like to invite ,jesus to our tables4 ,he is there1 spectator and judge1 whether invited or not4 ,where ,jesus is welcomed as guest ,he becomes host4 ,perhaps something in gesture or tone1 as ,he blessed and brake the bread1 recalled the loved ,master to the disciples' minds1 and1 with a flash1 the glad ',it is ,he6' illuminated their souls4 ,that was enough4 ,his bodily presence was no longer necessary when the conviction of ,his risen life was firmly fixed in them4 ,therefore ,he disappeared4 ,the old unbroken companionship was not to be resumed4 ,occasional appearances1 separated by intervals of absence1 prepared the disciples gradually for doing without ,his visible presence4 ,if we are sure that ,he has risen and lives for ever1 we have a better presence than that4 ,he is gone from our sight that ,he may be seen by our faith4 ,that 'now we see ,him not' is advance on the position of ,his first disciples1 not retrogression4 ,let us strive to possess the blessing of 'those who have not seen1 and yet have believed4' ,,detaining ,,christ ',and they drew nigh unto the village1 whither they went3 and ,he made as though ,he would have gone further4 #bi4 ,but they constrained ,him1 saying1 ,abide with us3 for it is toward evening1 and the day is far spent4 ,and ,he went in to tarry with them4'--,,luke xxiv4 #bh1 #bi4 ,of course1 a chance companion1 picked up on the road1 is dropped when the journey's end is reached4 ,when these two disciples had come to ,emmaus1 perhaps arriving at some humble inn or caravanserai1 or perhaps at the home of one of them1 it would have been an unmannerly intrusion for the ,stranger who had met them on the road1 and could accompany them there without rudely forcing ,himself on them1 to have inflicted ,his company further on them unless they had wished it4 ,and so ',he made as though ,he would have gone further1' not pretending what ,he did not mean1 but doing what was but natural and proper in the circumstances4 ,but ,jesus had a further motive for showing ,his intention of parting company at the door of t he house in ,emmaus4 ,he desired to evoke the expression of the desire of ,his two fellow-walkers that ,he should tarry with them4 ,having evoked it1 then with infinite willingness omnipotence lets itself be controlled by feebleness1 and ,jesus suffers ,himself to be constrained by those whom1 unknown to themselves1 ,he was gently and mightily constraining4 ',he made as though1' unfortunately suggests to an ,english reader the idea of acting a part1 and of seeming to intend what was not really intended4 ,but there is no such thought in ,luke's mind4 ,the first suggestion that strikes one from this incident is just this3 ,jesus ,christ will certainly leave us if we do not detain ,him4 ,it is no more certain that that walk to ,emmaus had its end1 and that that first day of the week1 day of ,resurrection though it was1 was destined to close in sunset and evening darkness1 than that all seasons of quickened intercourse with ,jesus ,christ1 all times when duty and grace and privilege seem to be very great and real1 all times when we awake more than ordinarily to the recognition of the ,presence of the ,lord with us and of the glories that lie beyond1 tend to end and to leave us bare and deprived of the vision1 unless there be on our parts a distinct and resolute effort to make perpetual that which in its nature is transient and comes to a close1 unless we avert its cessation4 ,all motion tends to rest1 and ,christian feeling falls under the same law4 ,nay1 the more thrilling the moment's experience the more exhausting is it1 and the more certain to be followed by depression and collapse4 ',action and reaction are equal and contrary4' ,the height of the wave determines the depth of the trough4 ,therefore ,christian people have to be specially careful towards the end of a time of special vitality and earnestness2 because1 unless they by desire and by discipline of their minds interpose1 the natural result will be deadness in proportion to the previous excitement4 ',he made as though ,he would have gone further1' and ,he certainly will unless ,his retreating skirts be grasped at by the outstretched hands of faith and desire1 and the prayer go after ,him1 ',abide with us for it is toward evening4' ,that is quite true1 too1 in another application of the incident4 ,convictions1 spiritual experiences of a rudimentary sort1 certainly die away and leave people harder and worse than they were before1 unless they be fostered and cherished and brought to maturity and invested with permanence by the honest efforts of the subjects of the same4 ,the grace of ,god1 in the preaching of ,his ,gospel1 is like a flying summer shower4 ,it falls upon one land and then passes on with its treasures and pours them out somewhere else4 ,the religious history of many countries and of long centuries is a commentary written out in great and tragic characters on the profound truth that lies in the simple incident of my text4 ,look at ,palestine1 look at ,asia ,minor1 at the places where the ,gospel first won its triumphs2 look at ,eastern ,europe4 ,what is the present condition of these once fair lands but an illustration of this principle1 that ,christ who comes to men in ,his grace is kept only by the earnestness and faithfulness and desire of the men to whom ,he comes8 ,and you and ,i1 dear brethren1 both as members of a ,christian community and in our individual capacity1 have our religious blessings on the same conditions as ,ephesus and ,constantinople had theirs1 and may fling them away by the same negligence as has ruined large tracts of the world through long ages of time4 ,christ will certainly go unless you keep ,him4 ,then further1 notice from my text this other thought1 that ,christ seeks by ,his action to stimulate our desires for ,him4 ',he made as though ,he would have gone further4' ,but while ,his feet were directed to the road ,his heart remained with ,his two fellow-travellers whom ,he was apparently leaving1 and ,his wish was that the sight of ,his retiring figure might kindle in their hearts great outgoings of desire to which ,he would so gladly yield4 ,it is the same action on ,his part1 only under a slightly different form1 but actuated by the same motive and the same in substance1 as we find over and over again in the gospels4 ,you remember the instances4 ,i need only refer to them in a word4 ,here is one3 the dark lake1 the rising moon behind the ,eastern hills1 a figure coming out of the gloom across the stormy sea1 and when ,he reached the tossing fishing cobble it seemed as if ,he would have passed by2 and ,he would1 but that the cry flung out over the dark water stopped ,him4 ,here are two blind men sitting by the roadside crying ',thou ,son of ,david1 have mercy upon us4' ,not a word1 not even a glance over ,his shoulder1 no stopping of ,his resolved stride2 onwards towards ,jerusalem1 ,pilate1 and ,calvary4 ,because ,he did not heed their cry8 ,because ,he did not infinitely long to help them8 ,no4 ,the purpose of ,his apparent indifference was attained when 'they cried the more earnestly1 ,thou ,son of ,david1 have mercy upon us4' ,here is another4 ,a woman half mad with anguish for her demon-ridden daughter1 calling after ,him with the shrill shriek of ,eastern sorrow and disturbing the fine nerves of the disciples1 but causing no movements nor any sign that ,he even heard1 or if ,he heard1 heeded1 the ear-piercing and heart-moving cries4 ,why was that ear which was always open to the call of misery closed now8 ,because ,he wished to bring her to such an agony of desire as might open her heart very wide for an amplitude of blessing2 and so ,he let her cry1 knowing that the longer she called the more she would wish1 and that the more she wished the more ,he would bestow4 ,and that is what ,he does with us all sometimes3 seeming to leave our wishes and our yearnings all unnoticed4 ,then the devil says to us1 ',what's the use of crying to ,him8 ,he does not hear you4' ,but faith hears the promise3 ',open thy mouth wide and ,i will fill it1' though to sense there seems to be 'no voice nor any that answered4' ,christ has no other reason in any of the delays and trying prolongations of ,his answers than to make us capable of larger blessing1 because delay deepens our longing4 ,he is infinitely wishful to-day1 as ,he was on that ,resurrection evening1 to draw near to every heart and pour upon it the whole sunlit cataract of the mighty fact that ,he lives to bless4 ,but ,he cannot come to us unless we desire ,him1 and ,he cannot give to us more of ,himself than we wish2 and therefore ,he is obliged1 as the first thing1 to make our desires larger and fuller1 and then ,he will answer them4 ',he could there do no mighty works because of their unbelief4' ,our faithlessness limits ,his power2 our faith is the measure of our capacity4 ,lastly1 the text reminds us that ,jesus ,christ is glad to be forced4 ',they constrained'3 a very strong word1 kindred to the other one which our ,lord ,himself employs when ,he speaks about the 'kingdom of heaven suffering violence1 and the violent taking it by force4' ,that bold expression gives emphatic utterance to the truth that there is a real power lodged in the desires of humble hearts that desire ,him1 so as that they can prescribe to ,him what ,he shall do for them and how much of ,himself ,he shall give them4 ,our feebleness can in a measure set in motion and regulate the energy of ,omnipotence4 ',they constrained ,him4' ,do you remember who it was that was called 'a prince with ,god' and how he won the title and was able to prevail8 ,we1 too1 have the charter given to us that we can--,i speak it reverently--guide ,god's hand and compel ,omnipotence to bless us4 ,we master ,nature by yielding to it and utilising its energies4 ,we have power with ,god by yielding to ,him and conforming our desires to the longings of ,his heart and asking the things that are according to ,his will4 ',concerning the work of ,my hands command ye ,me4' ,and what we1 leaning on ,his promise and in unison with ,his mighty purpose of love1 desire1 that will as certainly come down to us as every stream must pour into the lowest levels and fill the depressions in its course4 ,you can make sure of ,christ if two things are yours4 ,he will always remain with us if1 on the one hand1 we wish for ,him honestly and really to be with us all the day long1 which would be extremely inconvenient for some of us2 and if1 on the other hand1 we take care not to do the acts nor cultivate the tempers which drive ,him away4 ,for ',how can two walk together except they be agreed8' ,and how can we ask ,him to come in and sit down in a house which is all full of filth and worldliness8 ,turn the demons out and open the door1 and anything is more likely than that the door will stand gaping and the doorway be unfilled by the meek presence of the ,christ that enters in4 ,the old prayer is susceptible of application to our community and to our individual hearts4 ,when ,israel prayed1 ',arise1 ,o ,lord1 into ,thy rest2 ,thou and the ,ark of ,thy strength1' the answer was prompt and certain4 ',this is ,my rest for ever2 here will ,i dwell1 for ,i have desired it4' ,but the divine desire was not accomplished till the human desire opened the ,temple gates for the entrance of the ,ark4 ',he made as though ,he would have gone further'2 but they constrained ,him1 and then ,he entered in4 ,,the ,,meal ,,at ,,emmaus ',and it came to pass1 as ,he sat at meat with them1 ,he took bread1 and blessed it1 and brake1 and gave to them4 #ca4 ,and their eyes were opened1 and they knew ,him2 and ,he vanished out of their sight4'--,,luke xxiv4 #cj1 #ca4 ,perhaps the most striking characteristic of the ,gospel accounts of our ,lord's intercourse with ,his disciples1 in the interval between the ,resurrection and ,his ,ascension1 is the singular union of mystery and simplicity which they present4 ,there is a certain air of remoteness and depth over all the intercourse1 as if it meant more1 and was intended to teach more1 than appears on the surface1 as ,i believe it was intended4 ,and yet1 at the same time1 there is1 along with that1 in most singular combination1 the very utmost simplicity1 amounting almost sometimes to baseness and rudeness1 as for instance1 here4 ,some poor house of entertainment1 possibly1 at any rate1 some poor man's house1 in a little country village2 the company these two talkative1 and yet despondent disciples2 the fare and the means of manifestation a bit of barley-bread2 and out of these materials are woven lessons that will live in the ,church in all ages4 ',he took bread and blessed it1 and brake4' ,these are the words1 almost verbatim1 of the institution of the ,lord's ,supper4 ,they are the words1 almost verbatim1 with which more than one of the ,evangelists describes the miraculous feeding of the four and the five thousand2 and it was the old familiar act1 expressed by the ,evangelist by the old familiar words1 that opened the disciples' eyes1 and they knew ,him4 ,how simply the process of discovery is told6 ,it was quite natural that a casual stranger upon the road should not say who ,he was2 it was quite as natural that when ,he entered into the closer relationship of sitting with the disciples at the table1 and sharing their hospitality1 they should expect1 as indeed they did expect1 that as they had been frank with ,him1 ,he would be frank with them1 and they would find out now who this unknown teacher and apparent ,rabbi was4 ,and so1 as it would seem1 in silence1 or at least with nothing of any moment1 the meal went on1 but all at once1 at some point in the meal1 the guest assumes the position of the master of the house1 takes upon ,himself the function and office of host1 interrupts the progress of the meal by the solemn prayer of blessing2 and whilst the singularity of the action drew their attention1 perhaps some little peculiarity in ,his way of doing it1 or something else1 opened the door for a whole stream of associations and half-dormant remembrances to rush in1 and they remembered what they had heard of the last supper1--for these two were not at it1--and they remembered what they had seen1--miraculous feedings2 and they remembered no doubt how ,he had always done with them in the happy old days when ,he communed with them4 ,at all events1 by the natural action of breaking the bread and sharing it amongst them1 the subjective hindrances which had stood in the way of their recognising ,him dropped away like scales from their eyes1 and they beheld ,him1 and then1 without a word1 ,he vanished out of their sight1 and the wearied1 hungry men girded up their loins and rushed back to ,jerusalem to tell the brethren the story4 ,now1 ,i think that1 taking the event as it stands before us1 and especially marking the obviously intended parallelism in expression1 and ,i hare no doubt in action1 between former miracles1 the institution of the ,lord's ,supper1 and this neither sacramental nor religious meal in the little village--,i think we may get some lessons worth pondering4 ,i confine myself quite simply to the three points of the narrative3-- ,the distribution of the bread2 ,the discovery2 ,and the disappearance4 ',he took bread and blessed it1 and brake and gave to them1 and their eyes were opened1 and they knew ,him2 and ,he vanished out of their sight4' ,i4 ,look1 then1 for a moment or two at the thoughts which ,i think are intended to be conveyed to us by that first point--the action of breaking and distributing the bread4 ,i have said1 incidentally1 in my previous remarks1 that there is a singular air of remoteness1 removedness1 mystery1 reticence1 about our ,lord's relations to ,his disciples in the interval of these forty days2 and ,i suppose that that change from the frankness of ,his former relations and the close contact in which the ,apostles and disciples had been brought during all the previous three years--,i suppose that that was intended to be the beginning of the preparation of weaning and preparing them to do without ,him altogether4 ,and along with that removedness1 there is also1 as ,i take it1 and as ,i have already said1 a great depth of significance about the whole of these events which lead people to deal with them as being symbols1 types1 exhibitions on a material platform of great spiritual truths2 and although the habit of finding symbolical meaning in historical events1 especially as applied to the ,gospels1 has been full of all manner of mischief1 yet that there is that element is not to be denied2 and whilst we have to keep it down and be very careful in our application of it1 lest in finding ingenious fanciful meanings1 we lose the plain prose1 which is always the best and the most important1 yet that element is there1 and we have to take heed that we do not push the denial of it to excess1 as the recognition of it has often been pushed4 ,and so1 from these two points of view4 ,i think the thing should be looked at4 ,the plain prose1 then1 of the matter is this--that at a given point in this humble road-side meal1 our ,lord having been guest1 having been constrained to enter in by the loving importunity of these people1 becomes the host1 takes upon ,himself the position of the head of the household1 and in that position so acts as to bring to the disciples' remembrance former deeds of miracles1 and the institution of the ordinance of the ,lord's ,supper1 and that was the means of their recognition4 ,well1 then1 if so1 ,i think that we may say fairly that in this breaking and distribution of the bread1 there is first of all this lesson--the old familiar blessed intercourse between ,him and them had not been put an end to then by all that had passed during these three mysterious days2 but they were as they used to be in regard to the closeness of their relationship and the reality of their intercourse4 ,no doubt1 in the former years1 ,christ had been in the habit of always acting as the ,head of the little family4 ,when they gathered for their frugal meals1 ,he was the master1 they the disciples2 ,he the elder brother1 and they gathered about ,him4 ,and ,he assumes the old position2 and if we will try for a moment to throw ourselves into their position and to see with their eyes1 we shall understand the pathetic beauty--,i was going to say the poetic beauty1 but perhaps you would not like that word to be applied to the history of our ,redeemer--the pathetic beauty of the deed4 ,they had been thinking of themselves as forsaken of ,him2 the grave had broken off all their sweet and blessed intercourse2 they were alone now4 ',we trusted that it had been ,he which should have redeemed ,israel4' ,he is gone6 ,even the poor consolation of looking upon the place where ,he lies is denied us2 for whatever may be doubtful this is certain1 that the grave is open and the body is not there4 ,and so they felt lost and scattered2 and there comes to them this gleam of consolation--,i take my place amongst you just as ,i used to do2 ',i am ,he that liveth and was dead1 and behold1 ,i am alive for evermore4' ,we used to sit together at the table2 let that be repeated here once more that you may learn1 and all the world through you may learn1 that the accident of death1 which affects only the externals of society1 has no power over the reality of the bond that knits even two human hearts with love together1 still less a power over the reality of the bond that binds us to our ,master4 ,death vanishes as a nothing in their intercourse2 they stand where they were2 the fellowship is unbroken2 the society is the same2 all that there used to be of love and friendship1 of peaceful concord1 of true association2 it abides for ever6 ,thus1 heavy with meaning and full of immortal hope may be the simplest act wrought with the simplest materials1 when the dead ,christ who lives takes ,his old place in the midst of ,his disciples1 and once again as ,he used to do1 parts the bread between them4 ,and1 dear brethren1 though it has nothing to do with my present purpose1 may this thought not add a wider application to our text2 may it not be a comfort and hope to many of us to remember that the grim shadow that stretches athwart our path1 and gathers into its blackness so many of our sunny sparkling joys1 and takes the light and the movement and the colour out of them1 is only a shadow1 and that the substance lives in the shadow as it used to live in the sunshine1 and passes through the shadow and comes out on the other side1 blazing in more than its former lustre1 and rich with more than its former preciousness8 ,for all whom we have loved and lost1 the death which was a nothing in regard to ,christ's intercourse with ,his disciples1 is a nothing1 too1 in regard to our real intercourse and sense of society and unity with them4 ,they live in ,him1 and they are more worthy to be loved than ever they were before4 ,he who has conquered ,death for ,himself has conquered it for us all2 and every true and pure human affection rooted in ,him is as immortal as the love that binds souls to ,himself4 ,therefore1 let us remember that they sit at ,his table1 and that we shall sit there some day too4 ,,ii4 ,well1 then1 still further1 another idea that ,i think belongs to this first part of our thoughts as to the profound significance of our ,lord's here assuming the office and function of host1 is this--we are thereby taught the same lesson that we are taught by ,his institution of the ,communion1 and taught by the whole details of ,his relation to ,his disciples upon earth--that the true idea of the relation which results from ,him and ,his ,presence is that of the ,family4 ,he takes ,his place at the head of the table2 ,he is the ,lord of the household1 though it be but a household of two men1 and they belong to the family and the society which ,he founds4 ,now it seems to me that next to the great lesson which the ,lord's ,supper teaches us in reference to our individual dependence upon ,him1 ,his death as being all our hope and all our life1 this is the most important lesson that it teaches--the simplicity of the rite1 the fact that it was based upon the ,jewish rite1 which was a purely domestic one2 the fact that our ,lord steps into the place of the head of the household by ,his very presiding at the ,passover service amongst ,his disciples2 the fact that ,he parts the common materials of the common meal and uses them and it as the symbols of ,his death1 and of our life thereby--all that teaches us the same thing which the whole strain of ,his teaching and the whole strain of the ,new ,testament sets forth--that the ,church of ,christ is then understood when we think of it as being one family in ,him1 bound together by the bands of a close brotherhood1 relying upon ,him as the fountain of its life2 having fellowship with one ,father through that elder ,brother2 pledged1 therefore1 to all fraternal kindness and frankness of communion and of mutual help1 and gladdened by the hope of journeying onwards to ,him4 ,we cannot1 of course1 apply the analogy round and round2 but of all the forms of human association which ,christ has honoured and glorified by laying ,his hand upon them1 and showing that they are symbols of the society that ,he founds1 and of which ,he is the centre1 it is not the kingdom1 but the family that is the nearest approach to the ,church of the living ,god4 ,and you and ,i1 ,christian men and women1 if we come and sit at that table of our ,lord1 let us remember that we thereby declare1 not only for ourselves that we enter into individual relations of reliance upon ,him1 and draw our life from ,him1 but that we pledge ourselves to the family bond1 to be true to the brotherhood1 that we declare ourselves the sons of ,god and the brethren of all that are partakers of the like precious faith4 ,the thing has become a word1 a name amongst us4 ,i wonder if any of you remember the bitter saying of one of our modern teachers2 he says that he found out somehow or other how much less 'brethren' in the ,church meant than 'brothers' out of it4 ,let us learn the lesson and take the rebuke1 and remember that if the ,lord's ,supper means anything1 it means that we belong to the household of faith1 and are members of the great family in heaven and in earth4 ,,iii4 ,well1 then1 still further connected with this first idea of the lesson and significance of the distribution of the bread1 ,i think we may take another consideration1 which is1 in fact1 only another application of the one ,i have already been suggesting--,where ,christ is invited as a guest1 ,he becomes the host4 ,they constrained ,him to abide with them2 they made ,him welcome to their rude hospitality4 ,it was little--a hut where poor men lay1 a bit of barley-bread4 ,but it was theirs1 and they gave it ,him2 and ,he entered in and supped with them1 and then1 in the middle of it1 the relations were inverted1 and they that had been showing the hospitality became the guests1 and the table that had been theirs became ,his4 ',and ,he took the bread and gave it to them4' ,you have the same inversion of relation in that first miracle that ,he wrought at ,cana of ,galilee1 where invited as a guest1 at a point in the entertainment ,he provides the supplies for the further conduct of it4 ,you remember the words which contain the spiritual application of the same thought--',behold1 ,i stand at the door and knock4 ,if any man open the door1 ,i will enter in and sup with him and he with ,me4' ,to put away the metaphor1 it amounts to this--our ,master never comes empty-handed4 ,where ,he is invited1 ,he comes to bestow2 where ,he is welcomed1 ,he comes with ,his gifts2 where we say1 ',do ,thou take what ,i offer1' ,he says1 ',do thou take ,myself4' ,all ,his requirements are veiled promises2 all ,his commandments are assurances of ,his gifts4 ,he bestows that ,he may receive2 ,he seems to take that ,he may enrich4 ,they that give to ,christ receive back again more than all that they gave1 according to the profound words1 ',there is no man that hath left father or mother1 or wife or children1 or houses or lands1 for ,my sake and the ,gospel's1 but shall receive a hundredfold more in this life1 and in the world to come life everlasting4' ,the ,christ that is asked to come in order to receive1 abides in order to bestow4 ,and then there is a second point1 going on with the flow of this little narrative before us1 about which a word or two may be said4 ,the consequence of this assumption of the position of master1 host1 bestower is--',their eyes were opened1 and they knew ,him4' ,the discovery of ,his person follows on the distribution of ,his gifts4 ,now1 there is one point to be remarked before ,i deal with the lessons which ,i think are capable of being gathered from this part of our subject1 and that is1 that this narrative gives no sort of support1 as it seems to me1 to the ordinary notion that1 subsequent to the ,resurrection1 there had passed upon our ,lord's corporeal frame any change whatsoever as the commencement of the glorification of ,his earthly body4 ,if you observe1 the course of the narrative takes pains to point out to us distinctly1 that whatever may have been the reason why they did not recognise ,him at first1 that reason was entirely in them1 and not at all in ,him4 ,it is not that ,he was changed2 it is that 'their eyes were holden'2 and when they did recognise ,him1 it is not that any change whatsoever is recorded as having passed upon ,him1 but 'their eyes were opened1 and they knew ,him4' ,and the same thing may be said1 as ,i believe1 about the whole of the appearances1 mysterious as they were1 of our ,lord1 in the interval between the ,resurrection and the ,ascension4 ,i do not think1 for my part1 7although ,i would by no means speak with confidence about a matter that is so fragmentarily dealt with in ,scripture71 but ,i do not think1 for my part1 that the narrative gives any support whatsoever to the idea of any change analogous to that which takes place upon us at our resurrection1 having begun to take place upon our ,lord so long as ,he remained upon earth4 ,the ,ascension and the ,resurrection of ,jesus ,christ1 in ,his case1 are parts of one process4 ,he was raised with the body with which ,he was crucified2 ,he ascended up on high1 and there the glorification1 as far as ,scripture teaches1 is1 ,i conceive1 commenced4 ,at all events1 there is nothing in our narrative to support the idea of an incipient transformation having begun with the ,resurrection4 ,but1 passing by that1 which has nothing to do with my main present purpose1 ,i may notice just one or two considerations in reference to this discovery of our ,lord4 ,and the first and main one that ,i would suggest is this--,where ,christ is loved and desired1 the veriest trifles of common life may be the means of ,his discovery4 ,we know not what was the special point which brought dormant remembrance to life again1 and quickened the associations of the two1 so that they knew ,jesus2 even as we do not know what was the hindrance1 whether supernatural or whether by reason of their own fault1 which prevented the earlier recognition2 but this at least we see1 that in all probability something in the manner of taking the bread and breaking it1 the well-remembered action of the ,master1 brought back to mind the whole of the former relation1 and a rush of associations and memories pulled away the veil and scaled off the mists from their eyes4 ,and so1 dear brethren1 if we have loving1 and waiting1 and ,christ-desiring spirits1 everything in this world--the common meal1 the events of every day1 the most veritable trifles of our earthly relationships--they will all have hooks and barbs1 as it were1 which will draw after them thoughts of ,him4 ,there is nothing so small but that to it there may be attached some filament which will bring after it the whole majesty and grace of ,christ and ,his love4 ,whether ye eat or drink1 or whatsoever ye do1 do all in remembrance of ,him1 and do all to ,his glory4 ,oh1 if we had in our inmost spirits a closer fellowship with ,him1 and a truer relation to ,him1 we should be more quick of apprehension4 ,and1 as in regard to those that we love1 when they are away from us1 the fold of a garment1 some bit of cloth lying about the room1 something upon the table1 some common incident of the day that used to be done in company with them1 may bring a flood of memories that sometimes is too strong for a weak heart1 so with the ,lord1 if we loved ,him--everything would be 7as it is to those whose ears are purged7 vocal with ,his name1 and everything would be flushed with the light that falls from ,his face1 and everything would suffice to remind us of our love1 our hope1 our joy4 ,especially let us remember that ,he has entrusted--with strange humility and with wonderful knowledge of us1 and with the truest sympathy and tenderness for our weakness--,he has entrusted a large portion of our most spiritual remembrance and recognition of ,him to material things4 ,did it ever strike you what a depth of what ,i may call ,christ's condescension there lay in this8 ',take this bread and this wine1 and if you will not remember ,me because ,i loved you so well1 if you will not remember ,me because ,i died for you1 if earthly things and material realities will drive ,me out of your thoughts1 at least remember ,me because and when earthly things and material realities become ,my agents and ,my memorials4 ,if you forget the ,cross1 perhaps a bit of bread will remind you of ,me2 and ,i am not too proud to spurn the remembrance that roots itself even in the material things of earth and by such means as that4' ',he took the bread and brake it4' ,they had listened to all ,his words upon the road1 and it never occurred to them who ,he was2 they had walked beside ,him all day long1 and even their burning hearts did not make them suspect that it was the ,master4 ,it must needs be so--they whom wisdom and truth and ,his spiritual ,presence cannot teach to recognise1 may be led to recognise ,him by the movement of ,his hands with the barley loaf1 and some intonation of ,his voice in blessing it4 ',this do in remembrance of ,me' is the word of that deep pity that knows our frame and remembers that we are dust1 and is a word of the most marvellous condescension that ever was uttered in human ears4 ,,iv4 ,and then there is the final consideration here upon which ,i touch but for a moment4 ,the distribution and the discovery are followed by the disappearance of the ,lord1 ',they knew ,him1 and'--and what8 ,and ,he let their hearts run over in thankful words8 ,no4 ',they knew ,him1' and so they all went back to ,jerusalem happy together8 ,no4 ',they knew ,him1 and--,he vanished out of their sight4' ,yes1 for two reasons4 ,first1 because when ,christ's ,presence is recognised sense may be put aside4 ',it is expedient for you that ,i go away4' ,you and ,i1 dear brethren1 need no visible manifestation2 we have lost nothing though we have lost the bodily ,presence of our ,master4 ,it is more than made up to us1 as ,he ,himself assures us1 and as we shall see ourselves if we think for a moment1 by the clearer knowledge of ,his spiritual verity and stature1 by the deeper experience of the profounder aspects of ,his mission and message1 by the indwelling ,spirit1 and by the knowledge of ,him working evermore for us all4 ,his going is a step in advance4 ',if ,i go not away the ,comforter will not come to you2 but if ,i depart1 ,i will send ,him unto you4' ,the earthly manifestation was only the basis and the platform for that which is purer and deeper in kind1 and more precious and powerful2 and when the platform has been laid1 then there is no need for the continuance thereof4 ,and so1 when ,he was manifested to the heart ,he disappeared from the eyes2 and we1 who have not beheld ,him1 stand upon no lower level than they who did1 for the voice of our experience is1 ',whom having not seen we love2 in whom1 though now we see ,him not1 yet believing1 we rejoice with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory4' ,and for another reason4--,when ,christ is discerned there is work to be done4 ',their eyes were opened1 and they knew ,him1 and ,he vanished out of their sight2 and 444 they rose up that same hour2 and returned to ,jerusalem' and said1 ,he was known to us in breaking of bread1 and ,he talked with us by the way4 ,yes1 the vision of ,christ binds us to work1 and while the more close and intimate and silent communion has its rights and its place in life1 it is never to be made a substitute for the active exercise of our ,christian vocation to bear witness of ,him1 and to tell ,his name to those who need the consolation of ,his ,resurrection1 and the joyful news that ,he lives to bless4 ,so then that meal by the wayside may stand as type and symbol of the way in which we1 like the two pedestrians on the road and at the table1 may have heart intercourse with ,jesus1 and may be impelled thereby to labour for ,him4 ,there was another time1 after the ,resurrection1 when in like manner we read that our ,lord took bread1 and blessed and brake and gave it to them2 and that was in that mysterious meal upon the shores of the ,galilean ,lake1 which has always been recognised as having a symbolical meaning--though the exposition and detail have often been exaggerated and made absurd4 ,in the one case it was two travellers who met their ,lord2 it was in an inn that the recognition took place2 it was a brief moment of vision1 followed by disappearance1 and the disappearance led on to work2 but in the other story it was when the morning broke that the ,lord was manifest2 it was after the night of toil that ,his form appeared2 ,his words to them were1 ',bring of the fruits of your labours and lay them upon the beach at ,my feet4' ,and in the light of the eternal morning1 after the weary night of toil1 they who on earth in their journey and pilgrimage have had ,him walking with them as third in their sweet society1 and sitting with them in the tents and changeful residences of earth1 may expect to find ,him waiting for them upon the shore2 and1 as one says1 ',it is the ,lord6' and another dashes through the water to reach ,christ1 the invitation to all of them will be1 ',come and sit with ,me at ,my table in ,my kingdom2 ,i provide the meal1 and you add to it by that which you have caught4' ',they rest from their labours and their works do follow them4' ,and so 'they go no more out1 but are ever with the ,lord4' ,,peter ,,alone ,,with ,,jesus ',the ,lord is risen indeed1 and hath appeared to ,simon4' --,,luke xxiv4 #cd4 ,the other appearances of the risen ,lord to individuals on the day of ,resurrection are narrated with much particularity1 and at considerable length4 ,john gives us the lovely account of our ,lord's conversation with ,mary ,magdalene1 ,luke gives us in full detail the story of the interview with the two travellers on the road to ,emmaus4 ,here is another appearance1 known to 'the eleven1 and them that were with them' on the ,resurrection evening1 and enumerated by ,paul in his list of the appearances of the ,lord1 the account of which was the common gospel of himself and all the others1 and yet deep silence is preserved in regard to it4 ,no word escaped ,peter's lips as to what passed in the conversation between the denier and his ,lord4 ,that is very significant4 ,the other appearances of the risen ,lord to individuals on the day of ,resurrection suggest their own reasons4 ,he appeared first to ,mary ,magdalene because she loved much4 ,the love that made a timid woman brave1 and the sorrow that filled her heart1 to the exclusion of everything else1 drew ,jesus to her4 ,the two on the road to ,emmaus were puzzled1 honest1 painful seekers after truth4 ,it was worth ,christ's while to spend hours of that day of ,resurrection in clearing1 questioning1 and confirming sincere minds4 ,does not this other appearance explain itself8 ,the brief spasm of cowardice and denial had changed into penitence when the ,lord looked1 and the bitter tears that fell were not only because of the denial1 but because of the wound of that sharp arrow1 the poisoned barb of which we are happy if we have not felt the thought--',he will never know how ashamed and miserable ,i am2 and ,his last look was reproach1 and ,i shall never see ,his face any more4' ,to respond to1 and to satisfy1 love1 to clear and to steady thought1 to soothe the agony of a penitent1 were worthy works for the risen ,lord4 ,i venture to think that such a record of the use of such a day bears historical truth on its very face1 because it is so absolutely unlike what myth-making or hallucination1 or the excited imagination of enthusiasts would have produced1 if these had been the sources of the story of the ,resurrection4 ,but apart from that1 ,i wish in this sermon to try to gather the suggestions that come to us from this interview1 and from the silence which is observed concerning them4 ,with regard to-- ,i4 ,the fact of the appearance itself4 ,we can only come into the position rightly to understand its precious significance1 if we try to represent to ourselves the state of mind of the man to whom it was granted4 ,i have already touched upon that2 let me1 in the briefest possible way1 recapitulate4 ,as ,i have said1 the momentary impulse to the cowardly crime passed1 and left a melted heart1 true penitence1 and profound sorrow4 ,one sad day slowly wore away4 ,early on the next came the message which produced an effect on ,peter so great1 that the gospel1 which in some sense is his gospel 7,i mean that 'according to ,mark'7 alone contains the record of it--the message from the open grave3 ',tell my disciples and ,peter that ,i go before you into ,galilee4' ,there followed the sudden rush to the grave1 when the feet made heavy by a heavy conscience were distanced by the light step of happy love1 and 'the other disciple did outrun ,peter4' ,the more impulsive of the two dashed into the sepulchre1 just as he afterwards threw himself over the side of the boat1 and floundered through the water to get to his ,lord's feet1 whilst ,john was content with looking1 just as he afterwards was content to sit in the boat and say1 ',it is the ,lord4' ,but ,john's faith1 too1 outran ,peter's1 and he departed 'believing1' whilst ,peter only attained to go away 'wondering4' ,and so another day wore away1 and at some unknown hour in it1 ,jesus stood before ,peter alone4 ,what did that appearance say to the penitent man8 ,of course1 it said to him what it said to all the rest1 that death was conquered4 ,it lifted his thoughts of his ,master4 ,it changed his whole atmosphere from gloom to sunshine1 but it had a special message for him4 ,it said that no fault1 no denial1 bars or diverts ,christ's love4 ,peter1 no doubt1 as soon as the hope of the ,resurrection began to dawn upon him1 felt fear contending with his hope1 and asked himself1 ',if ,he is risen1 will ,he ever speak to me again8' ,and now here ,he is with a quiet look on ,his face that says1 ',notwithstanding thy denial1 see1 ,i have come to thee4' ,ah1 brethren6 the impulsive fault of a moment1 so soon repented of1 so largely excusable1 is far more venial than many of our denials4 ,for a continuous life in contradiction to our profession is a blacker crime than a momentary fall1 and they who1 year in and year out1 call themselves ,christians1 and deny their profession by the whole tenor of their lives1 are more deeply guilty than was the ,apostle1 ,but ,jesus ,christ comes to us1 and no sin of ours1 no denial of ours1 can bar out ,his lingering1 ,his reproachful1 and yet ,his restoring1 love and grace4 ,all sin is inconsistent with the ,christian profession4 ,blessed be ,god2 we can venture to say that no sin is incompatible with it1 and none bars off wholly the love that pours upon us all4 ,true2 we may shut it out4 ,true2 so long as the smallest or the greatest transgression is unacknowledged and unrepented1 it forms a non-conducting medium around us1 and isolates us from the electric touch of that gracious love4 ,but also true2 it is there hovering around us1 seeking an entrance4 ,if the door be shut1 still the knocking finger is upon it1 and the great heart of the ,knocker is waiting to enter4 ,though ,peter had been a denier1 because he was a penitent the ,master came to him4 ,no fault1 no sin1 cuts us off from the love of our ,lord4 ,and then the other great lesson1 closely connected with this1 but yet capable of being treated separately for a moment1 which we gather from the fact of the interview1 is that ,jesus ,christ is always near the sorrowing heart that confesses its evil4 ,he knew of ,peter's penitence1 if ,i might so say1 in the grave2 and1 therefore1 risen1 ,his feet hasted to comfort and to soothe him4 ,as surely as the shepherd hears the bleat of the lost sheep in the snowdrift1 as surely as the mother hears the cry of her child1 so surely is a penitent heart a magnet which draws ,christ1 in all ,his potent fullness and tenderness1 to itself4 ,he that heard and knew the tears of the denier1 and his repentance1 when in the dim regions of the dead1 no less hears and knows the first faint beginnings of sorrow for sin1 and bends down from ,his seat on the right hand of ,god1 saying1 ',i dwell in the high and holy place1 with him also that is of a humble and contrite spirit1 to revive the spirit of the humble1 and to revive the heart of the contrite ones4' ,no fault bars ,christ's love4 ,christ is ever near the penitent spirit2 and whilst he is yet a great way off1 ,he has compassion1 and runs and falls on his neck and kisses him4 ,now let us look at-- ,,ii4 ,the interview of which we know nothing4 ,we know nothing of what did pass2 we know what must have passed4 ,there is only one way by which a burdened soul can get rid of its burden4 ,there is only one thing that a conscience-stricken denier can say to his ,saviour4 ,and--blessed be ,god6--there is only one thing that a ,saviour can say to a conscience-stricken denier4 ,there must have been penitence with tears2 there must have been full absolution and remission4 ,and so we are not indulging in baseless fancies when we say that we know what passed in that conversation1 of which no word ever escaped the lips of either party concerned4 ,so then1 with that knowledge1 just let me dwell upon one or two considerations suggested4 ,one is that the consciousness of ,christ's love1 uninterrupted by our transgression1 is the mightiest power to deepen penitence and the consciousness of unworthiness4 ,do you not think that when the ,apostle saw in ,christ's face1 and heard from ,his lips1 the full assurance of forgiveness1 he was far more ashamed of himself than he had ever been in the hours of bitterest remorse8 ,so long as there blends with the sense of my unworthiness any doubt about the free1 full1 unbroken flow of the divine love to me1 my sense of my own unworthiness is disturbed4 ,so long as with the consciousness of demerit there blends that thought--which often is used to produce the consciousness1 viz41 the dread of consequences1 the fear of punishment--my consciousness of sin is disturbed4 ,but sweep away fear of penalty1 sweep away hesitation as to the divine love1 then ,i am left face to face with the unmingled vision of my own evil1 and ten thousand times more than ever before do ,i recognise how black my transgression has been2 as the prophet puts it with profound truth1 ',thou shalt be ashamed and confounded1 and never open thy mouth any more1 because of thy sins1 when ,i am pacified towards thee for all that thou hast done4' ,if you would bring a man to know how bad he is1 do not brandish a whip before his face1 or talk to him about an angry ,god4 ,you may bray a fool in a mortar1 and his foolishness will not depart from him4 ,you may break a man down with these violent pestles1 and you will do little more4 ,but get him1 if ,i may continue the metaphor1 not into the mortar1 but set him in the sunshine of the divine love1 and that will do more than break1 it will melt the hardest heart that no pestle would do anything but triturate4 ,the great evangelical doctrine of full and free forgiveness through ,jesus ,christ produces a far more vital1 vigorous1 transforming recoil from transgression than anything besides4 ',do we make void the law through faith8 ,god forbid6 ,yea1 we establish the law4' ,then1 further1 another consideration may be suggested1 and that is that the acknowledgment of sin is followed by immediate forgiveness4 ,do you think that when ,peter turned to his ,lord1 who had come from the grave to soothe him1 and said1 ',i have sinned1' there was any pause before ,he said1 'and thou art forgiven'8 ,the only thing that keeps the divine love from flowing into a man's heart is the barrier of unforgiven1 because unrepented1 sin4 ,so soon as the acknowledgment of sin takes away the barrier--of course1 by a force as natural as gravitation--the river of ,god's love flows into the heart4 ,the consciousness of forgiveness may be gradual2 the fact of forgiveness is instantaneous4 ,and the consciousness may be as instantaneous as the fact1 though it often is not4 ',i believe in the forgiveness of sins'2 and ,i believe that a man1 that you1 may at one moment be held and bound by the chains of sin1 and that at the next moment1 as when the angel touched the limbs of this very ,apostle in prison1 the chains may drop from off ankles and wrists1 and the prisoner may be free to follow the angel into light and liberty4 ,sometimes the change is instantaneous1 and there is no reason why it should not be an instantaneous change1 experienced at this moment1 by any man or woman among us4 ,sometimes it is gradual4 ,the ,arctic spring comes with a leap1 and one day there is thick-ribbed ice1 and a few days after there are grass and flowers4 ,a like swift transformation is within the limits of possibility for any of us1 and--blessed be ,god6 within the experience of a good many of us4 ,there is no reason why it should not be that of each of us1 as well as of this ,apostle4 ,then there is one other thought that ,i would suggest1 viz41 that the man who is led through consciousness of sin and experience of uninterrupted love which is forgiveness1 is thereby led into a higher and a nobler life4 ,peter's bitter fall1 ,peter's gracious restoration1 were no small part of the equipment which made him what we see him in the days after ,pentecost--when the coward that had been ashamed to acknowledge his ,master1 and all whose impulsive and self-reliant devotion passed away before a flippant servant-girl's tongue1 stood before the rulers of ,israel1 and said3 ',whether it be right in the sight of ,god to hearken unto you more than unto ,god1 judge ye6' ,the sense of sin1 the assurance of pardon1 shatter a man's unwholesome self-confidence1 and develop his self-reliance based upon his trust in ,jesus ,christ4 ,the consciousness of sin1 and the experience of pardon1 deepen and make more operative in life the power of the divine love4 ,thus1 the publicans and the harlots do go into the ,kingdom of ,god many a time before the ,pharisees4 ,so let us all be sure that even our sins and faults may be converted into stepping stones to higher things4 ,,iii4 ,lastly1 notice the deep silence in which this interview is shrouded4 ,i have already pointed to the occupations of that ,resurrection day as bearing on their face the marks of veracity4 ,it seems to me that if the story of the ,resurrection is not history1 the talk between the denier and the ,master would have been a great deal too tempting a subject for romancers of any kind to have kept their hands off4 ,if you read the apocryphal gospels you will see how eager they are to lay hold of any point in the true gospels1 and spin a whole farrago of rubbish round about it4 ,and do you think they could ever have let this incident alone without spoiling it by expanding it1 and putting all manner of vulgarities into their story about it8 ,but the men who told the story were telling simple facts1 and when they did not know anything they said nothing4 ,but why did not ,peter say anything about it8 ,because nobody had anything to do with it but himself and his ,master4 ,it was his business1 and no one else's4 ,the other scene by the lake reinstated him in his office1 and it was public because it concerned others also2 but what passed when he was restored to his faith was of no concern to any one but the ,restorer and the restored4 ,and so1 dear friends1 a religion which has a great deal to say about its individual experiences is in very slippery places4 ,the less you think about your emotions1 and eminently the less you talk about them1 the sounder1 the truer1 and the purer they will be4 ,goods in a shop-window get fly-blown very quickly1 and lose their lustre4 ,all the deep secrets of a man's life1 his love for his ,lord1 the way by which he came to ,him1 his penitence for his sin1 like his love for his wife1 had better speak in deeds than in words to others4 ,of course while that is true on one side1 we are not to forget the other side4 ,reticence as to the secret things of my own personal experience is never to be extended so as to include silence as to the fact of my ,christian profession4 ,sometimes it is needful1 wise1 and ,christlike for a man to lift the corner of the bridal curtain1 and let in the day to some extent1 and to say1 ',of whom ,i am chief1 but ,i obtained mercy4' ,sometimes there is no such mighty power to draw others to the faith which we would fain impart1 as to say1 ',whether this ,man be a sinner or no1 ,i know not2 but one thing ,i know1 that whereas ,i was blind now ,i see4' ,sometimes--always--a man must use his own personal experience1 cast into general forms1 to emphasise his profession1 and to enforce his appeals4 ,so very touchingly1 if you will turn to ,peter's sermons in the ,acts1 you will find that he describes himself there 7though he does not hint that it is himself7 when he appeals to his countrymen1 and says1 ',ye denied the ,holy ,one and the ,just4' ,the personal allusion would make his voice vibrate as he spoke1 and give force to the charge4 ,similarly1 in the letter which goes by his name--the second of the two ,epistles of ,peter--there is one little morsel of evidence that makes one inclined to think that it is his1 notwithstanding the difficulties in the way1 viz41 that he sums up all the sins of the false teachers whom he is denouncing in this3 ',denying the ,lord that bought them4' ,but with these limitations1 and remembering that the statement is not one to be unconditionally and absolutely put1 let the silence with regard to this interview teach us to guard the depths of our own ,christian lives4 ,now1 dear brethren1 have you ever gone apart with ,jesus ,christ1 as if ,he and you were alone in the world8 ,have you ever spread out all your denials and faults before ,him8 ,have you ever felt the swift assurance of ,his forgiving love1 covering over the whole heap1 which dwindles as ,his hand lies upon it8 ,have you ever felt the increased loathing of yourselves which comes with the certainty that ,he has passed by all your sins8 ,if you have not1 you know very little about ,christ1 or about ,christianity 7if ,i may use the abstract word7 or about yourselves2 and your religion1 or what you call your religion1 is a very shallow and superficial and inoperative thing4 ,do not shrink from being alone with ,jesus ,christ4 ,there is no better place for a guilty man1 just as there is no better place for an erring child than its mother's bosom4 ,when ,peter had caught a dim glimpse of what ,jesus ,christ was1 he cried3 ',depart from me1 for ,i am a sinful man1 ,o ,lord6' ,when he knew his ,saviour and himself better1 he clung to ,him because he was so sinful4 ,do the same1 and ,he will say to you3 ',son1 thy sins be forgiven thee2 ,daughter1 thy faith hath made thee whole4 ,go in peace1 and be whole of thy plague4' ,,the ,,triumphant ,,end ',and as they thus spake1 ,jesus ,himself stood in the midst of them1 and saith unto them1 ,peace be unto you4 #cg4 ,but they were terrified and affrighted1 and supposed that they had seen a spirit4 #ch4 ,and ,he said unto them1 ,why are ye troubled8 and why do thoughts arise in your hearts8 #ci4 ,behold ,my hands and ,my feet1 that it is ,i ,myself3 handle ,me1 and see2 for a spirit hath not flesh and bones1 as ye see ,me have4 #dj4 ,and when ,he had thus spoken1 ,he shewed them ,his hands and ,his feet4 #da4 ,and while they yet believed not for joy1 and wondered1 ,he said unto them1 ,have ye here any meat8 #db4 ,and they gave ,him a piece of a broiled fish1 and of an honeycomb4 #dc4 ,and ,he took it1 and did eat before them4 #dd4 ,and ,he said unto them1 ,these are the words which ,i spake unto you1 while ,i was yet with you1 that all things must be fulfilled1 which were written in the law of ,moses1 and in the prophets1 and in the psalms1 concerning ,me4 #de4 ,then opened ,he their understanding1 that they might understand the scriptures1 #df4 ,and said unto them1 ,thus it is written1 and thus it behoved ,christ to suffer1 and to rise from the dead the third day3 #dg4 ,and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in ,his name among all nations1 beginning at ,jerusalem4 #dh4 ,and ye are witnesses of these things4 #di4 ,and1 behold1 ,i send the promise of ,my ,father upon you3 but tarry ye in the city of ,jerusalem1 until ye be endued with power from on high4 #ej4 ,and ,he led them out as far as to ,bethany2 and ,he lifted up ,his hands1 and blessed them4 #ea4 ,and it came to pass1 while ,he blessed them1 ,he was parted from them1 and carried up into heaven4 #eb4 ,and they worshipped ,him1 and returned to ,jerusalem with great joy3 #ec4 ,and were continually in the temple1 praising and blessing ,god4'--,,luke xxiv4 #cf-ec4 ,there are no marks of time in this passage1 and1 for anything that appears1 the narrative is continuous1 and the ,ascension might have occurred on the evening of the ,resurrection4 ,but neither is there anything to forbid interpreting this close of ,luke's ,gospel by the fuller details contained in the beginning of his other treatise1 the ,acts1 where the space of forty days interposes between the ,resurrection and the ,ascension4 ,it is but reasonable to suppose that an author's two books agree1 when he gives no hint of change of opinion1 and it is reasonable to regard the narrative in this passage as a summary of the whole period of forty days4 ,if so1 it contains three things1--the first appearance of the risen ,lord to the assembled disciples 7vs4 #cf-dc71 a condensed summary of the teachings of the risen ,lord 7vs4 #dd-di71 and an equally compressed record of the ,ascension 7vs4 #ej-ec74 ,i4 ,the proofs of the ,resurrection graciously granted to incredulous love 7vs4 #cf-dc74 ,the disciples were probably assembled in the upper room1 where the ,lord's ,supper had been instituted1 and which became their ordinary meeting-place 7,acts i47 up till ,pentecost4 ,what sights that room saw6 ,there1 when night had come1 they were discussing the strange reports of the ,resurrection1 when1 all suddenly1 they saw ,jesus1 not coming or moving1 but standing in the midst4 ,had ,he come in unnoticed by them in their eager talk8 ,the doors were shut4 ,how had this calm ,presence become visible all at once8 ,so little were they the enthusiastic1 credulous people whom modern theories which explain away the ,resurrection assume them to have been1 that even ,his familiar voice in ,his familiar salutation1 tenfold more significant now than ever before1 did not wake belief that it was verily ,he4 ,they fled to the ready refuge of supposing that they saw 'a spirit4' ,our ,lord has no rebukes for their incredulity1 but patiently resumes ,his old task of instruction1 and condescends to let them have the evidence of two senses1 not shrinking from their investigating touch4 ,when even these proofs were seen by ,him to be insufficient1 ,he added the yet more cogent one of 'eating before them4' ,then they were convinced4 ,now their incredulity is important1 and the acknowledgment shows the simple historical good faith of the narrator4 ,a witness who at first disbelieved is all the more trustworthy4 ,these hopeless mourners who had forgotten all ,christ's prophecies of ,his ,resurrection1 and were so fixed in their despair that the two from ,emmaus could not so far kindle a gleam of hope as to make them believe that their ,lord stood before them1 were not the kind of people in whom hallucination would operate1 as modern deniers of the ,resurrection make them out to have been4 ,what changed their mood8 ,a fancy8 ,surely nothing less than a solid fact4 ,hallucination may lay hold on a solitary1 morbid mind1 but it does not attack a company1 and it scarcely reaches to fancying touch and the sight of eating4 ,note ,luke's explanation of the persistent incredulity1 as being 'for joy4' ,it is like his notice that the three in ,gethsemane 'slept for sorrow4' ,great emotion sometimes produces effects opposite to what might have been expected4 ,who can wonder that the mighty fact which turned the black smoke of despair into bright flame should have seemed too good to be true8 ,the little notice brings the disciples near to our experience and sympathy4 ,christ's loving forbearance and condescending affording of more than sufficient evidence show how little changed ,he was by ,death and ,resurrection4 ,he is as little changed by sitting at the right hand of ,god4 ,still ,he is patient with our slow hearts4 ,still ,he meets our hesitating faith with lavish assurances4 ,still ,he lets us touch ,him1 if not with the hand of sense1 with the truer contact of spirit1 and we may have as firm personal experience of the reality of ,his life and ,presence as had that wondering company in the upper room4 ,,ii4 ,verses #dd-di are best taken as a summary of the forty days' teaching4 ,they fall into stages which are distinctly separated4 ,first we have 7ver4 #dd7 the reiteration of ,christ's earlier teaching1 which had been dark when delivered1 and now flashed up into light when explained by the event4 ',these are my words which ,i spake1' and which you did not understand or note4 ,jesus asserts that ,he is the theme of all the ancient revelation4 ,if we suppose that the present arrangement of the ,old ,testament existed then1 its present three divisions are named2 namely1 ,law1 ,prophets1 and ,hagiographa1 as represented by its chief member4 ,but1 in any case1 ,he lays ,his hand on the whole book1 and declares that ,he1 and ,his ,death as sacrifice1 are inwrought into its substance4 ',the testimony of ,jesus is the spirit of prophecy4' ,whatever views we hold as to the date and manner of origin of the ,old ,testament books1 we miss the most pregnant fact about them if we fail to recognise that they all point onwards to ,him4 ,another stage is marked by that remarkable expression1 ',he opened their mind4' ,his teaching was not1 like ours1 from without only4 ,he gave not merely instruction1 but inspiration4 ,it was not enough to spread truth before the disciples4 ,he did more2 ,he made them able to receive it4 ,he gives no lesser gifts from the throne than ,he gave in the upper room1 and we may receive1 if our minds are kept expectant and in touch with ,him1 the same inward eye to see wondrous things out of the ,word4 ,verse #df1 by its repetition of 'and ,he said1' seems to point to another stage1 in which the teaching as to the meaning of the ,old ,testament passes into instructions for the future4 ,already ,jesus had hinted at the cessation of the old close intercourse in that pathetic 'while ,i was yet with you1' and now ,he goes on to outline the functions and equipment of the disciples in the future period of ,his absence4 ,as to the past sufferings1 ,he indicates a double necessity for them1--one based on their having been predicted2 another1 deeper1 based on the fitness of things4 ,these sufferings made the preaching of repentance and forgiveness possible1 and imposed on ,his followers the obligation of preaching ,his name to all the world4 ,without the ,cross ,his servants would have no gospel4 ,having the ,cross1 ,his servants are bound to publish it everywhere4 ,the universal reach of ,his atonement is implied in the commission4 ,the sacrifice for the world's sin is the sole ground of remission of sin1 and is to be proclaimed to every creature4 ,mark that here the same word is employed in connection with proclaiming ,christ's ,death as in ,john's version of this saying 7,john xx4 #bc71 which is misused as a fortress of the priestly power of absolution4 ,the plain inference is that the servant's power of remission is exercised by preaching the ,master's death of expiation4 ,the ultimate reach of the message is to be to all nations2 the beginning of the universal gospel is to be at ,jerusalem4 ,the whole history of the world and the ,church lies between these two4 ,by that command to begin at ,jerusalem1 the connection of the ,old with the ,new is preserved1 the ,jewish prerogative honoured1 the path made easier for the disciples1 the development of the ,church brought into unison with their natural sentiments and capacities4 ,the spirit of the commandment remains still imperative4 ',the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth4' ,a wise and ,christlike beneficence will not gaze far afield1 and neglect things close at our doors4 ,the scoff at the supporters of foreign missions1 as if they quixotically went abroad when they should work at home1 has no point even as regards ,christian practice1 for it is the people who work for the distant heathen who also toil for home ones2 but it has still less ground in regard to ,christian conceptions of duty1 for the ,lord of the harvest has bidden the reapers begin with the fields nearest them4 ,the equipment for work is investiture with divine power4 ,a partial bestowment of the ,spirit1 which is the ,father's promise1 took place while ,jesus spoke4 ',i send' refers to something done at the moment2 but the fuller clothing with that garment of power was to be waited for in expectancy and desire4 ,no man can do the ,christian work of witnessing for and of ,christ without that clothing with power4 ,it was granted as an abiding gift on ,pentecost4 ,it needs perpetual renewal4 ,we may all have it4 ,without it1 eloquence1 learning1 and all else1 are but as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal4 ,,iii4 ,verses #ej-ec give us the transcendent miracle which closes the earthly life of ,jesus4 ,we cannot here enter on the large questions which it raises1 but must content ourselves with simply pointing to the salient features of ,luke's condensed account4 ,the mention of the place as 'over against ,bethany' recalls the many memories of that village where ,jesus had found ,his nearest approach to a home1 where ,he had exercised ,his stupendous life-giving power1 whence ,he had set out to the upper room and the near ,cross4 ,his last act was to bless ,his followers4 ,he is the ,high-priest for ever1 and these uplifted hands meant a sacreder thing than the affectionate good wishes of a departing friend4 ,he gives the blessings which ,he invokes4 ,his wish is a conveyance of good4 ,the hands remained in the attitude of benediction while ,he ascended1 and the last sight of ,him1 as the cloud wrapped ,him round1 showed ,him shedding blessing from them4 ,he continues that attitude and act till ,he comes again4 ,two separate motions are described in verse #ea4 ,he was parted from them1--that is1 withdrew some little distance on the mountain1 that all might see1 and none might hinder1 ,his departure2 and 'was carried up into heaven' by a slow upward movement1 as the word implies4 ,contrast this with ,elijah's rapture4 ,there was no need of fiery chariot or whirlwind to lift ,jesus to the heavens4 ,he went up where ,he was before1 returning to the glory which ,he had with the ,father before the world was4 ,the end matches the beginning4 ,the supernatural birth corresponds with the supernatural departure4 ,we have to think of that ,ascension as the entrance of corporeal humanity into the divine glory1 as the beginning of ,his heavenly activity for the world1 as the token of ,his work being triumphantly completed1 as the prophecy and pledge of immortal life like ,his own for all who love ,him4 ,therefore we may share the joy which flooded the lately sorrowful disciples' hearts1 and1 like them1 should make all life sacred1 and be continually in the ,temple1 blessing ,god1 and have the deep roots of our lives hid with ,christ in the glory4 ,,christ',s ,,witnesses ',ye are witnesses of these things4 #di4 ,and1 behold1 ,i send the promise of ,my ,father upon you3 but tarry ye in the city of ,jerusalem1 until ye be endued with power from on high4'--,,luke xxiv4 #dh1 #di4 ,luke's account of the ,resurrection and subsequent forty days is so constructed as to culminate in this appointment of the disciples to their high functions and equipment for it1 by the gift of the ,holy ,spirit4 ,the ,evangelist has evidently in view his second 'treatise1' and is here preparing the link of connection between it and the ,gospel4 ,hence this very condensed summary of many conversations lays stress upon these points--the fulfilment of prophecy in ,christ's life and death2 the world-wide destination of the blessings to be proclaimed in ,his name2 and the appointment and equipment of the disciples4 ,the same notes are again struck in the beginning of the ,acts of the ,apostles4 ,the same charge to the disciples1 when viewed in connection with ,christ's life on earth1 may be considered as its end and aim2 and when viewed in connection with the history of the ,church1 as its foundation and beginning4 ,so that we are following in the line plainly marked out for us by the ,evangelist himself1 when we take these words as containing a charge and a gift as really belonging to all ,christians in this day as to the little group on the road to ,bethany1 to whom they were first addressed on the ,ascension morning4 ,there are1 then1 but two points to be looked at in the words before us2 the one the function of the ,church1 and the other its equipment for it4 ,i4 ,the task of the ,church4 ,now1 of course1 ,i need not remind you that there is a special sense in which the office of witness-bearing belonged only to those who had seen ,christ in the flesh1 and could testify to the fact of ,his ,resurrection4 ,i need not dwell upon that further than to remark that the fact that the designation of the first preachers of the ,gospels was 'witnesses' is significant of a great deal4 ,for witness implies fact1 and the nature of their message1 as being the simple attestation to the occurrence of things that truly happened in the earth1 is wrapped up in that name4 ,they were not speculators1 philosophers1 moralists1 legislators4 ,they had neither to argue nor to dissertate1 nor to lay down rules for conduct1 nor to ventilate their own fancies4 ,they were witnesses1 and their business was to tell the truth1 the whole truth1 and nothing but the truth4 ,all doctrine and all morality will come second4 ,the first form of the ,gospel is1 ',how that ,jesus ,christ died for our sins according to the ,scriptures1 and that ,he was raised again the third day1 according to the ,scriptures4' ,first1 a history2 then a religion2 then a morality2 and morality and religion because it is a history of redemption4 ,these early ,christians were witnesses in another sense4 ,the very existence of the ,church at all was a testimony to that supernatural fact without which it could not have been4 ,we are often told in recent years that the belief in the ,resurrection grew slowly up amongst the early ,christians4 ,what became of the ,church whilst it was growing8 ,what held it together8 ,how comes it that the fate of ,christ's followers was not the fate of the followers of ,theudas and other people that rose up1 'boasting themselves to be somebody1' whose followers as a matter of course1 'came to nought' when the leader was slain8 ,there is only one answer4 ',he rose again from the dead4' ,else there is no possibility of accounting for the fact that the ,church as a distinct organisation survived ,calvary4 ,the ,resurrection was no gradually evolved hardening of desire and fancy into fact1 but it was the foundation upon which the ,church was built4 ',ye'--by your words and by your existence as a community--'are the witnesses of these things4' ,but that is somewhat apart from the main purpose of my remarks now4 ,i desire rather to emphasise the thought that1 with modifications in form1 the substance of the functions of these early believers remains still the office and dignity of all ,christian men4 ',ye are the witnesses of these things4' ,and what is the manner of testimony that devolves upon you and me1 ,christian friends8 ,witness by your lives4 ,most men take their notions of what ,christianity is from the average of the ,christians round about them4 ,and1 if we profess to be ,christ's followers1 we shall be taken as tests and specimen cases of the worth of the religion that we profess4 ',ye are the ,epistles of ,christ1' and if the writing be blurred and blotted and often half unintelligible1 the blame will be laid largely at ,his door4 ,and men will say1 and say rightly1 ',if that is all that ,christianity can do1 we are just as well without it4' ,it is our task to 'adorn the doctrine of ,christ1' marvellous as it may seem that anything in our poor lives can commend that fairest of all beautiful things--and to commend it to some hearts4 ,just as some poor black-and-white engraving of a masterpiece of the painter's brush may1 to an eye untrained in the harmony of colour1 be a better interpretation of the artist's meaning than his own proper work1 so our feeble copies of the transcendent splendour and beauty may suit some purblind and untrained eyes better than the serener and loftier perfection which we humbly copy4 ',we are the witnesses of these things4' ,and depend upon it1 mightier than all direct effort1 and more unusual than all utterances of lip1 is the witness of the life of all professing ,christians to the reality of the facts upon which they say they base their faith4 ,but beyond that1 there is yet another department of testimony which belongs to each of us1 and that is the attestation of personal experience4 ,that is a form of ,christian service which any and every ,christian can put forth4 ,you cannot all be preachers1 in the technical sense4 ,you cannot all be thinkers and strong champions1 argumentative or otherwise1 for ,god's truth4 ,but ,i will tell you what you all can be4 ,you can all say1 ',come and hear all ye2 and ,i will declare what ,he hath done for my soul4' ,it does not take eloquence1 gifts1 learning1 intellectual grasp of the doctrinal side of ,christian truth for a man to say1 as the first preacher of ,christ upon earth said1 ',brother6 we have found the ,messias4' ,that was all1 and that was enough4 ,that you can say1 if you have found ,him1 and after all1 the witness of personal experience of what faith in ,jesus ,christ can make of a man1 and do for a man1 is the strongest and most universal weapon placed in the hands of ,christian men and women4 ,there is nothing that goes so far as that1 if it be backed up by a life corresponding1 which1 like a sounding-board behind a man1 flings his words out into the world'2 ',whether this man be a sinner or no ,i know not'2 ',i leave all that talk about heights and depths of argument and controversy to other people1 but this one thing ,i know'--not ,i think1 not ,i believe1 not ,i am disposed to come to the conclusion that--but 'this one thing ,i know1 that whereas ,i was blind now ,i see4' ,there is no getting over that6 ',ye are the witnesses of these things4' ,and do not be ashamed of your function1 nor slothful nor cowardly in its discharge4 ,may ,i say a word here about the grounds on which this obligation to witness rests for us8 ,if ,jesus ,christ had never said1 ',go ye into all the world and preach the ,gospel to every creature1' it would not have made a bit of difference as to the imperative duty that is laid upon all ,christian men2 for that arises1 not from that command1 which only gives voice to a previous obligation1 but it flows1 from the very nature of things1 from the message that we receive from our links with other men and from the constitution and make of our own natures4 ,it flows directly from the gift that we have received4 ,there are plenty of truths which1 per se1 carry with them no obligation to impart them4 ,but any truth in which is wrapped up the possible happiness of another man1 any truth which bears upon moral or spiritual subjects1 carries with it the strongest obligation to impart it4 ,we have such large insights into ,god and ,his love as the ,gospel gives us1 not that we may eat our morsel alone1 or merely sun ourselves in the light1 and expatiate in the warmth of the beams that come to us1 but that we may share them with all around3 ',god1 who commanded the light to shine out of darkness hath shined into our hearts1' that we may 'give the light of the knowledge of the glory of ,god in the face of ,jesus ,christ4' ,the obligation arises from the links that knit us all together4 ',am ,i my brother's keeper8' ,why1 the question answers itself4 ,if he is your 'brother1' you are certainly his 'keeper4' ,and you cannot shuffle off the obligation by any irrelevant pitting of one field of ,christian work against another2 still less by any criticism1 hostile or friendly1 as it may be1 of the methods of ,christian work1 or of the parity and elevation of the character and motives of the workers4 ,humanity is one1 linked by a mystic chain1 and every link of it should thrill by a common impulse2 and through all the members there should circulate a common life4 ,that great thought is one of the gains that the ,gospel has brought us1 and in the presence of it and our indebtedness and obligation to every man1 woman1 and child that bears the form of man1 all geographical limits to ,christian witnessing seem supremely absurd and incongruous4 ,you cannot get rid of your obligation by saying1 ',i do not care about foreign missions1 ,i go in for home ones4' ,and you cannot get rid of it by chiming in an ignorant second to the talk that has been going on lately1 carping at or criticising methods of work4 ,it would be a very strange thing if we had hit all at once1 in the very beginning of an enterprise1 upon the best of all possible methods2 and it would be a very strange thing if the mission-field is the only one where there are no lazy workers and selfish motives and unworthy occupants of high places4 ,all that is true about home as it is about other places4 ,but grant it all1 and back comes the obligation based upon the nature of the truth that we have received1 upon our links with our brethren1 and upon our loyalty to our ,master1 and it peals into the ears of every ,christian man and woman3 ',thou art a witness of these things'2 and 'to this end wert thou born again1 that thou mightest bear witness to the truth4' ,ah1 brethren6 the issues of faithfulness to that high function are sweet and blessed and wonderful4 ,a witnessing ,christian will be a believing ,christian2 for there is no surer way to deepen my own convictions about any moral or spiritual truth than to constitute myself their humble servant to proclaim them4 ,whosoever is a believer should be an apostle1 and if he is an apostle he will be tenfold a believer4 ,there is nothing which will give a man a firmer grasp of the ,gospel for his own soul than when he finds that1 ministered by his humble efforts1 it produces in other hearts the same effects which he finds it working upon himself4 ,there is no page in the great book of the evidences of the truth of ,christianity more conclusive than that which in the last century has been written by the experience of ,christian missions4 ,let the objectors1 ,jannes and ,jambres1 who withstood ,moses1 let them do the same with their enchantments1 and then we will discuss the questions of the truth of the ,gospel with them4 ,nor need ,i do more than remind you of the highest of all blessed issues which is yet to come4 ',be thou faithful unto death and ,i will give thee a crown of life4' ,alas6 alas6 how many of us professing ,christians will have to stand at last without that 'crown of rejoicing' which they wear who1 by their poor work and witness1 have won some souls to the ,master4 ,do you1 ,christian men1 contemplate entering heaven alone1 or bringing your sheaves with you8 ,it will be sad to stand with hands empty then1 because they were idle in the days of the seed-basket and the reaping-hook1 whilst those that sowed and those that reaped shall rejoice together4 ',ye are the witnesses of these things'3 see to it that you do your work4 ,,ii4 ,and now1 secondly1 and briefly1 note the equipment of the witnesses for their task4 ,our ,lord here distinguishes two stages in the endowment4 ,then and there they receive the gift of the ,divine ,spirit1 as is more fully recorded in ,john's account of these last days1 but that gift1 rich and precious as it was1 was not yet the full bestowment which they needed for their task4 ,that came on the day of ,pentecost4 ,mark the vivid and picturesque word which our ,lord here employs3 ',until ye be clothed with power from on high4' ,that divine gift coming down as a vesture1 wraps and covers and hides their own weakness1 their own naked and poor personality4 ,i can only say a word or two about this matter4 ,the same collocation of ideas--a witnessing ,spirit by whose indwelling energy the ,christian community becomes witnesses1 is found 7and has been explained at length by me in former discourses7 in the farewell words of our ,lord in the upper chamber4 ',the ,spirit of ,truth which proceedeth from the ,father1 ,he shall bear witness of ,me1 and ye also shall bear witness because ye have been with ,me from the beginning4' ,i need only remark here that the only power by which ,christians can discharge their work of witnessing in the world is the power which clothes them from above4 ,the new life which ,jesus ,christ brings and gives to us is the only life which will avail for discharging this office4 ,our self-will1 the old life of nature1 with all its dependence upon ourselves1 is nought in reference to this task4 ,but when that divine spark enters into men's hearts1 then natural endowments are heightened into supernatural gifts1 and new forces are developed1 and new powers are bestowed and the earthen vessel is filled with new treasure4 ,without it--and there is a great deal of so-called ,christian witnessing to-day without it--noise1 advertising1 skill in getting up externals1 and all the other unworthy methods which ,christian churches sometimes stoop to adopt1 are powerless1 as they ought to be4 ,you may accomplish a great deal by fussy activity which calls itself ,christian earnestness1 and has not ,god's ,spirit in it4 ,but it is no more growth than are what the children call 'devil's puff-balls' which they find in the fields in these autumn mornings2 and it will go up in poisonous1 brown dust like these when it is pricked4 ,the one condition of ,christian churches doing their ,christian work is that they shall be clothed and filled with ,god's ,spirit4 ,do not let us rely on machinery2 do not let us rely on externals2 do not let us rely on advertising tricks which might do very well for a cheap shop1 but are all out of harmony with the work that we have to do2 but let us rely on this1 and on this alone4 ,holding converse with ,god and ,christ1 we shall come out of the secret place of the ,most ,high with our faces glowing with the communion1 and our lips on fire to proclaim the sweetnesses that lie within the shrine4 ,one word more and ,i have done4 ,this clothing with the ,spirit1 which is the only fitness of the ,church for its witnessing work1 is only to be won by much solitary waiting4 ',tarry ye1' or as in the original it stands even more vividly1 ',sit ye still in the city 444 till ye be clothed4' ,it is because so many ,christian workers are so seldom alone with ,christ that so much of their work is nought1 and comes to nought4 ,to draw apart from outward activity into the solitary place1 and sit with ,him1 is the only means by which we can keep up the freshness of our own spirits1 and be fit for ,his service4 ,mary was being trained for ,martha's work when she sat at ,christ's feet2 but ,martha could not do hers without being 'troubled and careful1' because she was more accustomed to the work than to the communion that would have made it light4 ,so1 ,christian friends1 behold your task and your equipment4 ,i beseech you1 who call yourselves ,christ's servants1 to lay to heart your plain and unavoidable obligations4 ,if you have found ,jesus1 you are as truly and as individually bound to proclaim ,him as if a definite and direct divine command sounded in your ears4 ,your possession of the ,gospel as the food of your own souls binds you to impart it to all the famished4 ,the call to witness comes as straight to you as it did to the young ,pharisee on the road to ,damascus when he heard ',saul6 ,saul6' called from the sky4 ,may you and ,i answer as he did1 ',lord6 what wilt ,thou have me to do6' ,,the ,,ascension ',and ,he led them out as far as to ,bethany1 and ,he lifted up ,his hands1 and blessed them4 #ea4 ,and it came to pass1 while ,he blessed them1 ,he was parted from them1 and carried up into heaven4' --,,luke xxiv4 #ej1 #ea4 ',and when ,he had spoken these things1 while they beheld1 ,he was taken up2 and a cloud received ,him out of their sight4'--,,acts i4 #i4 ,two of the four ,evangelists1 viz41 ,matthew and ,john1 have no record of the ,ascension4 ,but the argument which infers ignorance from silence1 which is always rash1 is entirely discredited in this case4 ,it is impossible to believe that ,matthew1 who wrote as the last word of his gospel the great words1 ',all power is given unto ,me in heaven and in earth 444 lo6 ,i am with you alway4444' was ignorant of the fact which alone makes these words credible4 ,and it is equally impossible to believe that the ,evangelist who recorded the tender saying to ,mary1 ',go to ,my brethren1 and say unto them ,i ascend to ,my ,father1 and your ,father1' was ignorant of its fulfilment4 ,the explanation of the silence is to be sought in a quite different direction4 ,it comes from the fact that to the ,evangelists1 rightly1 the ,ascension was but the prolongation and the culmination of the ,resurrection4 ,that being recorded1 there was no need for the definite record of this4 ,there is another singular point about these records1 viz41 that ,luke has two accounts1 one in the end of his gospel1 one in the beginning of ,acts2 and that these two accounts are obviously different4 ,the differences have been laid hold of as a weapon with which to attack the veracity of both accounts4 ,but there again a little consideration clears the path4 ,the very places in which they respectively occur might have solved the difficulty1 for the one is at the end of a book1 and the other is at the beginning of a book2 and so1 naturally1 the one regards the ,ascension as the end of the earthly life1 and the other as the beginning of the heavenly4 ,the one is all suffused with evening light2 the other is radiant with the promise of a new day4 ,the one is the record of a tender farewell1 in the other the sense of parting has almost been absorbed in the forward look to the new phase of relationship which is to begin4 ,if ,luke had been a secular biographer1 the critics would have been full of admiration at the delicacy of his touch1 and the fineness of keeping in the two narratives1 the picture being the same in both1 and the scheme of colouring being different4 ,but as he is only an ,evangelist1 they fall foul of him for his 'discrepancies4' ,it is worth our while to take both his points of view4 ,but there is another thing to be remembered1 that1 as the appendix of his account of the ,ascension in the book of the ,acts1 ,luke tells us of the angel's message2--',this same ,jesus 444 shall 444 return4' ,so there are three points of view which have to be combined in order to get the whole significance of that mighty fact3 the ,ascension as an end2 the ,ascension as a beginning2 the ,ascension as the pledge of the return4 ,now take these three points4 ,i4 ,we have the aspect of the ,ascension as an end4 ,the narrative in ,luke's gospel1 in its very brevity1 does yet distinctly suggest that retrospective and valedictory tone4 ,note how1 for instance1 we are told the locality--',he led them out as far as ,bethany4' ,the name at once strikes a chord of remembrance4 ,what memories clustered round it1 and how natural it was that the parting should take place there1 not merely because the crest of the ,mount of ,olives hid the place from the gaze of the crowded city2 but because it was within earshot almost of the home where so much of the sweet earthly fellowship1 that was now to end1 had passed4 ,the same note of regarding the scene as being the termination of those blessed years of dear and familiar intercourse is struck in the fact1 so human1 so natural1 so utterly inartificial1 that ,he lifted ,his hands to bless them1 moved by the same impulse with which so often we have wrung a hand at parting1 and stammered1 ',god bless you6' ,and the same valedictory hue is further deepened by the fact that what ,luke puts first is not the ,ascension1 but the parting4 ',he was parted from them1' that is the main fact2 'and ,he was carried up into heaven1' comes almost as a subordinate one4 ,at all events it is regarded mainly as being the medium by which the parting was effected4 ,so the aspect of the ,ascension thus presented is that of a tender farewell2 the pathetic conclusion of three long1 blessed years4 ,and yet that is not all1 for the ,evangelist adds a very enigmatic word3 ',they returned to ,jerusalem with great joy4' ,glad because ,he had gone8 ,no4 ,glad merely because ,he had gone up8 ,no4 ,the saying is a riddle1 left at the end of the book1 for readers to ponder1 and is a subtle link of connection with what is to be written in the next volume1 when the aspect of the ,ascension as an end is subordinate1 and its aspect as a beginning is prominent4 ,so regarded1 it filled the disciples with joy4 ,thus you see1 ,i think1 that without any illegitimate straining of the expressions of the text1 we do come to the point of view from which1 to begin with1 this great event must be looked at4 ,we have to take the same view1 and to regard that ,ascension not only as the end of an epoch of sweet friendship1 but as the solemn close and culmination of the whole earthly life4 ,i have no time to dwell upon the thoughts that come crowding into one's mind when we take that point of view4 ,but let me suggest1 in the briefest way1 one or two of them4 ,here is an end which circles round to1 and is of a piece with1 the beginning4 ',i came forth from the ,father1 and am come into the world2 again1 ,i leave the world1 and go unto the ,father4' ,the ,ascension corresponds with1 and meets the miracle of1 the ,incarnation4 ,and as the ,word who became flesh1 came by the natural path of human birth1 and entered in through the gate by which we all enter1 and yet came as none else has come1 by ,his own will1 in the miracle of ,his ,incarnation1 so at the end1 ,he passed out from life through the gate by which we all pass1 and 'was obedient unto death1 even the death of the ,cross1' and yet ,he passed likewise on a path which none but ,himself has trod1 and ascended up to heaven1 whence ,he had descended to earth4 ,he came into the world1 not as leaving the ,father1 for ,he is 'the ,son of ,man which is in heaven1' and ,he ascended up on high1 not as leaving us1 for ,he is 'with us alway1 even to the end of the world4' ,thus the ,incarnation and the ,ascension support each other4 ,but let me remind you how1 in this connection1 we have the very same combination of lowliness and gentleness with majesty and power which runs through the whole of the story of the earthly life of ,jesus ,christ4 ,born in a stable1 and waited on by angels1 the subject of all the humiliations of humanity1 and flashing forth through them all the power of divinity1 ,he ascends on high at last1 and yet with no pomp nor visible splendour to the world1 but only in the presence of a handful of loving hearts1 choosing some dimple of the hill where its folds hid them from the city4 ,as ,he came quietly and silently into the world1 so quietly and silently ,he passed thence4 ,in this connection there is more than the picturesque contrast between the rapture of ,elijah1 with its whirlwind1 and chariot of fire and horses of fire1 and the calm1 slow rising1 by no external medium raised1 of the ,christ4 ,it was fit that the mortal should be swept up into the unfamiliar heaven by the pomp of angels and the chariot of fire4 ,it was fit that when ,jesus ascended to ,his 'own calm home1 ,his habitation from eternity1' there should be nothing visible but ,his own slowly rising form1 with the hands uplifted1 to shed benediction on the heads of the gazers beneath4 ,in like manner1 regarding the ,ascension as an end1 may we not say that it is the seal of heaven impressed on the sacrifice of the ,cross8 ',wherefore ,god also hath highly exalted ,him1 and given ,him a ,name1 which is above every name2 that at the ,name of ,jesus every knee should bow4' ,we find in that intimate connection between the ,cross and the ,ascension1 the key to the deep saying which carries references to both in itself1 when the ,lord spoke of ,himself as being lifted up and drawing all men unto ,him4 ,the original primary reference no doubt was to ,his elevation on the ,cross1 'as ,moses lifted up the serpent4' ,but the final1 and at the time of its being spoken1 the mysterious1 reference was to the fact that in descending to the depth of humiliation ,he was rising to the height of glory4 ,the zenith of the ,ascension is the rebound from the nadir of the ,cross4 ,the lowliness of the stoop measures the loftiness of the elevation1 and the ,son of ,man was glorified at the moment when the ,son of ,man was most profoundly abased4 ,the ,cross and the ,ascension1 if ,i might use so violent a figure1 are like the twin stars1 of which the heavens present some examples1 one dark and lustreless1 one flashing with radiancy of light1 but knit together by an invisible vinculum1 and revolving round a common centre4 ,when ,he 'parted from them1 and was carried up into heaven1' ,he ended the humiliation which caused the elevation4 ,and then1 again1 ,i might suggest that1 regarded in its aspect as an end1 this ,ascension is also the culmination and the natural conclusion of the ,resurrection4 ,as ,i have said1 the ,scripture point of view with reference to these two is not that they are two1 but that the one is the starting point of the line of which the other is the goal4 ,the process which began when ,he rose from the dead1 whatever view we may take of the condition of ,his earthly life during the forty days of parenthesis1 could have no rational and intelligible ending1 except the ,ascension4 ,thus we should think of it not only as the end of a sweet friendship1 but as the end of the gracious manifestation of the earthly life1 the counterpart of the ,incarnation and descent to earth1 the end of the ,cross and the culmination of the ,resurrection4 ,the ,son of ,man1 the same that also descended into the lowest parts of the earth1 ascended up where ,he was before4 ,now let us turn to the other aspect which the ,evangelist gives1 when ,he ceases to be an ,evangelist1 and becomes a ,church ,historian4 ,then he considers ,,ii4 ,the ,ascension as a beginning4 ,the place which it holds in the ,acts of the ,apostles explains the point of view from which it is to be regarded4 ,it is the foundation of everything that the writer has afterwards to say4 ,it is the basis of the ,church4 ,it is the ground of all the activity which ,christ's servants put forth4 ,not only its place explains this aspect of it1 but the very first words of the book itself do the same4 ',the former treatise have ,i made 444 of all that ,jesus began both to do and teach'--and now ,i am to tell you of an ,ascension1 and of all that ,jesus continued to do and teach4 ,so that the book is the history of the work of the ,lord1 who was able to do that work1 just because ,he had ascended up on high4 ,the same impression is produced if we ponder the conversation which precedes the account of the ,ascension in the book of ,acts1 which1 though it touches the same topics as are touched by the words that precede the account in the ,gospel1 yet presents them in a different aspect1 and suggests the endowments with which the ,christian community is to be invested1 and the work which therefore it is to do1 in consequence of the ,ascension of ,jesus ,christ4 ,the ,apostle ,peter had caught that thought when1 on the day of ,pentecost1 he said1 ',he1 being exalted to the right hand of the ,father1 hath shed forth this which ye see and hear1' and throughout the whole book the same point of view is kept up4 ',the work that is done upon earth ,he doeth it all ,himself4' ,so there is in this narrative nothing about parting1 there is nothing about blessing4 ,there is simply the ascending up and the significant addition of the reception into the cloud1 which1 whilst ,he was yet plainly visible1 and not dwindled by distance into a speck1 received ,him out of their sight4 ,the cloud was the symbol of the ,divine ,presence1 which had hung over the ,tabernacle1 which had sat between the cherubim1 which had wrapped the shepherds and the angels on the hillside1 which had come down in its brightness on the ,mount of ,transfiguration1 and which now1 as the symbol of the ,divine ,presence1 received the ascending ,lord1 in token to the men that stood gazing up into heaven1 that ,he had passed to the right hand of the ,majesty on high4 ,thus we have to think of that ,ascension as being the groundwork and foundation of all the world-wide and age-long energy which the living ,christ is exercising to-day4 ,as one of the other ,evangelists1 or at least1 the appendix to his gospel1 puts it1 ,he ascended up on high1 and 'they went everywhere preaching the word1 the ,lord also working with them1 and confirming the word with signs following4' ,it is the ascended ,christ who sends the ,spirit upon men2 it is the ascended ,christ who opens men's hearts to hear2 it is the ascended ,christ who sends forth ,his messengers to the ,gentiles2 it is the ascended ,christ who1 to-day1 is the energy of all the ,church's powers1 the whiteness of all the ,church's purity1 the vitality of all the ,church's life4 ,he lives1 and therefore1 there is a ,christian community on the face of the earth4 ,he lives1 and therefore it will never die4 ,so we1 too1 have to look to that risen ,lord as being the power by which alone any of us can do either great or small work in ,his ,church4 ,that ,ascension is symbolically put as being to 'the right hand of ,god4' ,what is the right hand of ,god8 ,the divine omnipotence4 ,where is it8 ,everywhere4 ,what does sitting at the right hand of ,god mean8 ,wielding the powers of omnipotence4 ,and so ,he says1 ',all power is given unto ,me'2 and ,he is working a work to-day1 wider in its aspects than1 though it be the application and consequence of1 the work upon the ,cross4 ,he cried there1 ',it is finished6' but 'the work of the ascended ,jesus' will never be finished until 'the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdom of our ,god and of ,his ,christ4' ,there are other aspects of ,his work in heaven which space will not allow me to dwell upon1 though ,i cannot but mention them4 ,by the ,ascension ,christ begins to prepare a place for us4 ,how could any of us stand in the presence of that eternal ,light if ,he were not there8 ,we should be like some savage or rustic swept up suddenly and put down in the middle of the glittering ring of courtiers round a throne1 unless we could lift our eyes and recognise a known and loving face there4 ,where ,christ is1 ,i can be4 ,he has taken one human nature up into the ,glory1 and other human natures will therefore find in it a home4 ,the ascended ,christ1 to use the symbolism which one of the ,new ,testament writers employs for illustration of a thought far greater than the symbol--has like a ,high ,priest passed within the veil1 'there to appear in the presence of ,god for us4' ,and the intercession which is far more than petition1 and is the whole action of that dear ,lord who identifies as with ,himself1 and whose mighty work is ever present before the divine mind as an element in ,his dealings1 that intercession is being carried on for ever for us all4 ,so1 'set your affection on things above1 where ,christ is1 sitting at the right hand of ,god4' ,so1 expect ,his help in your work1 and do the work which ,he has left you to carry on here4 ,so1 face death and the dim kingdoms beyond1 without quiver and without doubt1 assured that where the treasure is1 there the heart will be also2 and that where the ,master is1 there the servants who follow in ,his steps will be also at last4 ,and now there is the third aspect here of ,,iii4 ,the ,ascension as being the pledge of the return4 ,the two men in white apparel that stood by gently rebuked the gazers for gazing into heaven4 ,they would not have rebuked them for gazing1 if they could have seen ,him1 but to look into the empty heaven was useless4 ,and they added the reason why the heavens need not be looked at1 as long as there is the earth to stand on3 ',for this same ,jesus whom ye have seen go into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen ,him go4' ,note the emphatic declaration of identity2 'this same ,jesus4' ,note the use of the simple human name2 'this same ,jesus1' and recall the thoughts that cluster round it1 of the ascended humanity1 and the perpetual humanity of the ascended ,lord1 'the same yesterday1 and to-day1 and for ever1' ,note also the strong assertion1 of visible1 corporeal return3 ',shall so come in like manner as ye have seen ,him go4' ,that return is no metaphor1 no mere piece of rhetoric1 it is not to be eviscerated of its contents by being taken as a synonym for the diffusion of ,his influence all over a regenerated race1 but it points to the return of the ,man ,jesus locally1 corporeally1 visibly4 ',we believe that ,thou shalt come to be our ,judge'2 we believe that ,thou wilt come to take ,thy servants home4 ,the world has not seen the last of ,jesus ,christ4 ,such an ,ascension1 after such a life1 cannot be the end of ,him4 ',as it is appointed unto all men once to die1 and after death the ,judgment1 so ,christ also1 having been once offered to bear the sins of many1 shall appear the second time1 without sin unto salvation4' ,as inevitably as for sinful human nature judgment follows death1 so inevitably for the sinless ,man1 who is the sacrifice for the world's sins1 ,his judicial return will follow ,his atoning work1 and ,he will come again1 having received the ,kingdom1 to take account of ,his servants1 and to perfect their possession of the salvation which by ,his ,incarnation1 ,passion1 ,resurrection1 and ,ascension1 ,he wrought for the world4 ,therefore1 brethren1 one sweet face1 and one great fact--the face of the ,christ1 the fact of the ,cross--should fill the past4 ,one sweet face1 one great fact--the face of the ,christ1 the fact of ,his ,presence with us all the days--should fill the present4 ,one regal face1 one great hope1 should fill the future2 the face of the ,king that sitteth upon the throne1 the hope that ,he will come again1 and 'so we shall be ever with the ,lord4' ,,end ,,of ,,vol4 ,,ii4