,transcribed from the #ahij ,macmillan and ,co4 edition by ,david ,price1 email ccx#jgdpglaf4org ,,sermons ,,on ,,national ,,subjects4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,by ,,charles ,,kingsley4 99 99 99 99 99 ,london3 ,,macmillan ,,and ,,co4 ,,and ,,new ,,york #ahij 99 99 99 99 99 ,first ,edition1 #ahhj4 ,reprinted1 #ahhf1 #ahij4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,contents4 ,,page ,,sermon ,i4 ,,the ,,king ,,of ,,the ,,earth #a ,,ii4 ,,holy ,,scripture #i ,,iii4 ,,the ,,kingdom ,,of ,,god #ag ,,iv4 ,a ,,preparation ,,for ,,christmas #ca ,v4 ,,christmas ,,day #dj ,,vi4 ,,true ,,abstinence #dg ,,vii4 ,,good ,,friday #ei ,,viii4 ,,easter ,,day #fg ,,ix4 ,,the ,,comforter #gf ,x4 ,,whit ,,sunday #he ,,xi4 ,,ascension ,,day #ii ,,xii4 ,,the ,,fount ,,of ,,science #aji ,,xiii4 ,,first ,,sermon ,,on ,,the ,,cholera #acd ,,xiv4 ,,second ,,sermon ,,on ,,the ,,cholera #add ,,xv4 ,,third ,,sermon ,,on ,,the ,,cholera #aec ,,xvi4 ,,on ,,the ,,day ,,of ,,thanksgiving #afd ,,xvii4 ,,the ,,covenant #age ,,xviii4 ,,national ,,rewards ,,and ,,punishments #ahd ,,xix4 ,,the ,,deliverance ,,of ,,jerusalem #aia ,,xx4 ,,profession ,,and ,,practice #aii ,,xxi4 ,,the ,,unfaithful ,,servant #baj ,,xxii4 ,,the ,,way ,,to ,,wealth #bba ,,xxiii4 ,,the ,,love ,,of ,,christ #bcj ,,xxiv4 ,,david',s ,,victory #bdb ,,xxv4 ,,david',s ,,education #bed ,,xxvi4 ,,the ,,value ,,of ,,law #bfe ,,xxvii4 ,,the ,,source ,,of ,,law #bge ,,xxviii4 ,,the ,,education ,,of ,a ,,heathen #bhg ,,xxix4 ,,jeremiah',s ,,calling #bih ,,xxx4 ,,the ,,perfect ,,king #cjf ,,xxxi4 ,,god',s ,,warnings #caf ,,xxxii4 ,,pharaoh',s ,,heart #cbe ,,xxxiii4 ,,the ,,red ,,sea ,,triumph #ccg ,,xxxiv4 ,,christmas ,,day #cdf ,,xxxv4 ,,new ,,year',s ,,day #ced ,,xxxvi4 ,,the ,,deluge #cfb ,,xxxvii4 ,,the ,,kingdom ,,of ,,god #cgc ,,xxxviii4 ,,the ,,light #chd ,,xxxix4 ,,the ,,unpardonable ,,sin #cie ,,xl4 ,,the ,,spirit ,,of ,,bondage #djc ,,xli4 ,,the ,,fall #dab ,,xlii4 ,,god',s ,,covenants #dbc ,,xliii4 ,,the ,,mystery ,,of ,,godliness #dcc ,,xliv4 ,,the ,,work ,,of ,,god',s ,,spirit #dde ,,xlv4 ,,the ,,gospel #dec ,,xlvi4 ,,god',s ,,way ,,with ,,man #dfc ,,xlvii4 ,,the ,,marriage ,,at ,,cana #dgd ,,xlviii4 ,,parable ,,of ,,the ,,lowest ,,place #dhb ,i4 ,,the ,,king ,,of ,,the ,,earth4 ,,first ,,sunday ,,in ,,advent4 ,preached in #ahdi4 ,behold1 thy ,king cometh unto thee4--,,matthew xxi4 #d4 ,,this ,sunday is the first of the four ,sundays in ,advent4 ,during those four ,sundays1 our forefathers have advised us to think seriously of the coming of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ--not that we should neglect to think of it at all times4 ,as some of you know1 ,i have preached to you about it often lately4 ,perhaps before the end of ,advent you will all of you1 more or less1 understand what all that ,i have said about the cholera1 and public distress1 and the sins of this nation1 and the sins of the labouring people has to do with the coming of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,but ,i intend1 especially in my next four sermons1 to speak my whole mind to you about this matter as far as ,god has shown it to me2 taking the ,collect1 ,epistle1 and ,gospels1 for each ,sunday in ,advent1 and explaining them4 ,i am sure ,i cannot do better2 for the more ,i see of those ,collects1 ,epistles1 and ,gospels1 and the way in which they are arranged1 the more ,i am astonished and delighted at the wisdom with which they are chosen1 the wise order in which they follow each other1 and fit into each other4 ,it is very fit1 too1 that we should think of our ,lord's coming at this season of the year above all others2 because it is the hardest season--the season of most want1 and misery1 and discontent1 when wages are low1 and work is scarce1 and fuel is dear1 and frosts are bitter1 and farmers and tradesmen1 and gentlemen1 too1 are at their wits' end to square their accounts1 and pay their way4 ,then is the time that the evils of society come home to us--that our sins1 and our sorrows1 which1 after all1 are the punishment of our sins1 stare us in the face4 ,then is the time1 if ever1 for men's hearts to cry out for a ,saviour1 who will deliver them out of their miseries and their sins2 for a ,heavenly ,king who will rule them in righteousness1 and do justice and judgment on the earth1 and see that those who are in need and necessity have right2 for a ,heavenly ,counsellor who will guide them into all truth--who will teach them what they are1 and whither they are going1 and what the ,lord requires of them4 ,i say the hard days of winter are a fit time to turn men's hearts to ,christ their ,king--the fittest of all times for a clergyman to get up in his pulpit1 as ,i do now1 and tell his people1 as ,i tell you1 that ,jesus ,christ your ,king has not forgotten you--that ,he is coming speedily to judge the world1 and execute justice and judgment for the meek of the earth4 ,now do not be in a hurry1 and fancy from what ,i have just said1 that ,i am one of those who think the end of the world is at hand4 ,it may be1 for aught ,i know4 8,of that day and that hour knoweth no man1 not even the angels of ,god1 nor the ,son1 but the ,father only40 ,if you wish for my own opinion1 ,i believe that what people commonly call the end of the world1 that is1 the end of the earth and of mankind on it1 is not at hand at all4 ,as far as ,i can judge from ,scripture1 and from the history of all nations1 the earth is yet young1 and mankind in its infancy4 ,five thousand years hence1 our descendants may be looking back on us as foolish barbarians1 in comparison with what they know3 just as we look back upon the ignorance of people a thousand years ago4 ,and yet ,i believe that the end of this world1 in the real ,scripture sense of the word 8world10 is coming very quickly and very truly--,the end of this system of society1 of these present ways in religion1 and money-making1 and conducting ourselves in all the affairs of life1 which we ,english people have got into nowadays4 ,the end of it is coming4 ,it cannot last much longer2 for it is destroying itself4 ,it will not last much longer2 for ,christ and not the devil is the ,king of the earth4 ,as ,st4 ,paul said to his people1 so say ,i to you1 8,the night is far spent1 the day is at hand40 ,these may seem strange words1 but almost every one is saying them1 in his own way4 ,one large party among religious people in these days is complaining that ,christ has left ,his ,church1 and that the cause of ,christianity will be ruined and lost1 unless some great change takes place4 ,another large party of religious people say1 that the prophecies are on the point of being all fulfilled that the #abfj days1 spoken of by the prophet ,daniel1 are just coining to an end2 and that ,christ is coming with ,his saints1 to reign openly upon earth for a thousand years4 ,the wisest philosophers and historians of late years have been all foretelling a great and tremendous change in ,england1 and throughout all ,europe2 and in the meantime1 manufacturers and landlords1 tradesmen and farmers1 artisans and labourers1 all say1 that there must be a change and will be a change4 ,i believe they are all right1 every one of them4 ,they put it in their words2 ,i think it better to put it in the ,scripture words1 and say boldly1 8,jesus ,christ1 the ,king of the earth1 is coming40 ,but you will ask1 8,what right have you to stand up and say anything so surprising80 ,my friends1 the world is full of surprising things1 and this age above all ages4 ,it was not sixty years ago1 that a nobleman was laughed at in the ,house of ,lords for saying that he believed that we should one day see ships go by steam2 and now there are steamers on every sea and ocean in the world4 ,who expected twenty years ago to see the whole face of ,england covered with these wonderful railroads8 ,who expected on the #bbnd of ,february last year1 that1 within a single month1 half the nations of ,europe1 which looked so quiet and secure1 would be shaken from top to bottom with revolution and bloodshed--kings and princes vanishing one after the other like a dream--poor men sitting for a day as rulers of kingdoms1 and then hurled down again to make room for other rulers as unexpected as themselves8 ,can anyone consider the last fifty years8--can anyone consider that one last year1 #ahdh1 and then not feel that we do live in a most strange and awful time8 a time for which nothing is too surprising--a time in which we all ought to be prepared1 from the least to the greatest1 to see the greatest horrors and the greatest blessings come suddenly upon us1 like a thief in the night8 ,so much for ,christ's coming being too wonderful a thing to happen just now4 ,still you are right to ask3 8,what do you mean by ,christ's being our ,king8 what do you mean by ,his coming to us8 ,what reason have you for supposing that ,he is coming now1 rather than at any other time8 ,and if ,he be coming1 what are we to do8 ,what is there we ought to repent of8 what is there we ought to amend80 ,well1 my friends--it is just these very questions which ,i hope and trust ,god will help me to answer to you1 in my next few sermons--,i am perfectly convinced that we must get them answered and act upon them speedily4 ,i am perfectly convinced that if we go on as most of us are going in ,england now1 the ,lord of us all will come in an hour when we are not aware1 and cut us asunder in the deepest and most real sense1 as ,he came and cut asunder ,france1 ,germany1 and ,austria only last year1 and appoint us our portion with the unbelievers4 ,and ,i believe that our punishment will be seven times as severe as that of either ,france1 ,germany1 or ,austria1 because we have had seven times their privileges and blessings1 seven times their ,gospel light and ,christian knowledge1 seven times their freedom and justice in laws and constitution2 seven times their wealth1 and prosperity1 and means of employing our population4 ,much has been given to ,england1 and of her much will be required4 ,and if you could only see the state of mankind over the greatest part of the globe1 how infinitely fewer opportunities they have of knowing ,god's will than you have1 you would feel that to you1 poor and struggling as some of you are--to you much has been given1 and of you much will be required4 ,now first1 what do ,i mean by ,christ being our king8 ,i daresay there are some among you who are inclined to think that1 when we talk of ,christ being a king1 that the word king means something very different from its common meaning--and1 ,god knows1 that that is true enough4 ,our blessed ,lord took care to make people understand that--how ,he was not like one of the kings of the nations1 how ,his kingdom was not of this world4 ,but yet the ,bible tells us again and again that all good kings1 all real kings1 are patterns of ,christ2 and1 therefore1 that when we talk of ,christ being a king1 we mean that ,he is a king in everything that a king ought to be2 that ,he fulfils perfectly all the duties of a king2 that ,he is the pattern which all kings ought to copy4 ,kings have been in all ages too apt to forget that1 and1 indeed1 so have the people too4 ,we ,english have forgotten most thoroughly in these days1 that ,christ is our king1 or even a king at all4 ,we talk of ,christ being a 8spiritual0 king1 and then we say that that merely means that ,he is king of ,christians' hearts4 ,and when anyone asks what that means1 it comes out1 that all we mean is1 that ,christ has a very great influence over the hearts of believing ,christians--when ,he can obtain it2 or else that it means that ,he is king of a very small number of people called the elect1 whom ,he has chosen out1 but that ,he has absolutely nothing to do with the whole rest of the world4 ,and then1 when anyone stands up with the ,bible in his hand1 and says1 in the plain words of ,scripture3 8,christ is not only the king of believers1 ,he is the king of the whole earth2 the king of the clouds and the thunder1 the king of the land and the cattle1 and the trees1 and the corn1 and to whomsoever ,he will ,he giveth them4 ,christ is not only the king of believers--,he is the king of all--the king of the wicked1 of the heathen1 of those who do not believe ,him1 who never heard of ,him4 ,christ is not only the king of a few individual persons1 one here and one there in every parish1 but ,he is the king of every nation4 ,he is the king of ,england1 by the grace of ,god1 just as much as ,queen ,victoria is1 and ten thousand times more40 ,if any man talks in this way1 people stare--think him an enthusiast--ask him what new doctrine this is1 and call his words unscriptural1 just because they come out of ,scripture and not out of men's perversions and twistings of ,scripture4 ,nevertheless ,christ is ,king2 really and truly ,king of ,kings and ,lord of ,lords2 and ,he will make men know it4 ,what ,he was1 that ,he is and ever will be2 there is no change in ,him2 ,his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom1 and ,his dominion endureth throughout all ages1 and woe unto those1 small or great1 who rebel against ,him6 ,but what sort of a king is ,he8 ,he is a king of law1 and order1 and justice4 ,he is not selfish1 fanciful1 self-willed4 ,he said himself that ,he came not to do ,his own will1 but ,his ,father's4 ,he is a king of gentleness and meekness too3 but do not mistake that4 ,there is no weak indulgence in ,him4 ,a man may be very meek1 and yet stern enough and strong enough4 ,moses was the meekest of men1 we read1 and yet ,he made those who rebelled against him feel that he was not to be trifled with4 ,korah1 ,dathan1 and ,abiram found that to their cost4 ,he would not even spare his own brother ,aaron1 his own sister ,miriam1 when they rebelled4 ,and he was right4 ,he showed his love by it2 indulgence is not love4 ,it is no sign of meekness1 but only of cowardice and carelessness1 to be afraid to rebuke sin4 ,moses knew that he was doing ,god's work1 that he was appointed to make a great nation of those slavish besotted ,jews1 his countrymen2 that he was sent by ,god with boundless blessings to them2 and woe to whoever hindered him from that4 ,because he loved the ,jews1 therefore he dared punish those who tempted them to forget the promised land of ,canaan1 or break ,god's covenant1 in which lay all their hope4 ,and such a one is our ,king1 my friends2 ,jesus ,christ the ,son of ,god4 ,like ,moses1 says ,st4 ,paul1 ,he is faithful in all ,his office4 ,therefore ,he is severe as well as gentle4 ,he was so when on earth4 ,with the poor1 the outcast1 the neglected1 those on whom men trampled1 who was gentler than the ,lord ,jesus8 ,to the proud ,pharisee1 the canting ,scribe1 the cunning ,herodian1 who was sterner than the ,lord ,jesus8 ,read that awful #bcrd chapter of ,st4 ,matthew1 and then see how the ,saviour1 the lamb dumb before ,his shearers1 ,he of whom it was said 8,he shall not strive nor cry1 nor shall ,his voice be heard in the streets0--how ,he could speak when ,he had occasion4 4 4 4 8,woe unto you ,scribes and ,pharisees1 hypocrites60 8,ye serpents1 ye generation of vipers1 how can ye escape the damnation of hell80 ,my friends1 those were the words of our ,king2 of ,him in whom was neither passion nor selfishness2 who loved us even to the death1 and endured for us the scourge1 the cross1 the grave4 ,and believe me1 such are ,his words now2 though we do not hear ,him1 the heaven and the earth hear ,him and obey ,him4 ,his message is pardon1 mercy1 deliverance to the sorrowful1 and the oppressed1 and the neglected2 and to the proud1 the tyrannical1 the self-righteous1 the hypocritical1 tribulation and anguish1 shame and woe4 ,because ,he is the ,saviour1 therefore ,he is a consuming fire to all those who try to hinder ,him from saving men4 ,because ,he is the ,son of ,god1 ,he will sweep out of ,his ,father's kingdom all who offend1 and whosoever maketh and loveth a lie4 ,because ,he is boundless mercy and love1 therefore ,he will show no mercy to those who try to stop ,his purposes of love4 ,because ,he is the ,king of men1 the enemies of mankind are ,his enemies2 and ,he will reign till ,he has put them all under ,his feet4 ,,ii4 ,,holy ,,scripture4 ,,second ,,sunday ,,in ,,advent4 ,whatsoever things were written aforetime1 were written for our example1 that we1 through patience and comfort of the ,scriptures1 might have hope4--,,romans xv4 #d4 8,,whatsoever was written aforetime40 ,there is no doubt1 ,i think1 that by these words ,st4 ,paul means the ,bible2 that is1 the ,old ,testament1 which was the only part of the ,bible already written in his time4 ,for it is of the ,psalms which he is speaking4 ,he mentions a verse out of the #fith ,psalm1 8,the reproaches of ,him that reproached thee fell on me20 which1 he says1 applies to ,christ just as much as it did to ,david1 who wrote it4 ,christ1 he says1 pleased not ,himself any more than ,david1 but suffered willingly and joyfully for ,god's sake1 because ,he knew that ,he was doing ,god's work4 ,and we1 he goes on to say1 must do the same2 do as ,christ did2 we must not please ourselves1 but every one of us please our brother for his good and edification2 that is1 in order to build him up1 strengthen him1 make him wiser1 better1 more comfortable4 ,for1 he says1 ,christ pleased not ,himself1 but like ,david1 lived only to help others2 and therefore this verse out of ,david's ,psalms1 8,the reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me10 is a lesson to us2 a pattern of what we ought to feel1 and do1 and suffer4 8,for whatsoever was written aforetime10 all these ancient psalms and prophets1 and histories of men and nations who trusted in ,god1 8were written for our example1 that we1 through patience and comfort of the ,scriptures1 might have hope40 ,yes1 my friends1 this is true2 and the longer you live a life of faith and godliness1 the longer you read and study that precious ,book of books which ,god has put so freely into your hands in these days1 the more true you will find it4 ,and if it was true of the ,old ,testament1 written before the ,lord came down and dwelt among men1 how much more must it be true of the ,new ,testament1 which was written after ,his coming by apostles and evangelists1 who had far fuller light and knowledge of the ,lord than ever ,david or the old prophets1 even in their happiest moments1 had4 ,ah1 what a treasure you have1 every one of you1 in those ,bibles of yours1 which too many of you read so little6 ,from the first chapter of ,genesis to the last of ,revelations1 it is all written for our example1 all profitable for teaching1 for reproof1 for correction1 for instruction in righteousness1 that the man of ,god may be perfect1 thoroughly furnished for all good works4 ,ah6 friends1 friends1 is not this the reason why so many of you do not read your ,bibles1 that you do not wish to be furnished for good works8--do not wish to be men of ,god1 godly and godlike men1 but only to be men of the world1 caring only for money and pleasure8--some of you1 alas6 not wishing to be men and women at all1 but only a sort of brute beasts with clothes on1 given up to filth and folly1 like the animals that perish1 or rather worse than the animals1 for they could be no better if they tried1 but you might be4 ,oh6 what might you not be1 what are you not already1 if you but knew it6 ,members of ,christ1 children of ,god1 heirs of the kingdom of heaven1 heirs of a hope undying1 pure1 that will never fade away1 having a right given you by the promise and oath of ,almighty ,god himself1 to hope for yourselves1 for your neighbours1 for this poor distracted world1 for ever and ever2 a right to believe that there is an everlasting day of justice1 and peace1 and happiness in store for the whole world1 and that you1 if you will1 may have your share in that glorious sunrise which shall never set again4 ,you may have your share in it1 each and every one of you2 and if you ask why1 go to the ,scriptures1 and there read the promises of ,god1 the grounds of your just hope1 for all heaven and earth4 ,first1 of hope for yourselves4--,i say first for yourselves1 not because a man is right in being selfish1 and caring only for his own soul1 but because a man must care for his own soul first1 if he ever intends to care for others2 a man must have hope for himself first1 if he is to have hope for others4 ,he may stop there1 and turn his religion into a selfish superstition1 and spend his life in asking all day long1 8,shall ,i be saved1 shall ,i be damned80 or worse still1 in chuckling over his own good fortune1 and saying to himself1 8,i shall be saved1 whoever else is damned20 but whether he ends there or not1 he must begin there2 begin by trying to get himself saved4 ,for if he does not know what is right and good for himself1 how can he tell what is right and good for others8 ,if he wishes to bring his neighbours out of their sins1 he must surely first have been brought out of his own sins1 and so know what forgiveness and sanctification means4 ,if he wishes to make others at peace with ,god1 he must first be at peace with ,god himself1 to know what ,god's peace is4 ,if he wants to teach others their duty1 he must first know his own duty1 for all men's duty is one and the same4 ,if he wishes to have hope for the world1 he must first have hope for himself1 for he is in the world1 a part of it1 and he must learn what blessings ,god intends for him1 and they will teach him what blessings ,god has in store for the earth4 ,faith and hope1 like charity1 must begin at home4 ,by learning the corruption of our own hearts1 we learn the corruption of human nature4 ,by learning what is the only medicine which can cure our own sick hearts1 we learn what is the only medicine which can cure human nature4 ,we learn by our own experience1 that ,god is all-forgiving love2 that ,his peace shines bright upon the soul which casts itself utterly on ,jesus ,christ the ,lord for pardon1 strength1 and safety2 that ,god's ,spirit is ready and able to raise us out of all our sin1 and sottishness1 and weakness1 and wilfulness1 and selfishness1 and renew us into quite new men1 different characters from what we used to be2 and so1 by having hope for ourselves1 we learn step by step and year by year to have hope for our friends1 for our neighbours1 and for the whole world4 ,for that is another great lesson which the ,bible teaches us--hope for the world4 ,men say to us1 8,this world has always gone on ill1 and will always go on so4 ,tyrants and knaves and hypocrites have always had the power in it2 idlers have always had the enjoyment of it2 while the humble1 and industrious1 and godly1 who would not foul their hands with the wicked ways of the world1 have been always laughed at1 neglected1 oppressed1 persecuted4 ,the world10 they say1 8is very bad1 and we cannot live in it without giving way a little to its badness1 and going the old road40 ,but he who1 through patience and comfort of the ,scriptures1 has hope1 can answer 8,yes--and yet no40 8,yes--we agree that the world has gone on badly enough3 perhaps we think the world worse than it thinks itself2 for ,god's ,spirit has taught us to see sin1 and shame1 and ruin1 in many a thing which the world thinks right and reasonable4 ,and yet10 says the true ,christian man1 8although we think the world worse than anyone else thinks it1 and are more unhappy than anyone else about all the sin1 and injustice1 and misery we see in it1 we have the very strongest faith--we are perfectly certain--we are as sure as if we saw it coming to pass here before us1 that the world will come right at last4 ,for the ,bible tells us that the ,son of ,god is the king of the world2 that ,he has been the master and ruler of it from the beginning4 ,he1 the ,bible tells us1 condescended to come down on earth and be born in the likeness of a poor man1 and die on the cross for this poor world of ,his1 that ,he might take away the sins of it40 8,behold the ,lamb of ,god10 said ,john the ,baptist1 8who takes away the sin of the world40 ,how dare we1 who call ourselves ,christians1 we who have been baptized into ,his name1 we who have tasted of ,his mercy1 we who know the might of ,his love1 the converting and renewing power of ,his ,spirit--how dare we doubt but that ,he will take away the sins of the world8 ,ay2 step by step1 nation by nation1 year by year1 the ,lord shall conquer2 love1 and justice1 and wisdom shall spread and grow2 for ,he must reign till ,he has put all enemies under ,his feet4 ,he has promised to take away the sins of the world1 and ,he is ,god1 and cannot lie4 ,there is the ,christian's hope3 let him leave infidels to say 8,the world always was bad1 and it must remain so to the end20 the ,christian ought to be able to answer1 8,the world was bad1 and is bad2 but for that very reason it will not remain so to the end3 for the ,lord and king of the earth is boundless love1 justice1 goodness itself1 and ,he will thoroughly purge ,his floor1 and cast out of ,his kingdom all things that offend1 and make in ,his good time the kingdoms of this world1 the kingdoms of ,god and of ,his ,christ40 8,ah but10 someone may say1 8that1 if it ever happens at all1 will not happen till we are dead1 and what part or lot shall we have in it8 we who die in the midst of all this sin1 and injustice1 and distress80 ,there again the ,bible gives us hope3 8,i believe10 says the ,creed1 8in the resurrection of the flesh40 ,the ,bible teaches us to believe1 that we1 each of us1 as human beings1 men and women1 shall have a share in that glorious day2 not merely as ghosts1 and disembodied spirits--of which the ,bible1 thanks be to ,god1 says little or nothing1 but as real live human beings1 with new bodies of our own1 on a new earth1 under a new heaven4 8,therefore10 says ,david1 8my flesh shall rest in hope20 not merely my soul1 my ghost1 but my flesh4 ,for the ,lord1 who not only died1 but rose again with ,his body1 shall raise our bodies1 according to the mighty working by which ,he subdues all things to ,himself2 and then the whole manhood of each of us1 body1 soul1 and spirit1 shall have one perfect consummation and bliss1 in ,his eternal and everlasting glory4--,that is our hope4 ,if that is not a gospel1 and good news from heaven to poor distressed creatures in hovels1 and on sick beds1 to people racked with life-long pain and disease1 to people in crowded cities1 who never from week's end to week's end look on the green fields and bright sky--if that is not good news1 and a dayspring of boundless hope from on high for them1 what news can be8 ,but how are we to get this hope8 ,the text tells us2 through comfort of the ,scriptures2 through the strengthening and comforting promises1 and examples1 and rules of ,god's gracious dealings which we find therein4 ,through comfort of the ,scriptures1 but also through patience4 ,ah1 my friends1 of that too we must think2 we must1 as ,st4 ,james says1 8let patience have her perfect work10 or else we shall not be perfect ourselves4 ,if we are hasty1 self-conceited1 covetous1 ready to help ourselves by the first means that come to hand2 if we are full of hard judgments about our neighbours1 and doubts about ,god's good purpose toward the world2 in short1 if we are not patient1 the ,bible will teach us little or nothing4 ,it may make us superstitious1 bigoted1 fanatical1 conceited1 pharisaical1 but like ,jesus ,christ the ,lord it will not make us1 unless we have patience4 ,and where are we to get patience8 ,god knows it is hard in such a world as this for poor creatures to be patient always4 ,but faith can breed patience1 though patience cannot breed itself2--and faith in whom8 ,faith in our ,father in heaven1 even in the ,almighty ,god ,himself4 ,he calls ,himself 8the ,god of ,patience and ,consolation40 ,pray for ,his ,holy ,spirit1 and ,he will make you patient2 pray for ,his ,holy ,spirit1 and ,he will console and comfort you4 ,he has promised ,that ,spirit of ,his1 ,the ,spirit of love1 trust1 and patience--,the ,comforter--to as many as ask ,him4 ,ask ,him now1 this day--come to ,his holy table this day1 and ask ,him to make you patient2 ask ,him to take all the hastiness1 and pride1 and ill-temper1 and self-will1 and greediness out of you1 and to change your wills into the likeness of ,his will4 ,then your eyes will be opened to understand ,his law4 ,then you will see in the ,scriptures a sure promise of hope and glory and redemption for yourself and all the world4 ,then you will see in the blessed sacrament of the ,lord's body and blood1 a sure sign and warrant1 handed down from land to land1 and age to age1 from year to year1 and from father to son1 that these promises shall come true2 that hope shall become fact2 that not one of the ,lord's words shall fail1 or pass away1 till all be fulfilled4 ,,iii4 ,,the ,,kingdom ,,of ,,god4 ,,third ,,sunday ,,in ,,advent4 ,the ,spirit of the ,lord is upon me because the ,lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek2 ,he has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted1 to proclaim liberty to the captives1 and the opening of the prison to them that are bound4--,,isaiah lxi4 #a4 ,,my friends1 ,i do entreat those of you who wish to get any real good from this sermon1 to listen to me carefully all through it4 ,not that ,i have to complain of you in general for not attending to me4 ,i thank ,god1 and thank you1 that you do listen to what is said in this pulpit4 ,but there are many people who have a bad trick of minding the preacher carefully enough for a minute or two1 and then letting their wits wander1 and think about something else2 and then if any word in the sermon strikes them1 waking up suddenly1 and thinking again for a little1 and then letting their thoughts run wild again2 and so on4 ,whereby it happens that they only recollect a few scraps of the sermon1 a word here1 and a sentence there1 and get into their heads all sorts of mistakes and false notions about the preacher's meaning4 ,that is not right2 that is not worthy of reasonable grown men3 that is only pardonable in little scatter-brained children4 ,men and women should listen steadily1 reverently throughout2 so1 and so only1 will they be able to judge of the message which the preacher brings them4 ,listen to me1 therefore1 all through this sermon1 and may ,god give you grace to understand it and lay it to heart1 for it is the good news of the kingdom of ,god4 ,you recollect1 ,i hope1 that ,i have often told you1 that the ,lord ,jesus ,christ's words would never pass away2 that ,his prophecies are continually coming true1 and being fulfilled over and over again4 ,now this text is not one of ,his prophecies1 but it is a prophecy about ,him2 one which ,he fulfilled1 and which ,he has been fulfilling again and again4 ,he is fulfilling it1 as ,i believe1 more than ever1 now in these very days4 ,if you will look at the #fast chapter of ,isaiah1 you will find this prophecy2 and you will find1 too1 what will surprise you at first1 that ,isaiah was speaking of himself4 ,he says1 8,that the ,spirit of the ,lord was upon him0--,isaiah--8because the ,lord had appointed him to preach good tidings to the meek1 to bind up the broken-hearted1 and deliverance to the captives1 to preach the acceptable year of the ,lord40 ,isaiah must have spoken truly about himself4 ,he could not have meant to tell a falsehood1 to say a thing was true of himself which was only true of ,jesus1 who did not come till #hjj years afterwards4 ,and he did speak the truth3 you cannot read his prophecies without seeing that the ,spirit of the ,lord was indeed upon him2 that the words which he spoke must have comforted all those who were sorrowing for their sins and the sins of the nation in their time4 ,we know1 for a fact1 that his prophecies came true2 that the ,jewish captives were delivered and brought back out of ,juda to ,jerusalem again1 and that ,jerusalem was rebuilt as ,isaiah prophesied1 and the ,jewish nation raised to far greater holiness1 and prosperity1 and happiness than it had ever been in before4 ,and yet #hjj years afterwards the ,lord took those very same words to ,himself1 and said1 that ,he fulfilled them4 ,he read them aloud once in a ,jewish synagogue1 out of the book of the prophet ,isaiah2 and then told the congregation1 8,this day is the ,scripture fulfilled in your ears40 ,and again1 as we read in the ,gospel for this day1 when ,john the ,baptist sent to ask ,him if ,he was really the ,christ1 ,he made use of another prophecy of ,isaiah1 and told ,john's disciples that ,he was the ,christ1 because ,he was fulfilling that prophecy2 because ,he was making the deaf hear1 and the blind see1 and preaching the gospel to the poor4 ,now1 how is that8 ,could ,isaiah be right in applying those words to himself1 and yet ,christ be right in applying them to ,himself8 ,can a prophecy be fulfilled twice over8 ,no doubt it can1 my friends1 and two hundred times over4 ,no prophecy of ,scripture is of private interpretation1 says ,st4 ,peter4 ,that is1 it does not apply to any one private1 particular thing that is to happen4 ,every prophecy of ,scripture goes on fulfilling itself more and more1 as time rolls on and the world grows older4 ,st4 ,peter tells us the reason why4 ,no prophecy of ,scripture is of private interpretation2 because it does not come from the will of man1 from any invention or discovery of poor short-sighted human beings1 who can only judge by what they see around them in their own times3 but holy men of old spoke as they were moved by the ,holy ,spirit4 ,and who is the ,holy ,spirit8 ,the ,spirit of ,god2 the everlasting ,spirit2 the ,spirit who cannot change1 for ,he is ,god4 ,the ,spirit who searcheth the deep things of ,god1 and teaches them to men4 ,and what are the deep things of ,god8 ,they are eternal as ,god is4 ,eternal laws2 everlasting rules which cannot alter4 ,that is the meaning of it all4 ,the ,spirit of ,god is the ,spirit which teaches men the laws of ,god2 the unchangeable rules and ordinances by which ,he governs all heaven and earth1 and men1 and nations2 the laws which come into force1 not once only1 but always2 the laws of ,god which are working round us now1 just as much as they were eighteen hundred years ago1 just as much as they were in ,isaiah's time4 ,therefore it is1 that ,i said that these old ,jewish prophecies1 which were inspired by the ,holy ,spirit1 are coming true now1 and will keep on coming true1 time after time1 in their proper place and order1 and whensoever the times are fit for them1 even to the end of the world4 ,but again1 we read that the ,spirit of ,god takes of the things of ,christ1 and shows them unto us4 ,and what are the things of ,christ8 ,they must be eternal things1 unchangeable things1 for ,christ is unchangeable--,jesus ,christ1 the same yesterday1 to-day1 and for ever4 ,he is over all1 ,god blessed for ever4 ,to ,him all power is given in heaven and earth4 ,he reigns1 and ,he will reign4 ,do you think ,he is less a ,saviour now1 than ,he was when ,he spoke those things to ,john's disciples8 ,do you think ,he is less able to hear and to help than ,he was in ,john's time8 ,do you think ,he used to care about people's bodies then1 but that ,he only cares about their souls now8 ,do you think that ,he is less compassionate1 and less merciful1 as well as less powerful1 than ,he was when ,he made the blind see1 and the lame walk1 and the deaf hear1 in ,juda of old8 ,less powerful6 less compassionate6 ,one would have expected that ,christ was more powerful1 more compassionate1 if that were possible4 ,at least one would expect that ,his power and compassion would show itself more and more1 and make itself felt more and more1 year by year1 and age by age2 more and more healing disease2 more and more comforting sorrow2 more and still more casting out cunning and evil spirits1 till ,he had put all under ,his feet4 ,he ,himself said it should be so4 ,he always spoke of ,his own kingdom as a thing which was to grow and increase by laws of its own1 men knew not how1 but ,he knew4 ,like seed cast into the ground1 ,his kingdom was1 ,he said1 at first the smallest of all seeds2 but it was to grow1 and take root1 and spread into a mighty tree1 ,he said1 till the very birds in the air lodged in the branches of it2 and ,david's words should be fulfilled1 8,thou1 ,lord1 shalt save both man and beast40 ,and does not ,st4 ,paul speak of ,his kingdom in the same way1 as a kingdom which should grow8 that ,he was to reign till ,he had put all enemies under ,his feet8 that ,he would deliver at last the whole creation8 the earth on which we stand1 the dumb animals around us8 ,for1 as ,st4 ,paul says1 the whole creation is groaning in labour-pangs1 waiting to be raised into a higher state4 ,and it shall be raised4 ,the whole creation shall be set free into the glorious liberty of the children of ,god4 ,what does that mean8 ,how can ,i tell you8 ,this ,i can tell you1 that it cannot mean that ,jesus ,christ was merciful enough to heal people's bodies at first1 but that ,he has given up doing it now1 and will never do it again4 8,well1 but10 some would say1 8what does all this come to8 ,you are merely telling us what we knew before--that if any of us are cured from disease1 or raised up from a sick bed1 it is all the ,lord's doing40 ,if you do believe that1 really1 my friends1 happy are you6 ,many of you1 ,i think1 do believe it4 ,the poor are more inclined to believe it1 ,i think1 than the rich4 ,but even in the mouths of the poor one often hears words which make one suspect that they do not believe it4 ,i am very much afraid that a great many have got into the trick of saying that it was ,god's mercy that they were cured1 and that it pleased the ,lord to raise them up from a sick bed1 very much as a piece of cant4 ,they say the words by rote1 because they have been accustomed to hear them said by others1 without thinking of the meaning of them2 just as1 on the other hand1 a great many people curse and swear without thinking of the awful oaths they use4 ,ay1 and often enough the very same persons will say that it was the ,lord's mercy they were cured of their sickness2 and then1 if they get into a passion1 pray the very same ,lord to do that to the bodies and souls of their neighbours which it is a shame to speak of here4 ,out of the same mouth proceed blessings and cursings3 showing that whether or not they are in earnest in cursing1 they are not earnest in blessing4 ,again3 ,if people really believed that it was the ,lord ,jesus ,christ who cured their sicknesses for them1 they would behave1 when they got well1 more as the ,lord ,jesus ,christ would wish them to behave4 ,they would show forth their thankfulness not only with their lips1 but in their lives4 ,you who believe--you who say--that ,christ has cured your sicknesses1 show your faith by your works4 ,live like those who are alive again from the dead2 who are not your own1 but bought with a price1 and bound to work for ,god with your bodies and your spirits1 which are ,his--then1 and then only1 can either ,god or man believe you4 ,again3 ,there is a third reason which makes one suspect that people do not mean what they say about this matter4 ,i think too many say1 8,it has pleased ,god10 merely as an empty form of words1 when all they mean is1 8,what must be1 must1 and it cannot be helped40 ,else1 why do they say1 8,it has pleased the ,lord to send me sickness80 ,what is the use of saying1 8,it has pleased the ,lord to cure me10 when you say in the same breath1 8,it has pleased the ,lord to make me ill80 ,i know you will say that1 8,of course1 whatever happens must be the ,lord's will2 if it did not please ,him it would not happen40 ,i do not care for such words2 ,i will have nothing to do with them4 ,i will neither entangle you nor myself in those endless disputings and questions about freewill and necessity1 which never yet have come to any conclusion1 and never will1 because they are too deep for poor short-sighted human beings like us4 8,to the law and to the testimony10 say ,i4 ,i will hold to the words of the ,bible2 what it says1 ,i will say2 what it does not say ,i will not say1 to please any man's system of doctrines4 ,and ,i say from the ,bible that we have no more right to say1 8,it has pleased the ,lord to make me sick10 than1 8,it has pleased the ,lord to make me a sinner40 ,scripture everywhere speaks of sickness as a real evil and a curse--a breaking of the health1 and order1 and strength1 and harmony of ,god's creation4 ,it speaks of madmen as possessed with evil spirits2 did that please ,god8 ,the woman who was bowed with a spirit of infirmity1 and could not lift herself up--did our ,lord say that it had pleased ,god to make her a wretched cripple8 ,no2 he spoke of her as this daughter of ,israel1 whom ,satan had bound1 and not ,god1 this eighteen years2 and that was ,his reason for healing her1 even on the sabbath-day1 because her disease was not the work of ,god1 but of the cruel1 disordering1 destroying evil spirit which is at enmity with ,god4 ,that was why ,christ cured her4 ,and that--for this is the point ,i have been coming to1 step by step--that was the reason why1 when ,john the ,baptist sent to ask if ,jesus was the ,christ1 our ,lord answered3 8,go and show ,john again those things which ye do see and hear3 the blind receive their sight1 and the lame walk1 the lepers are cleansed1 and the deaf hear1 the dead are raised up1 and the poor have the gospel preached to them40 ,do not be in a hurry1 my friends1 and suppose that our ,lord meant merely3 8,tell ,john what wonderful miracles ,i am working40 ,if ,he had meant that why would ,he have put in as the last proof that ,he was the ,christ1 that ,he was preaching the gospel to the poor8 ,what wonderful miracle was there in that8 ,no3 it was as if ,he had said3 8,go and tell ,john that ,i am the ,christ1 because ,i am the great physician1 the healer and deliverer of body and soul3 one who will and can cure the loathsome diseases1 the uselessness1 the misery1 the ignorance of the poorest and meanest40 ,he has proved ,himself the ,christ by showing not only ,his boundless power1 but ,his boundless love and mercy2 and that1 not only to men's souls1 but to their bodies also4 ,to prove ,himself the ,christ by wonderful and astonishing miracles was exactly what ,he would not do4 ,he refused1 when the ,scribes and ,pharisees came and asked of ,him a sign from heaven to prove that ,he was ,christ--wanting ,him1 ,i suppose1 to bring some apparition1 or fiery comet1 or great voice out of the sky1 to astonish them with ,his power2 ,he told them peremptorily that ,he would give them no such thing3 and yet ,he said that ,his mighty works did prove ,him to be ,christ2 ,he pronounced woe against ,chorazin and ,bethsaida for not believing ,him on account of ,his mighty works3 ,he told the ,scribes and ,pharisees that they ought to believe on ,him merely for ,his works' sake4 ,and why would they not believe on ,him8 ,just because they could not see that ,god's power was shown more in healing and delivering sufferers1 than in astonishing and destroying4 ,they could not see that ,god's perfect likeness shone out in ,christ--that ,he was the express image of the ,father1 just because ,he went about doing good1 and healing all manner of sicknesses and all manner of infirmities among the people4 ,but so it is1 my friends6 ,jesus is the ,saviour1 the deliverer1 the great physician1 the healer of soul and body4 ,not a pang is felt or a tear shed on earth1 but ,he sorrows over it4 ,not a human being on earth dies young1 but ,he1 as ,i believe1 sorrows over it4 ,what it is which prevents ,him healing every sickness1 soothing every sorrow1 wiping away every tear now1 we cannot tell4 ,but this we can tell1 that it is ,his will that none should perish4 ,this we can tell2 that ,he is willing as ever to heal the sick1 to cleanse the leper1 to cast out devils1 to teach the ignorant1 to bind up the broken-hearted4 ,this we can tell2 that ,he will go on doing so more and more1 year by year1 and age by age4 ,this we can tell1 from ,scripture1 that ,christ is stronger than the devil4 ,this we can tell2 that ,christ1 and all good men1 the spirits of just men made perfect1 the wise and the great in ,god's sight1 who have left us their books1 their sayings1 their writings1 as precious health-giving heirlooms--have been fighting1 and are fighting1 and will fight to the end against the devil1 and sin1 and oppression1 and misery1 and disease1 and everything which spoils and darkens the face of ,god's good earth4 ,and this we can tell2 that they will conquer at the last1 because ,christ is stronger than the devil2 good is stronger than evil2 light is stronger than darkness2 ,god's ,spirit1 the giver of life1 and health1 and order1 is stronger than all the evil customs1 and ignorance1 and carelessness1 and cruelty1 and superstition1 which makes miserable the lives and1 as far as we can see1 destroys the souls of thousands4 ,yes1 ,i say1 ,christ's kingdom is a kingdom of health and deliverance for body and soul2 and it will conquer1 and it will spread1 and it will grow1 till the nations of the world have become the kingdoms of ,god and of ,his ,christ4 ,christ reigns1 and ,christ will reign till ,he has put all ,his enemies under ,his feet2 and the last of ,his enemies which shall be destroyed is ,death4 ,death is ,his enemy4 ,he has conquered death by rising from the dead4 ,and the day will come when death will be no more--when sickness and sorrow shall be unknown1 and ,god shall wipe away tears from all eyes4 ,i say it again--never forget it--,christ is ,king1 and ,his kingdom is a kingdom of health1 and life1 and deliverance from all evil4 ,it always has been so1 from the first time our ,lord cured the leper in ,galilee2 it will be so to the end of the world4 ,and1 therefore--to come back to the very place from which ,i started at the beginning of my sermon--therefore1 whenever one of the days of the ,lord is at hand1 whenever ,god's kingdom makes a great step forward1 this same prophecy in our text is fulfilled in some striking and wonderful way4 ,and ,i say it is fulfilled now in these days more than it ever has been4 ,christ is healing the sick1 cleansing the leper1 giving sight to the blind1 raising the dead1 and preaching the gospel to the poor1 seven times more in these days in which we live than ,he did when ,he walked upon earth in ,juda4 ,do you doubt my words8 ,at all events you confess that the cure of all diseases comes from ,christ4 ,then consider1 ,i beseech you1 how many more diseases are cured now than were formerly4 ,one may say that the knowledge of medicine is not one hundred years old4 ,nothing1 my friends1 makes me feel more strongly what a wonderful and blessed time we live in1 and how ,christ is showing forth mighty works among us1 than this same sudden miraculous improvement in the art of healing1 which has taken place within the memory of man4 ,any country doctor now knows more1 thank ,god1 or ought to know1 than the greatest ,london physicians did two generations ago4 ,new cures for deafness1 blindness1 lameness1 every disease that flesh is heir to1 are being discovered year by year4 ,oh1 my friends6 you little know what ,christ is doing among you1 for your bodies as well as for your souls4 ,there is not a parish in ,england now in which the poorest as well as the richest are not cured yearly of diseases1 which1 if they had lived a hundred years ago1 would have killed them without hope or help4 ,and then1 when one looks at these great and blessed plans for what is called sanitary reform1 at the sickness and the misery which has been done away with already by attending to them1 even though they have only just begun to be put in practice--our hearts must be hard indeed if we do not feel that ,christ is revealing to us the gifts of healing far more bountifully and mercifully than even ,he did to the first apostles4 ,but you will say1 perhaps1 the dead are not raised in these days4 ,oh1 my friends6 which shows ,christ's mercy most1 to raise those who are already dead1 or to save those alive who are about to die8 ,those in this church who have read history know as well as ,i1 how in our forefathers' time people died in ,england by thousands of diseases which are scarcely ever deadly now2 ay1 of diseases which have now actually vanished out of the land1 before the new light of medicine and of civilisation which ,christ has revealed to us in these days4 ,for one child who lived and grew up in old times1 two live and grow up now4 ,in ,london alone there are not half as many deaths in proportion to the number of people as there were a hundred years ago4 ,and is not that a mightier work of ,christ's power and love than if ,he had raised a few dead persons to life8 ,and now for the last part of our ,lord's witness about ,himself4 ,to the poor the gospel is preached4 ,oh6 my friends1 is not that coming true in our days as it never came true before8 ,look back only fifty years1 and consider the difference between the doctrines which were preached to the poor and the doctrines which are preached to them now4 ,look round you and see how everywhere earnest and godly ministers have sprung up1 of all sects and opinions1 as well as of the ,church of ,england1 not only to preach the gospel in the pulpit1 but to carry it to the sick bedside of the lonely cottage1 to the prison1 and to those fearful sties1 worse than prisons1 where in our great cities the heathen poor live crowded together4 ,look at the teaching which the poor man can get now1 compared to what he used to--the sermons1 the ,bibles1 the tracts1 the lending libraries1 the schools--just consider the hundreds of thousands of pounds which are subscribed every year to educate the children of the poor1 and then say whether ,christ is not working a mighty work among us in these days4 ,i know that not half as much is done as ought to be done in that way2 not half as much as will be done2 and what is done will have to be done better than it has been done yet2 but still1 can anyone in this church who is fifty years old deny that there is a most enormous and blessed improvement which is growing and spreading every year8 ,can anyone deny that the gospel is preached to the poor now in a way that it never was before within the memory of man8 ,now1 recollect that this is an ,advent sermon--a sermon which proclaims to you that ,christ is come2 yes1 ,he is come--come never to leave mankind again6 ,christ reigns over the earth1 and will reign for ever4 ,at certain great and important times in the world's history1 like this present time1 times which ,he ,himself calls 8days of the ,lord10 ,he shows forth ,his power1 and the mightiness and mercy of ,his kingdom1 more than at others4 ,but still ,he is always with us2 we have no need to run up and down to look for ,christ3 to say1 ,who shall ascend into heaven to bring ,him down8 ,who shall descend into the deep to bring ,him up8 ,for the kingdom of ,god1 as ,he told us ,himself1 is among us1 and within us4 ,yes1 within us4 ,all these wonderful improvements and discoveries1 all things beneficial to men which are found out year by year1 though they seem to be of men's invention1 are really of ,christ's revealing1 the fruits of the kingdom of ,god within us1 of the ,spirit of ,god1 who is teaching men1 though they too often will not believe it2 though they disclaim ,god's ,spirit and take all the glory to themselves4 ,truly ,christ is among us2 and our eyes are held1 and we see ,him not4 ,that is our ,english sin--the sin of unbelief1 the root of every other sin4 ,christ works among us1 and we will not own ,him4 ,truly1 ,jesus ,christ may well say of us ,english at this day1 ,there were ten cleansed1 but where are the nine8 ,how few are there1 who return to give glory to ,god6 ,oh1 consider what ,i say2 the kingdom of ,god is among us now2 its blessings are growing richer1 fuller among us every day4 ,beware1 lest if we refuse to acknowledge that kingdom and ,christ the ,king of it1 it be taken away from us1 and given to some other nation1 who will bring forth the fruits of it1 fellow-help and brotherly kindness1 purity and sobriety1 and all the fruits of the ,spirit of ,god4 ,,iv4 ,a ,,preparation ,,for ,,christmas4 ,,fourth ,,sunday ,,in ,,advent4 ,rejoice in the ,lord always4--,,philippians iv4 #d4 ,,this is the beginning of the ,epistle for to-day1 the ,sunday before ,christmas4 ,we will try to find out why it was chosen for to-day1 and what lesson we may learn from it4 ,now ,christmas-time was always a time of rejoicing among many heathen nations1 and long before the ,lord ,jesus ,christ came4 ,that was natural and reasonable enough1 if you will consider it4 ,for now the shortest day is past4 ,the sun is just beginning to climb higher and higher in the sky each day1 and bring back with him longer sunshine1 and shorter darkness1 and spring flowers1 and summer crops1 and a whole new year1 with new hopes1 new work1 new lessons1 new blessings4 ,the old year1 with all its labours and all its pleasures1 and all its sorrows and all its sins1 is dying1 all but gone4 ,it lies behind us1 never to return4 ,the tears which we shed1 we never can shed again4 ,the mistakes we made1 we have a chance of mending in the year to come4 ,and so the heathens felt1 and rejoiced that another year was dying1 another year going to be born4 ,and ,christmas was a time of rejoicing too1 because the farming work was done4 ,the last year's crop was housed2 the next year's wheat was sown2 the cattle were safe in yard and stall2 and men had time to rest1 and draw round the fire in the long winter nights1 and make merry over the earnings of the past year1 and the hopes and plans of the year to come4 ,and so over all this northern half of the world ,christmas was a merry time4 ,but the poor heathens did not know the ,lord4 ,they did not know who to thank for all their ,christmas blessings4 ,and so some used to thank the earth for the crops1 and the sun for coming back again to lengthen the days1 as if the earth and sun moved of themselves4 ,and some used to thank false gods and ancient heroes1 who1 perhaps1 never really lived at all4 ,and some1 perhaps the greater number1 thanked nothing and no one1 but just enjoyed themselves1 and took no thought1 as too many do now at ,christmas-time4 ,so the world went on1 ,christmas after ,christmas2 and the times of that ignorance1 as ,st4 ,paul says1 ,god winked at4 ,but when the fulness of time was come1 ,he sent forth ,his ,son1 made of a woman1 to be the judge and ruler of the world2 and commanded all men everywhere to repent1 and turn from all their vanities to serve the living ,god1 who had made heaven and earth1 and all things in them4 ,he did not wish them to give up their ,christmas mirth4 ,no3 all along ,he had been trying to teach them by it about ,his love to them4 ,as ,st4 ,paul told them once1 ,god had not left ,himself without witness1 in that ,he gave them rain and fruitful seasons1 filling their hearts with joy and gladness4 ,god did not wish them1 or us1 to give up ,christmas mirth4 ,the apostles did not wish it4 ,the great men1 true followers of the apostles1 who shaped our ,prayer-book for us1 and sealed it with their life-blood1 did not wish it4 ,they did not wish farmers1 labourers1 servants1 masters1 to give up one of the old ,christmas customs2 but to remember who made ,christmas1 and its blessings2 in short1 to rejoice in ,the ,lord4 ,our forefathers had been thanking the wrong persons for ,christmas4 ,henceforward we were to thank the right person1 ,the ,lord1 and rejoice in ,him4 ,our forefathers had been rejoicing in the sun1 and moon1 and earth2 in wise and valiant kings who had lived ages before2 in their own strength1 and industry1 and cunning4 ,now they were to rejoice in ,him who made sun1 and moon1 and earth2 in ,him who sent wise and valiant kings and leaders2 in ,him who gives all strength1 and industry1 and cunning2 by whose inspiration comes all knowledge of agriculture1 and manufacture1 and all the arts which raise men above the beasts that perish4 ,so their ,christmas joys were to go on1 year by year while the world lasted3 but they were to go on rightly1 and not wrongly4 ,men were to rejoice in ,the ,lord1 and then ,his blessing would be on them1 and the thanks and praise which they offered ,him1 ,he would return with interest1 in fresh blessings for the coming year4 ,therefore1 ,i think1 this ,epistle was chosen for to-day1 the ,sunday before ,christmas1 to show us in whom we are to rejoice2 and1 therefore1 to show us how we are to rejoice4 ,for we must not take the first verse of the ,epistle and forget the rest4 ,that would neither be wise nor reverent toward ,st4 ,paul1 who wrote the whole1 and meant the whole to stand together as one discourse2 or to the blessed and holy men who chose it for our lesson on this day4 ,let us go on1 then1 with the ,epistle1 line by line1 throughout4 8,rejoice in the ,lord always1 and again ,i say1 rejoice40 ,as much as to say1 you cannot rejoice too much1 you cannot overdo your happiness1 thankfulness1 merriment4 ,you do not know half--no1 not the thousandth part of ,god's love and mercy to you1 and you never will know4 ,so do not be afraid of being too happy1 or think that you honour ,god by wearing a sour face1 when ,he is heaping blessings on you1 and calling on you to smile and sing4 ,but 8let your moderation be known unto all men40 ,there is a right and a wrong way of being merry4 ,there is a mirth1 which is no mirth2 whereof it is written1 in the midst of that laughter there is a heaviness1 and the end thereof is death4 ,drunkenness1 gluttony1 indecent words and jests and actions1 these are out of place on ,christmas-day1 and in the merriment to which the pure and holy ,lord ,jesus calls you all4 ,they are rejoicing in the flesh and the devil1 and not in the ,lord at all2 and whosoever indulges in them1 and fancies them merriment1 is keeping the devil's ,christmas1 and not ,jesus ,christ's4 ,so let your moderation be known to all men4 ,be merry and wise4 ,the fool lets his mirth master him1 and carry him away1 till he forgets himself1 and says and does things of which he is ashamed when he gets up next morning1 sick and sad at heart4 ,the wise man remembers that1 let the occasion be as joyful a one as it may1 8the ,lord is at hand40 ,christ's eye is on him1 while he is eating1 and drinking1 and laughing4 ,he is not afraid of ,christ's eye1 because1 though it is ,divine it is a human1 loving1 smiling eye2 rejoicing in the happiness of ,his poor1 hard-worked brothers here below4 ,but he remembers that it is a holy eye1 too2 an eye which looks with sadness and horror on anything which is wrong2 on all drunkenness1 quarrelling1 indecency2 and so on in all his merriment1 he is still master of himself4 ,he remembers that his soul is nobler than his body2 that his will must be stronger than his appetite2 and so he keeps himself in check2 he keeps his tongue from evil1 and his stomach from sottishness1 and though he may be1 and ought to be1 the merriest of the whole party1 yet he takes care to let his moderation1 his sobriety1 be known and plain to everyone1 remembering that the ,lord is at hand4 ,and that man--,i will stand surety for him--will be the one who will rise from his bed next morning1 best able to carry out the next verse of the ,epistle1 and 8be careful for nothing40 ,now that is no easy matter here in ,england2 to rich and poor1 ,christmas is the time for settling accounts and paying debts4 ,and therefore in ,england1 where living is dear1 and everyone1 more or less1 struggling to pay his way1 ,christmas is often a very anxious1 disturbing time of year4 ,many a family1 for all their economy1 cannot clear themselves at the year's end2 and though they are able to forget that now and then1 thank ,god1 through great part of the year1 yet they cannot forget it at ,christmas4 ,but1 as ,i said1 the man who at ,christmas-time will be most able to be careful for nothing1 will be the man whose moderation has been known to everyone2 for he will1 if he has lived the year through in the same temper in which he has spent ,christmas1 have been moderate in his expenses2 he will have kept himself from empty show1 and pretending to be richer than he is4 ,he will have kept himself from throwing away his money in drink1 and kept his daughters from throwing away money in dress1 which is just what too many1 in their foolish1 godless1 indecent hurry to get rid of their own children off their hands do not do4 ,and he will be the man who will be in the best humour1 and have the clearest brain1 to kneel down when he gets up to his daily work1 and 8in everything1 by prayer and supplication1 make his requests known to ,god40 ,and then1 whether he can make both ends meet or not1 whether he can begin next year free from debt or not1 still 8the peace of ,god will keep his heart40 ,he may be unable to clear himself1 but still he will know that he has a loving and merciful ,father in heaven1 who has allowed distress and difficulty to come on him only as a lesson and an education4 ,that this distress came because ,god chose1 and that when ,god chooses it will go away--and that till then--considering that the ,lord ,god sent it--it had better not go away4 ,he will believe that ,god's gracious promises stand true--that the ,lord will never let those who trust in ,him be confounded and brought to shame--that ,he will let none of us be tempted beyond what we are able1 but will always with the temptation make a way for us to escape1 that we may be able to bear it4 ,and so the peace of ,god which passes understanding1 will keep that man's mind4 ,and in whom8 8,in ,jesus ,christ40 ,now what did ,st4 ,paul mean by putting in the ,lord ,jesus ,christ's name there8 what is the meaning of 8in ,jesus ,christ08 ,this is what it means2 it means what ,christmas-day means4 ,a man may say1 8,your sermon promises fine things1 but ,i am miserable and poor2 it promises a holy and noble rejoicing to everyone1 but ,i am unholy and mean4 ,it promises peace from ,god1 and ,i am sure ,i am not at peace3 ,i am always fretting and quarrelling2 ,i quarrel with my wife1 my children1 and my neighbours1 and they quarrel with me2 and worst of all10 says the poor man1 8,i quarrel with myself4 ,i am full of discontented1 angry1 sulky1 anxious1 unhappy thoughts2 my heart is dark and sad and restless within me--would ,god ,i were peaceful1 but ,i am not3 look in my face and see60 ,true1 my friend1 but on ,christmas-day the ,son of ,god was born into the world1 a man like you4 8,well10 says the poor man1 8but what has that to do with my anxiety and my ill-temper80 ,it would take the whole year through1 my friend1 to show you all that it has to do with you and your unhappiness4 ,all the ,lessons1 ,epistles1 and ,gospels of the year are set out to show you what it has to do with you4 ,but in the meanwhile1 before ,christmas-day comes1 consider this one thing3 ,why are you anxious8 ,because you do not know what is to happen to you8 ,then ,christmas-day is a witness to you1 that whatsoever happens to you1 happens to you by the will and rule of ,jesus ,christ1 ,the perfect man2 think of that4 ,the perfect man--who understands men's hearts and wants1 and all that is good for them1 and has all the wisdom and power to give us what is good1 which we want ourselves4 ,and what makes you unhappy1 my friends8 ,is it not at heart just this one thing--you are unhappy because you are not pleased with yourselves8 ,and you are not pleased with yourselves because you know you ought not to be pleased with yourselves2 and you know you ought not to be pleased with yourselves1 because you know1 in the bottom of your hearts1 that ,god is not pleased with you8 ,what cure1 what comfort for such thoughts can we find8--,this4 ,the child who was born in a manger on ,christmas-day1 and grew up in poverty1 and had not where to lay his head1 went through all shame and sorrow to which man is heir4 ,he1 ,jesus1 the poor child of ,bethlehem1 is ,lord and ,king of heaven and earth4 ,he will feel for us2 ,he will understand our temptations2 ,he has been poor himself1 that ,he might feel for the poor2 ,he has been evil spoken of1 that ,he might feel for those whose tempers are sorely tried4 ,he bore the sins and felt the miseries of the whole world1 that ,he might feel for us when we are wearied with the burden of life1 and confounded by the remembrance of our own sins4 ,oh1 my friends1 consider only ,who was born into the world on ,christmas-day2 and that thought alone will be enough to fill you with rejoicing and hope for yourselves and all the world1 and with the peace of ,god which passes understanding1 the peace which the angels proclaimed to the shepherds on the first ,christmas night--8,on earth peace1 and good will toward men0--and if ,god wills us good1 my friend2 what matter who wishes us evil8 ,v4 ,,christmas-,,day4 ,he made ,himself of no reputation1 and took upon ,him the form of a slave4--,,philippians ii4 #g4 ,,on ,christmas-day1 #ahea years ago1 if we had been at ,rome1 the great capital city1 and mistress of the whole world1 we should have seen a strange sight--strange1 and yet pleasant4 ,all the courts of law were shut2 no war was allowed to be proclaimed1 and no criminals punished4 ,the sorrow and the strife of that great city had stopped1 in great part1 for three days1 and all people were giving themselves up to merriment and good cheer--making up quarrels1 and giving and receiving presents from house to house4 ,and we should have seen1 too1 a pleasanter sight than that4 ,for those three days of ,christmas-time were days of safety and merriment for the poor slaves--tens of thousands of whom--men1 women1 and children--the ,romans had brought out of all the countries in the world--many of our forefathers and mothers among them--and kept them there in cruel bondage and shame1 worked and fed1 bought and sold1 like beasts1 and not like human beings1 not able to call their lives or their bodies their own1 forced to endure any shame or sin which their tyrants required of them1 and liable any moment to be beaten1 tortured1 or crucified at the mercy of cruel and foul masters and mistresses4 ,but on that ,christmas-day1 according to an old custom1 they were allowed for once in the whole year to play at being free1 to dress in their masters' and mistresses' clothes1 to say what they thought of them boldly1 without fear of punishment1 and to eat and drink at their masters' tables1 while their masters and mistresses waited on them4 ,it was an old custom1 that1 among the heathen ,romans1 which their forefathers1 who were wiser and better than they1 had handed down to them4 ,they had forgotten1 perhaps1 what it meant3 but still we may see what it must have meant3 ,that the old forefathers of the ,romans had intended to remind their children every year by that custom1 that their poor hard-worked slaves were1 after all1 men and women as much as their masters2 that they had hearts and consciences1 and sense in them1 and a right to speak what they thought1 as much as their masters2 that they1 as much as their masters1 could enjoy the good things of ,god's earth1 from which man's tyranny had shut them out2 and to remind those cruel masters1 by making them once every year wait on their own slaves at table1 that they were1 after all1 equal in the sight of ,god1 and that it was more noble for those who were rich1 and called themselves gentlemen1 to help others1 than to make others slave for them4 ,i do not mean1 of course1 that those old heathens understood all this clearly4 ,you will see1 by the latter part of my sermon1 why they could not understand it clearly4 ,but there must have been some sort of dim1 confused suspicion in their minds that it was wrong and cruel to treat human beings like brute beasts1 which made them set up that strange old custom of letting their slaves play at being free once every ,christmas-tide4 ,but if on this same day1 #ahea years ago1 instead of being in the great city of ,rome1 we had been in the little village of ,bethlehem in ,juda1 we might have seen a sight stranger still2 a sight which we could not have fancied had anything to do with that merrymaking of the slaves at ,rome1 and yet which had everything to do with it4 ,we should have seen1 in a mean stable1 among the oxen and the asses1 a poor maiden1 with her newborn baby laid in the manger1 for want of any better cradle1 and by her her husband1 a poor carpenter1 whom all men thought to be the father of her child4 4 4 4 ,there1 in the stable1 amid the straw1 through the cold winter days and nights1 in want of many a comfort which the poorest woman1 and the poorest woman's child would need1 they stayed there1 that young maiden and her newborn babe4 ,that young maiden was the ,blessed ,virgin ,mary1 and that poor baby was the ,son of ,god4 ,the ,son of ,god1 in whose likeness all men were made at the beginning2 the ,son of ,god1 who had been ruling the whole world all along2 who brought the ,jews out of slavery1 a thousand years before1 and destroyed their cruel tyrants in the ,red ,sea2 the ,son of ,god1 who had been all along punishing cruel tyrants and oppressors1 and helping the poor out of misery1 whenever they called on ,him4 ,the ,light which lightens every man who comes into the world1 was that poor babe4 ,it was ,he who gives men reason1 and conscience1 and a tender heart1 and delight in what is good1 and shame and uneasiness of mind when they do wrong4 ,it was ,he who had been stirring up1 year by year1 in those cruel ,romans' hearts1 the feeling that there was something wrong in grinding down their slaves1 and put into their minds the notion of giving them their ,christmas rest and freedom4 ,he had been keeping up that good old custom for a witness and a warning that all men were equal in ,his sight2 that all men had a right to liberty of speech and conscience2 a right to some fair share in the good things of the earth1 which ,god had given to all men freely to enjoy4 ,but those old ,romans would not take the warning4 ,they kept up the custom1 but they shut their eyes to the lesson of it4 ,they went on conquering and oppressing all the nations of the earth1 and making them their slaves4 ,and now ,he was come--,he ,himself1 the true ,lord of the earth1 the true pattern of men4 ,he was come to show men to whom this world belonged3 ,he was come to show men in what true power1 true nobleness consisted--not in making others minister to us1 but in ministering to them3 ,he was come to set a pattern of what a man should be2 ,he was the ,son of ,man--,,the ,,man of all men--and therefore ,he had come with good news to all poor slaves1 and neglected1 hard-worked creatures3 ,he had come to tell them that ,he cared for them2 that ,he could and would deliver them2 that they were ,god's children1 and ,his brothers1 just as much as their ,roman masters2 and that ,he was going to bring a terrible time upon the earth--8days of the ,son of ,man10 when ,he would judge all men1 and show who were true men and who were not--such a time as had never been before1 or would be again2 when that great ,roman empire1 in spite of all its armies1 and its cunning1 and its riches1 plundered from every nation under heaven1 would crumble away and perish shamefully and miserably off the face of the earth1 before tribes of poor1 untaught1 savage men1 the brothers and countrymen of those very slaves whom the ,romans fancied were so much below them1 that they had a right to treat them like the beasts which perish4 ,that was the message which that little child lying in the manger there at ,bethlehem1 had been sent out from ,god to preach4 ,do you not see now what it had to do with that strange merrymaking of the poor slaves in ,rome1 which ,i showed you at the beginning of my sermon8 ,if you do not1 ,i must remind you of the song1 which1 ,st4 ,luke says1 the shepherds in ,juda heard the angels sing1 on this night #ahea years ago4 ,that song tells us the meaning of that babe's coming4 ,that song tells us what that babe's coming had to do with the poor slaves of ,rome1 and with all poor creatures who have suffered and sorrowed on this earth1 before or since4 8,glory to ,god in the highest10 they sang1 8and on earth peace1 good will to men40 ,glory to ,god in the highest4 ,that little babe1 lying in the manger among the cattle1 was showing what was the very highest glory of the great ,god who had made heaven and earth4 ,not to show ,his power and ,his majesty1 but to show ,his condescension and ,his love4 ,to stoop1 to condescend1 to have mercy1 to forgive1 that is the highest glory of ,god4 ,that is the noblest1 the most ,godlike thing for ,god or man4 ,and ,god showed that when ,he sent down ,his only-begotten ,son--not to strike the world to atoms with a touch1 not to hurl sinners into everlasting flame1 but to be born of a village maiden1 to take on ,himself all the shame and weakness and sorrow1 to which man is heir1 even to death itself2 to make ,himself of no reputation1 and take on ,himself the form of a slave1 and forgive sinners1 and heal the sick1 and comfort the outcast and despised1 that ,he might show what ,god was like--show forth to men1 as a poor maiden's son1 the brightness of ,god's glory1 and the express likeness of ,his person4 8,and on earth peace0 they sang4 ,men had been quarrelling and fighting then1 and men are quarrelling and fighting now4 ,that little babe in the manger was come to show them how and why they were all to be at peace with each other4 ,for what causes all the war and quarrelling in the world1 but selfishness8 ,selfishness breeds pride1 passion1 spite1 revenge1 covetousness1 oppression4 ,the strong care for themselves1 and try to help themselves at the expense of the weak1 by force and tyranny2 the weak care for themselves in their turn1 and try to help themselves at the expense of the strong1 by cunning and cheating4 ,no one will condescend1 give way1 sacrifice his own interest for his neighbour's1 and hence come wars between nations1 quarrels in families1 spite and grudges between neighbours4 ,but in the example of that little child of ,bethlehem1 ,jesus ,christ the ,lord1 ,god was saying to men1 8,acquaint yourselves with ,me1 and be at peace40 ,god is not selfish2 it is our selfishness which has made us unlike ,god4 ,god so loved the sinful world1 that ,he gave ,his only-begotten ,son for it4 ,is that an action like ours8 ,the ,son of ,god so obeyed ,his ,father1 and so loved this world1 that ,he made ,himself of no reputation1 and took on ,him the likeness of a slave1 and became obedient to death1 even to the most fearful and shameful of all deaths1 the death of the cross2 not for ,himself1 but for those who did not know ,him1 hated ,him1 killed ,him4 ,in short1 ,he sacrificed ,himself for us4 ,that is ,god's likeness4 ,self-sacrifice4 ,jesus ,christ1 the babe of ,bethlehem1 proved ,himself the ,son of ,god1 and the express likeness of the ,father1 by sacrificing ,himself for us4 ,sacrifice yourselves then for each other6 ,give up your own pride1 your own selfishness1 your own interest for each other1 and you will be all at peace at once4 ,but the angels sang1 8,good will toward men40 ,without that their song would not have been complete4 ,for we are all ready to say1 at such words as ,i have been speaking1 8,ah6 pleasant enough1 and pretty enough1 if they were but possible2 but they are not possible4 ,it is in the nature of man to be selfish4 ,men have gone on warring1 grudging1 struggling1 competing1 oppressing1 cheating from the beginning1 and they will do so to the end40 ,yes1 it is not in the nature of man to do otherwise4 ,in as far as man yields to his nature1 and is like the selfish brute beasts1 it is not possible for him to do anything but go on quarrelling1 and competing1 and cheating to the last4 ,but what man's nature cannot do1 ,god's grace can4 ,god's good will is toward you4 ,he loves you1 ,he wills--and if ,he wills1 what is too hard for ,him8--,he wills to raise you out of this selfish1 quarrelsome life of sin1 into a loving1 brotherly1 peaceful life of righteousness4 ,his spirit1 the spirit of love by which ,he made and guides all heaven and earth1 the spirit of love in which ,he gave ,his only ,son for you1 the spirit of love in which ,his ,son ,jesus ,christ sacrificed ,himself for you1 and took on ,himself a meaner state than any of you can ever have--the likeness of a slave--that spirit is promised to you1 and ready for you4 ,that little baby in the manger at ,bethlehem--,god sacrificing ,himself for you in the spirit of love--is a sign that that spirit of love is the spirit of ,god1 and therefore the only right spirit for you and me1 who are men and women made in the image of ,god4 ,that babe in the manger at ,bethlehem is a sign to you and me1 that ,god will freely give us that spirit of love if we ask for it4 ,for ,he would not have set us that example1 if ,he had not meant us to follow it1 and ,he would not ask us to follow it1 if ,he did not intend to give us the means of following it4 ,therefore1 my friends1 it is written1 ,ask and ye shall receive4 ,if your heavenly ,father spared not ,his own ,son1 but freely gave ,him for you1 will ,he not with ,him likewise freely give you all things8 ,oh6 ask and you shall receive4 ,however poor1 ignorant1 sinful you may be1 ,god's promises are ready for you1 signed and sealed by the bread and wine on that table1 the memorial of ,jesus1 the babe of ,bethlehem4 ,ask1 and you shall receive6 ,comfort from sorrow1 peaceful assurance of ,god's good will toward you1 deliverance from your sins1 and a share in the likeness of ,him who on this day made ,himself of no reputation1 and took on ,him the form of a slave4 ,,vi4 ,,true ,,abstinence4 ,,first ,,sunday ,,in ,,lent4 ,i keep under my body1 and bring it into subjection4--#a ,,cor4 ix4 #bg4 ,,in the ,collect for this day we have just been praying to ,god1 to give us grace to use such abstinence1 that our flesh being subdued to our spirit1 we may follow ,his godly motions4 ,now we ought to have meant something when we said these words4 ,what did we mean by them8 ,perhaps some of us did not understand them4 ,they could not be expected to mean anything by them4 ,but it is a sad thing1 a very sad thing1 that people will come to church ,sunday after ,sunday1 and repeat by rote words which they do not understand1 words by which they therefore mean nothing1 and yet never care or try to understand them4 ,what are the words there for1 except to be understood8 ,all of you call people foolish1 who submit to have prayers read in their churches in a foreign language1 which none1 at least of the poor1 can understand4 ,but what right have you to call them foolish1 if you1 whose ,prayer-books are written in ,english1 take no trouble to find out the meaning of them8 ,would to ,heaven that you would try to find out the meaning of the ,prayer-book6 ,would to ,heaven that the day would come1 when anyone in this parish who was puzzled by any doctrine of religion1 or by any text in the ,bible1 or word in the ,prayer-book1 would come confidently to me1 and ask me to explain it to him6 ,god knows1 ,i should think it an honour and a pleasure1 as well as a duty4 ,i should think no time better spent than in answering your questions4 ,i do beseech you to ask me1 every one of you1 when and where you like1 any questions about religion which come into your minds4 ,why am ,i put in this parish1 except to teach you8 and how can ,i teach you better1 than by answering your questions8 ,as it is1 ,i am disheartened1 and all but hopeless1 at times1 about the state of this parish1 and the work ,i am trying to do here2 because1 though you will come and hear me1 thank ,god1 willingly enough1 you do not seem yet to have gained confidence enough in me1 or to have learnt to care sufficiently about the best things1 to ask questions of me about them4 ,my dear friends1 if you wanted to get information about anything you really cared for1 you would ask questions enough4 ,if you wanted to know some way to a place on earth you would ask it2 why not ask your way to things better than this earth can give8 ,but whether or not you will question me ,i must go on preaching to you1 though whether or not you care to listen is more1 alas6 than ,i can tell4 ,but listen to me1 now1 ,i beseech you1 while ,i try to explain to you the meaning of the words which you have been just using in this ,collect4 ,you have asked ,god to give you grace to use abstinence4 ,now what is the meaning of abstinence8 ,abstinence means abstaining1 refraining1 keeping back of your own will from doing something which you might do4 ,take an example4 ,when a man for his health's sake1 or his purse's sake1 or any other good reason1 drinks less liquor than he might if he chose1 he abstains from liquor4 ,he uses abstinence about liquor4 ,there are other things in which a man may abstain4 ,indeed1 he may abstain from doing anything he likes4 ,he may abstain from eating too much2 from lying in bed too long2 from reading too much2 from taking too much pleasure2 from making money2 from spending money2 from right things2 from wrong things2 from things which are neither right nor wrong2 on all these he may use abstinence4 ,he may abstain for many reasons2 for good ones1 or for bad ones4 ,a miser will abstain from all sorts of comforts to hoard up money4 ,a superstitious man may abstain from comforts1 because he thinks ,god grudges them to him1 or because he thinks ,god is pleased by the unhappiness of ,his creatures1 or because he has been taught1 poor wretch1 that if he makes himself uncomfortable in this life1 he shall have more comfort1 more honour1 more reason for pride and self-glorification1 in the life to come4 ,or a man may abstain from one pleasure1 just to be able to enjoy another all the more2 as some great gamblers drink nothing but water1 in order to keep their heads clear for cheating4 ,all these are poor reasons2 some of them base1 some of them wicked reasons for abstaining from anything4 ,therefore1 abstinence is not a good thing in itself2 for if a thing is good in itself1 it can never be wrong4 ,love is good in itself1 and1 therefore1 you cannot love anyone for a bad reason4 ,justice is good in itself1 pity is good in itself1 and1 therefore1 you can never be wrong in being just or pitiful4 ,but abstinence is not a good thing in itself4 ,if it were1 we should all be bound to abstain always from everything pleasant1 and make ourselves as miserable and uncomfortable as possible1 as some superstitious persons used to do in old times4 ,abstinence is only good when it is used for a good reason4 ,if a man abstains from pleasure himself1 to save up for his children2 if he abstains from over eating and over drinking1 to keep his mind clear and quiet2 if he abstains from sleep and ease1 in order to have time to see his business properly done2 if he abstains from spending money on himself1 in order to spend it for others2 if he abstains from any habit1 however harmless or pleasant1 because he finds it lead him towards what is wrong1 and put him into temptation2 then he does right2 then he is doing ,god's work2 then he may expect ,god's blessing2 then he is trying to do what we all prayed ,god to help us to do1 when we said1 8,give us grace to use such abstinence20 then he is doing1 more or less1 what ,st4 ,paul says he did1 8,keeping his body under1 and bringing it into subjection40 ,for1 see1 the ,collect does not say1 8,give us grace to use abstinence10 as if abstinence were a good thing in itself1 but 8to use such abstinence1 that0--to use a certain kind of abstinence1 and that for a certain purpose1 and that purpose a good one2 such abstinence that our flesh may be subdued to our spirit2 that our flesh1 the animal1 bodily nature which is in us1 loving ease and pleasure1 may not be our master1 but our servant2 so that we may not follow blindly our own appetites1 and do just what we like1 as brute beasts which have no understanding4 ,and our flesh is to be subdued to our spirit for a certain purpose2 not because our flesh is bad1 and our spirit good2 not in order that we may puff ourselves up and admire ourselves1 and say1 as the philosophers among the heathen used1 8,what a strong-minded1 sober1 self-restraining man ,i am6 ,how fine it is to be able to look down on my neighbours1 who cannot help being fond of enjoying themselves1 and cannot help caring for this world's good things4 ,i am above all that4 ,i want nothing1 and ,i feel nothing1 and nothing can make me glad or sorry4 ,i am master of my own mind1 and own no law but my own will40 ,the ,collect gives us the true and only reason1 for which it is right to subdue our appetites2 which is1 that we may keep our minds clear and strong enough to listen to the voice of ,god within our hearts and reasons2 to obey the motions of ,god's ,spirit in us2 not to make our bodies our masters1 but to live as ,god's servants4 ,this is ,st4 ,paul's meaning1 when he speaks of keeping under his body1 and bringing it into subjection4 ,the exact word which he uses1 however1 is a much stronger one than merely 8keeping under20 it means simply1 to beat a man's face black and blue2 and his reason for using such a strong word about the matter is1 to show us that he thought no labour too hard1 no training too sharp1 which teaches us how to restrain ourselves1 and keep our appetites and passions in manful and godly control4 ,now1 a few verses before my text1 ,st4 ,paul takes an example from foot-racers4 8,these foot-racers10 he says1 8heathens though they are1 and only trying to win a worthless prize1 the petty honour of a crown of leaves1 see what trouble they take2 how they exercise their limbs2 how careful and temperate they are in eating and drinking1 how much pain and fatigue they go through to get themselves into perfect training for a race4 ,how much more trouble ought we to take to make ourselves fit to do ,god's work8 ,for these foot-racers do all this only to gain a garland which will wither in a week2 but we1 to gain a garland which will never fade away2 a garland of holiness1 and righteousness1 and purity1 and the likeness of ,jesus ,christ40 ,the next example of abstinence which ,st4 ,paul takes1 is from the prize-fighters1 who were very numerous and very famous1 in the country in which the ,corinthians lived4 8,i fight10 he says1 8not like one who beats the air20 that is1 not like a man who is only brandishing his hands and sparring in jest1 but like a man who knows that he has a fight to fight in hard earnest2 a terrible lifelong fight against sin1 the world1 and the devil2 8and1 therefore10 he says1 8,i do as these fighters do40 ,they1 poor savage and brutal heathens as they are1 go through a long and painful training4 ,their very practice is not play2 it is grim earnest4 ,they stand up to strike1 and be struck1 and are bruised and disfigured as a matter of course1 in order that they may learn not to flinch from pain1 or lose their tempers1 or turn cowards1 when they have to fight4 8,and so do ,i10 says ,st4 ,paul2 8they1 poor men1 submit to painful and disagreeable things to make them brave in their paltry battles4 ,i submit to painful and disagreeable things1 to make me brave in the great battle which ,i have to fight against sin1 and ignorance1 and heathendom40 8,therefore10 he says1 in another place1 8,i take pleasure in afflictions1 in persecutions1 in necessities1 in distresses20 and that not because those things were pleasant1 they were just as unpleasant to him as to anyone else2 but because they taught him to bear1 taught him to be brave2 taught him1 in short1 to become a perfect man of ,god4 ,this is ,st4 ,paul's account of his own training3 in the ,epistle for to-day we have another account of it2 a description of the life which he led1 and which he was content to lead--8in much suffering1 in stripes1 in imprisonments1 in tumults1 in labours1 in watching1 in fastings0--and an account1 too1 of the temper which he had learnt to show amid such a life of vexation1 and suffering1 and shame1 and danger--8approving himself in all things the minister of ,god1 by pureness1 by wisdom1 by longsuffering1 by kindness1 by the spirit of holiness1 by love unfeigned20 8as dying1 and behold we live2 as chastened1 and not killed2 as sorrowful1 yet always rejoicing2 as poor1 yet making many rich2 as having nothing1 yet possessing all things40--,in all things proving himself a true messenger from ,god1 by being able to dare and to endure for ,god's sake1 what no man ever would have dared and endured for his own sake4 8,but0--someone may say--8,st4 ,paul was an apostle2 he had a great work to do in the world2 he had to turn the heathen to ,god2 and it is likely enough that he required to train himself1 and keep strict watch over all his habits1 and ways of thinking and behaving1 lest he should grow selfish1 lazy1 cowardly1 covetous1 fond of ease and amusement4 ,he had1 of course1 to lead a life of strange suffering and danger2 and he had therefore to train himself for it4 ,but what need have we to do as ,st4 ,paul did80 ,just as much need1 my good friends1 if you could see it4 ,which of us has not to lead a life of suffering8 ,we shall each and all of us1 have our full share of trouble before we die1 doubt it not4 ,and which of us has not to lead a life of danger8 ,i do not mean bodily danger2 of that1 there is little enough--perhaps too little--in ,england now2 but of danger to our hearts1 minds1 characters8 ,oh1 my friends1 ,i pity those who do not think themselves in danger every day of their lives1 for the less danger they see around them1 the more danger there is4 ,there is not only the common danger of temptation1 but over and above it1 the worse danger of not knowing temptation when it comes4 ,who will be most likely to walk into pits and mires upon the moor--the man who knows that they are there around him1 or the man who goes on careless and light of heart1 fancying that it is all smooth ground8 ,woe to you1 young people1 if you fancy that you are to have no woe6 ,danger to you1 young people1 if you fancy yourselves in no danger6 8,this is sad and dreary news0--some of you may say4 ,ay1 my friends1 it would be sad and dreary news indeed2 and this earth would be a very sad and dreary place2 and life with all its troubles and temptations1 would not be worth having1 if it were not for the blessed news which the ,gospel for this day brings us4 ,that makes up for all the sadness of the ,epistle2 that gives us hope2 that tells us of one who has been through life1 and through death too1 yet without sin4 ,that tells us of one who has endured a thousand times more temptation than we ever shall1 a thousand times more trouble than we ever shall1 and yet has conquered it all2 and that ,he who has thus been through all our temptations1 borne all our weaknesses1 is our ,king1 our ,saviour1 who loves us1 who teaches us1 who has promised us ,his ,holy ,spirit1 to make us like ,himself1 strong1 brave1 and patient1 to endure all that man or devil1 or our own low animal tempers and lusts1 can do to hurt us4 ,the ,gospel for this day tells us how ,he went and was alone in the wilderness with the wild beasts1 and yet trusted in ,god1 ,his ,father and ours1 to keep ,him safe4 ,how ,he went without food forty days and nights1 and yet in ,his extreme hunger1 refused to do the least self-willed or selfish thing to get ,himself food4 ,is that no lesson1 no message of hope for the poor man who is tempted by hunger to steal1 or tempted by need to do a mean and selfish thing1 to hear that the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 who bore need and hunger far worse than his1 understands all his temptations1 and feels for him1 and pities him1 and has promised him ,god's ,spirit to make him strong1 as ,he himself was8 ,is it no comfort to young people who are tempted to vanity1 and display1 and self-willed conceited longings1 tempted to despise the advice of their parents and elders1 and set up for themselves1 and choose their own way--,is it no good news1 ,i say1 for them to hear that their ,lord and ,saviour was tempted to it also1 and conquered it8--,that ,he will teach them to answer the temptation as ,he did1 when ,he refused even to let angels hold ,him over the temple1 up between earth and heaven1 for a sign and a wonder to all the ,jews1 because ,god ,his ,father had not bidden ,him to do it1 and therefore ,he would not tempt the ,lord ,his ,god8 ,is it no good news1 again1 to those who are tempted to do perhaps one little outward wrong thing1 to yield on some small point to the ways of the world1 in order to help themselves on in life1 to hear that their ,lord and ,saviour conquered that temptation too8--,that he refused all the kingdoms of the world1 and the glory of them1 when the devil offered them1 because he knew that the devil could not give them to ,him2 that all wealth1 and power1 and glory belonged to ,god1 and was to be got only by serving ,him8 ,oh do you all1 young people especially1 think of this4 ,as you grow up and go out into life1 you will be tempted in a hundred different ways1 by things which are pleasant--everyone knows that they are pleasant enough--but wrong4 ,one will be tempted to be vain of dress2 another to be self-conceited2 another to be lazy and idle2 another to be extravagant and roving2 another to be over fond of amusement2 another to be over fond of money2 another to be over fond of liquor2 another to go wrong1 as too many young men and young women do1 and bring themselves1 and those with whom they keep company1 and whom they ought1 if they really love them1 to respect and honour1 down into sin and shame4 ,you will all be tempted1 and you will all be troubled2 one by poverty1 one by sickness1 one by the burden of a family1 one by being laughed at for trying to do right4 ,but remember1 oh remember1 whenever a temptation comes upon you1 that the blessed ,jesus has been through it all1 and conquered all1 and that ,his will is1 that you shall be holy and pure like ,him1 and that1 therefore1 if you but ask ,him1 ,he will give you strength to keep pure4 ,when you are tempted1 pray to ,him3 the struggle in your own minds will1 no doubt1 be very great2 it will be very hard work for you--sin looks so pleasant on the outside6 ,poor souls1 it is a sad struggle for you6 ,many a poor young fellow1 who goes wrong1 deserves rather to be pitied than to be punished4 ,well then1 if no man else will pity him1 ,jesus1 the ,man of all men1 will4 ,pray to ,him6 ,cry aloud to ,him6 ,ask ,him to make you stout-hearted1 patient1 really manful1 to fight against temptation4 ,ask ,him to give you strength of mind to fight against all bad habits4 ,ask ,him to open your eyes to see when you are in danger4 ,ask ,him to help you to keep out of the way of temptation4 ,ask ,him1 in short1 to give you grace to use such abstinence that your flesh may be subdued to your spirit4 ,and then you will not follow1 as the beasts do1 just what seems pleasant to your flesh2 no1 you will be able to obey ,christ's godly motions1 that is1 to do1 as well as to love1 the good desires which ,he puts into your hearts4 ,you will do not merely what is pleasant1 but what is right2 you will not be your own slaves1 you will be your own masters1 and ,god's loyal and obedient sons2 you will not be1 as too many are1 mere animals going about in the shape of men1 but truly men at heart1 who are not afraid of pain1 poverty1 shame1 trouble1 or death itself1 when they are in the right path1 about the work to which ,god has called them4 ,but if you ask ,christ to make true men and women of you1 you must believe that ,he will give you what you ask2 if you ask ,him to help you1 you must believe that ,he will and does help you--you must believe that it is ,he ,himself who has put into your hearts the very desire of being holy and strong at all2 and therefore you must believe that you can help yourselves4 ,help yourselves1 and ,he will help you4 ,if you ask for ,his help1 ,he will give it4 ,but what is the use of ,his giving it1 if you do not use it8 ,to him who has shall be given1 and he shall have more2 but from him who has not shall be taken away even what he seems to have4 ,therefore do not merely pray1 but struggle and try yourselves4 ,train yourselves as ,st4 ,paul did2 train yourselves to keep your temper2 train yourselves to bear unpleasant things for the sake of your duty2 train yourselves to keep out of temptation2 train yourselves to be forgiving1 gentle1 thrifty1 industrious1 sober1 temperate1 cleanly1 as modest as little children in your words1 and thoughts1 and conduct4 ,and ,god1 when ,he sees you trying to be all this1 will help you to be so4 ,it may be hard to educate yourselves4 ,life is a hard business at best--you will find it a thousand times harder1 though1 if you are slaves to your own fleshly sins4 ,but the more you struggle against sin1 the less hard you will find it to fight2 the more you resist the devil1 the more he will flee from you2 the more you try to conquer your own bad passions1 the more ,god will help you to conquer them2 it may be a hard battle1 but it is a sure one4 ,no fear but that everyone can1 if he will1 work out his own salvation1 for it is ,god ,himself who works in us to will and to do of ,his good pleasure4 ,all you have to do is to give yourselves up to ,him1 to study ,his laws1 to labour as well as long to keep them1 and ,he will enable you to keep them2 ,he will teach you in a thousand unexpected ways2 ,he will daily renew and strengthen your hearts by the working of ,his ,spirit1 that you may more and more know1 and love1 and do1 what is right2 and you will go on from strength to strength1 to the height of perfect men1 to the likeness of ,jesus ,christ the ,lord1 who conquered all human temptations for your sake1 that ,he might be a high-priest who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities1 because ,he was tempted in all points like as we are1 yet without sin4 ,,vii4 ,,good ,,friday4 ,in all their affliction ,he was afflicted1 and the angel of ,his presence saved them4 ,in ,his love and in ,his pity ,he redeemed them2 and ,he bare them and carried them all the days of old4--,,isaiah lxiii4 #i4 ,,on this very day1 at this very hour1 #ahag years ago1 hung one nailed to a cross2 bruised and bleeding1 pierced and naked1 dying a felon's death between two thieves2 in perfect misery1 in utter shame1 mocked and insulted by all the great1 the rich1 the learned of ,his nation2 one who had grown up as a man of low birth1 believed by all to be a carpenter's son2 without scholarship1 money1 respectability2 even without a home wherein to lay ,his head--and here was the end of ,his life6 ,true1 ,he had preached noble words1 ,he had done noble deeds3 but what had they helped ,him8 ,they had not made the rich1 the learned1 the respectable1 the religious believe on ,him2 they had not saved ,him from persecution1 and insult1 and death4 ,the only mourners who stood by to weep over ,his dying agonies were ,his mother1 a poor countrywoman2 a young fisherman2 and one who had been a harlot and a sinner4 ,there was an end6 ,do you know who that ,man was8 ,he was your ,king2 the ,king of rich and poor2 and ,he was your ,king1 not in spite of ,his suffering all that shame and misery1 but just because ,he suffered it2 because ,he chose to be poor1 and miserable1 and despised2 because ,he endured the cross1 despising the shame2 because ,he took upon ,himself to fulfil ,his ,father's will1 all ills which flesh is heir to--therefore ,he is now your ,king1 the ,saviour of the world1 the poor man's friend1 the ,lord of heaven and earth4 ,is ,he such a ,king as you wish for8 ,is ,he the sort of ,king you want1 my friends8 ,does ,he fulfil your notions of what the poor man's friend should be8 ,do you1 in your hearts1 wish ,he had been somewhat richer1 more glorious1 more successful in the world's eyes--a wealthy and prosperous man1 like ,solomon of old8 ,are any of you ready to say1 as the money-blinded ,jews said1 when they demanded their true ,king to be crucified1 8,we have no king but ,csar8--,provided the law-makers and the authorities take care of our interests1 and protect our property1 and do not make us pay too many rates and taxes1 that is enough for us40 ,will you have no king but ,csar8 ,alas6 those who say that1 find that the law is but a weak deliverer1 too weak to protect them from selfishness1 and covetousness1 and decent cruelty2 and so ,csar and the law have to give place to ,mammon1 the god of money4 ,do we not see it in these very days8 ,and ,mammon is weak1 too4 ,this world is not a shop1 men are not merely money-makers and wages-earners4 ,there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in that sort of philosophy4 ,self-interest and covetousness cannot keep society orderly and peaceful1 let sham philosophers say what they will4 ,and then comes tyranny1 lawlessness1 rich and poor staining their hands in each other's blood1 as we saw happen in ,france two years ago2 and so1 after all1 ,mammon has to give place to ,moloch1 the fiend of murder and cruelty2 and woe to rich and poor when he reigns over them6 ,ay1 woe--woe to rich and poor when they choose anyone for their king but their real and rightful ,lord and ,master1 ,jesus1 the poor man1 afflicted in all their afflictions1 the ,man of sorrows1 crucified on this day4 ,is ,he the kind of ,king you like8 ,make up your minds1 my friends--make up your minds6 ,for whether you like ,him or not1 your ,king ,he was1 your ,king ,he is1 your ,king ,he will be1 blessed be ,god1 for ever4 ,blessed be ,god1 indeed6 ,if ,he were not our ,king2 if anyone in heaven or earth was ,lord of us1 except the ,man of sorrows1 the ,prince of sufferers1 what hope1 what comfort would there be8 ,what a horrible1 black1 fathomless riddle this sad1 diseased1 moaning world would be6 ,no king would suit us but the ,prince of sufferers--,jesus1 who has borne all this world's griefs1 and carried all its sorrows--,jesus1 who has ,himself smarted under pain and hunger1 oppression and insult1 treachery and desertion1 who knows them all1 feels for them all1 and will right them all1 in ,his own good time4 ,believing in ,jesus1 we can travel on1 through one wild parish after another1 upon ,english soil1 and see1 as ,i have done1 the labourer who tills the land worse housed than the horse he drives1 worse clothed than the sheep he shears1 worse nourished than the hog he feeds--and yet not despair3 for the ,prince of sufferers is the labourer's ,saviour2 ,he has tasted hunger1 and thirst1 and weariness1 poverty1 oppression1 and neglect2 the very tramp who wanders houseless on the moorside is ,his brother2 in his sufferings the ,saviour of the world has shared1 when the foxes had holes1 and the birds of the air had nests1 while the ,son of ,god had not where to lay ,his head4 ,he is the ,king of the poor1 firstborn among many brethren2 ,his tenderness is ,almighty1 and for the poor ,he has prepared deliverance1 perhaps in this world1 surely in the world to come--boundless deliverance1 out of the treasures of ,his boundless love4 ,believing in ,jesus1 we can pass by mines1 and factories1 and by dungeons darker and fouler still1 in the lanes and alleys of our great towns and cities1 where thousands and tens of thousands of starving men1 and wan women1 and children grown old before their youth1 sit toiling and pining in ,mammon's prison-house1 in worse than ,egyptian bondage1 to earn such pay as just keeps the broken heart within the worn-out body2--ay1 we can go through our great cities1 even now1 and see the women1 whom ,god intended to be ,christian wives and mothers1 the slaves of the rich man's greed by day1 the playthings of his lust by night--and yet not despair2 for we can cry1 ,no6 thou proud ,mammon1 money-making fiend6 ,these are not thine1 but ,christ's2 they belong to ,him who died on the cross2 and though thou heedest not their sighs1 ,he marks them all1 for ,he has sighed like them2 though there be no pity in thee1 there is in ,him the pity of a man1 ay1 and the indignation of a ,god6 ,he treasures up their tears2 ,he understands their sorrows2 ,his judgment of their guilt is not like thine1 thou ,pharisee6 ,he is their ,lord1 who said1 that to those to whom little was given1 of them shall little be required4 ,generation after generation1 they are being made perfect by sufferings1 as their ,saviour was before them2 and then1 woe to thee6 ,for even as ,he led ,israel out of ,egypt with a mighty hand1 and a stretched-out arm1 and signs and wonders1 great and terrible1 so shall ,he lead the poor out of their misery1 and make them households like a flock of sheep2 even as ,he led ,israel through the wilderness1 tender1 forbearing1 knowing whereof they were made1 having mercy on all their brutalities1 and idolatries1 murmurings1 and backslidings1 afflicted in all their afflictions--even while ,he was punishing them outwardly1 as ,he is punishing the poor man now--even so shall ,he lead this people out in ,his good time1 into a good land and large1 a land of wheat and wine1 of milk and honey2 a rest which ,he has prepared for ,his poor1 such as eye hath not seen1 nor ear heard1 nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive4 ,he can do it2 for the ,almighty ,deliverer is ,his name4 ,he will do it2 for ,his name is ,love4 ,he knows how to do it2 for ,he has borne the griefs1 and carried the sorrows of the poor4 ,oh1 sad hearts and suffering6 ,anxious and weary ones6 ,look to the cross this day6 ,there hung your king6 ,the ,king of sorrowing souls1 and more1 the ,king of sorrows4 ,ay1 pain and grief1 tyranny and desertion1 death and hell1 ,he has faced them one and all1 and tried their strength1 and taught them ,his1 and conquered them right royally6 ,and1 since ,he hung upon that torturing cross1 sorrow is divine1 god-like1 as joy itself4 ,all that man's fallen nature dreads and despises1 ,god honoured on the cross1 and took unto ,himself1 and blessed1 and consecrated for ever4 ,and now1 blessed are the poor1 if they are poor in heart1 as well as purse2 for ,jesus was poor1 and theirs is the kingdom of heaven4 ,blessed are the hungry1 if they hunger for righteousness as well as food2 for ,jesus hungered1 and they shall be filled4 ,blessed are those who mourn1 if they mourn not only for their afflictions1 but for their sins1 and for the sins they see around them2 for on this day1 ,jesus mourned for our sins2 on this day ,he was made sin for us1 who knew no sin2 and they shall be comforted4 ,blessed are those who are ashamed of themselves1 and hate themselves1 and humble themselves before ,god this day2 for on this day ,jesus humbled ,himself for us2 and they shall be exalted4 ,blessed are the forsaken and the despised4--,did not all men forsake ,jesus this day1 in ,his hour of need8 and why not thee1 too1 thou poor deserted one8 ,shall the disciple be above his ,master8 ,no2 everyone that is perfect1 must be like his master4 ,the deeper1 the bitterer your loneliness1 the more are you like ,him1 who cried upon the cross1 8,my ,god1 my ,god1 why hast ,thou forsaken ,me80 ,he knows what that grief1 too1 is like4 ,he feels for thee1 at least4 ,though all forsake thee1 ,he is with thee still2 and if ,he be with thee1 what matter who has left thee for a while8 ,ay1 blessed are those that weep now1 for they shall laugh4 ,it is those whom the ,lord loveth that ,he chasteneth4 ,and because ,he loves the poor1 ,he brings them low4 ,all things are blessed now1 but sin2 for all things1 excepting sin1 are redeemed by the life and death of the ,son of ,god4 ,blessed are wisdom and courage1 joy1 and health1 and beauty1 love and marriage1 childhood and manhood1 corn and wine1 fruits and flowers1 for ,christ redeemed them by ,his life4 ,and blessed1 too1 are tears and shame1 blessed are weakness and ugliness1 blessed are agony and sickness1 blessed the sad remembrance of our sins1 and a broken heart1 and a repentant spirit4 ,blessed is death1 and blessed the unknown realms1 where souls await the resurrection day1 for ,christ redeemed them by ,his death4 ,blessed are all things1 weak1 as well as strong4 ,blessed are all days1 dark1 as well as bright1 for all are ,his1 and ,he is ours2 and all are ours1 and we are ,his1 for ever4 ,therefore sigh on1 ye sad ones1 and rejoice in your own sadness2 ache on1 ye suffering ones1 and rejoice in your own sorrows4 ,rejoice that you are made free of the holy brotherhood of mourners1 that you may claim your place1 too1 if you will1 among the noble army of martyrs4 ,rejoice that you are counted worthy of a fellowship in the sufferings of the ,son of ,god4 ,rejoice and trust on1 for after sorrow shall come joy4 ,trust on2 for in man's weakness ,god's strength shall be made perfect4 ,trust on1 for death is the gate of life4 ,endure on to the end1 and possess your souls in patience for a little while1 and that1 perhaps1 a very little while4 ,death comes swiftly2 and more swiftly still1 perhaps1 the day of the ,lord4 ,the deeper the sorrow1 the nearer the salvation3 ,the night is darkest before the dawn2 ,when the pain is sorest the child is born2 ,and the day of the ,lord is at hand4 ,ay1 if the worst should come2 if neither the laws of your country nor the benevolence of the righteous were strong enough to defend you2 if one charitable plan after another were to fail2 if the labour-market were getting fuller and fuller1 and poverty were spreading wider and wider1 and crime and misery were breeding faster and still faster every year than education and religion2 all hope for the poor seemed gone and lost1 and they were ready to believe the men who tell them that the land is over-peopled--that there are too many of us1 too many industrious hands1 too many cunning brains1 too many immortal souls1 too many of ,god's children upon ,god's earth1 which ,god the ,father made1 and ,god the ,son redeemed1 and ,god the ,holy ,spirit teaches3 then the ,lord1 the ,prince of sufferers1 ,he who knows your every grief1 and weeps with you tear for tear1 ,he would come out of ,his place to smite the haughty ones1 and confound the cunning ones1 and silence the loud ones1 and empty the full ones2 to judge with righteousness for the meek of the earth1 to hearken to the prayer of the poor1 whose heart he has been preparing1 and to help the fatherless and needy to their right1 that the man of the world may be no more exalted against them4 ,in that day men will find out a wonder and miracle4 ,they will see many that are first last1 and many that are last first4 ,they will find that there were poor who were the richest after all2 the simple who were wisest1 and gentle who were bravest1 and weak who were strongest2 that ,god's ways are not as men's ways1 nor ,god's thoughts as men's thoughts4 ,alas1 who shall stand when ,god does this8 ,at least ,he who will do it is ,jesus1 who loved us to the death2 boundless love and gentleness1 boundless generosity and pity2 who was tempted even as we are1 who has felt our every weakness4 ,in that thought is utter comfort1 that our ,judge will be ,he who died and rose again1 and is praying for us even now1 to ,his ,father and our ,father4 ,therefore fear not1 gentle souls1 patient souls1 pure consciences and tender hearts4 ,fear not1 you who are empty and hungry1 who walk in darkness and see no light2 for though ,he fulfil once more1 as ,he has again and again1 the awful prophecy before the text2 though ,he tread down the people in ,his anger1 and make them drunk in ,his fury1 and bring their strength to the earth2 though kings with their armies may flee1 and the stars which light the earth may fall1 and there be great tribulation1 wars1 and rumours of wars1 and on earth distress of nations with perplexity--yet it is when the day of ,his vengeance is at hand1 that the year of ,his redeemed is come4 ,and when they see all these things1 let them rejoice and lift up their heads1 for their redemption draweth nigh4 ,do you ask how ,i know this8 ,do you ask for a sign1 for a token that these my words are true8 ,i know that they are true4 ,but1 as for tokens1 ,i will give you but this one1 the sign of that bread and that wine4 ,when the ,lord shall have delivered ,his people out of all their sorrows1 they shall eat of that bread and drink of that wine1 one and all1 in the kingdom of ,god4 ,,viii4 ,,easter-,,day4 ,if ye then be risen with ,christ1 seek those things which are above1 where ,christ sitteth on the right hand of ,god4--,,colossians iii4 #a4 ,i ,,know no better way of preaching to you the gospel of ,easter1 the good news which this day brings to all men1 year after year1 than by trying to explain to you the ,epistle appointed for this day1 which we have just read4 ,it begins1 8,if ye then be risen with ,christ40 ,now that does not mean that ,st4 ,paul had any doubt whether the ,colossians1 to whom he was speaking1 were risen with ,christ or not4 ,he does not mean1 8,i am not sure whether you are risen or not2 but perhaps you are not2 but if you are1 you ought to do such and such things40 ,he does not mean that4 ,he was quite sure that these ,colossians were risen with ,christ4 ,he had no doubt of it whatsoever4 ,if you look at the chapter before1 he says so4 ,he tells them that they were buried with ,christ in baptism1 in which also they were risen with ,christ1 through faith of the operation of ,god1 who has raised ,him from the dead4 ,now what reason had ,st4 ,paul to believe that these ,colossians were risen with ,jesus ,christ8 ,because they had given up sin and were leading holy lives8 ,that cannot be4 ,the ,epistle for this day says the very opposite4 ,it does not say1 8,you are risen1 because you have left off sinning40 ,it says1 8,you must leave off sinning1 because you are risen40 ,was it then on account of any experiences1 or inward feeling of theirs8 ,not at all4 ,he says that these ,colossians had been baptized1 and that they had believed in ,god's work of raising ,jesus ,christ from the dead1 and that therefore they were risen with ,christ4 ,in one word1 they had believed the message of ,easter-day1 and therefore they shared in the blessings of ,easter-day2 as it is written in another place1 8,if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 and believe in thy heart that ,god has raised ,him from the dead1 thou shalt be saved40 ,now these seem very wide words1 too wide to please most people4 ,but there are wider words still in ,st4 ,paul's epistles4 ,he tells us again and again that ,god's mercy is a free gift2 that ,he has made to us a free present of ,his ,son ,jesus ,christ4 ,that ,he has taken away the effect of all men's sin1 and more than that1 that men are ,god's children2 that they have a right to believe that they are so1 because they are so4 ,for1 ,he says1 the free gift of ,jesus ,christ is not like ,adam's offence4 ,it is not less than it1 narrower than it1 as some folks say4 ,it is not that by ,adam's sin all became sinners1 and by ,jesus ,christ's salvation an elect few out of them shall be made righteous4 ,if you will think a moment1 you will see that it cannot be so4 ,for ,jesus ,christ conquered sin and death and the devil4 ,but if1 as some think1 sin and death and the devil have destroyed and sent to hell by far the greater part of mankind1 then they have conquered ,christ1 and not ,christ them4 ,mankind belonged to ,christ at first4 ,sin and death and the devil came in and ruined them1 and then ,christ came to redeem them2 but if all that ,he has been able to do is to redeem one out of a thousand1 or even nine out of ten1 of them1 then the devil has had the best of the battle4 ,he1 and not ,christ1 is the conqueror4 ,if a thief steals all the sheep on your farm1 and all that you can get back from him is a part of the whole flock1 which has had the best of it1 you or the thief8 ,if ,christ's redemption is meant for only a few1 or even a great many elect souls out of all the millions of mankind1 which has had the best of it1 ,christ1 the master of the sheep1 or the devil1 the robber and destroyer of them8 ,be sure1 my friends1 ,christ is stronger than that2 ,his love is deeper than that2 ,his redemption is wider than that4 ,how strong1 how deep1 how wide it is1 we never shall know4 ,st4 ,paul tells us that we never shall know1 for it is boundless2 but that we shall go on knowing more and more of its vastness for ever1 finding it deeper1 wider1 loftier than our most glorious dreams could ever picture it4 ,but this1 he says1 we do know1 that we have gained more than ,adam lost4 ,for if by one man's offence many were made sinners1 much more shall they who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life by one even ,jesus ,christ4 ,for1 he says1 where sin abounded1 ,god's grace and free gift has much more abounded4 ,therefore1 as by the offence of one1 judgment came upon all men to condemnation1 even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men to justification of life4 ,upon all men1 you see4 ,there can be no doubt about it4 ,upon you and me1 and foreigners1 and gipsies1 and heathens1 and thieves1 and harlots--upon all mankind1 let them be as bad or as good1 as young or as old1 as they may1 the free gift of ,god has come to justification of life2 they are justified1 pardoned1 and beloved in the sight of ,almighty ,god2 they have a right and a share to a new life2 a different sort of life from what they are inclined to lead1 and do lead1 by nature--to a life which death cannot take away1 a life which may grow1 and strengthen1 and widen1 and blossom1 and bear fruit for ever and ever4 ,they have a share in ,christ's resurrection1 in the blessing of ,easter-day4 ,they have a share in ,christ1 every one of them whether they claim that share or not4 ,how far they will be punished for not claiming it1 is a very different matter1 of which we know nothing whatsoever4 ,and how far the heathen who have never heard of ,christ1 or of their share in ,him1 will be punished1 we know not--we are not meant to know4 ,but we know that to their own ,master they stand or fall1 and that their ,master is our ,master too1 and that ,he is a just ,master1 and requires little of him to whom ,he gives little2 a just and merciful ,master1 who loved this sinful world enough to come down and die for it1 while mankind were all rebels and sinners1 and has gone on taking care of it1 and improving it1 in spite of all its sin and rebellion ever since1 and that is enough for us4 ,st4 ,paul knew no more4 ,it was a mystery1 he says1 a wonderful and unfathomable matter1 which had been hidden since the foundation of the world1 of which he himself says that he saw only through a glass darkly2 and we cannot expect to have clearer eyes than he4 ,but this he seems to have seen1 that the ,lord1 when ,he rose again1 bought a blessing even for the dumb beasts and the earth on which we live4 ,for he says1 the whole creation is now groaning in the pangs of labour1 being about to bring forth something2 and the whole creation will rise again2 how1 and when1 and into what new state1 we cannot tell4 ,but ,st4 ,paul seems to say that when the ,lord shall destroy death1 the last of his enemies1 then the whole creation shall be renewed1 and bring forth another earth1 nobler and more beautiful than this one1 free from death1 and sin1 and sorrow1 and redeemed into the glorious liberty of the children of ,god4 ,but this1 on the other hand1 ,st4 ,paul did see most clearly1 and preached it to all to whom he spoke1 that the ground and reason of this great and glorious mystery was the thing which happened on the first ,easter-day1 namely1 the ,lord ,jesus rising from the dead4 ,about that1 at least1 there was no doubt at all in his mind4 ,we may see it by the ,easter anthem1 which we read this morning1 taken out of the fifteenth chapter of his first epistle to the ,corinthians3 8,christ is risen from the dead1 and become the first fruits of them that slept4 8,for since by man came death1 by man came also the resurrection of the dead4 8,for as in ,adam all die1 even so in ,christ shall all be made alive40 ,now he is not talking here merely of the rising again of our bodies at the last day4 ,that was in his mind only the end1 and outcome1 and fruit1 and perfecting1 of men's rising from the dead in this life4 ,for he tells these same ,corinthians1 and the ,colossians1 and others to whom he wrote1 that life1 the eternal life which would raise their bodies at the last day1 was even then working in them4 ,neither is he speaking only of a few believers4 ,he says that1 owing to the ,lord's rising on this day1 all shall be made alive--not merely all ,christians1 but all men4 ,for he does not say1 as in ,adam all ,christians die1 but all men2 and so he does not say1 all ,christians shall be made alive1 but all men4 ,for here1 as in the sixth chapter of ,romans1 he is trying to make us understand the likeness between ,adam and ,jesus ,christ1 whom he calls the new ,adam4 ,the first ,adam1 he says1 was only a living soul1 as the savages and heathens are2 but the second ,adam1 the ,lord from heaven1 the true pattern of men1 is a quickening1 life-giving spirit1 to give eternal life to every human being who will accept ,his offer1 and claim his share and right as a true man1 after the likeness of the new ,adam1 ,jesus ,christ4 ,we then1 every one of us who is here to-day1 have a right to believe that we have a share in ,christ's eternal life3 that our original sin1 that is1 the sinfulness which we inherited from our forefathers1 is all forgiven and forgotten1 and that mankind is now redeemed1 and belongs to the second ,adam1 the true and original head and pattern of man1 ,jesus ,christ1 in whom was no sin2 and that because mankind belongs to him1 ,god is well pleased with them1 and reconciled to them1 and looks on them not as a guilty1 but as a pardoned and beloved race of beings4 ,and we have a right to believe also1 that because all power is given to ,christ in heaven and earth1 there is given to ,him the power of making men what they ought to be--like ,his own blessed1 and glorious1 and perfect self4 ,ask him1 and you shall receive2 knock at the gate of ,his treasure-house1 and it shall be opened4 ,seek those things that are above1 and you shall find them4 ,you shall find old bad habits die out in you1 new good habits spring up in you2 old meannesses become weaker1 new nobleness and manfulness become stronger2 the old1 selfish1 covetous1 savage1 cunning1 cowardly1 brutal ,adam dying out1 the new1 loving1 brotherly1 civilised1 wise1 brave1 manful ,adam growing up in you1 day by day1 to perfection1 till you are changed from grace to grace1 and glory to glory into the likeness of the ,lord of men4 8,these are great promises10 you may say1 8glorious promises2 but what proof have you that they belong to us8 ,they sound too good to be true2 too great for such poor creatures as we are2 give us but some proof that we have a right to them2 give us but a pledge from ,jesus ,christ2 give us but a sign1 an assurance from ,god1 and we may believe you then40 ,my friends1 ,i am certain--and the longer ,i live ,i am the more certain--that there is no argument1 no pledge1 no sign1 no assurance1 like the bread and the wine upon that table4 ,assurances in our own hearts and souls are good1 but we may be mistaken about them2 for1 after all1 they are our own thoughts1 notions in our own souls1 these inward experiences and assurances2 delightful and comforting as they are at times1 yet we cannot trust them--we cannot trust our own hearts1 they are deceitful above all things1 who can know them8 ,yes3 our own hearts may tell us lies2 they may make us fancy that we are pleasing ,god1 when we are doing the things most hateful to ,him4 ,they have made thousands fancy so already4 ,they may make us fancy we are right in ,god's sight1 when we are utterly wrong4 ,they have made thousands fancy so already4 ,these hearts of ours may make us fancy that we have spiritual life in us2 that we are in a state higher and nobler than the sinners round us1 when all the while our spirits are dead within us4 ,they made the ,pharisees of old fancy that their souls were alive1 and pure1 and religious1 when they were dead and damned within them2 and they may make us fancy so too4 ,no3 we cannot trust our hearts and inward feelings2 but that bread1 that wine1 we can trust4 ,our inward feelings are a sign from man2 that bread and wine are a sign from ,god4 ,our inward feelings may tell us what we feel toward ,god3 that bread1 that wine1 tell us something ten thousand times more important2 they tell us what ,god feels towards us4 ,and ,god must love us before we can love ,him2 ,god must pardon us before we can have mercy on ourselves2 ,god must come to us1 and take hold of us1 before we can cling to ,him2 ,god must change us1 before we can become right2 ,god must give us eternal life in our hearts before we can feel and enjoy that new life in us4 ,then that bread1 that wine1 say that ,god has done all that for us already2 they say3 8,god does love you2 ,god has pardoned you2 ,god has come to you2 ,god is ready and willing to change and convert you2 ,god has given you eternal life2 and this love1 this mercy1 this coming to find you out while you are wandering in sin1 this change1 this eternal life1 are all in ,his ,son ,jesus ,christ2 and that bread1 that wine1 are the signs of it40 ,it is for the sake of ,jesus' blood that ,god has pardoned you1 and that cup is the new covenant in ,his blood4 ,come and drink1 and claim your pardon4 ,it is simply because ,jesus ,christ was man1 and you1 too1 are men and women1 wearing the flesh and blood which ,christ wore2 eating and drinking as ,christ ate and drank1 and not for any works or faith of your own1 that ,god loves you1 and has come to you1 and called you into ,his family4 ,this is the ,gospel1 the good news of ,christ's free grace1 and pardon1 and salvation2 and that bread1 that wine1 the common food of all men1 not merely of the rich1 or the wise1 or the pious1 but of saints and penitents1 rich and poor4 ,christians and heathens1 alike--that plain1 common1 every-day bread and wine--are the signs of it4 ,come and take the signs1 and claim your share in ,god's love1 in ,god's family4 ,and it is in ,jesus ,christ1 too1 that you have eternal life4 ,it is because you belong to ,jesus ,christ1 to mankind1 of which ,he is the head and king1 that ,god will change you1 strengthen your soul to rise above your sins1 raise you up daily more and more out of spiritual death1 out of brutishness1 and selfishness1 and ignorance1 and malice1 into an eternal life of wisdom1 and love1 and courage1 and mercifulness1 and patience1 and obedience2 a life which shall continue through death1 and beyond death1 and raise you up again for ever at the last day1 because you belong to ,christ's body1 and have been fed with ,christ's eternal life4 ,and that bread1 that wine are the signs of it4 8,take1 eat10 said ,jesus1 8this is my body2 drink1 this is my blood40 ,those are the signs that ,god has given you eternal life1 and that this life is in ,his ,son4 ,what better sign would you have8 ,there is no mistaking their message2 they can tell you no lies4 ,and they can1 and will1 bring your own ,gospel-blessings to your mind1 as nothing else can4 ,they will make you feel1 as nothing else can1 that you are the beloved children of ,god1 heirs of all that your ,king and ,head has bought for you1 when ,he died1 and rose again upon this day4 ,he gave you the ,lord's ,supper for a sign4 ,do you think that ,he did not know best what the best sign would be8 ,he said3 8,do this in remembrance of me40 ,do you think that ,he did not know better than you1 and me1 and all men1 that if you did do it1 it would put you in remembrance of ,him8 ,oh6 come to ,his table1 this day of all days in the year2 and claim there your share in ,his body and ,his blood1 to feed the everlasting life in you2 which1 though you see it not now1 though you feel it not now1 will surely1 if you keep it alive in you by daily faith1 and daily repentance1 and daily prayer1 and daily obedience1 raise you up1 body and soul1 to reign with ,him for ever at the last day4 ,,ix4 ,,the ,,comforter4 ,,fourth ,,sunday ,,after ,,easter4 ,if ,i go not away1 the ,comforter will not come unto you2 but if ,i depart1 ,i will send ,him unto you4--,,john xvi4 #g4 ,,we are now coming near to two great days1 ,ascension-day and ,whit-,sunday1 which our forefathers have appointed1 year by year1 to put us continually in mind of two great works1 which the ,lord worked out for us1 ,his most unworthy subjects1 and still unworthier brothers4 ,on ,ascension-day ,he ascended up into ,heaven1 and received gifts for men1 even for ,his enemies1 that the ,lord ,god might dwell among them2 and on ,whit-,sunday1 ,he sent down those gifts4 ,the ,spirit of ,god came down to dwell in the hearts of men1 to be the right of everyone who asks for it1 white or black1 young or old1 rich or poor1 and never to leave this earth as long as there is a human being on it4 ,and because we are coming near to these two great days1 the ,prayer-book1 in the ,collects1 ,epistles1 and ,gospels1 tries to put us in mind of those days1 and to make us ready to ask for the blessings of which they are the yearly signs and witnesses4 ,the ,gospel for last ,sunday told us how the ,lord told ,his disciples just before ,his death1 that for a little while they should not see ,him2 and again a little while and they should see ,him1 because he was going to the ,father1 and that they should have great sorrow1 but that their sorrow should be turned into joy4 ,and the ,gospel for to-day goes further still1 and tells us why ,he was going away--that ,he might send to them the ,comforter1 ,his ,holy ,spirit1 and that it was expedient--good for them1 that ,he should go away2 for that if ,he did not1 the ,comforter would not come to them4 ,now1 in these words1 ,i do not doubt ,he was speaking of ,ascension-day1 and of ,whit-,sunday2 and therefore it is that these ,gospels have been chosen to be read before ,ascension-day and ,whit-,sunday2 and in proportion as we attend to these ,gospels1 and take in the meaning of them1 and act accordingly1 ,ascension-day and ,whit-,sunday will be a blessing and a profit to us2 and in proportion as we neglect them1 or forget them1 ,ascension-day and ,whit-,sunday will be witnesses against our souls at the day of judgment1 that the ,lord ,himself condescended to buy for us with ,his own blood1 blessings unspeakable1 and offer them freely unto us1 in spite of all our sins1 and yet we would have none of them1 but preferred our own will to ,god's will1 and the little which we thought we could get for ourselves1 to the unspeakable treasures which ,god had promised to give us1 and turned away from the blessings of ,his kingdom1 to our own foolish pleasure and covetousness1 like 8the dog to his vomit1 and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire40 ,i said that ,god had promised to us an unspeakable treasure3 and so ,he has2 a treasure that will make the poorest and weakest man among us1 richer than if he had all the wealth gathered from all the nations of the world1 which everyone is admiring now in that ,great ,exhibition in ,london1 and stronger than if he had all the wisdom which produced that wealth4 ,let us see now what it is that ,god has promised us--and then those to whom ,god has given ears to hear1 and hearts to understand1 will see that large as my words may sound1 they are no larger than the truth4 ,christ said1 that if ,he went away1 ,he would send down the ,comforter1 the ,holy ,spirit of ,god4 ,the ,nicene ,creed says1 that the ,holy ,spirit of ,god is the ,lord and ,giver of life2 and so ,he is4 ,he gives life to the earth1 to the trees1 to the flowers1 to the dumb animals1 to the bodies and minds of men2 all life1 all growth1 all health1 all strength1 all beauty1 all order1 all help and assistance of one thing by another1 which you see in the world around you1 comes from ,him4 ,he is the ,lord and ,giver of life2 in ,him1 the earth1 the sun and stars1 all live and move and have their being4 ,he is not them1 or a part of them1 but ,he gives life to them4 ,but to men ,he is more than that--for we men ourselves are more than that1 and need more4 ,we have immortal spirits in us--a reason1 a conscience1 and a will2 strange rights and duties1 strange hopes and fears1 of which the beasts and the plants know nothing4 ,we have hearts in us which can love1 and feel1 and sorrow1 and be weak1 and sinful1 and mistaken2 and therefore we want a ,comforter4 ,and the ,lord and ,giver of life has promised to be our ,comforter2 and the ,father and the ,son1 from both of whom ,he proceeds1 have promised to send ,him to us1 to strengthen and comfort us1 and give our spirits life and health1 and knit us together to each other1 and to ,god1 in one common bond of love and fellow-feeling even as ,he the ,spirit knits together the ,father and the ,son4 ,i said that we want a ,comforter4 ,if we consider what that word ,comforter means1 we shall see that we do want a ,comforter1 and that the only ,comforter which can satisfy us for ever and ever1 must be ,he1 the very ,spirit of ,god1 the ,lord and ,giver of life4 ,now ,comforter means one who gives comfort2 so the meaning of it will depend upon what comfort means4 ,our word comfort1 comes from two old ,latin words1 which mean with and to strengthen4 ,and1 therefore1 a ,comforter means anyone who is with us to strengthen us1 and do for us what we could not do for ourselves4 ,you will see that this is the proper meaning of the word1 when you remember what bodily things we call comforts4 ,you say that a person is comfortable1 or lives in comfort1 if he has a comfortable income1 a comfortable house1 comfortable clothes1 comfortable food1 and so on4 ,now all these things1 his money1 his house1 his clothes1 his food1 are not himself4 ,they make him stronger and more at ease4 ,they make his life more pleasant to him4 ,but they are not him2 they are round him1 with him1 to strengthen him4 ,so with a person's mind and feelings2 when a man is in sorrow and trouble1 he cannot comfort himself4 ,his friends must come to him and comfort him2 talk to him1 advise him1 show their kind feeling towards him1 and in short1 be with him to strengthen him in his afflictions4 ,and if we require comfort for our bodies1 and for our minds1 my friends1 how much more do we for our spirits--our souls1 as we call them6 ,how weak1 and ignorant1 and self-willed1 and perplexed1 and sinful they are--surely our souls require a comforter far more than our bodies or our minds do6 ,and to comfort our spirits1 we require a spirit2 for we cannot see our own spirits1 our own souls1 as we can our bodies4 ,we cannot even tell by our feelings what state they are in4 ,we may deceive ourselves1 and we do deceive ourselves1 again and again1 and fancy that our souls are strong when they are weak--that they are simple and truthful when they are full of deceit and falsehood--that they are loving ,god when they are only loving themselves--that they are doing ,god's will when they are only doing their own selfish and perverse wills4 ,no man can take care of his own spirit1 much less give his own spirit life2 8no man can quicken his own soul10 says ,david1 that is1 no man can give his own soul life4 ,and therefore we must have someone beyond ourselves to give life to our spirits4 ,we must have someone to teach us the things that we could never find out for ourselves1 someone who will put into our hearts the good desires that could never come of themselves4 ,we must have someone who can change these wills of ours1 and make them love what they hate by nature1 and make them hate what they love by nature4 ,for by nature we are selfish4 ,by nature we are inclined to love ourselves1 rather than anyone else2 to take care of ourselves1 rather than anyone else4 ,by nature we are inclined to follow our own will1 rather than ,god's will1 to do our own pleasure1 rather than follow ,god's commandments1 and therefore by nature our spirits are dead2 for selfishness and self-will are spiritual death4 ,spiritual life is love1 pity1 patience1 courage1 honesty1 truth1 justice1 humbleness1 industry1 self-sacrifice1 obedience to ,god1 and therefore to those whom ,god sends to teach and guide us4 ,that is spiritual life4 ,that is the life of ,jesus ,christ2 ,his character1 ,his conduct1 was like that--to love1 to help1 to pity1 all around--to give up ,himself even to death--to do ,his ,father's will and not ,his own4 ,that was ,his life4 ,because ,he was the ,son of ,god ,he did it4 ,in proportion as we live like ,him1 we shall he living like sons of ,god4 ,in proportion as we live like ,jesus ,christ1 the ,son of ,god1 our spirits will be alive4 ,for he that hath ,jesus ,christ the ,son of ,god in him1 hath life1 and he that hath not the ,son of ,god1 hath not life1 says ,st4 ,john4 ,but who can raise us from the death of sin and selfishness1 to the life of righteousness and love8 ,who can change us into the likeness of ,jesus ,christ8 ,who can even show us what ,jesus ,christ's likeness is1 and take the things of ,christ and show them to us2 so that by seeing what ,he was1 we may see what we should be8 ,and who1 if we have this life in us1 will keep it alive in us1 and be with us to strengthen us8 ,who will give us strength to force the foul and fierce and false thoughts out of our mind1 and say1 8,get thee behind me1 ,satan80 ,who will give our spirits life8 and who will strengthen that life in us8 ,can we do it for ourselves8 ,oh6 my friends1 ,i pity the man who is so blind and ignorant1 who knows so little of himself1 upon whom the lessons which his own mistakes1 and sins1 and failings should have taught him1 have been so wasted that he fancies that he can teach and guide himself without any help1 and that he can raise his own soul to life1 or keep it alive without assistance4 ,can his body do without its comforts8 ,then how can his spirit8 ,if he left his house1 and threw away his clothes1 and refused all help from his fellow-men1 and went and lived in the woods like a wild beast1 we should call him a madman1 because he refused the help and comfort to his body which ,god has made necessary for him4 ,but just as great a madman is he who refuses the help and the strengthening which ,god has made necessary for his spirit--just as great a madman is he who fancies that his soul is any more able than his body is1 to live without continual help4 ,it is just because man is nobler than the beast that he requires help4 ,the fox in the wood needs no house1 no fire2 he needs no friends2 he needs no comforts1 and no comforters1 because he is a beast--because he is meant to live and die selfish and alone2 therefore ,god has provided him in himself with all things necessary to keep the poor brute's selfish life in him for a few short years4 ,but just because man is nobler than that2 just because man is not intended to live selfish and alone2 just because his body1 and his mind1 and his spirit are beautifully and delicately made1 and intended for all sorts of wonderful purposes1 therefore ,god has appointed that from the moment he is born to all eternity he cannot live alone2 he cannot support himself2 he stands in continual need of the assistance of all around him1 for body1 and soul1 and spirit2 he needs clothes1 which other men must make2 houses1 which other man must build2 food1 which other men must produce2 he has to get his livelihood by working for others1 while others get their livelihood in return by working for him4 ,as a child he needs his parents to be his comforters1 to take care of him in body and mind4 ,as he grows up he needs the care of others2 he cannot exist a day without his fellow-men3 he requires school-masters to educate him2 books and masters to teach him his trade2 and when he has learnt it1 and settled himself in life1 he requires laws made by other men1 perhaps by men who died hundreds of years before he was born1 to secure to him his rights and property1 to secure to him comforts1 and to make him feel comfortable in his station2 he needs friends and family to comfort him in sorrow and in joy1 to do for him the thousand things which he cannot do for himself4 ,in proportion as he is alone and friendless he is pitiable and miserable1 let him be as rich as ,solomon himself4 ,from the moment1 ,i say1 he is born1 he needs continual comforts and comforters for his body1 and mind1 and heart4 ,and then he fancies that1 though his body and his mind cannot exist safely1 or grow up healthily1 without the continual care and comforting of his fellow-men1 that yet his soul1 the part of him which is at once the most important and the most in danger2 the part of him of which he knows least2 the part of him which he understands least2 the part of him of which his body and mind cannot take care1 because it has to take care of them1 can live1 and grow1 and prosper without any help whatsoever6 ,and if we cannot strengthen our own souls no man can strengthen them for us4 ,no man can raise our bodies to life1 much less can he raise our souls4 ,the physician himself cannot cure the sicknesses of our bodies2 he can only give us fit medicines1 and leave them to cure us by certain laws of nature1 which he did not make1 and which he cannot alter4 ,and though the physician can1 by much learning1 understand men's bodies somewhat1 who can understand men's souls8 ,we cannot understand our own souls2 we do not know what they are1 how they live2 whence they come1 or whither they go4 ,we cannot cure them ourselves1 much less can anyone cure them for us4 ,the only one who can cure our souls is ,he that made our souls2 the only one who can give life to our souls is ,he who gives life to everything4 ,the only one who can cure1 and strengthen1 and comfort our spirits1 is ,he who understands our spirits1 because ,he himself is the ,spirit of all spirits1 the ,spirit who searcheth all things1 even the deep things of ,god2 because ,he is the ,spirit of ,god the ,father1 who made all heaven and earth1 and of ,jesus ,christ the ,son1 who understands the heart of man1 who can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities1 and hath been tempted in all things1 just as we are1 yet without sin4 ,he is the ,comforter which ,god has promised to our spirits1 the only ,comforter who can strengthen our spirits2 and if we have ,him with us1 if ,he is strengthening us1 if ,he is leading us1 if ,he is abiding with us1 if ,he is changing us day by day1 more and more into the likeness of ,jesus ,christ1 are we not1 as ,i said at the beginning of my sermon1 richer than if we possessed all the land of ,england1 stronger than if we had all the armies of the world at our command8 ,for what is more precious than--,god ,himself8 ,what is stronger than--,god ,himself8 ,the poorest man in whom ,god's ,spirit dwells is greater than the greatest king in whom ,god's ,spirit does not dwell4 ,and so he will find in the day that he dies4 ,then where will riches be1 and power8 ,the rich man will take none of them away with him when he dieth1 neither shall his pomp follow him4 ,naked came he into this world1 and naked shall he return out of it1 to go as he came1 and carry with him none of the comforts which he thought in this life the only ones worth having4 ,but the ,spirit of ,god remains with us for ever2 that treasure a man shall carry out of this world with him1 and keep to all eternity4 ,that friend will never forsake him1 for ,he is the ,spirit of ,love1 which abideth for ever4 ,that ,comforter will never grow weak1 for ,he is ,himself the very eternal ,lord and ,giver of ,life2 and the soul that is possessed by ,him must live1 must grow1 must become nobler1 purer1 freer1 stronger1 more loving1 for ever and ever1 as the eternities roll by4 ,that is what ,he will give you1 my friends2 that is ,his treasure2 that is the ,spirit-life1 the true and everlasting life1 which flows from ,him as the stream flows from the fountain-head4 ,x4 ,,whit-,,sunday4 ,the fruit of the ,spirit is love1 joy1 peace1 longsuffering1 gentleness1 goodness1 faith1 meekness1 temperance--against such there is no law4--,,galatians v4 #bb1 #bc4 ,,in all countries1 and in all ages1 the world has been full of complaints of ,law and ,government4 ,and one hears the same complaints in ,england now4 ,you hear complaints that the laws favour one party and one rank more than another1 that they are expensive1 and harsh1 and unfair1 and what not8--,but ,i think1 my friends1 that for us1 and especially on this ,whit-,sunday1 it will be much wiser1 instead of complaining of the laws1 to complain of ourselves1 for needing those laws4 ,for what is it that makes laws necessary at all1 except man's sinfulness8 ,adam required no laws in the garden of ,eden4 ,we should require no laws if we were what we ought to be--what ,god has offered to make us4 ,we may see this by looking at the laws themselves1 and considering the purposes for which they were made4 ,we shall then see1 that1 like ,moses' ,laws of old1 the greater part of them have been added because of transgressions4--,in plain ,english--to prevent men from doing things which they ought not to do1 and which1 if they were in a right state of mind1 they would not do4 ,how many laws are passed1 simply to prevent one man1 or one class1 from oppressing or ill-using some other man or class8 ,what a vast number of them are passed simply to protect property1 or to protect the weak from the cruel1 the ignorant from the cunning6 ,it is plain that if there was no cruelty1 no cunning1 no dishonesty1 these laws1 at all events1 would not be needed4 ,again1 one of the great complaints against the laws and the government1 is that they are so expensive1 that rates and taxes are heavy burdens--and doubtless they are3 but what makes them necessary except men's sin8 ,if the poor were more justly and mercifully treated1 and if they in their turn were more thrifty and provident1 there would be no need of the expenses of poor rates4 ,if there was no love of war and plunder1 there would be no need of the expense of an army4 ,if there was no crime1 there would be no need of the expense of police and prisons4 ,the thing is so simple and self-evident1 that it seems almost childish to mention it4 ,and yet1 my friends1 we forget it daily4 ,we complain of the laws and their harshness1 of taxes and their expensiveness1 and we forget all the while that it is our own selfishness and sinfulness which brings this expense upon us1 which makes it necessary for the law to interfere and protect us against others1 and others against us4 ,and while we are complaining of the government for not doing its work somewhat more cheaply1 we are forgetting that if we chose1 we might leave government very little work to do--that every man if he chose1 might be his own law-maker and his own police--that every man if he will1 may lead a life 8against which there is no law40 ,i say again1 that it is our own fault1 the fault of our sinfulness1 that laws are necessary for us4 ,in proportion as we are what ,scripture calls 8natural men10 that is1 savage1 selfish1 divided from each other1 and struggling against each other1 each for his own interest2 as long as we are not renewed and changed into new men1 so long will laws1 heavy1 severe1 and burdensome1 be necessary for us4 ,without them we should be torments to ourselves1 to our neighbours1 to our country4 ,but these laws are only necessary as long as we are full of selfishness and ungodliness4 ,the moment we yield ourselves up to ,god's law1 man's laws are ready enough to leave us alone4 ,take1 for instance1 a common example2 as long as anyone is a faithful husband and a good father1 the law does not interfere with his conduct towards his wife and children4 ,but it is when he is unfaithful to them1 when he ill-treats them1 or deserts them1 that the law interferes with its 8,thou shalt not10 and compels him to behave1 against his will1 in the way in which he ought to have behaved of his own will4 ,it was free to the man to have done his duty by his family1 without the law--the moment he neglects his duty1 he becomes amenable to it4 ,but the law can only force a man's actions3 it cannot change his heart4 ,in the instance which ,i have been just mentioning1 the law can say to a man1 8,you shall not ill-treat your family2 you shall not leave them to starve40 ,but the law cannot say to him 8,you shall love your family40 ,the law can only command from a man outward obedience2 the obedience of the heart it cannot enforce4 ,the law may make a man do his duty1 it cannot make a man love his duty4 ,and therefore laws will never set the world right4 ,they can punish persons after the wrong is done1 and that not certainly nor always3 but they cannot certainly prevent the wrongs being done4 ,the law can punish a man for stealing3 and yet1 as we see daily1 men steal in the face of punishment4 ,or even if the law1 by its severity1 makes persons afraid to commit certain particular crimes1 yet still as long as the sinful heart is left in them unchanged1 the sin which is checked in one direction is sure to break out in another4 ,sin1 like every other disease1 is sure1 when it is driven onwards1 to break out at a fresh point1 or fester within some still more deadly1 because more hidden and unsuspected1 shape4 ,the man who dare not be an open sinner for fear of the law1 can be a hypocrite in spite of it4 ,the man who dare not steal for fear of the law1 can cheat in spite of it4 ,the selfish man will find fresh ways of being selfish1 the tyrannical man of being tyrannical1 however closely the law may watch him4 ,he will discover some means of evading it2 and thus the law1 after all1 though it may keep down crime1 multiplies sin2 and by the law1 as ,st4 ,paul says1 is the knowledge of sin4 ,what then will do that for this poor world which the law cannot do--which1 as ,st4 ,paul tells us1 not even the law of ,god given on ,mount ,sinai1 holy1 just1 good as it was1 could do1 because no law can give life8 ,what will give men a new heart and a new spirit1 which shall love its duty and do it willingly1 and not by compulsion1 everywhere and always1 and not merely just as far as it commanded8 ,the text tells us that there is a ,spirit1 the fruit of which is love1 joy1 peace1 longsuffering1 gentleness1 goodness1 faith1 meekness1 temperance2 a character such as no laws can give to a man1 and which no law dare punish in a man4 ,look at this character as ,st4 ,paul sets it forth--and then think what need would there be of all these burdensome and expensive laws1 if all men were but full of the fruits of that ,spirit which ,st4 ,paul describes8 ,i know what answer will be ready1 in some of your minds at least1 to all this4 ,you will be ready to reply1 almost angrily1 8,of course if everyone was perfect1 we should need no laws3 but people are not perfect1 and you cannot expect them to be40 ,my friends1 whether or not we expect baptized people1 living in a ,christian country1 to be perfect1 ,god expects them to be perfect2 for ,he has said1 by the mouth of ,his ,son1 our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 8,be ye therefore perfect1 as our ,father which is in heaven is perfect40 ,and ,he has told us what being perfect is like2 you may read it for yourselves in ,his sermon on the ,mount2 and you may see also that what ,he commands us to do in that sermon1 from the beginning to the end1 is the exact opposite and contrary of the ways and rules of this world1 which1 as ,i have shown1 make burdensome laws necessary to prevent our devouring each other4 ,now1 do you think that ,god would have told us to be perfect1 if ,he knew that it was impossible for us8 ,do you think that ,he1 the ,god of truth1 would have spoken such a cruel mockery against poor sinful creatures like us1 as to command us a duty without giving us the means of fulfilling it8 ,do you think that ,he did not know ten thousand times better than ,i what ,i have been just telling you1 that laws could not change men's hearts and wills2 that commanding a man to love and like a thing will not make him love and like it2 that a man's heart and spirit must be changed in him from within1 and not merely laws and commandments laid on him from without8 ,then why has ,he commanded us to love each other1 ay1 to love our enemies1 to bless those who curse us1 to pray for those who use us spitefully8 ,do you think the ,lord meant to make hypocrites of us2 to tell us to go about1 as some who call themselves religious do go about1 with their lips full of meek1 and humble1 and simple1 and loving words1 while their hearts are full of pride1 and spite1 and cunning1 and hate1 and selfishness1 which are all the more deadly for being kept in and plastered over by a smooth outside8 ,god forbid6 ,he tells us to love each other1 only because ,he has promised us the spirit of love4 ,he tells us to be humble1 because ,he can make us humble-hearted4 ,he tells us to be honest1 because ,he can make us love and delight in honesty4 ,he tells us to refrain ourselves from foul thoughts as well as from foul actions1 because ,he can take the foul heart out of us1 and give us instead the spirit of purity and holiness4 ,he tells us to lead new lives after the new pattern of ,himself1 because ,he can give us new hearts and a new spring of life within us2 in short1 ,he bids us behave as sons of ,god should behave1 because1 as ,he said ,himself1 8,if we1 being evil1 know how to give our children what is good for them1 much more will our heavenly ,father give ,his ,holy ,spirit to those who ask him40 ,if you would be perfect1 ask your ,father in heaven to make you perfect4 ,if you feel that your heart is wrong1 ask ,him to give you a new and a right heart4 ,if you feel yourselves--as you are1 whether you feel it or not--too weak1 too ignorant1 too selfish1 to guide yourselves1 ask ,him to send ,his ,spirit to guide you2 ask for the ,spirit from which comes all love1 all light1 all wisdom1 all strength of mind4 ,ask for that ,spirit1 and you shall receive it2 seek for it1 and you shall find it2 knock at the gate of your ,father's treasure-house1 and it shall be surely opened to you4 ,but some of you1 perhaps1 are saying to yourselves1 8,how will my being changed and renewed by the ,spirit of ,god1 render the laws less burdensome1 while the crime and sin around me remain unchanged8 ,it is others who want to be improved as much1 and perhaps more than ,i do40 ,it may be so1 my friends2 or1 again1 it may not2 those who fancy that others need ,god's ,spirit more than they do1 may be the very persons who need it really the most2 those who say they see1 may be only proving their blindness by so saying2 those who fancy that their souls are rich1 and are full of all knowledge1 and understand the whole ,bible1 and want no further teaching1 may be1 as they were in ,st4 ,john's time1 just the ones who are wretched1 and miserable1 and poor1 and blind1 and naked in soul1 and do not know it4 ,but at all events1 if you think others need to be changed by ,god's ,spirit1 pray that ,god's ,spirit may change them4 ,for believe me1 unless you pray for ,god's ,spirit for each other1 ay1 for the whole world1 there is no use asking for yourselves4 ,this1 ,i believe1 is one of the reasons1 perhaps the chief reason1 why the fruits of ,god's ,spirit are so little seen among us in these days2 why our ,christianity is become more and more dead1 and hollow1 and barren1 while expensive and intricate laws and taxes are becoming more and more necessary every year2 because our religion has become so selfish1 because we have been praying for ,god's ,spirit too little for each other4 ,our prayers have become too selfish4 ,we have been looking for ,god's ,spirit not so much as a means to enable us to do good to others1 but as some sort of mysterious charm which was to keep us ourselves from the punishment of our sins in the next life1 or give us a higher place in heaven2 and1 therefore1 ,st4 ,james's words have been fulfilled to us1 even in our very prayers for ,god's ,spirit1 8,ye ask and have not1 because ye ask amiss1 to consume it upon your lusts0--save our selfish souls from the pains of hell2 to give our selfish souls selfish pleasures and selfish glorification in the world to come3 but not to spread ,god's kingdom upon earth1 not to make us live on earth such lives as ,christ lived2 a life of love and self-sacrifice1 and continual labour for the souls of others4 ,therefore it is1 that ,god's ,spirit is not poured out upon us in these days2 for ,god's ,spirit is the spirit of love and brotherhood1 which delivers a man from his selfishness2 and if we do not desire to be delivered from our selfishness1 we do not desire the ,spirit of ,god1 and the ,spirit of ,god will not be bestowed upon us4 ,and no man desires to be delivered from his own selfishness1 who in his very prayers1 when he ought to be thinking least about himself alone1 is thinking about himself most of all1 and forgetting that he is the member of a family--that all mankind are his brethren--that he can claim nothing for himself to which every sinner around him has an equal right--that nothing is necessary for him1 which is not equally necessary for everyone around him2 that he has all the world besides himself to pray for1 and that his prayers for himself will be heard only according as he prays for all the world beside4 ,baptism teaches us this1 when it tells us that our old selfish nature is to be washed away1 and a new character1 after the pattern of ,christ1 is to live and grow up in us2 that from the day we are baptized1 to the day of our death1 we should live not for ourselves1 but for ,jesus1 in whom was no selfishness2 when it teaches us that we are not only children of ,god1 but members of ,christ's ,family1 and heirs of ,god's kingdom1 and therefore bound to make common cause with all other members of that ,family1 to live and labour for the common good of all our fellow-citizens in that kingdom4 ,the ,lord's prayer teaches us this1 when ,he tells us to pray1 not 8,my ,father10 but 8,our ,father20 not 8my soul be saved10 but 8,thy kingdom come20 not 8give me10 but 8give us our daily bread20 not 8forgive me10 but 8forgive us our trespasses10 and that only as we forgive others2 not 8lead me not10 but 8lead us not into temptation20 not 8deliver me10 but 8deliver us from evil40 ,after that manner the ,lord told us to pray2 and1 in proportion as we pray in that manner1 asking for nothing for ourselves which we do not ask for everyone else in the whole world1 just so far and no farther will ,god hear our prayers4 ,he who asks for ,god's ,spirit for himself only1 and forgets that all the world need it as much as he1 is not asking for ,god's ,spirit at all1 and does not know even what ,god's ,spirit is4 ,the mystery of ,pentecost1 too1 which came to pass on this day #ahah years ago1 teaches us the same thing also4 ,those cloven tongues of fire1 the tokens of ,god's ,spirit1 fell not upon one man1 but upon many2 not when they were apart from each other1 but when they were together2 and what were the fruits of that ,spirit in the ,apostles8 ,did they remain within that upper room1 each priding himself upon his own gifts1 and trying merely to gain heaven for his own soul8 ,if they had any such fancies1 as they very likely had before the ,spirit fell upon them1 they had none such afterwards4 ,the ,spirit must have taken all such thoughts from them1 and given them a new notion of what it was to be devout and holy3 for instead of staying in that upper room1 they went forth instantly into the public place to preach in foreign tongues to all the people4 ,instead of keeping themselves apart from each other in silence1 and fancying1 as some have done1 and some do now1 that they pleased ,god by being solitary1 and melancholy1 and selfish--what do we read8 the fruit of ,god's ,spirit was in them2 that they and the three thousand souls who were added to them1 on the first day of their preaching1 8were all together1 and had all things common1 and sold their possessions1 and goods1 and parted them to all men1 as every man had need1 and continuing daily with one accord in the temple1 and breaking bread from house to house1 did eat their bread in gladness and singleness of heart1 praising ,god and having favour with all the people40 ,those were the fruits of ,god's ,spirit in them4 ,till we see more of that sort of life and society in ,england1 we shall not be able to pride ourselves on having much of ,god's ,spirit among us4 ,but above all1 if anything will teach us that the strength of ,god's ,spirit is not a strength which we must ask for for ourselves alone2 that the blessings of ,god's kingdom are blessings which we cannot have in order to keep them to ourselves1 but can only enjoy in as far as we share them with those around us2 if anything1 ,i say1 ought to teach us that lesson1 it is the ,sacrament of the ,lord's ,supper4 ,just consider a moment1 my friends1 what a strange thing it is1 if we will think of it1 that the ,lord's ,supper1 the most solemn and sacred thing with which a man can have to do upon earth1 is just a thing which he cannot transact for himself1 or by himself4 ,not alone in secret1 in his chamber1 but1 whether he will or not1 in the company of others1 not merely in the company of his own private friends1 but in the company of any or everyone1 rich or poor1 who chooses to kneel beside him2 he goes with others1 rich and poor alike1 to the ,lord's ,table1 and there the same bread1 and the same wine1 is shared among all by the same priest4 ,if that means anything1 it means this--that rich and poor alike draw life for their souls from the same well1 not for themselves only1 not apart from each other1 but all in common1 all together1 because they are brothers1 members of one family1 as the leaves are members of the same tree2 that as the same bread and the same wine are needed to nourish the bodies of all1 the same spirit of ,god is needed to nourish the souls of all2 and that we cannot have this spirit1 except as members of a body1 any more than a man's limb can have life when it is cut off and parted from him4 ,this is the reason1 and the only reason1 why ,protestant clergymen are forbidden1 thank ,god6 to give the ,holy ,sacrament of the ,lord's ,supper1 to any one person singly4 ,if a clergyman were to administer the ,lord's ,supper1 to himself in private1 without any congregation to partake with him1 it would not be the ,lord's ,supper1 it would be nothing1 and worse than nothing2 it would be a sham and a mockery1 and1 ,i believe1 a sin4 ,i do not believe that ,christ would be present1 that ,god's ,spirit would rest on that man4 ,for our ,lord says1 that it is where two or three are gathered together in ,his name1 that ,he is in the midst of them4 ,and it was at a supper1 at a feast1 where all the ,apostles were met together1 that our ,lord divided the bread amongst them1 and told them to share the cup amongst themselves1 just as a sign that they were all members of one body--that the welfare of each of them was bound up in the welfare of all the rest that ,god's blessing did not rest upon each singly1 but upon all together4 ,and it is just because we have forgotten this1 my friends--because we have forgotten that we are all brothers and sisters1 children of one family1 members of one body--because in short1 we have carried our selfishness into our very religion1 and up to the altar of ,god1 that we neglect the ,lord's ,supper as we do4 ,people neglect the ,lord's ,supper because they either do not know or do not like that1 of which the ,lord's ,supper is the token and warrant4 ,it is not merely that they feel themselves unfit for the ,lord's ,supper1 because they are not in love and charity with all men4 ,oh6 my dear friends1 do not some of your hearts tell you1 that the reason why you stay away from the ,lord's ,supper is because you do not wish to be fit for the ,lord's ,supper--because you do not like to be in love and charity with all men--because you do not wish to be reminded that you are equals in ,god's sight1 all equally sinful1 all equally pardoned--and to see people whom you dislike or despise1 kneeling by your side1 and partaking of the same bread and wine with you1 as a token that ,god sees no difference between you and them2 that ,god looks upon you all as brothers1 however little brotherly love or fellow-feeling there may be1 alas6 between you8 ,or1 again1 do not some of you stay away from the ,lord's ,supper1 because you see no good in going8 because it seems to make those who go no better than they were before8 ,shall ,i tell you the reason of that8 ,shall ,i tell you why1 as is too true1 too many do come to the ,lord's ,supper1 and so far from being the better for it1 seem only the worse8 ,because they come to it in selfishness4 ,we have fallen into the same false and unscriptural way of looking at the ,lord's ,supper1 into which the ,papists have4 ,people go to the ,lord's ,supper nowadays too much to get some private good for their own souls1 and it would not matter to many of them1 ,i am afraid1 if not another person in the parish received it1 provided they can get1 as they fancy1 the same blessing from it4 ,thus they come to it in an utterly false and wrong temper of mind4 ,instead of coming as members of ,christ's body1 to get from ,him life and strength1 to work1 in their places1 as members of that body1 they come to get something for themselves1 as if there was nobody else's soul in the world to be saved but their own4 ,instead of coming to ask for the ,spirit of ,god to deliver them from their selfishness1 and make them care less about themselves1 and more about all around them1 they come to ask for the ,spirit of ,god because they think it will make themselves higher and happier in heaven4 ,and of course they do not get what they come for1 because they come for the wrong thing4 ,thus those who see them1 begin to fancy that the ,lord's ,supper is not1 after all1 so very important for the salvation of their souls2 and not finding in the ,bible actually written these words1 8,thou shalt perish everlastingly unless thou take the ,lord's ,supper10 they end by staying away from it1 and utterly neglecting it1 they and their children after them2 preferring their own selfishness1 to ,god's ,spirit of love1 and saying1 like ,esau of old1 8,i am hungry1 and ,i must live4 ,i must get on in this selfish world by following its selfish ways2 what is the use of a spirit of love and brotherhood to me8 ,if ,i were to obey the ,gospel1 and sacrifice my own interest for those around me1 ,i should starve2 what good will my birthright do me80 ,oh6 my friends1 ,i pray ,god that some of you1 at least1 may change your mind4 ,i pray ,god that some of you may see at last1 that all the misery and the burdens of this time1 spring from one root1 which is selfishness2 and that the reason why we are selfish1 is because we have not with us the ,spirit of ,god1 which is the spirit of brotherhood and love4 ,let us pray ,god now1 and henceforth1 to take that selfishness out of all our hearts4 ,let us pray ,god now1 and henceforth1 to pour upon us1 and upon all our countrymen1 ay1 and upon the whole world1 the spirit of friendship and fellow-feeling1 the spirit which when men have among them1 they need no laws to keep them from supplanting1 and oppressing1 and devouring each other1 because its fruits are love1 cheerfulness1 peace1 long suffering1 gentleness1 goodness1 honesty1 meekness1 temperance ,then there will be no need1 my friends1 for me to call you to the ,supper of the ,lord4 ,you will no more think of staying away from it1 than the ,apostles did1 when the ,spirit was poured out on them4 ,for what do we read that they did after the first ,whit-,sunday8 ,that altogether with one accord1 they broke bread daily2 that is1 partook of the ,lord's ,supper every day1 from house to house4 ,they did not need to be told to do it4 ,they did it1 as ,i may say1 by instinct4 ,there was no question or argument about it in their minds4 ,they had found out that they were all brothers1 with one common cause in joy and sorrow--that they were all members of one body--that the life of their souls came from one root and spring1 from one ,lord and ,saviour ,jesus ,christ1 the light and the life of men1 in whom they were all one1 members of each other2 and therefore1 they delighted in that ,lord's ,supper1 just because it brought them together2 just because it was a sign and a token to them that they did belong to each other1 that they had one ,lord1 one faith1 one interest1 one common cause for this life1 and for all eternity4 ,and therefore the blessing of that ,lord's ,supper did come to them1 and in it they did receive strength to live like children of ,god and members of ,christ1 and brothers to each other and to all mankind4 ,they proved by their actions what that ,communion ,feast1 that ,sacrament of ,brotherhood1 had done for them4 ,they proved it by not counting their own lives dear to them1 but going forth in the face of poverty and persecution1 and death itself1 to preach to the whole world the good news that ,christ was their ,king4 ,they proved it by their conduct to each other when they had all things in common1 and sold their possessions and goods1 and parted them to all1 as every man had need4 ,they proved it by needing no laws to bind them to each other from without1 because they were bound to each other from within1 by the love which comes down from ,god1 and is the very bond of peace1 and of every virtue which becomes a man4 ,,xi4 ,,ascension-,,day4 ,and ,jesus led them out as far as to ,bethany2 and he lifted up his hands and blessed them4 ,and it came to pass while he blessed them1 he was parted from them1 and carried up into heaven4 ,and they worshipped him and returned to ,jerusalem1 with great joy2 and were continually in the temple1 praising and blessing ,god4--,,luke xxiv4 #ej-ec4 ,,on this day it is fit and proper for us--if we have understood1 and enjoyed1 and profited by the wonder of the ,lord's ,ascension into ,heaven--to be in the same state of mind as the ,apostles were after ,his ,ascension3 for what was right for them is right for us and for all men2 the same effects which it produced on them it ought to produce on us4 ,and we may know whether we are in the state in which ,christian men ought to be1 by seeing how far we are in the same state of mind as the ,apostles were4 ,now the text tells us in what state of mind they were2 how that1 after the ,lord ,jesus was parted from them1 and carried up into ,heaven1 they worshipped ,him1 and returned to ,jerusalem1 with great joy1 and were continually in the temple1 praising and blessing ,god4 ,it seems at first sight certainly very strange that they should go back with great joy4 ,they had just lost their ,teacher1 their ,master--,one who had been more to them than all friends and fathers could be2 ,one who had taken them1 poor simple fishermen1 and changed the whole course of their lives1 and taught them things which ,he had taught to no one else1 and given them a great and awful work to do--the work of changing the ways and thoughts and doings of the whole world4 ,he had sent them out--eleven unlettered working men--to fight against the sin and the misery of the whole world4 ,and ,he had given them open warning of what they were to expect2 that by it they should win neither credit1 nor riches1 nor ease1 nor anything else that the world thinks worth having4 ,he gave them fair warning that the world would hate them1 and try to crush them4 ,he told them1 as the ,gospel for to-day says1 that they should be driven out of the churches2 that the religious people1 as well as the irreligious1 would be against them2 that the time would come when those who killed them would think that they did ,god service2 that nothing but labour1 and want1 and persecution1 and slander1 and torture1 and death was before them--and now ,he had gone away and left them4 ,he had vanished up into the empty air4 ,they were to see ,his face1 and hear ,his voice no more4 ,they were to have no more of ,his advice1 no more of ,his teaching1 no more of ,his tender comfortings2 they were to be alone in the world--eleven poor working men1 with the whole world against them1 and so great a business to do that they would not have time to get their bread by the labour of their hands4 ,is it not wonderful that they did not sit down in despair1 and say1 8,what will become of us80 ,is it not wonderful that they did not give themselves up to grief at losing the ,teacher who was worth all the rest of the world put together8 ,is it not wonderful that they did not go back1 each one to his old trade1 to his fishing and to his daily labour1 saying1 8,at all events we must eat2 at all events we must get our livelihood20 and end1 as they had begun1 in being mere labouring men1 of whom the world would never have heard a word8 ,and instead of that we read that they went back with great joy not to their homes but to ,jerusalem1 the capital city of their country1 and 8were continually in the temple blessing and praising ,god40 ,well1 my friends1 and if it is possible for one man to judge what another man would have done--if it is possible to guess what we should have done in their case--common-sense must show us this1 that if ,he was merely their ,teacher1 they would have either given themselves up to despair1 or gone back1 some to their plough1 some to their fishing-nets1 and some1 like ,matthew1 to their counting-houses1 and we should never have heard a word of them4 ,but if you will look in your ,bibles1 you will find that they thought ,him much more than a teacher--that they thought ,him to be the ,lord and ,king of the whole world2 and you will find that the great joy with which the disciples went back1 after ,he ascended into heaven1 came from certain very strange words that ,he had been speaking to them just before ,he ascended--words about which they could have but two opinions3 either they must have thought that they were utter falsehood1 and self-conceit1 and blasphemy2 and that ,jesus1 who had been all along speaking to them such words of wisdom and holiness as never man spake before1 had suddenly changed ,his whole character at the last1 and become such a sort of person as it is neither fit for me to speak of1 or you to hear me speak of1 in ,god's church1 and in ,jesus ,christ's hearing1 even though it be merely for the sake of argument2 or else they must have thought this about ,his words1 that they were the most joyful and blessed words that ever had been spoken on the earth2 that they were the best of all news2 the most complete of all ,gospels for this poor sinful world2 that what ,jesus had said about ,himself was true2 and that as long as it was true1 it did not matter in the least what became of them2 it did not matter in the least what difficulties stood in their way1 for they would be certain to conquer them all2 it did not matter in the least how men might persecute and slander them1 for they would be sure to get their reward2 it did not matter in the least how miserable and sinful the world might be just then1 for it was certain to be changed1 and converted1 and brought to ,god1 to righteousness1 to love1 to freedom1 to light1 at last4 ,if you look at the various accounts1 in the four gospels1 of the ,lord's last words on earth1 you will see1 surely1 what ,i mean4 ,let us take them one by one4 ,st4 ,matthew tells us that1 a few days before the ,lord's ascension1 ,he met ,his disciples on a mountain in ,galilee1 where he had appointed them to await him2 and there told them1 that all power was given to ,him in heaven and earth4 ,was not that blessed news--was not that a gospel8 ,that all the power in heaven and earth belonged to ,him8 ,to ,him1 who had all ,his life been doing good8 ,to ,him1 in whom there had never been one single stain of tyranny or selfishness8 ,to ,him1 who had been the friend of publicans and sinners8 ,to ,him1 who had rebuked the very richest1 and loved the very poorest8 ,to him1 who had shown that ,he had both the power and the will to heal every kind of sickness and disease8 ,to ,him1 who had conquered and driven out1 wherever ,he met them1 all the evil spirits which enslave and torment poor sinful men8 ,to ,him1 who had shown by rising from the dead1 that ,he was stronger than even death itself8 ,to ,him1 who had declared that ,he was the ,son of ,god the ,father1 that the great ,god who had made heaven and earth1 and all therein1 was perfectly pleased and satisfied with ,him1 that ,he was come to do ,his ,father's will1 and not ,his own2 that ,he was the ancient ,lord of the earth1 the ,i ,,am who was before ,abraham8 ,and ,he was now to have all power in heaven and earth6 ,everything which was done right in the world henceforth1 was to be ,his doing4 ,the kingdom and rule over the whole universe1 was to be ,his4 ,so ,he said2 and ,his disciples believed ,him2 and if they believed ,him1 how could they but rejoice8 ,how could they but rejoice at the glorious thought that ,he1 the son of the village maiden1 the champion of the poor and the suffering1 was to have the government of the world for ever8 ,that ,he1 who all the while ,he had been on earth had showed that ,he was perfect justice1 perfect love1 perfect humanity1 was to reign till ,he had put all ,his enemies under ,his feet8 ,how could the world but prosper under such a ,king as that8 ,how could wickedness triumph1 while ,he1 the perfectly righteous one1 was ,king8 ,how could misery triumph1 while ,he1 the perfectly merciful one1 was ,king8 ,how could ignorance triumph1 while ,he1 the perfectly wise one1 who had declared that ,god the ,father hid nothing from ,him1 was ,king8 ,unless the disciples had been more dull and selfish than the dumb beasts around them1 what could they do but rejoice at that news8 ,what matter to them if ,jesus were taken out of their sight1 as long as all power was given to ,him in heaven and earth8 ,but ,he had told them more4 ,he had told them that they were not to keep this glorious secret to themselves4 ,no3 they were to go forth and preach the gospel of it1 the good news of it1 to every creature--to preach the gospel of the kingdom of ,god4 ,the good news that ,god was the ,king of men1 after all2 that cruel tyrants and oppressors1 and conquerors1 were not their kings2 that neither the storms over their heads1 nor the earth under their feet1 nor the clouds and the rivers whom the heathens used to worship in the hope of persuading the earth and the weather to be favourable to them1 and bless their harvests1 were their kings2 that idols of wood and stone1 and evil spirits of lust1 and cruelty1 and covetousness1 were not their kings2 but that ,god was their ,king2 that ,he loved them1 ,he pitied them in spite of all their sins2 that ,he had sent ,his only begotten ,son into the world to teach them1 to live for them--to die for them--to claim them for ,his own4 ,and1 therefore1 they were to go and baptize all nations1 as a sign that they were to repent1 and change1 and put away all their old false and evil heathen life1 and rise to a new life1 they and their children after them1 as ,god's children1 ,god's family1 brothers of the ,son of ,god4 ,and they were to baptize them into a name2 showing that they belonged to those into whose name they were baptized2 into the name of the ,father1 and the ,son1 and the ,holy ,spirit4 ,they were to be baptized into the name of the ,father1 as a sign that ,god was their ,father1 and they ,his children4 ,they were to be baptized into the name of the ,son1 as a sign that the ,son1 ,jesus ,christ1 was their ,king and head2 and not merely their ,king and head1 but their ,saviour1 who had taken away the sin of the world1 and redeemed it for ,god1 with ,his own most precious blood2 and not merely their ,saviour1 but their pattern2 that they might know that they were bound to become as far as is possible for mortal man such sons of ,god as ,jesus himself had been1 like ,him obedient1 pure1 forgiving1 brotherly1 caring for each other and not for themselves1 doing their heavenly ,father's will and not their own4 ,and they were to baptize all nations into the name of the ,holy ,spirit1 for a sign that ,god's ,spirit1 the ,lord and giver of life1 would be with them1 to give them new life1 new holiness1 new manfulness2 to teach1 and guide1 and strengthen them for ever4 ,that was the gospel which they had to preach4 ,the good news that the ,son of ,god was the ,king of men4 ,that was the name into which they were to baptize all nations--the name of children of ,god1 members of ,christ1 heirs of a heavenly and spiritual kingdom1 which should go on age after age1 for ever1 growing and spreading men knew not how1 as the grains of mustard-seed1 which at first the least of all seeds1 grows up into a great tree1 and the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches of it--to go on1 ,i say1 from age to age1 improving1 cleansing1 and humanising1 and teaching the whole world1 till the kingdoms of the earth became the kingdoms of ,god and of ,his ,christ4 ,that was the work which the ,apostles had given them to do4 ,do you not see1 friends1 that unless those ,apostles had been the most selfish of men1 unless all they cared for was their own gain and comfort1 they must have rejoiced8 ,the whole world was to be set right--what matter what happened to them8 ,and1 therefore1 ,i said at the beginning of my sermon1 that a sure way to know whether our minds were in a right state1 was to see whether we felt about it as the ,apostles felt4 ,the ,bible tells us to rejoice always1 to praise and give thanks to ,god always4 ,if we believe what the ,apostles believed1 we shall be joyful2 if we do not1 we shall not be joyful4 ,if we believe in the words which the ,lord spoke before ,he ascended on high1 we shall be joyful4 ,if we believe that all power in heaven and earth is ,his1 we shall be joyful4 ,if we believe that the son of the village maiden has ascended up on high1 and received gifts for men1 we shall be joyful4 ,if we believe that1 as our baptism told us1 ,god is our ,father1 the ,son of ,god our ,saviour1 the ,spirit of ,god ready to teach and guide us1 we shall be joyful4 ,do you answer me1 8,but the world goes on so ill2 there is so much sin1 and misery1 and folly1 and cruelty in it2 how can we be joyful80 ,i answer3 ,there was a hundred times as much sin1 and misery1 and folly1 and cruelty1 in the ,apostles' time1 and yet they were joyful1 and full of gladness1 blessing and praising ,god4 ,if you answer1 8,but we are so slandered1 and neglected1 and misunderstood1 and hard-worked1 and ill-treated2 we have no time to enjoy ourselves1 or do the things which we should like best4 ,how can we be joyful80 ,i answer3 ,so were the ,apostles4 ,they knew that they would be a hundred times as much slandered1 and neglected1 and misunderstood1 as you can ever be2 that they would have far less time to enjoy themselves1 far less opportunity of doing the things which they liked best1 than you can ever have2 they knew that misery1 and persecution1 and a shameful death were before them1 and yet they were joyful and full of gladness1 blessing and praising ,god4 ,and why should you not be8 ,for what was true for them is true for you4 ,they had no blessing1 no hope1 but what you have just as good a right to as they had4 ,they were joyful1 because ,god was their ,father1 and ,god is your ,father4 ,they were joyful because they and all men belonged to ,god's family2 and you belong to it4 ,they were joyful1 because ,god's ,spirit was promised to them1 to make them like ,god2 and ,god's ,spirit was promised to you4 ,they were joyful1 because a poor man was king of heaven and earth2 and that poor man1 ,jesus ,christ1 who was born at ,bethlehem1 is as much your ,king now as ,he was theirs then4 ,they were joyful1 because the whole world was going to improve under ,his rule and government2 and the whole world is improving1 and will go on improving for ever4 ,they were joyful1 because ,jesus1 whom they had known as a poor1 despised1 crucified man on earth1 had ascended up to heaven in glory2 and if you believe the same1 you will be joyful too4 ,in proportion as you believe the mystery of ,ascension-day2 if you believe the words which the ,lord spoke before ,he ascended1 you will have cheerful1 joyful1 hopeful thoughts about yourselves1 and about the whole world2 if you do not1 you will be in continual danger of becoming suspicious and despairing1 fancying the world still worse than it is1 fancying that ,god has neglected and forgotten it1 fancying that the devil is stronger than ,god1 and man's sins wider than ,christ's redemption till you will think it neither worth while to do right yourselves1 nor to make others do right towards you4 ,,xii4 ,,the ,,fount ,,of ,,science4 7,a ,sermon ,preached at ,st4 ,margaret's ,church1 ,westminster1 ,may #dth1 #ahea1 in behalf of the ,westminster ,hospital47 ,when ,he ascended up on high1 ,he led captivity captive1 and received gifts for men1 yea1 even for his enemies1 that the ,lord ,god might dwell among them4--,,psalm lxviii4 #ah1 and ,,ephesians iv4 #h4 ,,if1 a thousand years ago1 a congregation in this place had been addressed upon the text which ,i have chosen1 they would have had1 ,i think1 little difficulty in applying its meaning to themselves1 and in mentioning at once innumerable instances of those gifts which the ,king of men had received for men1 innumerable signs that the ,lord ,god was really dwelling amongst them4 ,but amongst those signs1 ,i think1 they would have mentioned several which we are not now generally accustomed to consider in such a light4 ,they would have pointed not merely to the building of churches1 the founding of schools1 the spread of peace1 the decay of slavery2 but to the importation of foreign literature1 the extension of the arts of reading1 writing1 painting1 architecture1 the improvement of agriculture1 and the introduction of new and more successful methods of the cure of diseases4 ,they might have expressed themselves on these points in a way that we consider now puerile and superstitious4 ,they might have attributed to the efficacy of prayer1 many cures which we now attribute--shall ,i say8 to no cause whatsoever4 ,they may have quoted as an instance of ,st4 ,cuthbert's sanctity1 rather than of his shrewd observations1 his discovery of a spring of water in the rocky floor of his cell1 and his success in growing barley upon the barren island where wheat refused to germinate2 and we might have smiled at their superstition1 and smiled1 too1 at their seeing any consequence of ,christianity1 any token that the kingdom of ,god was among them1 in ,bishop ,wilfred's rescuing the ,hampshire ,saxons from the horrors of famine1 by teaching them the use of fishing-nets4 ,but still so they would have spoken--men of a turn of mind no less keen1 shrewd1 and practical than we1 their children2 and if we had objected to their so-called superstition that all these improvements in the physical state of ,england were only the natural consequences of the introduction of ,roman civilisation by ,french and ,italian missionaries1 they would have smiled at us in their turn1 not perhaps without some astonishment at our stupidity1 and asked3 8,do you not see1 too1 that that is in itself a sign of the kingdom of ,god--that these nations who have been for ages selfishly isolated from each other1 except for purposes of conquest and desolation1 should be now teaching each other1 helping each other1 interchanging more and more1 generation by generation1 their arts1 their laws1 their learning becoming fused down under the influence of a common ,creed1 and loyalty to one common ,king in ,heaven1 from their state of savage jealousy and warfare1 into one great ,christendom1 and family of ,god80 ,and if1 my friends1 as ,i think1 those forefathers of ours could rise from their graves this day1 they would be inclined to see in our hospitals1 in our railroads1 in the achievements of our physical ,science1 confirmation of that old superstition of theirs1 proofs of the kingdom of ,god1 realisations of the gifts which ,christ received for men1 vaster than any of which they had ever dreamed4 ,they might be startled at ,god's continuing those gifts to us1 who hold on many points a creed so different from theirs4 ,they might be still more startled to see in the ,great ,exhibition of all ,nations1 which is our present nine-days' wonder1 that those blessings were not restricted by ,god even to nominal ,christians1 but that ,his love1 ,his teaching1 with regard to matters of civilisation and physical science1 were extended1 though more slowly and partially1 to the ,mahometan and the ,heathen4 ,and it would be a wholesome lesson to them1 to find that ,god's grace was wider than their narrow theories2 perhaps they may have learnt it already in the world of spirits4 ,but of its being ,god's grace1 there would be no doubt in their minds4 ,they would claim unhesitatingly1 and at once1 that great ,exhibition established in a ,christian country1 as a point of union and brotherhood for all people1 for a sign that ,god was indeed claiming all the nations of the world as ,his own--proving by the most enormous facts that ,he had sent down a ,pentecost1 gifts to men which would raise them not merely spiritually1 but physically and intellectually1 beyond anything which the world had ever seen1 and had poured out a spirit among them which would convert them in the course of ages1 gradually1 but most surely and really1 from a pandemonium of conquerors and conquered1 devourers and devoured1 into a family of fellow-helping brothers1 until the kingdoms of the world became the kingdoms of ,god and of ,his ,christ4 ,but ,i think one thing1 if anything1 would stagger their simple old ,saxon faith2 one thing would make them fearful1 as indeed it makes the preacher this day1 that the time of real brotherhood and peace is still but too far off2 and that the achievements of our physical science1 the unity of this great ,exhibition1 noble as they are1 are still only dim forecastings and prophecies1 as it were1 of a higher1 nobler reality4 ,and they would say sadly to us1 their children3 8,sons1 you ought to be so near to ,god2 ,he seems to have given you so much and to have worked among you as ,he never worked for any nation under heaven4 ,how is it that you give the glory to yourselves1 and not to ,him80 ,for do we give the glory of our scientific discoveries to ,god1 in any real1 honest1 and practical sense8 ,there may be some official and perfunctory talk of ,god's blessing on our endeavours2 but there seems to be no real belief in us that ,god1 the inspiration of ,god1 is the very fount and root of the endeavours themselves2 that ,he teaches us these great discoveries2 that ,he gives us wisdom to get this wondrous wealth2 that ,he works in us to will and to do of his good pleasure4 ,true1 we keep up something of the form and tradition of the old talk about such things2 we join in prayer to ,god to bless our great ,exhibition1 but we do not believe--we do not believe1 my friends--that it was ,god who taught us to conceive1 build1 and arrange that ,great ,exhibition2 and our notion of ,god's blessing it1 seems to be ,god's absence from it2 a hope and trust that ,god will leave it and us alone1 and not 8visit0 it or us in it1 or 8interfere0 by any 8special providences10 by storms1 or lightning1 or sickness1 or panic1 or conspiracy2 a sort of dim feeling that we could manage it all perfectly well without ,god1 but that as ,he exists1 and has some power over natural phenomena1 which is not very exactly defined1 we must notice ,his existence over and above our work1 lest ,he should become angry and 8visit0 us 4 4 4 ,and this in spite of words which were spoken by one whose office it was to speak them1 as the representative of the highest and most sacred personage in these realms2 words which deserve to be written in letters of gold on the high places of this city2 in which he spoke of this ,exhibition as an 8approach to a more complete fulfilment of the great and sacred mission which man has to perform in the world20 when he told the ,english people that 8man's reason being created in the image of ,god1 he has to discover the laws by which ,almighty ,god governs ,his creations1 and by making these laws the standard of his action1 to conquer nature to his use1 himself a divine instrument20 when he spoke of 8thankfulness to ,almighty ,god for what he has already given10 as the first feeling which that ,exhibition ought to excite in us2 and as the second1 8the deep conviction that those blessings can only be realised in proportion to0--not1 as some would have it1 the rivalry and selfish competition--but 8in proportion to the help which we are prepared to render to each other2 and1 therefore1 by peace1 love1 and ready assistance1 not only between individuals1 but between all nations of the earth40 ,we read those great words2 but in the hearts of how few1 alas6 to judge from our modern creed on such matters1 must the really important and distinctive points of them find an echo6 ,to how few does this whole ,exhibition seem to have been anything but a matter of personal gain or curiosity1 for national aggrandisement1 insular self-glorification1 and selfish--,i had almost said1 treacherous--rivalry with the very foreigners whom we invited as our guests8 ,and so1 too1 with our cures of diseases4 ,we speak of ,god's blessing the means1 and ,god's blessing the cure4 ,but all we really mean by blessing them1 is permitting them4 ,do not our hearts confess that our notion of ,his blessing the means1 is ,his leaving the means to themselves and their own physical laws--leaving1 in short1 the cure to us and not preventing our science doing its work1 and asserting ,his own existence by bringing on some unexpected crisis1 or unfortunate relapse--if1 indeed1 the old theory that ,he does bring on such1 be true8 ,our old forefathers1 on the other hand1 used to believe that in medicine1 as in everything else1 ,god taught men all that they knew4 ,they believed the words of the ,wise ,man when he said that 8the ,spirit of ,god gives man understanding40 ,the method by which ,solomon believed himself to have obtained all his physical science and knowledge of trees1 from the cedar of ,lebanon to the hyssop which groweth on the wall1 was in their eyes the only possible method4 ,they believed the words of ,isaiah when he said of the tillage and the rotation of crops in use among the peasants of his country1 that their ,god instructed them to discretion and taught them2 and that even the various methods of threshing out the various species of grain came 8forth from the ,lord of hosts1 who is excellent in counsel1 and wonderful in working40 ,such a method1 you say1 seems to you now miraculous4 ,it did not seem to our forefathers miraculous that ,god should teach man2 it seemed to them most simple1 most rational1 most natural1 an utterly every-day axiom4 ,they thought it was because so few of the heathen were taught by ,god that they were no wiser than they were4 ,they thought that since the ,son of ,god had come down and taken our nature upon ,him1 and ascended up on high and received gifts for men1 that it was now the right and privilege of every human being who was willing to be taught of ,god1 as the prophet foretold in those very words2 and that baptism was the very sign and seal of that fact--a sign that for every human being1 whatever his age1 sex1 rank1 intellect1 or race1 a certain measure of the teaching of ,god and of the ,spirit of ,god was ready1 promised1 sure as the oath of ,him that made heaven and the earth1 and all things therein4 ,that was ,solomon's belief4 ,we do not find that it made him a fanatic and an idler1 waiting with folded hands for inspiration to come to him he knew not how nor whence4 ,his belief that wisdom was the revelation and gift of ,god did not prevent him from seeking her as silver1 and searching for her as hid treasures1 from applying his heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven2 and we do not find that it prevented our forefathers4 ,ceadmon's belief that ,god inspired him with the poetic faculty1 did not make him the less laborious and careful versifier4 ,bishop ,john's blessing the dumb boy's tongue in the name of ,him whom he believed to be ,word of ,god and the ,master of that poor dumb boy1 did not prevent his anticipating some of the discoveries of our modern wise men1 in setting about a most practical and scientific cure4 ,alfred's continual prayers for light and inspiration made him no less a laborious and thoughtful student of war and law1 of physics1 language1 and geography4 ,these old ,teutons1 for all these superstitions of theirs1 were perhaps as businesslike and practical in those days as we their children are in these4 ,but that did not prevent their believing that unless ,god showed them a thing1 they could not see it1 and thanking ,him honestly enough for the comparative little which ,he did show them4 ,but we who enjoy the accumulated teaching of ages--we to whose researches ,he is revealing year by year1 almost week by weeks wonders of which they never dreamed--we whom ,he has taught to make the lame to walk1 the dumb to speak1 the blind to see1 to exterminate the pestilence and defy the thunderbolt1 to multiply millionfold the fruits of learning1 to annihilate time and space1 to span the heavens1 and to weigh the sun--what madness is this which has come upon us in these last days1 to make us fancy that we1 insects of a day1 have found out these things for ourselves1 and talk big about the progress of the species1 and the triumphs of intellect1 and the all-conquering powers of the human mind1 and give the glory of all this inspiration and revelation1 not to ,god1 but to ourselves8 ,let us beware1 beware--lest our boundless pride and self-satisfaction1 by some mysterious yet most certain law1 avenge itself--lest like the ,assyrian conqueror of old1 while we stand and cry1 8,is not this great ,babylon which ,i have built80 our reason1 like his1 should reel and fall beneath the narcotic of our own maddening self-conceit1 and while attempting to scale the heavens we overlook some pitfall at our feet1 and fall as learned idiots1 suicidal pedants1 to be a degradation1 and a hissing1 and a shame4 ,however strongly you may differ from these opinions of our own forefathers with regard to the ground and cause of physical science1 and the arts of healing1 ,i am sure that the recollection of the thrice holy ground upon which we stand1 beneath the shadow of venerable piles1 witnesses for the creeds1 the laws1 the liberties1 which those our ancestors have handed down to us1 will preserve you from the temptation of dismissing with hasty contempt their thoughts upon any subject so important2 will make you inclined to listen to their opinion with affection1 if not with reverence2 and save1 perhaps1 the preacher from a sneer when he declares that the doctrine of those old ,saxon men is1 in his belief1 not only the most ,scriptural1 but the most rational and scientific explanation of the grounds of all human knowledge4 ,at least1 ,i shall be able to quote in support of my own opinion a name from which there can be no appeal in the minds of a congregation of educated ,englishmen--,i mean ,francis ,bacon1 ,lord ,verulam1 the spiritual father of the modern science1 and1 therefore1 of the chemistry and the medicine of the whole civilised world4 ,if there is one thing which more than another ought to impress itself on the mind of a careful student of his works1 it is this--that he considered science as the inspiration of ,god1 and every separate act of induction by which man arrives at a physical law1 as a revelation from the ,maker of those laws2 and that the faith which gave him daring to face the mystery of the universe1 and proclaim to men that they could conquer nature by obeying her1 was his deep1 living1 practical belief that there was ,one who had ascended up on high and led captive in the flesh and spirit of a man those very idols of sense which had been themselves leading men's minds captive1 enslaving them to the illusions of their own senses1 forcing them to bow down in vague awe and terror before those powers of ,nature1 which ,god had appointed1 not to be their tyrants1 but their slaves4 ,i will not special-plead particulars from his works1 wherein ,i may consider that he asserts this4 ,i will rather say boldly that the idea runs through every line he ever wrote2 that unless seen in the light of that faith1 the grounds of his philosophy ought to be as inexplicable to us1 as they would1 without it1 have been impossible to himself4 ,as has been well said of him3 8,faith in ,god as the absolute ground of all human as well as of all natural laws2 the belief that ,he had actually made ,himself known to ,his creatures1 and that it was possible for them to have a knowledge of ,him1 cleared from the phantasies and idols of their own imaginations and understandings2 this was the necessary foundation of all that great man's mind and speculations1 to whatever point they were tending1 and however at times they might be darkened by too close a familiarity with the corruptions and meannesses of man1 or too passionate an addiction to the contemplation of ,nature4 ,nor should it ever be forgotten that he owed all the clearness and distinctness of his mind to his freedom from that ,pantheism which naturally disposes to a vague admiration and adoration of ,nature1 to the belief that it is stronger and nobler than ourselves2 that we are servants1 and puppets1 and portions of it1 and not its lords and rulers4 ,if ,bacon had in anywise confounded ,nature with ,god--if he had not entertained the strongest practical feeling that men were connected with ,god through ,one who had taken upon ,him their nature1 it is impossible that he could have discovered that method of dealing with physics which has made a physical science possible40 ,no really careful student of his works1 but must have perceived this1 however glad1 alas6 he may have felt at times to thrust the thought of it from him1 and try to think that ,francis ,bacon's ,christianity was something over and above his philosophy--a religion which he left behind him at the church-door--or only sprinkled up and down his works so much of it as should shield him in a bigoted age from the suspicion of materialism4 ,a strange theory1 and yet one which so determined is man to see nothing1 whether it be in the ,bible or in the ,novum ,organum1 but what each wishes to see1 has been deliberately put forth again and again by men who fancy1 forsooth1 that the greatest of ,english heroes was even such an one as themselves4 ,one does not wonder to find among the general characteristics of those writers who admire ,bacon as a materialist1 the most utter incapacity of philosophising on ,bacon's method1 the very restless conceit1 the hasty generalisation1 the hankering after cosmogonic theories1 which ,bacon anathematises in every page4 ,yes1 ,i repeat it1 we owe our medical and sanitary science to ,bacon's philosophy2 and ,bacon owed his philosophy to his ,christianity4 ,oh6 it is easy for us1 amid the marvels of our great hospitals1 now grown commonplace in our eyes from very custom1 to talk of the empire of mind over matter2 for us--who reap the harvest whereof ,bacon sowed the seed4 ,but consider1 how great the faith of that man must have been1 who died in hope1 not having received the promises1 but seeing them afar off1 and haunted to his dying day with glorious visions of a time when famine and pestilence should vanish before a scientific obedience--to use his own expression--to the will of ,god1 revealed in natural facts4 ,thus we can understand how he dared to denounce all that had gone before him as blind and worthless guides1 and to proclaim himself to the world as the one restorer of true physical philosophy4 ,thus we can understand how he1 the cautious and patient man of the world1 dared indulge in those vast dreams of the scientific triumphs of the future4 ,thus we can understand how he dared hint at the expectation that men would some day even conquer death itself2 because he believed that man had conquered death already1 in the person of its ,king and ,lord--in the flesh of ,him who ascended up on high1 and led captivity captive1 and received gifts for men4 ,the 8empire of mind over matter80 ,what practical proof had he of it amid the miserable alternations of empiricism and magic which made up the pseudo-science of his time2 amid the theories and speculations of mankind1 which1 as he said1 were 8but a sort of madness--useless alike for discovery or for operation40 ,what right had he1 more than any other man who had gone before him1 to believe that man could conquer and mould to his will the unseen and tremendous powers which work in every cloud and every flower8 that he could dive into the secret mysteries of his own body1 and renew his youth like the eagle's8 ,this ground he had for that faith--that he believed1 as he says himself1 that he must 8begin from ,god2 and that the pursuit of physical science clearly proceeds from ,him1 the ,author of good1 and ,father of light40 ,this gave him faith to say that in this as in all other ,divine works1 the smallest beginnings lead assuredly to some result1 and that the 8remark in spiritual matters1 that the kingdom of ,god cometh without observation1 is also found to be true in every great work of ,divine ,providence2 so that everything glides on quietly without confusion or noise1 and the matter is achieved before men either think or perceive that it is commenced40 ,this it was which gave him courage to believe that his own philosophy might be the actual fulfilment of the prophecy1 that in the last days many should run to and fro1 and knowledge should be increased--words which1 like hundreds of others in his works1 sound like the outpourings of an almost blasphemous self-conceit1 till we recollect that he looked on science only as the inspiration of ,god1 and man's empire over nature only as the consequence of the redemption worked out for him by ,christ1 and begin to see in them the expressions of the deepest and most divine humility4 ,i doubt not that many here will be far more able than ,i am practically to apply the facts which ,i have been adducing to the cause of the hospital for which ,i am pleading4 ,but there is one consequence of them to which ,i must beg leave to draw attention more particularly1 especially at the present era of our nation4 ,if1 then1 these discoveries of science be indeed revelations and inspirations from ,god1 does it not follow that all classes1 even the poorest and the most ignorant1 the most brutal1 have an equal right to enjoy the fruits of them8 ,does it not follow that to give to the poor their share in the blessings which chemical and medical science are working out for us1 is not a matter of charity or benevolence1 but of duty1 of indefeasible1 peremptory1 immediate duty8 ,for consider1 my friends2 the ,son of ,god descends on earth1 and takes on ,him not only the form1 but the very nature1 affections1 trials1 and sorrows of a man4 ,he proclaims ,himself as the person who has been all along ruling1 guiding1 teaching1 improving men2 the light who lighteth every man who cometh into the world4 ,he proclaims ,himself by acts of wondrous power to be the internecine foe and conqueror of every form of sorrow1 slavery1 barbarism1 weakness1 sickness1 death itself4 ,he proclaims ,himself as ,one who is come to give ,his life for ,his sheep--,one who is come to restore to men the likeness in which they were originally created1 the likeness of their ,father in ,heaven1 who accepteth the person of no man--who causeth ,his sun to shine on the evil and on the good1 who sendeth ,his rain on the just and on the unjust1 in whose sight the meanest publican1 if his only consciousness be that of his own baseness and worthlessness1 is more righteous than the most learned1 respectable1 and self-satisfied pharisee4 ,he proclaims ,himself the setter-up of a kingdom into which the publican and the harlot will pass sooner than the rich1 the mighty1 and the noble2 a kingdom in which all men are to be brothers1 and their bond of union loyalty to ,one who spared not ,his own life for the sheep1 who came not to do ,his own1 but the will of the ,father who had sent ,him1 and who showed by ,his toil among the poor1 the outcast1 the ignorant1 and the brutal1 what that same will was like4 ,with ,his own life-blood ,he seals this ,covenant between ,god and man4 ,he offers up ,his own body as the first-fruits of this great kingdom of self-sacrifice4 ,he takes poor fishermen and mechanics1 and sends them forth to acquaint all men with the good news that ,god is their ,king1 and to baptize them as subjects of that kingdom1 bound to rise in baptism to a new life1 a life of love1 and brotherhood1 and self-sacrifice1 like ,his own4 ,he commands them to call all nations to that sacred ,feast wherein there is neither rich nor poor1 but the same bread and the same wine are offered to the monarch and to the slave1 as signs of their common humanity1 their common redemption1 their common interest--signs that they derive their life1 their health1 their reason1 their every faculty of body1 soul1 and spirit1 from ,one who walked the earth as the son of a poor carpenter1 who ate and drank with publicans and sinners4 ,he sends down ,his ,spirit on them with gifts of language1 eloquence1 wisdom1 and healing1 as mere earnests and first-fruits2 so they said1 of that prophecy that ,he would pour out ,his ,spirit upon all flesh1 even upon slaves and handmaids4 ,and these poor fishermen feel themselves impelled by a divine and irresistible impulse to go forth to the ends of the world1 and face persecution1 insult1 torture1 and death--not in order that they may make themselves lords over mankind1 but that they may tell them that ,one is their ,master1 even ,jesus ,christ1 both ,god and man--that ,he rules the world1 and will rule it1 and can rule it1 that in ,his sight there is no distinction of race1 or rank1 or riches1 neither ,jew nor ,greek1 barbarian1 ,scythian1 bond or free4 ,and1 as a fact1 their message has prevailed and been believed2 and in proportion as it has prevailed1 not merely individual sanctity or piety1 but liberty1 law1 peace1 civilisation1 learning1 art1 science1 the gifts which he bought for men with ,his blood1 have followed in its train3 while the nations who have not received that message that ,god was their ,king1 or having received it have forgotten it1 or perverted it into a superstition and an hypocrisy1 have in exactly that proportion fallen back into barbarism and bloodshed1 slavery and misery4 ,my friends1 if this philosophy of history1 this theory of human progress1 or as ,i should call it1 this ,gospel of the ,kingdom of ,god mean anything--does it not mean this8 this which our forefathers believed1 dimly and inconsistently perhaps1 but still believed it1 else we had not been here this day--that we are not our own1 but the servants of ,jesus ,christ1 and brothers of each other--that the very constitution and ground-law of this human species which has been redeemed by ,christ1 is the self-sacrifice which ,christ displayed as the one perfection of humanity--that all rank1 property1 learning1 science1 are only held by their possessors in trust from that ,king who has distributed them to each according as ,he will1 that each might use them for the good of all1 certain--as certain as ,god's promise can make man--that if by giving up our own interest for the interest of others1 we seek first the kingdom of ,god1 and the righteousness between man and man1 which we call mercy1 according to which it is constituted1 all other things1 health1 wealth1 peace1 and every other blessing which humanity can desire1 shall be added unto us over and above1 as the natural and necessary fruits of a society founded according to the will of ,god1 and declared in his ,son ,jesus ,christ1 and therefore according to those physical laws1 whereof ,he is at once the ,creator1 the ,director1 and the ,revealer8 ,this was the faith of our forefathers1 both laity and clergy--that the ,lord was ,king1 be the people never so unquiet2 that men were ,his stewards and ,his pupils only1 and not ,his vicars2 that they were equal in ,his sight1 and not the slaves and tyrants of each other2 and that the help that was done upon earth1 ,he did it all ,himself4 ,dimly1 doubtless1 they saw it1 and inconsistently3 but they saw it1 and to their faith in that great truth we owe all that has made ,england really noble among the nations4 ,of the fruits of that faith every venerable building around us should remind us4 ,to that faith in the laity1 we owe the abolition of serfdom1 the freedom of our institutions1 the laws which provide equal justice between man and man2 to that faith in the clergy1 and especially in the monastic orders1 we owe the endowment of our schools and universities1 the improvement of agriculture1 the preservation and the spread of all the liberal arts and sciences1 as far as they were then discovered2 so that every one of those abbeys which we now revile so ignorantly1 became a centre of freedom1 protection1 healing1 and civilisation1 a refuge for the oppressed1 a well-spring of mercy for the afflicted1 a practical witness to the nation that property and science were not the private and absolute possession of men1 but only held in trust from ,god for the benefit of the common weal3 and just in proportion as in the #adth and #aeth centuries those institutions fell from their first estate1 and began to fancy that their wealth and wisdom was their own1 acquired by their own cunning1 to be used for their own aggrandizement1 they became an imposture and imbecility1 an abomination and a ruin4 ,and it was this faith1 too1 in a still nobler and clearer form1 which at the ,reformation inspired the age which could produce a ,ridley1 a ,latimer1 an ,elizabeth1 a ,shakspeare1 a ,spenser1 a ,raleigh1 a ,bacon1 and a ,milton2 which knit together1 in spite of religious feuds and social wrongs1 the nation of ,england with a bond which all the powers of hell endeavoured in vain to break4 ,doubtless1 there too there was inconsistency enough4 ,elizabeth may have mixed up ambitious dynastic dreams with her intense belief that ,god had given her her wisdom1 her learning1 her mighty will1 only to be the servant of ,his servants and defender of the faith4 ,men like ,drake and ,raleigh1 while they were believing that ,god had sent them forth to smite with the sword of the ,lord the devourers of the earth1 the destroyers of religion1 freedom1 civilisation1 and national life1 may have been unfaithful to what they believed their divine mission1 and fancied that they might use their wisdom and valour that ,god gave them for their selfish ends1 till they committed 7as some say7 acts of rapacity and cruelty worthy of the merest buccaneer4 ,but that was not what made them conquer--that was not what made the wealth and the might of ,spain melt away before their little bands of heroes2 but the same old faith1 shining out in all their noblest acts and words1 that 8the ,lord was ,king1 and that the help that was done upon earth1 ,he did it all ,himself80 ,so again1 ,bacon may have fancied1 and did fancy in his old age1 that he might use his deep knowledge of mankind for his own selfish ends--that he might indulge himself in building himself up a name that might fill all the earth1 that he who had done so much for ,god and for mankind1 might be allowed to do at last somewhat for himself1 and tempted1 by a paltry bribe1 fall for awhile1 as ,david did before him1 that ,god1 and not he1 might have the glory of all his wisdom4 ,but then he was less than himself2 then he had but lost sight of his lode-star4 ,then he had forgotten1 but only for awhile1 that he owed all to the teaching of that ,god who had given to the young and obscure advocate the mission of affecting the destinies of nations yet unborn4 ,and believe me1 my friends1 even as it has been with our forefathers1 so it will be with us4 ,according to our faith will it be unto us1 now as it was of old4 ,in proportion as we believe that wealth1 science1 and civilisation are the work and property of man1 in just that proportion we shall be tempted to keep them selfishly and exclusively to ourselves4 ,the man of science will be tempted to hide his discoveries1 though men may be perishing for lack of them1 till he can sell them to the highest bidder2 the rich man will be tempted to purchase them for himself1 in order that he may increase his own comfort and luxury1 and feel comparatively lazy and careless about their application to the welfare of the masses2 he will be tempted to pay an exorbitant price for anything that can increase his personal convenience1 and yet when the question is about improving the supply of necessaries to the poor1 stand haggling about considerations of profitable investment1 excuse himself from doing the duty which lies nearest to him by visions of distant profit1 of which a thousand unexpected accidents may deprive him after all1 and make his boasted scientific care for the wealth of the nation an excuse for leaving tens of thousands worse housed and worse fed than his own beasts of burden4 ,the poor man will be tempted franctically to oppose his selfishness and unbelief to the selfishness and unbelief of the rich1 and clutch from him by force the comfort which really belong to neither of them1 in order that he may pride himself in them and misuse them in his turn2 and the clergy will be tempted1 as they have too often been tempted already1 to fancy that reason is the enemy1 and not the twin sister of faith2 to oppose revelation to science1 as if ,god's two messages could contradict each other2 to widen the ,manichan distinction between secular and spiritual matters1 so pleasant to the natural atheism of fallen man2 to fancy that they honour ,god by limiting as much as possible ,his teaching1 ,his providence1 ,his wisdom1 ,his love1 and ,his kingdom1 and to pretend that they are defending the creeds of the ,catholic ,church1 by denying to them any practical or real influence on the economic1 political1 and physical welfare of mankind4 ,but in proportion as we hold to the old faith of our forefathers concerning science and civilisation1 we shall feel it not only a duty1 but a glory and a delight1 to make all men sharers in them2 to go out into the streets and lanes of the city and call in the maimed1 and the halt1 and the blind1 that they may sit down and take their share of the good things which ,god has provided in ,his kingdom for those who obey ,him4 ,every new discovery will be hailed by us as a fresh boon from ,god to be bestowed by the rain and the sunshine freely upon us all4 ,the sight of every sufferer will make us ready to suspect and to examine ourselves lest we should be in some indirect way the victim of some neglect or selfishness of our own4 ,every disease will be a sign to us that in some respect or other1 the physical or moral laws of human nature have been overlooked or broken4 ,the existence of an unhealthy locality1 the recurrence of an epidemic1 will be to us a subject of public shame and self-reproach4 ,men of science will no longer go up and down entreating mankind in vain to make use of their discoveries2 the sanitary reformer will be no longer like ,wisdom crying in the streets and no man regarding her2 and in every ill to which flesh is heir we shall see an enemy of our ,king and ,lord1 and an intruder into ,his ,kingdom1 against which we swore at our baptism to fight with an inspiring and delicious certainty that ,god will prosper the right2 that ,his laws cannot change2 that nature1 and the disturbances and poisons1 and brute powers thereof1 were meant to be the slaves1 and not the tyrants of a race whose head has conquered the grave itself4 ,this is no speculative dream4 ,the progress of science is daily proving it to be an actual truth2 proving to us that a large proportion of diseases--how large a proportion1 no man yet dare say--are preventible by science under the direction of that common justice and mercy which man owes to man4 ,the proper cultivation of the soil1 it is now clearly seen1 will exterminate fevers and agues1 and all the frightful consequences of malaria4 ,an attention to those simple decencies and cleanlinesses of life of which even the wild animals feel the necessity1 will prevent the epidemics of our cities1 and all the frightful train of secondary diseases which follow them1 or supply their place4 ,the question which is generally more and more forcing itself on the minds of scientific men is not how many diseases are1 but how few are not1 the consequences of man's ignorance1 barbarism1 and folly4 ,the medical man is felt more and more to be as necessary in health as he is in sickness1 to be the fellow-workman not merely of the clergyman1 but of the social reformer1 the political economist1 and the statesman2 and the first object of his science to be prevention1 and not cure4 ,but if all this be true1 as true it is1 we ought to begin to look on hospitals as many medical men ,i doubt not do already1 in a sadder though in a no less important light4 ,when we remember that the majority of cases which fill their wards are cases of more or less directly preventible diseases1 the fruits of our social neglect1 too often of our neglect of the sufferers themselves1 too often also our neglect of their parents and forefathers2 when we think how many a bitter pang is engendered and propagated from generation to generation in the noisome alleys and courts of this metropolis1 by foul food1 foul bedrooms1 foul air1 foul water1 by intemperance1 the natural and almost pardonable consequence of want of water1 depressing and degrading employments1 and lives spent in such an atmosphere of filth as our daintier nostrils could not endure a day3 then we should learn to look upon these hospitals not as acts of charity1 supererogatory benevolences of ours towards those to whom we owe nothing1 but as confessions of sin1 and worthy fruits of penitence2 as poor and late and partial compensation for misery which we might have prevented4 ,and when again1 taking up scientific works1 we find how vast a proportion of the remaining cases of disease are produced directly or indirectly by the unhealthiness of certain occupations1 so certainly that the scientific man can almost prophesy the average shortening of life1 and the peculiar form of disease1 incident to any given form of city labour--when we find1 to quote a single instance1 that a large proportion--one half1 as ,i am informed--of the female cases in certain hospitals1 are those of women-servants suffering from diseases produced by overwork in household labour1 especially by carrying heavy weights up the steep stairs of our ,london houses--when we consider the large proportion of accident cases which are the result1 if not always of neglect in our social arrangements1 still of danger incurred in labouring for us1 we shall begin to feel that our debts towards the poorer classes1 for whom this and other hospitals are instituted1 swells and mounts up to a burden which ought to be and would be intolerable to us1 if we had not some such means as this hospital affords of testifying our contrition for neglect for which we cannot atone1 and of practically claiming in the hospital our brotherhood with those masses whom we pass by so carelessly in the workshop and the street4 ,what matters it that they have undertaken a life of labour from necessity1 and with a full consciousness of the dangers they incur in it8 ,for whom have they been labouring1 but for us8 ,their handiwork renders our houses luxurious4 ,we wear the clothes they make4 ,we eat the food they produce4 ,they sit in darkness and the shadow of death that we may enjoy light and life and luxury and civilisation4 ,true1 they are free men1 in name1 not free though from the iron necessity of crushing toil4 ,shall we make their liberty a cloak for our licentiousness8 and because they are our brothers and not our slaves1 answer with ,cain1 8,am ,i my brother's keeper80 ,what if we have paid them the wages which they ask8 ,we do not feed our beasts of burden only as long as they are in health1 and when they fall sick leave them to cure themselves and starve--and these are not our beasts of burden2 they are members of ,christ1 children of ,god1 inheritors of the ,kingdom of ,heaven4 ,prove it to them1 then1 for they are in bitter danger of forgetting it in these days4 ,prove to them1 by helping to cure their maladies1 that they are members of ,christ1 that they do indeed belong to ,him who without fee or payment freely cured the sick of ,juda in old time4 ,prove to them that they are children of ,god by treating them as such--as children of ,him without whom not a sparrow falls to the ground1 children of ,him whose love is over all ,his works1 children of ,him who defends the widow and the fatherless1 and sees that those who are in need or necessity have right1 and who maketh inquiry for the blood of the innocent4 ,prove to them that they are inheritors of the ,kingdom of ,heaven1 by proving to them first of all that the ,kingdom of ,heaven exists1 that all1 rich and poor alike1 are brothers1 and ,one their ,master1 ,he who ascended up on high and led captivity captive1 and received gifts for men1 the gifts of healing1 the gifts of science1 the gifts of civilisation1 the gifts of law1 the gifts of order1 the gifts of liberty1 the gifts of the spirit of love and brotherhood1 of fellow-feeling and self-sacrifice1 of justice and humility1 a spirit fit for a world of redeemed and pardoned men1 in which mercy is but justice1 and self-sacrifice the truest self-interest2 a world1 the ,king and ,master of which is ,one who poured out his own life-blood for the sake of those who hated him1 that men should henceforth live not for themselves1 but for ,him who died and rose again1 and ascended up on high and received gifts for men1 that the ,lord ,god might dwell among them4 ,and because all general truths can only be verified in particular instances1 verify your general faith in that ,christianity which you profess in this particular instance1 by doing the duty which lies nearest to you1 and giving1 as it is called1 to this hospital for which ,i now plead4 ,thanks to the spirit and the attainments of the average of ,english medical men and chaplains1 to praise the management of any hospital which is under their care1 is a needless impertinence4 ,do you find funds1 there will be no fear as to their being well employed2 and no fear1 alas6 either of their services being in full demand1 while the sanitary state of vast streets of ,south ,london1 lying close to this hospital1 are in a state in which they are1 and in which private cupidity and neglect seem willing to compel them to remain4 ,it is on account of its contiguity to these neglected1 destitute1 and poisonous localities1 that this hospital seems to me especially valuable4 ,but though situated in a part of ,london where its presence is especially needed1 it has not1 from various causes which have arisen from no fault of its own1 attracted as much public notice as some other more magnificent foundations2 while it possesses one feature1 peculiar ,i believe to it1 among our ,london hospitals1 which seems to me to render it especially deserving of support3 ,i speak of the ward for incurable patients1 in which1 instead of ending their days in the melancholy wards of a workhouse1 or amid those pestilential and crowded dwellings which have perhaps produced their maladies1 and which certainly will aggravate them1 they may have their heavy years of hopeless suffering softened by a continued supply of constant comforts1 and constant medical solicitude1 such as the best-conducted workhouse1 or the most laborious staff of parish surgeons1 and district visitors1 ay1 not even the benevolence and self-sacrifice of friends and relations1 can possibly provide4 ,i beseech you1 picture to yourselves the amount of mere physical comfort1 not to mention the higher blessings of spiritual teaching and consolation1 accruing to some poor tortured cripple1 in the wards of this hospital2 compare it with the very brightest lot possible for him in the dwellings of the lower1 or even of the middle classes of the metropolis2 then recollect that these hospital luxuries1 which would be unattainable by him elsewhere1 are but a tithe of those which you1 in his situation1 would consider absolute necessaries1 without which a life of suffering1 ay1 even of health1 were intolerable--and do unto others this day1 as you would that others should do unto you6 ,i might have taken some other and more popular method of drawing your attention to this institution4 ,i might have tried to excite your feelings and sympathies by attempts at pathetic or picturesque descriptions of suffering4 ,but the minister of a just ,god is bound to proclaim that ,god demands not sentiment1 but justice4 ,the ,bible knows nothing of the 8religious sentiments and emotions10 whereof we hear so much talk nowadays4 ,it speaks of duty4 8,beloved1 if ,god so loved us1 we ought to love one another40 ,i might also have attempted to flatter you into giving1 by representing this as a 8good work10 a work of charity and piety1 well pleasing to ,god2 a sort of work of ,protestant supererogation1 fruits of faith which we may show1 if we like1 up to a certain not very clearly defined point of benevolence1 but the absence of which probably will not seriously affect our eternal salvation1 still less our right to call ourselves orthodox1 ,protestants1 churchmen1 worthy1 kind-hearted1 respectable1 blameless4 ,the ,bible knows nothing of such a religion2 it neither coaxes nor flatters1 it commands4 ,it demands mercy1 because mercy is justice2 and declares with what measure we mete to others1 it shall be surely measured to us again4 ,if therefore my words shall seem to some here1 to be not so much a humble request as a peremptory demand1 ,i cannot help it4 ,i have pleaded the cause of this hospital on the only solid ground of which ,i am aware1 for doing anything but evil to everyone around us who is not a private friend1 or a member of one's own family4 ,i ask you to help the poor to their share in the gifts which ,christ received for men1 because they are ,his gifts1 and neither ours nor any man's4 ,among these venerable buildings1 the signs and witnesses of the ,kingdom of ,god1 and the blessings of that ,kingdom which for a thousand years have been spreading and growing among us--,i ask it of you as citizens of that ,kingdom4 ,prove your brotherhood to the poor by restoring to them a portion of that wealth which1 without their labour1 you could never have possessed4 ,prove your brotherhood to them in a thousand ways--in every way--in this way1 because at this moment it happens to be the nearest and the most immediate1 and because the necessity for it is nearer1 more immediate1 to judge by the signs of the times1 and most of all by their self-satisfied unconsciousness of danger1 their loud and shallow self-glorification1 than ever it was before4 ,work while it is called to-day1 lest the night come wherein no man can work1 but only take his wages4 ,again ,i say1 ,i may seem to some here to have pleaded the cause of this hospital in too harsh and peremptory a tone4 4 4 4 ,and yet ,i have a ground of hope1 in the ,english love of simple justice1 in the noble instances of benevolence and self-sacrifice among the wealthy and educated1 which are1 thank ,god6 increasing in number daily1 as the need of them increases--in these1 ,i say1 ,i have a ground of hope that there are many here to-day who would sooner hear the language of truth than of flattery2 who will be more strongly moved toward a righteous deed by being told that it is their duty toward ,god1 their country1 and their fellow-citizens1 than by any sentimental baits for personal sympathy1 or for the love of ,pharisaic ostentation4 ,,xiii4 ,,first ,,sermon ,,on ,,the ,,cholera4 7,sunday ,morning1 ,september #bgth1 #ahdi47 ,god's judgments are from above1 out of the sight of the wicked4--,,psalm x4 #e4 ,,we have just been praying to ,god to remove from us the cholera1 which we call a judgment of ,god1 a chastisement2 and ,god knows we have need enough to do so4 ,but we can hardly expect ,god to withdraw ,his chastisement unless we correct the sins for which ,he chastised us1 and therefore unless we find out what particular sins have brought the evil on us4 ,for it is mere cant and hypocrisy1 my friends1 to tell ,god1 in a general way1 that we believe ,he is punishing us for our sins1 and then to avoid carefully confessing any particular sin1 and to get angry with anyone who tells us boldly which sin ,god is punishing us for4 ,but so goes the world4 ,everyone is ready to say1 8,oh6 yes1 we are all great sinners1 miserable sinners60 and then if you charge them with any particular sin1 they bridle up and deny that sin fiercely enough1 and all sins one by one1 confessing themselves great sinners1 and yet saying that they don't know what sins they have committed4 ,no man really believes himself a sinner1 no man really confesses his sins1 but the man who can honestly put his finger on this sin or that sin which he has committed1 and is not afraid to confess to ,god1 8,this sin and that sin have ,i done--this bad habit and that bad habit have ,i cherished within me40 ,therefore1 ,i say1 it is no use for us ,englishmen to dream that we can flatter and persuade the great ,god of ,heaven and earth into taking away the cholera from us1 unless we find out and confess openly what we have done to bring on the cholera1 and unless we repent and bring forth fruits worthy of repentance1 by amending our habits on that point1 and doing everything for the future which shall not bring on the cholera1 but keep it off4 ,do not let us believe this time1 my friends1 in the pitiable1 insincere way in which all ,england believed when the cholera was here sixteen years ago4 ,when they saw human beings dying by thousands1 they all got frightened1 and proclaimed a ,fast and confessed their sins and promised repentance in a general way4 ,but did they repent of and confess those sins which had caused the cholera8 ,did they repent of and confess the covetousness1 the tyranny1 the carelessness1 which in most great towns1 and in too many villages also1 forces the poor to lodge in undrained stifling hovels1 unfit for hogs1 amid vapours and smells which send forth on every breath the seeds of rickets and consumption1 typhus and scarlet fever1 and worse and last of all1 the cholera8 ,did they repent of their sin in that8 ,not they4 ,did they repent of the carelessness and laziness and covetousness which sends meat and fish up to all our large towns in a half-putrid state2 which fills every corner of ,london and the great cities with slaughter-houses1 over-crowded graveyards1 undrained sewers8 ,not they4 ,to confess their sins in a general way cost them a few words2 to confess and repent of the real particular sins in themselves1 was a very different matter2 to amend them would have touched vested interests1 would have cost money1 the ,englishman's god2 it would have required self-sacrifice of pocket1 as well as of time4 ,it would have required manful fighting against the prejudices1 the ignorance1 the self-conceit1 the laziness1 the covetousness of the wicked world4 ,so they could not afford to repent and amend of all that4 ,and when those great and good men1 the ,sanitary ,commissioners1 proved to all ,england fifteen years ago1 that cholera always appeared where fever had appeared1 and that both fever and cholera always cling exclusively to those places where there was bad food1 bad air1 crowded bedrooms1 bad drainage and filth--that such were the laws of ,god and ,nature1 and always had been2 they took no notice of it1 because it was the poor rather than the rich who suffered from those causes4 ,so the filth of our great cities was left to ferment in poisonous cesspools1 foul ditches and marshes and muds1 such as those now killing people by hundreds in the neighbourhood of ,plymouth2 for one house or sewer that was improved1 a hundred more were left just as they were in the first cholera2 as soon as the panic of superstitious fear was past1 carelessness and indolence returned4 ,men went back1 the covetous man to his covetousness1 and the idler to his idleness4 ,and behold6 sixteen years are past1 and the cholera is as bad as ever among us4 ,but you will say1 perhaps1 it is presumptuous to say that ,englishmen have brought the cholera on themselves1 that it is ,god's judgment1 and that we cannot explain ,his inscrutable ,providence4 ,ah6 my friends1 that is a poor excuse and a common one1 for leaving a great many sins as they are6 ,when people do not wish to do ,god's will1 it is a very pleasant thing to talk about ,god's will as something so very deep and unfathomable1 that poor human beings cannot be expected to find it out4 ,it is an old excuse1 and a great favourite with ,satan1 ,i have no doubt4 ,why cannot people find out ,god's will8--,because they do not like to find it out1 lest it should shame them and condemn them1 and cost them pleasure or money--because their eyes are blinded with covetousness and selfishness1 so that they cannot see ,god's will1 even when they do look for it1 and then they go and cant about ,god's judgments2 while those judgments1 as the text says1 are far above out of their mammon-blinded and prejudice-blinded sight4 ,what do they mean by that word8 ,come now1 my friends6 let us face the question like men4 ,what do you mean really when you call the cholera1 or fever1 or affliction at all1 ,god's judgment8 ,do you merely mean that ,god is punishing you1 you don't know for what1 and you can't find out for what8 but that all which ,he expects of you is to bear it patiently1 and then go and do afterwards just what you did before8 ,dare anyone say that who believes that ,god is a ,god of justice1 much less a ,god of love8 ,what would you think of a father who punished his children1 and then left them to find out as they could what they were punished for8 ,and yet that is the way people talk of pestilence and of great afflictions1 public and private4 ,they are not ashamed to accuse ,god of a cruelty and an injustice which they would be ashamed to confess themselves6 ,how can men1 even religious men often1 be so blasphemous8 ,mainly1 ,i think1 because they do not really believe in ,god at all1 they only believe about ,him--they believe that they ought to believe in ,him4 ,they have no living personal faith in ,god or ,christ2 they do not know ,god2 they do not know ,god's character1 and what to believe of ,him1 and what to expect of ,him2 or what they ought to say of ,him2 because they do not know1 they have not studied1 they have not loved the character of ,christ1 who is the express image and likeness of ,god4 ,therefore ,god's judgments are far away out of their sight2 therefore they make themselves a ,god in their own image and after their own likeness1 lazy1 capricious1 revengeful2 therefore they are not afraid or ashamed to say that ,god sends pestilence into a country without showing that country why it is sent4 ,but another great reason1 ,i believe1 why ,god's judgments in this and other matters are far above out of our sight1 is the careless1 insincere way of using words which we ,english have got into1 even on the most holy and awful matters4 ,i suppose there never was a nation in the world so diseased through and through with the spirit of cant1 as we ,english are now3 except perhaps the old ,jews1 at the time of our ,lord's coming4 ,you hear men talking as if they thought ,god did not understand ,english1 because they cling superstitiously to the letter of the ,bible in proportion as they lose its spirit4 ,you hear men taking words into their mouths which might make angels weep and devils tremble1 with a coolness and oily1 smooth carelessness which shows you that they do not feel the force of what they are saying4 ,you hear them using the words of ,scripture1 which are in themselves stricter and deeper than all the books of philosophy in the world1 in such a loose unscriptural way1 that they make them mean anything or nothing4 ,they use the words like parrots1 by rote1 just because their forefathers used them before them4 ,they will tell you that cholera is a judgment for our sins1 8in a sense10 but if you ask them for what sins1 or in what sense1 they fly off from that home question1 and begin mumbling commonplaces about the inscrutable decrees of ,providence1 and so on4 ,it is most sad1 all this2 and most fearful also4 ,therefore1 ,i asked you1 my friends1 what is the meaning of that word judgment8 ,in common talk1 people use it rightly enough1 but when they begin to talk of ,god's judgments1 they speak as if it merely meant punishments4 ,now judgment and punishment are two things4 ,when a judge gives judgment1 he either acquits or condemns the accused person2 he gives the case for the plaintiff1 or for the defendant3 the punishment of the guilty person1 if he be guilty1 is a separate thing1 pronounced and inflicted afterwards4 ,his judgment1 ,i say1 is his opinion about the person's guilt1 and even so ,god's judgments are the expression of ,his opinion about our guilt4 ,but there is this difference between man and ,god in this matter--a human judge gives his opinion in words1 ,god gives ,his in events3 therefore there is no harm for a human judge when he has told a person why he must punish1 to punish him in some way that has nothing to do with his crime--for instance1 to send a man to prison because he steals1 though it would be far better if criminals could be punished in kind1 and if the man who stole could be forced either to make restitution1 or work out the price of what he stole in hard labour4 ,for this is ,god's plan--,god always pays sinners back in kind1 that ,he may not merely punish them1 but correct them2 so that by the kind of their punishment1 they may know the kind of their sin4 ,god punishes us1 as ,i have often told you1 not by ,his caprice1 but by ,his laws4 ,he does not break ,his laws to harm us2 the laws themselves harm us1 when we break them and get in their way4 ,it is always so1 you will find1 with great national afflictions4 ,i believe1 when we know more of ,god and ,his laws1 we shall find it true even in our smallest private sorrows4 ,god is unchangeable2 ,he does not lose ,his temper1 as heathens and superstitious men fancy1 to punish us4 ,he does not change ,his order to punish us4 ,we break ,his order1 and the order goes on in spite of us and crushes us3 and so we get ,god's judgment1 ,god's opinion of our breaking ,his laws4 ,you will find it so almost always in history4 ,if a nation is laid waste by war1 it is generally their own fault4 ,they have sinned against the law which ,god has appointed for nations4 ,they have lost courage and prudence1 and trust in ,god1 and fellow-feeling and unity1 and they have become cowardly and selfish and split up into parties1 and so they are easily conquered by their own fault1 as the ,bible tells us the ,jews were by the ,chaldeans2 and their ruin is ,god's judgment1 ,god's opinion plainly expressed of what ,he thinks of them for having become cowardly and selfish1 and factious and disinterested4 ,so it is with famine again4 ,famines come by a nation's own fault--they are ,god's plainly spoken opinion of what ,he thinks of breaking ,his laws of industry and thrift1 by improvidence and bad farming4 ,so when a nation becomes poor and bankrupt1 it is its own fault2 that nation has broken the laws of political economy which ,god has appointed for nations1 and its ruin is ,god's judgment1 ,god's plain-spoken opinion again of the sins of extravagance1 idleness1 and reckless speculation4 ,so with pestilence and cholera4 ,they come only because we break ,god's laws2 as the wise poet well says3 ,voices from the depths of ,nature borne ,which vengeance on the guilty head proclaim4 --8,of nature20 of the order and constitution which ,god has made for this world we live in1 and which if we break them1 though ,god in his mercy so orders the world that punishment comes but seldom even to our worst offences1 yet surely do bring punishment sooner or later if broken1 in the common course of nature4 ,yes1 my friends1 as surely and naturally as drunkenness punishes itself by a shaking hand and a bloated body1 so does filth avenge itself by pestilence4 ,fever and cholera1 as you would expect them to be1 are the expression of ,god's judgment1 ,god's opinion1 ,god's handwriting on the wall against us for our sins of filth and laziness1 foul air1 foul food1 foul drains1 foul bedrooms4 ,where they are1 there is cholera4 ,where they are not1 there is none1 and will be none1 because they who do not break ,god's laws1 ,god's laws will not break them4 ,oh6 do not think me harsh1 my friends2 ,god knows it is no pleasant thing to have to speak bitter and upbraiding words2 but when one travels about this noble land of ,england1 and sees what a blessed place it might be1 if we would only do ,god's will1 and what a miserable place it is just because we will not do ,god's will1 it is enough to make one's soul boil over with sorrow and indignation2 and then when one considers that other men's faults are one's own fault too1 that one has been adding to the heap of sins by one's own laziness1 cowardice1 ignorance1 it is enough to break one's heart--to make one cry with ,st4 ,paul1 8,oh wretched man that ,i am1 who shall deliver me from the body of this death80 ,ay1 my friends1 the state of things in ,england now is enough to drive an earnest man to despair1 if one did not know that all our distresses1 and this cholera1 like the rest1 are indeed ,god's judgments2 the judgments and expressed opinions1 not of a capricious tyrant1 but of a righteous and loving ,father1 who chastens us just because ,he loves us1 and afflicts us only to teach us ,his will1 which alone is life and happiness4 ,therefore we may believe that this very cholera is meant to be a blessing2 that if we will take the lesson it brings1 it will be a blessing to ,england4 ,god grant that all ranks may take the lesson--that the rich may amend their idleness and neglect1 and the poor amend their dirt and stupid ignorance2 then our children will have cause to thank ,god for the cholera1 if it teaches us that cleanliness is indeed next to holiness1 if it teaches us1 rich and poor1 to make the workman's home what it ought to be4 ,and believe me1 my friends1 that day will surely come2 and these distresses1 sad as they are for the time1 are only helping to hasten it--the day when the words of the ,hebrew prophets shall be fulfilled1 where they speak of a state of comfort and prosperity1 and civilisation1 such as men had never reached in their time--how the wilderness shall blossom like the rose1 and there shall be heaps of corn high on the mountain-tops1 and the cities shall be green as grass on the earth1 instead of being the smoky1 stifling hot-beds of disease which they are now--and how from the city of ,god streams shall flow for the healing of the nations3 strange words1 those1 and dim2 too deep to be explained by any one meaning1 or many meanings1 such as our small minds can give them2 but full of blessed cheering hope4 ,for of whatever they speak1 they speak at least of this--of a time when all sorrow and sighing shall be done away1 when science and civilisation shall go hand in hand with godliness--when ,god shall indeed dwell in the hearts of men1 and ,his kingdom shall be fulfilled among them1 when 8,his ways shall be known upon earth at last1 and ,his saving health among all nations0--of a time when all shall know ,him1 from the least unto the greatest1 and be indeed ,his children1 doing no sin1 because they will have given up themselves1 their selfishness and cruelty and covetousness1 and stupidity and laziness1 to be changed and renewed into ,god's likeness4 ,then all these distresses and pestilences1 which1 as ,i have shown you1 come from breaking the will of ,god1 will have passed away like ugly dreams1 and all the earth shall be blessed1 because all the earth shall at last be fulfilling the words of the ,lord's ,prayer1 and ,god's will shall be done on earth1 even as it is done in heaven4 ,oh6 my friends1 have hope4 ,do you think ,christ would have bid us pray for what would never happen8 ,would ,he have bid us all to pray that ,god's will might be done unless ,he had known surely that ,god's will would one day be done by men on earth below even as it is done in heaven8 ,,xiv4 ,,second ,,sermon ,,on ,,the ,,cholera4 ,visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children4--,,exodus xx4 #e4 ,,in my sermon last ,sunday ,i said plainly that cholera1 fever1 and many more diseases were man's own fault1 and that they were ,god's judgments just because they were man's own fault1 because they were ,god's plainspoken opinion of the sin of filth and of habits of living unfit for civilised ,christian men4 ,but there is an objection which may arise in some of your minds1 and if it has not risen in your minds1 still it has in other people's often enough2 and therefore ,i will state it plainly1 and answer it as far as ,god shall give me wisdom4 ,for it is well to get to the root of all matters1 and of this matter of ,pestilence among others2 for if we do believe this ,pestilence to be ,god's judgment1 then it is a spiritual matter most proper to be spoken of in a place like this church1 where men come as spiritual beings to hear that which is profitable for their souls4 ,and it is profitable for their souls to consider this matter2 for it has to do1 as ,i see more and more daily1 with the very deepest truths of the ,gospel2 and accordingly as we believe the ,gospel1 and believe really that ,jesus ,christ is our ,saviour and our ,king1 the ,new ,adam1 the firstborn among many brethren1 who has come down to proclaim to us that we are all brothers in ,him--in proportion as we believe that1 ,i say1 shall we act upon this very matter of public cleanliness4 ,the objection which ,i mean is this3 people say it is very hard and unfair to talk of cholera or fever being people's own fault1 when you see persons who are not themselves dirty1 and innocent little children1 who if they are dirty are only so because they are brought up so1 catch the infection and die of it4 ,you cannot say it is their fault4 ,very true4 ,i did not say it was their fault4 ,i did not say that each particular person takes the infection by his own fault1 though ,i do say that nine out of ten do4 ,and as for little children1 of course it is not their fault4 ,but1 my friends1 it must be someone's fault4 ,no one will say that the world is so ill made that these horrible diseases must come in spite of all man's care4 ,if it was so1 plagues1 pestilences1 and infectious fevers would be just as common now in ,england1 and just as deadly as they were in old times2 whereas there is not one infectious fever now in ,england for ten that there used to be five hundred years ago4 ,in ancient times fevers1 agues1 plague1 smallpox1 and other diseases1 whose very names we cannot now understand1 so completely are they passed away1 swept ,england from one end to the other every few years1 killing five people where they now kill one4 ,those diseases1 as ,i said1 have many of them now died out entirely2 and those which remain are becoming less and less dangerous every year4 ,and why8 ,simply because people are becoming more cleanly and civilised in their habits of living2 because they are tilling and draining the land every year more and more1 instead of leaving it to breed disease1 as all uncultivated land does4 ,it is not merely that doctors are becoming wiser3 we ourselves are becoming more reasonable in our way of living4 ,for instance1 in large districts both of ,scotland and of the ,english fens1 where fever and ague filled the country and swept off hundreds every spring and fall thirty years ago1 fever and ague are now almost unknown1 simply because the marshes have all been drained in the meantime4 ,so you see that people can prevent these disorders1 and therefore it must be someone's fault if they come4 ,now1 whose fault is it8 ,you dare not lay the blame on ,god4 ,and yet you do lay the fault on ,god if you say that it is no man's fault that children die of fever4 ,but ,i know what the answer to that will be3 8,we do not accuse ,god--it is the fault of the fall1 ,adam's curse which brought death and disease into the world40 ,that is a common answer1 and the very one ,i want to hear4 ,what8 is it just to say1 as many do1 that all the diseases which ever tormented poor little innocent children all over the world1 came from ,adam's sinning six thousand years ago1 and yet that it is unfair to say that one little child's fever came from his parents' keeping a filthy house a month ago8 ,that is swallowing a camel and straining at a gnat--that ,god should be just in punishing all mankind for ,adam's sin1 and yet unjust in punishing one little child for its parents' sin4 ,if the one is just the other must be just too1 ,i think4 ,if you believe the one1 why not believe the other8 ,why8 ,because ,adam's curse and 8original0 sin1 as people call it1 is a good and pleasant excuse for laying our sins and miseries at ,adam's door2 but the same rule is not so pleasant in the case of filth and fever1 when it lays other people's miseries at our door4 ,i believe that all the misery in the world sprung from ,adam's disobedience and falling from ,god4 8,by one man sin entered the world1 and death by sin1 and so death passed on all men1 even on those who had not sinned after the likeness of ,adam's transgression40 ,so says the ,bible1 and ,i believe it says so truly4 ,for this is the law of the earth1 ,god's law which ,he proclaimed in the text4 ,he does visit the sins of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of those who hate ,him4 ,it is so4 ,you see it around you daily4 ,no one can deny it4 ,just as death and misery entered into the world by one man1 so we see death and misery entering into many a family4 ,a man or woman is a drunkard1 or a rogue1 or a swearer3 how often their children grow up like them6 ,we have all seen that1 ,god knows1 in this very parish4 ,how much more in great cities1 where boys and girls by thousands--oh1 shame that it should be so in a ,christian land6--grow up thieves from the breast1 and harlots from the cradle4 ,and why8 ,why are there1 as they say1 and ,i am afraid say too truly1 in ,london alone upwards of #aj1jjj children under sixteen who live by theft and harlotry8 ,because the parents of these children are as bad as themselves--drunkards1 thieves1 and worse--and they bring up their children to follow their crimes4 ,if that is not the fathers' sins being visited on the children1 what is8 ,how often1 again1 when we see a wild young man1 we say1 and justly3 8,poor fellow6 there are great excuses for him1 he has been so badly brought up40 ,true1 but his wildness will ruin him all the same1 whether it be his father's fault or his own that he became wild4 ,if he drinks he will ruin his health2 if he squanders his money he will grow poor4 ,god's laws cannot stop for him2 he is breaking them1 and they will avenge themselves on him4 ,you see the same thing everywhere4 ,a man fools away his money1 and his innocent children suffer for it4 ,a man ruins his health by debauchery1 or a woman hers by laziness or vanity or self-indulgence1 and her children grow up weakly and inherit their parents' unhealthiness4 ,how often again1 do we see passionate parents have passionate children1 stupid parents stupid children1 mean and lying parents mean and lying children2 above all1 ignorant and dirty parents have ignorant and dirty children4 ,how can they help being so8 ,they cannot keep themselves clean by instinct2 they cannot learn without being taught3 and so they suffer for their parents' faults4 ,but what is all this except ,god's visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children8 ,look again at a whole parish2 how far the neglect or the wickedness of one man may make a whole estate miserable4 ,there is one parish in this very union1 and the curse of the whole union it is1 which will show us that fearfully enough4 ,see1 too1 how often when a good and generous young man comes into his estate1 he finds it so crippled with debts and mortgages by his forefathers' extravagance1 that he cannot do the good he would to his tenants1 he cannot fulfil his duty as landlord where ,god has placed him1 and so he and the whole estate must suffer for the follies of generations past4 ,if that is not ,god visiting the sins of the fathers on the children1 what is it8 ,look again at a whole nation2 the rulers of two countries quarrel1 or pretend to quarrel1 and go to war--and some here know what war is--just because there is some old grudge of a hundred years standing between two countries1 or because rulers of whose names the country people1 perhaps1 never heard1 have chosen to fall out1 or because their forefathers by cowardice1 or laziness1 or division1 or some other sin1 have made the country too weak to defend itself2 and for that poor people's property is destroyed1 and little infants butchered1 and innocent women suffer unspeakable shame4 ,if that is not ,god visiting the sins of the fathers on the children1 what is it8 ,it is very awful1 but so it is4 ,it is the law of this earth1 the law of human kind1 that the innocent often suffer for other's faults1 just as you see them doing in cholera1 fever1 ague1 smallpox1 and other diseases which man can prevent if he chooses to take the trouble4 ,there it is4 ,we cannot alter it4 ,those who will may call ,god unjust for it4 ,let them first see1 whether ,he is not only most just1 but most merciful in making the world so1 and no other way4 ,i do not merely mean that whatever ,god does must be right4 ,that is true1 but it is a poor way of getting over the difficulty4 ,god has taught us what is right and wrong1 and ,he will be judged by ,his own rules4 ,as ,abraham said to ,him when ,sodom was to be destroyed3 8,that be far from ,thee1 to punish the righteous with the wicked4 ,shall not the ,judge of all the earth do right80 ,abraham knew what was right1 and he expected ,god not to break that law of right4 ,and we may expect the same of ,god4 ,and ,i may be able1 ,i hope1 in my sermon next ,sunday1 to show you that in this matter ,god does break the law of right4 ,nevertheless1 in the meantime1 this is ,his way of dealing with men4 ,when ,sodom was destroyed ,he brought righteous ,lot out of it4 ,but ,sodom was destroyed1 and in it many a little infant who had never known sin4 ,and just so when ,lisbon was swallowed up by an earthquake1 ninety years ago1 the little children perished as well as the grown people--just as in the ,irish famine fever last year1 many a doctor and ,roman ,catholic priest1 and ,protestant clergyman1 caught the fever and died while they were piously attending on the sick4 ,they were acting like righteous men doing their duty at their posts2 but ,god's laws could not turn aside for them4 ,improvidence1 and misrule1 which had been working and growing for hundreds of years1 had at last brought the famine fever1 and even the righteous must perish by it4 ,they had their sins1 no doubt1 as we all have2 but then they were doing ,god's work bravely and honestly enough1 yet the fever could not spare them any more than it could spare the children of the filthy parents1 though they had not kept pigsties under their windows1 nor cesspools at their doors4 ,it could not spare them any more than it can spare the tenants of the negligent or covetous house-owner1 because it is his fault and not theirs that his houses are undrained1 overcrowded1 destitute--as whole streets in many large towns are--of the commonest decencies of life4 ,it may be the landlord's fault1 but the tenants suffer4 ,god visits the sins of the fathers upon the children1 and landlords ought to be fathers to their tenants1 and must become fathers to them some day1 and that soon1 unless they intend that the ,lord should visit on them all their sins1 and their forefathers' also1 even unto the third and fourth generation4 ,for do not fancy that because the innocent suffer with the guilty that therefore the guilty escape4 ,seldom do they escape in this world1 and in the world to come never4 ,the landlord who1 as too many do1 neglects his cottages till they become man-sties1 to breed pauperism and disease--the parents whose carelessness and dirt poison their children and neighbours into typhus and cholera--their brother's blood will cry against them out of the ground4 ,it will be required at their hands sooner or later1 by ,him who beholds iniquity and wrong1 and who will not be satisfied in the day of ,his vengeance by ,cain's old answer1 8,am ,i my brother's keeper80 ,we are every one of us our brother's keeper2 and if we do not choose to confess that1 ,god will prove it to us in a way that we cannot mistake4 ,a wise man tells a story of a poor ,irish widow who came to ,liverpool and no one would take her in or have mercy on her1 till1 from starvation and bad lodging1 as the doctor said1 she caught typhus fever1 and not only died herself1 but gave the infection to the whole street1 and seventeen persons died of it4 8,see10 says the wise man1 8the poor ,irish widow was the ,liverpool people's sister after all4 ,she was of the same flesh and blood as they4 ,the fever that killed her killed them1 but they would not confess that they were her brothers4 ,they shut their doors upon her1 and so there was no way left for her to prove her relationship1 but by killing seventeen of them with fever40 ,a grim jest that1 but a true one1 like ,elijah's jest to the ,baal priests on ,carmel4 ,a true one1 ,i say1 and one that we have all need to lay to heart4 ,and ,i do earnestly trust in you that you will lay it to heart4 ,we have had our fair warning here4 ,we have had ,god's judgment about our cleanliness2 ,his plain spoken opinion about the sanitary state of this parish4 ,we deserve the fever1 ,i am afraid2 not a house in which it has appeared but has had some glaring neglect of common cleanliness about it2 and if we do not take the warning ,god will surely some day repeat it4 ,it will repeat itself by the necessary laws of nature2 and we shall have the fever among us again1 just as the cholera has reappeared in the very towns1 and the very streets1 where it was seventeen years ago1 wherever they have not repented of and amended their filth and negligence4 ,and ,i say openly1 that those who have escaped this time may not escape next4 ,god has made examples1 and by no means always of the worst cottages4 ,god's plan is to take one and leave another by way of warning4 8,it is expedient that one man should die for the people1 and that the whole nation perish not0 is a great and a sound law1 and we must profit by it4 ,so let not those who have escaped the fever fancy that they must needs be without fault4 8,think ye that those sixteen on whom the tower of ,siloam fell and slew them1 were sinners above all those that dwelt at ,jerusalem8 ,i say unto you1 ,nay1 but except ye repent1 ye shall all likewise perish40 ,and ,i say again1 as ,i said last ,sunday1 that this is a spiritual question1 a ,gospel sermon2 for by your conduct in this matter will your faith in the ,gospel be proved4 ,if you really believe that ,jesus ,christ came down from heaven and sacrificed ,himself for you1 you will be ready to sacrifice yourselves in this matter for those for whom ,he died2 to sacrifice1 without stint1 your thought1 your time1 your money1 and your labour4 ,if you really believe that ,he is the sworn enemy of all misery and disease1 you will show yourselves too the sworn enemies of everything that causes misery and disease1 and work together like men to put all pestilential filth and damp out of this parish4 ,if you really believe that you are all brothers1 equal in the sight of ,god and ,christ1 you will do all you can to save your brothers from sickness and the miseries which follow it4 ,if you really believe that your children are ,god's children1 that at baptism ,god declares your little ones to be ,his1 you will be ready to take any care or trouble1 however new or strange it may seem1 to keep your children safe from all foul smells1 foul food1 foul water1 and foul air1 that they may grow up healthy1 hearty1 and cleanly1 fit to serve ,god as christened1 free1 and civilised ,englishmen should in this great and awful time1 the most wonderful time that the earth has ever seen1 into which it has pleased ,god of ,his great mercy to let us all be born4 ,,xv4 ,,third ,,sermon ,,on ,,the ,,cholera4 ,i the ,lord thy ,god am a jealous ,god1 visiting the iniquity of the ,fathers upon the children1 unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me4--,,exodus xx4 #f4 ,,many of you were perhaps surprised and puzzled by my saying in my last sermon that ,god's visiting the sins of the fathers on the children1 and letting the innocent suffer for the guilty1 was a blessing and not a curse--a sign of man's honour and redemption1 not of his shame and ruin4 ,but the more ,i have thought of those words1 the more glad ,i am that ,i spoke them boldly1 the more true ,i find them to be4 ,i say that there is in them the very deepest and surest ground for hope4 8,yes10 some of you may say1 8to be sure when we see the innocent suffering for the guilty1 it is a plain proof that another world must come some day1 in which all that unfairness shall be set right40 ,well1 my friends1 it does prove that1 but ,i should be very sorry if it did not prove a great deal more than that--this suffering of the innocent for the guilty4 ,i have no heart to talk to you about the next life1 unless ,i can give you some comfort1 some reason for trusting in ,god in this life4 ,i never saw much good come of it4 ,i never found it do my own soul any good1 to be told3 8,this life and this world in which you now live are given up irremediably to misrule and deceit1 poverty and pestilence1 death and the devil4 ,you cannot expect to set this world right--you must look to the next world4 ,everything will be set right there40 ,that sounds fine and resigned2 and there seems to be a great deal of trust in ,god in it2 but1 as ,i think1 there is little or none2 and ,i say so from the fruits ,i see it bear4 ,if people believe that this world is the devil's world1 and only the next world ,god's1 they are easily tempted to say3 8,very well1 then1 we must serve the devil in this world1 and ,god in the next4 ,we must1 of course1 take great care to get our souls saved when we die1 that we may go to heaven and live for ever and ever2 but as to this world and this life1 why1 we must follow the ways of the world4 ,it is not our fault that they have nothing to do with ,god4 ,it is not our fault that society and the world are all rotten and accursed2 we found them so when we were born1 and we must make the best of a bad matter and sail as the world does1 and be covetous and mean and anxious--how can we help it8--and stand on our own rights1 and take care of number one2 and even do what is not quite right now and then--for how can we help it8--or how else shall we get on in this poor lost1 fallen1 sinful world60 ,and so it comes1 my friends1 that you see people professing--ay1 and believing1 ,gospel doctrines1 and struggling and reading1 and1 as they fancy1 praying1 morning1 noon1 and night1 to get their own souls saved--who yet1 if you are to judge by their conduct1 are little better than rogues and heathens2 whose only law of life seems to be the fear of what people will say of them2 who1 like ,balaam the son of ,bosor1 are trying daily to serve the devil without ,god finding it out1 worshipping the evil spirit1 as that evil spirit wanted our blessed ,lord to do1 because they believed his lie1 which ,christ denied--that the glory of this world belongs to the evil one2 and then comforting themselves like ,balaam their father1 in the hope that they shall die the death of the righteous1 and their last end be like his4 ,now ,i say my friends that this is a lie1 and comes from the father of lies1 who tempts every man1 as he tempted our ,lord1 to believe that the power and glory of this world are his1 that man's flesh and body1 if not his soul1 belongs to him4 ,i say1 it is no such thing4 ,the world is ,god's world4 ,man is ,god's creature1 made in ,god's image1 and not in that of a beast or a devil4 ,the kingdom1 the power1 and the glory1 are ,god's now4 ,you say so every day in the ,lord's ,prayer--believe it4 ,st4 ,james tells you not to curse men1 because they are made in the likeness of ,god now--not will be made in ,god's likeness after they die4 ,believe that2 do not be afraid of it1 strange as it may seem to understand4 ,it is in the ,bible1 and you profess to believe that what is in the ,bible is true4 ,and ,i say that this suffering of the innocent for the guilty is a proof of that4 ,if man was not made so that the innocent could suffer for the guilty1 he could not have been redeemed at all1 for there would have been no use or meaning in ,christ's dying for us1 the just for the unjust4 ,and more1 if the innocent could not suffer for the guilty we should be like the beasts that perish4 ,now1 why8 ,because just in proportion as any creature is low--,i mean in the scale of life--just in that proportion it does without its fellow-creatures1 it lives by itself and cares for no other of its kind4 ,a vegetable is a meaner thing than an animal1 and one great sign of its being meaner is1 that vegetables cannot do each other any good--cannot help each other--cannot even hurt each other1 except in a mere mechanical way1 by overgrowing each other or robbing each other's roots2 but what would it matter to a tree if all the other trees in the world were to die8 ,so with wild animals4 ,what matters it to a bird or a beast1 whether other birds and beasts are ill off or well off1 wise or stupid8 ,each one takes care of itself--each one shifts for itself4 ,but you will say 8,bees help each other and depend upon each other for life and death40 ,true1 and for that very reason we look upon bees as being more wise and more wonderful than almost any animals1 just because they are so much like us human beings in depending on each other4 ,you will say again1 that among dogs1 a riotous hound will lead a whole pack wrong--a staunch and well-broken hound will keep a whole pack right2 and that dogs do depend upon each other in very wonderful ways4 ,most true1 but that only proves more completely what ,i want to get at4 ,it is the tame dog1 which man has taken and broken in1 and made to partake more or less of man's wisdom and cunning1 who depends on his fellow-dogs4 ,the wild dogs in foreign countries1 on the other hand1 are just as selfish1 living every one for himself1 as so many foxes might be4 ,and you find this same rule holding as you rise4 ,the more a man is like a wild animal1 the more of a savage he is1 so much more he depends on himself1 and not on others--in short1 the less civilised he is2 for civilised means being a citizen1 and learning to live in cities1 and to help and depend upon each other4 ,and our common ,english word 8civil0 comes from the same root4 ,a man is 8civil0 who feels that he depends upon his neighbours1 and his neighbours on him2 that they are his fellow-citizens1 and that he owes them a duty and a friendship4 ,and1 therefore1 a man is truly and sincerely civil1 just in proportion as he is civilised2 in proportion as he is a good citizen1 a good ,christian--in one word1 a good man4 ,ay1 that is what ,i want to come to1 my friends--that word man1 and what it means4 ,the law of man's life1 the constitution and order on which1 and on no other1 ,god has made man1 is this--to depend upon his fellow-men1 to be their brothers1 in flesh and in spirit2 for we are brothers to each other4 ,god made of one blood all nations to dwell on the face of the earth4 ,the same food will feed us all alike4 ,the same cholera will kill us all alike4 ,and we can give the cholera to each other2 we can give each other the infection1 not merely by our touch and breath1 for diseased beasts can do that1 but by housing our families and our tenants badly1 feeding them badly1 draining the land around them badly4 ,this is the secret of the innocent suffering for the guilty1 in pestilences1 and famines1 and disorders1 which are handed down from father to child1 that we are all of the same blood4 ,this is the reason why ,adam's sin infected our whole race4 ,adam died1 and through him all his children have received a certain property of sinfulness and of dying1 just as one bee transmits to all his children and future generations the property of making honey1 or a lion transmits to all its future generations the property of being a beast of prey4 ,for by sinning and cutting himself off from ,god ,adam gave way to the lower part of him1 his flesh1 his animal nature1 and therefore he died as other animals do4 ,and we his children1 who all of us give way to our flesh1 to our animal nature1 every hour1 alas6 we die too4 ,and in proportion as we give way to our animal natures we are liable to die2 and the less we give way to our animal natures1 the less we are liable to die4 ,we have all sinned2 we have all become fleshly animal creatures more or less2 and therefore we must all die sooner or later4 ,but in proportion as we become ,christians1 in proportion as we become civilised1 in short1 in proportion as we become true men1 and conquer and keep in order this flesh of ours1 and this earth around us1 by the teaching of ,god's spirit1 as we were meant to do1 just so far will length of life increase and population increase4 ,for while people are savages1 that is1 while they give themselves up utterly to their own fleshly lusts1 and become mere animals like the wild ,indians1 they cannot increase in number4 ,they are exposed1 by their own lusts and ignorance and laziness1 to every sort of disease2 they turn themselves into beasts of prey1 and are continually fighting and destroying each other1 so that they1 seldom or never increase in numbers1 and by war1 drunkenness1 smallpox1 fevers1 and other diseases too horrible to mention1 the fruit of their own lusts1 whole tribes of them are swept utterly off the face of the earth4 ,and why8 ,they are like the beasts1 and like the beasts they perish4 ,whereas1 just in proportion as any nation lives according to the spirit and not according to the flesh2 in proportion as it conquers its own fleshly appetites which tempt it to mere laziness1 pleasure1 and ignorance1 and lives according to the spirit in industry1 cleanliness1 chaste marriage1 and knowledge1 earthly and heavenly1 the length of life and the number of the population begin to increase at once1 just as they are doing1 thank ,god6 in ,england now2 because ,englishmen are learning more and more that this earth is ,god's earth1 and that ,he works it by righteous and infallible laws1 and has put them on it to till it and subdue it2 that civilisation and industry are the cause of ,christ and of ,god2 and that without them ,his kingdom will not come1 neither will ,his will be done on earth4 ,but now comes a very important question4 ,the beasts are none the worse for giving way to their flesh and being mere animals4 ,they increase and multiply and are happy enough2 whereas men1 if they give way to their flesh and become animals1 become fewer and weaker1 and stupider1 and viler1 and more miserable1 generation after generation4 ,why8 ,because the animals are meant to be animals1 and men are not4 ,men are meant to be men1 and conquer their animal nature by the strength which ,god gives to their spirits4 ,and as long as they do not do so2 as long as they remain savage1 sottish1 ignorant1 they are living in a lie1 in a diseased wrong state1 just as ,god did not mean them to live2 and therefore they perish2 therefore these fevers1 and agues1 and choleras1 war1 starvation1 tyranny1 and all the ills which flesh is heir to1 crush them down4 ,therefore they are at the mercy of the earth beneath their feet1 and the skies above their head2 at the mercy of rain and cold2 at the mercy of each other's selfishness1 laziness1 stupidity1 cruelty2 in short1 at the mercy of the brute material earth1 and their own fleshly lusts and the fleshly lusts of others1 because they love to walk after the flesh and not after the spirit--because they like the likeness of the old ,adam who is of the earth earthy1 better than that of the new ,adam who is the ,lord from heaven--because they like to be animals1 when ,christ has made them in his own image1 and redeemed them with ,his own blood1 and taught them with ,his own example1 and made them men4 ,he who will be a man1 let him believe that he is redeemed by ,christ1 and must be like ,christ in everything he says and does4 ,if he would carry that out1 if he would live perfectly by faith in ,god1 if he would do ,god's will utterly and in all things he would soon find that those glorious old words still stood true3 8,thou shalt not be afraid of the arrow by night1 nor of the pestilence which walketh in the noonday2 a thousand shall fall at thy side1 and ten thousand at thy right hand1 but it shall not come nigh thee40 ,for such a man would know how to defend himself against evil2 ,god would teach him not only to defend himself1 but to defend those around him4 ,he would be like his ,lord and ,master1 a fountain of wisdom and healing and safety to all his neighbours4 ,we might any one of us be that4 ,it is everyone's fault more or less that he is not4 ,each of us who is educated1 civilised1 converted to the knowledge and love of ,god1 it is his sin and shame that he is not that4 ,above all1 it is the clergyman's sin and shame that he is not4 ,ay1 believe me1 when ,i blame you1 ,i blame myself ten thousand times more4 ,i believe there is many a sin and sorrow from which ,i might have saved you here1 if ,i had dealt with you more as a man should deal who believes that you and ,i are brothers1 made in the same image of ,god1 redeemed by the same blood of ,christ4 ,and ,i believe that ,i shall be punished for every neglect of you for which ,i have been ever guilty4 ,i believe it1 and ,i thank ,god for it2 for ,i do not see how a clergyman1 or anyone else1 can learn his duty1 except by ,god's judging him1 and punishing him1 and setting his sins before his face4 ,yes1 my friends1 it is good for us to be afflicted1 good for us to suffer anything that will teach us this great truth1 that we are our brother's keepers2 that we are all one family1 and that where one of the members suffers1 all the other members suffer with it2 and that if one of the members has cause to rejoice1 all the others will have cause to rejoice with it4 ,a blessed thing to know1 is that--though whether we know it or not1 we shall find it true4 ,if we give way to our animal nature1 and try to live as the beasts do1 each one caring for his own selfish pleasure--still we shall find out that we cannot do it4 ,we shall find out1 as those ,liverpool people did with the ,irish widow1 that our fellow-men are our brothers--that what hurts them will be sure in some strange indirect way to hurt us4 ,our brothers here have had the fever1 and we have escaped2 but we have felt the fruits of it1 in our purses--in fear1 and anxiety1 and distress1 and trouble--we have found out that they could not have the fever without our suffering for it1 more or less4 ,you see we are one family1 we men and women2 and our relationship will assert itself in spite of our forgetfulness and our selfishness4 ,how much better to claim our brotherhood with each other1 and to act upon it--to live as brothers indeed4 ,that would be to make it a blessing1 and not a curse2 for as ,i said before1 just because it is in our power to injure each other1 therefore it is in our power to help each other4 ,god has bound us together for good and for evil1 for better for worse4 ,oh6 let it be henceforward in this parish for better1 and not for worse4 ,oh6 every one of you1 whether you be rich or poor1 farmer or labourer1 man or woman1 do not be ashamed to own yourselves to be brothers and sisters1 members of one family1 which as it all fell together in the old ,adam1 so it has all risen together in the new ,adam1 ,jesus ,christ4 ,there is no respect of persons with ,god4 ,we are all equal in ,his sight4 ,he knows no difference among men1 except the difference which ,god's ,spirit gives1 in proportion as a man listens to the teaching of that ,spirit--rank in godliness and true manhood4 ,oh6 believe that--believe that because you owe an infinite debt to ,christ and to ,god--,his ,father and your ,father--therefore you owe an infinite debt to your neighbours1 members of ,christ and children of ,god just as you are--a debt of love1 help1 care1 which you can1 pay1 just because you are members of one family2 for because you are members of one family1 for that very reason every good deed you do for a neighbour does not stop with that neighbour1 but goes on breeding and spreading1 and growing and growing1 for aught we know1 for ever4 ,just as each selfish act we do1 each bitter word we speak1 each foul example we set1 may go on spreading from mouth to mouth1 from heart to heart1 from parent to child1 till we may injure generations yet unborn2 so each noble and self-sacrificing deed we do1 each wise and loving word we speak1 each example we set of industry and courage1 of faith in ,god and care for men1 may and will spread on from heart to heart1 and mouth to mouth1 and teach others to do and be the like2 till people miles away1 who never heard of our names1 may have cause to bless us for ever and ever4 ,this is one and only one of the glorious fruits of our being one family4 ,this is one and only one of the reasons which make me say that it was a good thing mankind was so made that the innocent suffer for the guilty4 ,for just as the innocent are injured by the guilty in this world1 even so are the guilty preserved1 and converted1 and brought back again by the innocent4 ,just as the sins of the fathers are visited on the children1 so is the righteousness of the fathers a blessing to the children2 else1 says ,st4 ,paul1 our children would be unclean1 but now they are holy4 ,for the promises of ,god are not only to us1 but to our children1 even to as many as the ,lord our ,god shall call4 ,and thus each generation1 by growing in virtue and wisdom and the knowledge of ,god1 will help forward all the generations which follow it to fuller light and peace and safety2 and each parent in trying to live like a ,christian man himself1 will make it easier for his children to live like ,christians after him4 ,and this rule applies even in the things which we are too apt to fancy unimportant--every house kept really clean1 every family brought up in habits of neatness and order1 every acre of foul land drained1 every new improvement in agriculture and manufactures or medicine1 is a clear gain to all mankind1 a good example set which is sure sooner or later to find followers1 perhaps among generations yet unborn1 and in countries of which we never heard the name4 ,was ,i not right then in saying that this earth is not the devil's earth at all1 but a right good earth1 of ,god's making and ruling1 wherein no good deed will perish fruitless1 but every man's works will follow him--a right good earth1 governed by a righteous ,father1 who1 as the psalm says 8is merciful10 just 8because ,he rewards every man according to his work40 ,,xvi4 ,,on ,,the ,,day ,,of ,,thanksgiving4 7,nov4 #aeth1 #ahdi47 ,god hath visited his people4--,,luke vii4 #af4 ,,we are assembled this day to thank ,god solemnly for the passing away of the cholera from ,england2 and we must surely not forget to thank ,him at the same time for the passing away of the fever1 which has caused so much expense1 sorrow1 and death among us4 ,now ,i wish to say a very few words to you on this same matter1 to show you not only how to be thankful to ,god1 but what to be thankful for4 ,you may say3 ,it is easy enough for us to know what to thank ,god for in this case4 ,we come to thank ,him1 as we have just said in the public prayers1 for having withdrawn this heavy visitation from us4 ,if so1 my friends1 what we shall thank ,him for depends on what we mean by talking of a visitation from ,god4 ,now ,i do not know what people may think in this parish1 but ,i suspect that very many all over ,england do not know what to thank ,god for just now2 and are altogether thanking him for the wrong thing--for a thing which1 very happily for them1 ,he has not done for them1 and which1 if ,he had done it for them1 would have been worse for them than all the evil which ever happened to them from their youth up until now4 ,to be plain then1 many1 ,i am afraid1 are thanking ,god for having gone away and left them4 ,while the cholera was here1 they said that ,god was visiting them2 and now that the cholera is over1 they consider that ,god's visit is over too1 and are joyful and light of heart thereat4 ,if ,god's visit is over1 my friends1 and ,he is gone away from us2 if ,he is not just as near us now as ,he was in the height of the cholera1 the best thing we can do is to turn to ,him with fasting1 and weeping1 and mourning1 and roll ourselves in the dust1 and instead of thanking our ,father for going away1 pray to ,him1 of his infinite mercy1 to condescend to come back again and visit us1 even though1 as superstitious and ignorant men believe1 ,god's visiting us were sure to bring cholera1 or plague1 or pestilence1 or famine1 or some other misery4 ,for ,i read1 that in ,his presence is life and not death--at ,his right hand is fulness of joy1 and not tribulation and mourning and woe2 but if not1 it were better to be with ,god in everlasting agony1 than to be in everlasting happiness without ,god4 ,here is a strange confusion--people talking one moment like ,st4 ,paul himself1 desiring to be with ,christ and ,god for ever1 and then in the same breath talking like the ,gadarenes of old1 when1 after ,christ had visited them1 and judged their sins by driving their unlawful herd of swine into the sea1 they answered by beseeching ,him to depart out of their coasts4 ,why is this confusion8--,because people do not take the trouble to read their ,bibles2 because they bring their own loose1 careless1 cant notions with them when they open their ,bibles1 and settle beforehand what the ,bible is to tell them1 and then pick and twist texts till they make them mean just what they like and no more4 ,there is no folly1 or filth1 or tyranny1 or blasphemy1 which men have not defended out of the ,bible by twisting it in this way4 ,the ,bible is better written than that1 my friends4 ,he that runs may read1 if he has sense to read4 ,the wayfaring man1 though simple1 shall make no such mistake therein1 if he has ,god's ,spirit in him--the spirit of faith1 which believes that the ,bible is ,god's message to men--the humble spirit1 which is willing to listen to that message1 however strange or new it may seem to him--the earnest spirit1 which reads the ,bible really to know what a man shall do to be saved4 ,look at your ,bibles thus1 my friends1 about this matter4 ,read all the texts which speak of ,god's visiting and ,god's visitation1 and you will find all the confusion and strangeness vanish away4 ,for see6 ,the ,bible talks of the ,lord visiting people in ,his wrath--visiting them for their sins--visiting them with sore plagues and punishments1 about forty times4 ,but the ,bible speaks very nearly as often of ,god's visiting people to bring them blessings and not punishments4 ,the ,bible says ,god visited ,sarah and ,hannah to give them what they most desired--children4 ,god visited the people of ,israel in ,egypt to deliver them out of slavery4 ,in the book of ,ruth we read how the ,lord visited ,his people in giving them bread4 ,the ,psalmist1 in the captivity at ,babylon1 prays ,god to visit him with ,his salvation4 ,the prophet ,jeremiah says that it was a sign of ,god's anger against the ,jews that ,he had not visited them2 and the prophets promised again and again to their countrymen1 how1 after their seventy years' captivity in ,babylon1 the ,lord would visit them1 and what for8--,to bring them back into their own land with joy1 and heap them with every blessing--peace and wealth1 freedom and righteousness4 ,so it is in the ,new ,testament too4 ,zacharias praised ,god3 8,blessed be the ,lord ,god of ,israel1 for ,he hath visited and redeemed ,his people2 through the tender mercy of our ,god1 whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us40 ,and that was the reason why ,i chose ,luke vii4 #af1 for my text--only because it is an example of the same thing4 ,the people1 it says1 praised ,god1 saying3 8,a great ,prophet is risen up among us1 and ,god hath visited ,his people40 ,and in the #adth of ,acts we read how ,god visited the ,gentiles1 not to punish them1 but to take out of them a people for ,his name1 namely1 ,cornelius and his household4 ,and lastly1 ,st4 ,peter tells ,christian people to glorify ,god in the day of visitation1 as ,i tell you now--whether ,his visitation comes in the shape of cholera1 or fever1 or agricultural distress2 or whether it comes in the shape of sanitary reform1 and plenty of work1 and activity in commerce2 whether it seems to you good or evil1 glorify ,god for it4 ,thank ,him for it4 ,bless ,him for it4 ,whether ,his visitation brings joy or sorrow1 it surely brings a blessing with it4 ,whether ,god visits in wrath or in love1 still ,god visits4 ,god shows that ,he lives2 ,god shows us that ,he has not forgotten us2 ,god shows us that ,he is near us4 ,christ shows us that ,his words are true3 8,lo1 ,i am with you alway1 even to the end of the world40 ,that is a hard lesson to learn and practise1 though not a very difficult one to understand4 ,i will try now to make you understand it--,god alone can teach you to practise it4 ,i pray and hope1 and ,i believe too1 that ,he will--that these very hard times are meant to teach people really to believe in ,god and ,jesus ,christ1 and that they will teach people4 ,god knows we need1 and thanks be to ,him that ,he does know that we need1 to be taught to believe in ,him4 ,nothing shows it to me more plainly than the way we talk about ,god's visitations1 as if ,god was usually away from us1 and came to us only just now and then--only on extraordinary occasions4 ,people have gross1 heathen1 fleshly1 materialist notions of ,god's visitations1 as if ,he was some great earthly king who now and then made a journey about his dominions from place to place1 rewarding some and punishing others4 ,god is not in any place1 my friends4 ,god is a ,spirit4 ,the heaven and the heaven of heavens could not contain ,him if ,he wanted a place to be in1 as1 glory be to ,his name1 ,he does not4 ,if ,he is near us or far from us1 it is not that ,he is near or far from our bodies1 as the ,queen might be nearer to us in ,london than in ,scotland1 which is most people's notion of ,god's nearness4 ,he is near1 not our bodies1 but our spirits1 our souls1 our hearts1 our thoughts--as it is written1 8,the kingdom of ,god is within you40 ,do not fancy that when the cholera was in ,india1 ,god was nearer ,india than ,he was to ,england1 and that as the cholera crawled nearer and nearer1 ,god came nearer and nearer too2 and that now the cholera is gone away somewhere or other1 ,god is gone away somewhere or other too1 to leave us to our own inventions4 ,god forbid a thousand times6 ,as ,st4 ,paul says3 8,he is not far from any one of us40 8,in ,him we live and move and have our being10 cholera or none4 ,do you think ,christ1 the ,king of the earth1 is gone away either--that while things go on rightly1 and governments1 and clergy1 and people do right1 ,christ is there then1 filling them all with ,his ,spirit and guiding them all to their duty2 but that when evil times come1 and rulers are idle1 and clergy dumb dogs1 and the rich tyrannous1 and the poor profligate1 and men are crying for work and cannot get it1 and every man's hand is against his fellow1 and no one knows what to do or think2 and on earth is distress of nations with perplexity1 men's hearts failing them for fear1 and for dread of those things which are coming on the earth--do you think that in such times as those1 ,christ is the least farther off from us than ,he was at the best of times8--,the least farther off from us now than ,he was from the apostles at the first ,whitsuntide8 ,god forbid6--,god forbid a thousand times6 ,he has promised ,himself1 ,he that is faithful and true1 ,he that will never deny ,himself1 though men deny ,him1 and say ,he is not here1 because their eyes are blinded with love of the world1 and covetousness and bigotry1 and dread lest ,he1 their ,master1 should come and find them beating the men-servants and maid-servants1 and eating and drinking with the drunken in the high places of the earth1 and saying3 8,tush6 ,god hath forgotten it0--ay1 though men have forgotten ,him thus1 and--worse than thus1 yet ,he hath said it--8,lo1 ,i am with you alway1 even unto the end of the world40 ,why1 evil times are the very times of which ,christ used to speak as the 8days of the ,lord10 and the 8days of the ,son of man40 ,times when we hear of wars and rumours of wars1 and on earth distress of nations with perplexity--what does ,he tell men to do in them8 ,to go whining about1 and say that ,christ has left ,his ,church8 ,no6 8,then10 ,he says1 8when all these things come to pass1 then rejoice and lift up your heads1 for your redemption draweth nigh40 ,and yet the ,scripture does most certainly speak of the ,lord's coming out of ,his place to visit--of the ,son of ,man coming1 and not coming to men--of ,his visiting us at one time and not at another4 ,how does that agree with what ,i have just said8 ,my dear friends1 we shall see that it agrees perfectly with what ,i have said1 if we will only just remember that we are not beasts1 but men4 ,it may seem a strange thing to have to remind people of1 but it is just what they are always forgetting4 ,my friends1 we are not animals1 we are not spiders to do nothing but spin1 or birds only to build nests for ourselves1 much less swine to do nothing but dig after roots and fruits1 and get what we can out of the clods of the ground4 ,we are the children of the ,most ,high ,god2 we have immortal souls within us2 nay1 more1 we are our souls3 our bodies are our husk--our shell--our clothes--our house--changing day by day1 and year by year upon us1 one day to drop off us till the ,resurrection4 ,but we are our souls1 and when ,god visits1 it is our souls ,he visits1 not merely our bodies4 ,there is the whole secret4 ,people forget ,god1 and therefore they are glad to fancy that ,he has forgotten them1 and has nothing to do with this world of ,his which they are misusing for their own selfish ends2 and then ,god in ,his mercy visits them4 ,he knocks at the door of their hearts1 saying3 8,see6 ,i was close to you all the while40 ,he forces them to see ,him and to confess that ,he is there whether they choose or not4 ,god is not away from the world4 ,he is away from people's hearts1 because ,he has given people free wills1 and with free wills the power of keeping ,him out of their hearts or letting ,him in4 ,and when ,god visits ,he forces ,himself on our attention4 ,he knocks at the door of our hard hearts so loudly and sharply that ,he forces all to confess that ,he is there--all who are not utterly reprobate and spiritually dead4 ,in blessings as well as in curses1 ,god knocks at our hearts4 ,by sudden good fortune1 as well as by sudden mishap2 by a great deliverance from enemies1 by an abundant harvest1 as well as by famine and pestilence4 ,therefore this cholera has been a true visitation of ,god4 ,the poor had fancied that they might be as dirty1 the rich had fancied that they might be as careless1 as they chose2 in short1 that they might break ,god's laws of cleanliness and brotherly care without ,his troubling ,himself about the matter4 ,and lo6 ,he has visited us2 and shown us that ,he does care about the matter by taking it into ,his own hands with a vengeance4 ,he who cannot see ,god's hand in the cholera must be as blind--as blind as who8--as blind as he that cannot see ,god's hand when there is no cholera2 as blind as he who cannot see ,god's hand in every meal he eats1 and every breath he draws2 for that man is stone blind--he can be no blinder4 ,the cholera came2 everyone ought to see that it did not come by blind chance1 but by the will of some wise and righteous ,person2 for in the first place ,god gave us fair warning4 ,the cholera came from ,india at a steady pace4 ,we knew to a month when it would arrive here4 ,and it came1 too1 by no blind necessity1 as if it was forced to take people whether it liked or not4 ,just as it was in the fever here1 so it was in the cholera1 8,one shall be taken and another left40 ,it took one of a street and left another2 took one person in a family and left another3 it took the rich man who fancied he was safe1 as well as the poor man who did not care whether he was safe or not4 ,the respectable man walking home to his comfortable house1 passed by some untrapped drain1 and then poisonous gas struck him and he died4 ,the rich physician who had been curing others1 could not save himself from the poison of the crowded graveyard which had been allowed to remain at the back of his house4 ,by all sorts of strange and unfathomable judgments the cholera showed itself to be working1 not by a blind necessity1 but at the will of a thinking ,person1 of a living ,god1 whose ways are not as our own ways1 and ,his paths are in the great deep4 ,and yet the cholera showed--and this is what ,i want to make you feel--that it was working at the will of the same ,god in whom we live and move and have our being1 who sends the food we eat1 the water in which we wash1 the air we breathe1 and who has ordained for all these things natural laws1 according to which they work1 and which ,he never breaks1 nor allows us to break them4 ,for every case of cholera could be traced to some breaking of these laws--foul air--foul food--foul water1 or careless and dirty contact with infected persons2 so that by this ,god showed that ,he and not chance ruled the world1 and that he was indeed the living and willing ,god4 ,he showed at the same time that ,he was the wise ,god of order and of law2 and that gas and earth1 wind and vapour1 fulfil ,his word1 without ,his having to break ,his laws1 or visit us by moving1 as people fancy1 out of a ,heaven where ,he was1 down to an earth1 where ,he was not4 ,but1 lastly1 remember what ,i told you before1 that the cholera being a visitation means that ,god1 by it1 has been visiting our hearts1 knocking loudly at them that ,he may awaken us1 and teach us a lesson4 ,and be sure that in the cholera1 and this our own parish fever1 there is a lesson for each and every one of us if we will learn it4 ,to the simple poor man1 first and foremost1 ,god means by the cholera to teach the simple lesson of cleanliness2 to the house-owner ,he means to teach that each man is his brother's keeper1 and responsible for his property not being a nest of disease2 to rulers it is intended to teach the lesson that ,god's laws cannot be put off to suit their laziness1 cowardice1 or party squabbles4 ,but beside that1 to each person1 be sure such a visitation as this brings some private lesson4 ,perhaps it has taught many a widow that she has a ,friend stronger and more loving than even the husband whom she has lost by the pestilence--the ,god of the widow and the fatherless4 ,perhaps it has taught many a strong man not to trust in his strength and his youth1 but in the ,god who gave them to him4 ,perhaps it has taught many a man1 too1 who has expected public authorities to do everything for him1 8not to put his trust in princes1 nor in any child of man1 for there is no help in them10 but to hear ,god's advice1 8,help thyself and ,god will help thee40 ,perhaps it has stirred up many a benevolent man to find out fresh means for rooting out the miseries of society4 ,perhaps it has taught many a philosopher new deep truths about the laws of ,god's world1 which may enable him to enlighten and comfort ages yet unborn4 ,perhaps it has awakened many a slumbering heart1 and brought many a careless sinner 7for the first time in his life7 face to face with ,god and his own sins4 ,god's judgments are manifold2 they are meant to work in different ways on different hearts4 ,but oh6 believe and be sure that they are meant to work upon all hearts--that they are not the punishments of a capricious tyrant1 but the rod of a loving ,father1 who is trying to drive us home into ,his fold1 when gentle entreaties and kind deeds have failed to allure us home4 ,oh my friends6 if you wish really to thank ,god for having preserved you from these pestilences1 show your thankfulness by learning the lesson which they bring4 ,god's love has spoken of each and every one of us in the cholera4 ,be sure ,he has spoken so harshly only because a gentler tone of voice would have had no effect upon us4 ,thank ,him for ,his severity4 ,thank ,him for the cholera1 the fever4 ,thank ,him for anything which will awaken us to hear the ,word of the ,lord4 ,but till you have learnt the lessons which these visitations are meant to teach you1 there is no use thanking ,him for taking them away4 ,and therefore ,i beseech you solemnly1 each and all1 before you leave this church1 now to pray to ,god to show you what lesson ,he means to teach you by this past awful visitation1 and also by sparing you and me who are here present1 not merely from cholera and fever1 but from a thousand mishaps and evils1 which we have deserved1 and from which only ,his goodness has kept us4 ,oh may ,god stir up your hearts to ask advice of ,him this day6 and may ,he in ,his great mercy so teach us all ,his will on this day of joy1 that we may not need to have it taught us hereafter on some day of sorrow4 ,,xvii4 ,,the ,,covenant4 ,the ,lord hath chosen ,jacob unto himself1 and ,israel for his own possession4 ,for ,i know that the ,lord is great1 and that our ,lord is above all gods4 ,whatsoever the ,lord pleased1 that did he in heaven and earth1 and in the sea1 and in all deep places4--,,psalm cxxxv4 #d1 #e1 #f4 ,,were you ever puzzled to find out why the ,psalms are read every ,sunday in ,church1 more read1 indeed1 than any other part of the ,bible8 ,if any of you say1 ,no1 ,i shall not think you the wiser4 ,it is very easy not to be puzzled with a deep matter1 if one never thinks about it at all4 ,but when a man sets his mind to work seriously1 to try to understand what he hears and sees around him1 then he will be puzzled1 and no shame to him2 for he will find things every day of his life which will require years of thought to understand1 ay1 things which1 though we see and know that they are true1 and can use and profit by them1 we can never understand at all1 at least in this life4 ,but ,i do not think that ,god meant it to be so with these ,psalms4 ,he meant the ,bible for a poor man's book3 and therefore the men who wrote the ,bible were almost all of them poor men1 at least at one time or other of their life2 and therefore we may expect that they would write as poor men would write1 and such things as poor men may understand1 if they are fairly and simply explained4 ,therefore ,i do not think you need be puzzled long to find out why these ,psalms are read every ,sunday4 ,for the men who wrote them had ,god's spirit with them2 and ,god's spirit is the spirit in which ,god made and governs this world1 and just as ,god cannot change1 so ,god's spirit cannot change2 and therefore the rules and laws according to which the world runs on cannot change2 and therefore these rules about ,god's government of the world1 which ,god's spirit taught the old ,hebrew ,psalmists1 are the very same rules by which ,he governs it now2 and therefore all the rules in these ,psalms1 making allowance for the difference of circumstances1 have just as much to do with ,france1 and ,germany1 and ,england now1 as they had with the ,jews1 and the ,canaanites1 and the ,babylonians then4 ,st4 ,paul tells us so4 ,he tells us that all that happened to the old ,jews was written as an example to ,christians1 to the intent that they might not sin as the ,jews did1 and so 7,god's laws and ways being the same now as then7 be punished as the ,jews were4 ,moreover1 ,st4 ,paul says1 that ,christians now are just as much ,god's chosen people as the ,jews were4 ,god told the ,jews that they were to be a nation of kings and priests to ,him4 ,and ,st4 ,john opens the ,revelations by saying3 8,unto ,him that loved us and washed us from our sins in ,his own blood1 and hath made us kings and priests unto ,god and ,his ,father1 to ,him be glory40 ,st4 ,paul tells the ,ephesians1 who had not a drop of ,jewish blood in their veins1 that through ,jesus ,christ both ,jews and ,gentiles had 8access by one ,spirit unto the ,father4 ,now1 therefore10 he goes on1 8ye are no more strangers and foreigners1 but fellow-citizens with the saints1 and of the household of ,god40 ,in fact1 he tells the ,christians of every country to which he writes1 that all the promises which ,god made to the ,jews belonged to them just as much1 that there was no more any difference between ,jew and ,gentile1 that the ,lord ,jesus ,christ was just as really among them1 and with them1 ruling and helping each people in their own country1 as ,he was in ,jerusalem when ,isaiah saw ,his glory filling the ,temple1 and when ,zion was called the place of ,his inheritance4 ,indeed1 the ,lord ,jesus said the same thing ,himself1 for ,he said that all power was given to ,him in heaven and earth2 that ,he was with ,his churches 7that is1 with all companies of ,christian people1 such as ,england7 even to the end of the world2 that wherever two or three were gathered together in ,his name1 ,he would be in the midst of them2 and if those blessed words and good news be true1 we ,englishmen have a right to believe firmly that we belong to ,him just as much as the old ,jews did2 and when we read these ,psalms1 to take every word of their good news--and their warnings also--to ourselves1 and to our own land of ,england4 ,and when we read in the text1 that the ,lord chose ,jacob unto ,himself and ,israel for ,his own possession1 we have a right to say3 8,and the ,lord has chosen also ,england unto himself1 and this favoured land of ,britain for his own possession40 ,when we say in the ,psalm3 8,the ,lord did what ,he pleased in heaven1 and earth1 and sea10 to educate and deliver the people of the ,jews1 we have a right to say just as boldly3 8,and so ,he has done for ,england1 for us1 and for our forefathers40 ,this then is the reason1 the chief reason1 why these ,psalms are appointed to be read every ,sunday in church1 and every morning and evening where there is daily service--to teach us that the ,lord takes care not only of one man's soul here1 and another woman's soul there1 but of the whole country of ,england2 of its wars and its peace2 of its laws and government1 its progress and its afflictions2 of all1 in short1 that happens to it as a nation1 as one body of men1 which it is4 ,it must be so1 my good friends1 else we should be worse off than the old ,jews1 and not better off1 as all the ,new ,testament solemnly assures us a thousand times over that we are4 ,for in the covenant which ,god made with the ,jews1 and in the strange events1 good and bad1 which ,he caused to happen to their nation1 not only the great saints among them were taken care of1 but all classes1 and all characters1 good and bad1 even those who had not wisdom or spiritual life enough to seek ,god for themselves1 still had their share in the good laws1 in the teaching and guiding1 and in the national blessings which ,he sent on the whole nation4 ,they had a chance given them of rising1 and improving1 and prospering1 as the rest of their countrymen rose1 and improved1 and prospered4 ,and when the ,lord came to visit ,juda in flesh and blood1 we find that ,he went on the same method4 ,he did not merely go to such men as ,philip and ,nathaniel1 to the holy and elect ones among the ,jews1 but to the whole people2 to the lost sheep1 as well as to those who were not lost4 ,he did not part the good from the bad before he healed their sicknesses1 and fed them with the loaves and fishes4 ,it was enough for ,him that they were ,jews1 citizens of the ,jewish nation4 ,god's promises belonged not to one ,jew or another1 but to the ,jewish nation2 and even the ignorant and the sinful had a share in the blessings of the covenant1 great or small in proportion as they chose to live as ,jews ought1 or to forget and deny that they belonged to ,god's people4 ,now1 surely the ,lord cannot be less merciful now than ,he was then4 ,he cannot care less for poor orphans1 and paupers1 and wild untaught creatures1 in ,england now1 than he cared for them in ,juda of old4 ,and we see that in fact ,he does not4 ,for as the wealth of ,england improves1 and the laws improve1 and the knowledge of ,god improves1 the condition of all sorts of poor creatures improves too1 though they had no share in bringing about the good change4 ,but we are all members of one body1 from the ,queen on her throne to the tramper under the hedge2 and as ,st4 ,paul says3 8,if one member suffers1 all the members suffer with it1 and if one member rejoices1 all the others0 sooner or later 8rejoice with it40 ,for we1 too1 are one of the ,lord's nations4 ,he has made us one body1 with one common language1 common laws1 common interest1 common religion for all2 and what ,he does for one of us ,he does for all4 ,he orders all that happens to us2 whether it be war or peace1 prosperity or dearth1 ,he orders it all2 and ,he orders things so that they shall work for the good1 not merely of a few1 but of as many as possible--not merely for ,his elect1 but for those who know ,him not4 ,as ,he has been from the beginning1 when ,he heaped blessings on the stiff-necked and backsliding ,israelites--as ,he was when ,he endured the cross for a world lying not in obedience1 but in wickedness2 so is ,he now2 the perfect likeness of ,his father1 who is no respecter of persons1 but causes 8,his sun to shine alike on the evil on the good1 and ,his rain to fall on the just and on the unjust40 ,but now1 there is one thing against which ,i have to warn you most solemnly1 and especially in such days as these4 ,you may believe my words to your own ruin1 or to your own salvation4 ,they are 8the ,gospel10 8the good news of the ,kingdom of ,god0--that is1 the good news that ,god has condescended to become our ,king1 to govern and guide us1 to order all things for our good4 ,but as ,st4 ,paul says1 the ,gospel may be a savour of death unto death1 as well as a savour of life unto life4 ,and ,i will tell you now2 that you have only to do what the ,jews just before the coming of our ,lord did1 and give way to the same thoughts as they1 and then1 like them1 it were better for you that you had never heard of ,god1 and been like the savages1 to whom little or no sin is imputed1 because they are all but without law4 ,how is this8 ,as ,i said before--take your covenant privileges as the ,pharisees took theirs1 and they will turn you into devils while you are fancying yourselves ,god's especial favourites4 ,now this was what happened to the ,pharisees3 they could not help knowing that ,god had shown especial favour to them2 and that ,he had taught them more about ,god than ,he had taught the heathen4 ,but instead of feeling all the more humble and thankful for this1 and of remembering day and night that because much had been given to them much would be required of them1 they thought more about the honour and glory which ,god had put on them4 ,they forgot what ,god had declared1 namely1 that it was not for their own goodness that ,he had taught them1 for that they were in themselves not a whit better than the heathen around them4 ,they forgot that the reason why ,he taught them was1 that they were to do ,his work on earth1 by witnessing for ,his name1 and telling the heathen that ,god was their ,lord1 as well as ,lord of the ,jews4 ,now ,david1 and the old ,psalmists and ,prophets1 did not forget this4 ,their cry is3 8,tell it out among the heathen that the ,lord is ,king40 8,worship the ,son of ,god1 ye kings of the earth1 and make your peace with ,him lest ,he be angry40 8,it was in vain10 he told the heathen kings1 8to try to cast away ,god's government from them1 and break ,his bonds from off them10 for 8the ,lord was ,king1 let the nations be never so unquiet40 ,but the ,jews gradually forgot this1 and their daily boast was1 that ,god had nothing to do with the heathen2 that ,he did not care for them1 and actually hated them2 that they1 as it were1 had the true ,god all to themselves for their own private property2 and that ,he had neither love nor mercy1 except for them and their proselytes1 that is1 the few heathens whom they could persuade and entice not to worship the true ,god after the customs of their own country--that would not have suited the ,jews' bigotry and pride--but to turn ,jews1 and forget their own people among whom they were born1 and ape them in everything4 ,and so1 as our ,lord told them1 after compassing sea and land to make one of these proselytes1 they only made him after all twice as much the child of hell as themselves4 ,for they could not teach the heathen anything worth knowing about ,god1 when they had forgotten themselves what ,god was like4 ,they could tell them that there was one ,god1 and not two--but what was the use of that8 ,as ,st4 ,james says1 the devils believe as much as that1 and yet the knowledge does not make them holy1 but only increases their fear and despair4 ,and so with these ,pharisees4 ,they had forgotten that ,god was love4 ,they had forgotten that ,god was merciful4 ,they had forgotten that ,god was just4 ,and therefore1 while they were talking of ,god and pretending to worship ,god1 they knew nothing of ,god1 and they did not do ,god's will1 and act like ,god2 for 7as we find from the ,gospels7 they were unjust1 tyrannous1 proud1 conceited1 covetous themselves2 and while they were looking down on the poor heathens1 these very heathens1 the ,lord told them1 would rise up in judgment against them3 for they1 knowing little1 acted up to the light which they had1 better than the ,pharisees who knew so much4 ,and so it will be with us1 my friends1 if we fancy that ,god's great favours to us are a reason for our priding ourselves on them1 and despising papists and foreigners instead of remembering that just because ,god has given us so much1 ,he will require more of us4 ,it is true1 we do know more of the ,gospel than the papists1 how1 though they believe in ,jesus ,christ1 worship the ,virgin ,mary and the ,saints1 and idols of wood and stone4 ,but if they1 who know so little of ,god's will1 yet act faithfully up to what they do know1 will they not rise up in judgment against us1 who know so much more1 if we act worse than they8 ,instead of despising them1 we had better despise ourselves4 ,instead of fancying that ,god's love is not over them1 and so sinning against ,god's ,holy ,spirit by denying and despising the fruits of ,god's ,holy ,spirit in them1 we had much better1 we ,protestants1 be repenting of our own sins4 ,we had better pray ,god to open our eyes to our own want of faith1 and want of love1 and want of honesty1 and want of cleanly and chaste lives2 lest ,god in ,his anger should let us go on in our evil path1 till we fall into the deep darkness of mind of the ,pharisees of old4 ,for then while we were boasting of ,england as the most ,christian nation in the world1 we might become the most unchristian1 because the most unlike ,christ2 the most wanting in love and fellow-feeling1 and self-sacrifice1 and honour1 and justice1 and honesty2 wanting1 in short1 in the fruits of the ,spirit4 ,and without them there is no use crying3 8,we are ,god's chosen people1 ,he ,has put ,his name among us1 we alone hate idols1 we alone have the pure word of ,god1 and the pure sacraments1 and the pure doctrine20 for ,god may answer us1 as he answered the ,jews of old3 8,think not to say within yourselves1 ,we have ,abraham for our father3 ,verily1 ,i say unto you1 ,god is able of these stones to raise up children to ,abraham40 4 4 4 8,the ,kingdom of ,god shall be taken from you1 and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof40 ,oh6 my friends1 let us pray1 one and all1 that ,god will come and help us1 and with great might succour us1 8that whereas through our sins and wickedness we are sore let and hindered in running the race set before us1 ,god's bountiful grace and mercy may speedily help and deliver us10 and enable us to live faithfully up to the glorious privileges which ,he has bestowed on us1 in calling us 8members of ,christ1 children of ,god1 and inheritors of the ,kingdom of ,heaven20 in giving us ,his ,bible1 in allowing us to be born into this favoured land of ,england1 in preserving us to this day1 in spite of all that we have thought1 and said1 and done1 unworthy of the name of ,christians and ,englishmen4 ,and then we may be certain that ,god will also fulfil to us the glorious promises which we find in another ,psalm3 8,if thy children will keep my covenant and my testimonies1 which ,i shall learn them1 this land shall be my rest for ever4 ,here will ,i dwell1 for ,i have a delight therein4 ,i will bless her victuals with increase1 and satisfy her poor with bread4 ,i will deck her priests with health1 and her holy people shall rejoice and sing40 ,,xviii4 ,,national ,,rewards ,,and ,,punishments4 ,and that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all2 that ye say1 ,we will be as the heathen1 as the families of the countries1 to serve wood and stone4 ,as ,i live1 saith the ,lord ,god1 surely with a mighty hand1 and with a stretched out arm1 and with fury poured out1 will ,i rule over you4 4 4 4 ,and ye shall know that ,i am the ,lord4--,,ezekiel xx4 #cb1 #cc1 #ch4 ,a ,,father has two ways of showing his love to his child--by caressing it and by punishing it4 ,his very anger may be a sign of his love1 and ought to be4 ,just because he loves his child1 just because the thing he longs most to see is that his child should grow up good1 therefore he must be1 and ought to be1 angry with it when it does wrong4 ,therefore anger against sin is a part of ,god's likeness in us2 and he who does not hate sin is not like ,god4 ,for if sin is the worst evil--perhaps the only real evil in the world--and the end of all sin is death and misery1 then to indulge people in sin is to show them the very worst of cruelty4 ,to sit by and see iniquity going on without trying to stop it1 is mere laziness4 ,the parent1 when his child does wrong1 does not show his love to the child by indulging it1 all he shows is1 that he himself is carnal and fleshly2 that he does not like to take the trouble of punishing it1 or does not like to give himself the pain of punishing it2 that1 in short1 he had sooner let his child grow up in bad habits1 which must lead to its misery and ruin for years and years1 if not for ever1 than make himself uncomfortable by seeing it uncomfortable for a few minutes4 ,that is not love1 but selfishness4 ,true love is as determined to punish the sin as it is to forgive the sinner4 ,therefore1 ,st4 ,paul tells us1 that we can be angry without sinning2 that is that there is an anger which comes from hatred of sin and love to the sinner4 ,therefore1 ,solomon tells us to punish our children when they do wrong1 and not to hold our hands for their crying4 ,it is better for them that they should cry a little now1 than have long years of shame and sorrow hereafter4 ,therefore1 in all countries which are properly governed1 the law punishes in the name of ,god those who break the laws of ,god1 and punishes them even with death1 for certain crimes2 because it is expedient that one man die for the people1 and that the whole nation perish not4 ,and this is ,god's way of dealing with each and every one of us4 ,this is ,god's way of dealing with ,christian nations1 just as it was ,his way of dealing with the ,jews of old4 ,he never allowed the ,jews to prosper in sin4 ,he punished them at once1 and sternly1 whenever they rebelled against ,him2 not because ,he hated them1 but because ,he loved them4 ,his love to them showed itself whenever they went well with ,him1 in triumphs and blessings2 and when they rebelled against ,him1 and broke ,his laws1 ,he showed that very same love to them in plague1 and war1 and famine1 and a mighty hand1 and fury poured out4 ,his love had not changed--they had changed2 and now the best and only way of showing ,his love to them1 was by making them feel ,his anger2 and the best and only way of being merciful to them1 was to show them no indulgence4 ,now the wish of the ,jews all along1 and especially in ,ezekiel's time1 was to be like the heathen--like the nations round them4 ,they said to themselves3 8,these heathen worship idols1 and yet prosper very well4 ,their having gods of wood and stone1 and their indulging their passions1 and being profligate and filthy1 covetous1 unjust1 and tyrannical1 does not prevent their being just as happy as we are--ay1 and a great deal happier4 ,they have no strict law of ,moses1 as we have threatening us and keeping us in awe1 and making us uncomfortable1 and telling us at every turn1 #8,thou shalt not do this pleasant thing1 and thou shalt not do that pleasant thing4' ,and yet ,god does not punish them1 as ,moses' law says ,he will punish us4 ,these ,assyrians and ,babylonians above all--they are stronger than we1 and richer1 and better clothed1 and cleverer2 they have horses and chariots1 and all sorts of luxuries and comforts which we ,jews cannot get4 ,instead of being like us1 in continual trouble from earthquakes1 and drought1 and famine1 and war1 attacked1 plundered by all the nations round us1 one after another1 they go on conquering1 and spreading1 and succeeding in all they lay their hand to4 ,look at ,babylon10 said these foolish ,jews1 perhaps1 to themselves2 8a few generations ago it was nothing of a city1 and now it is the greatest1 richest1 and strongest nation in the whole world4 ,god has not punished it for worshipping gods of wood and stone1 why should ,he punish us8 ,these ,babylonians have prospered well enough with their gods1 why should not we8 ,perhaps it is these very gods of wood and stone who have helped them to become so great4 ,why should they not help us8 ,we will worship them1 then1 and pray to them4 ,we will not give up worshipping our own ,god1 of course1 lest we should offend ,him2 but we will worship ,him and the ,babylonian idols at the same time2 then we shall be sure to be right if we have ,jehovah and the idols both on our side40 ,so said the ,jews to themselves4 ,but what did ,ezekiel answer them8 8,not so1 my foolish countrymen10 said he1 8,god will not have it so4 ,he has taught you that these ,babylonian idols are nothing and cannot help you2 ,he has taught you that ,he can and will help you1 that ,he can and will be everything to you2 ,he has taught you that ,he alone is ,god1 who made heaven and earth1 who orders all things therein1 who alone gives any people power to get wealth2 and ,he will not have you go back and fall from that for any appearances or arguments whatsoever1 because it is true4 ,he has chosen you to witness to these heathen about ,him1 to declare ,his name to them1 that they may give up their idols and serve the true ,god1 in whom alone is strength4 ,he chose you to be these heathens' teachers1 and ,he will not let you become their scholars4 ,he meant the heathen to copy you1 and ,he will not let you copy them4 ,if ,he does1 in ,his love and mercy1 let these poor heathen prosper in spite of their idols1 what is that to you8 ,it is still the ,lord who makes them prosper1 and not the idols1 whether they know it or not4 ,they know no better1 and ,he will not impute sin to them where ,he has given them no law4 ,but you do know better2 by a thousand mighty signs and wonders and deliverances1 the ,lord has been teaching you ever since you came up through the ,red ,sea1 that ,he is all-sufficient for you1 that all power is ,his in heaven and earth4 ,he has promised to you1 and sworn to you by ,himself1 that if you keep ,his law and walk in ,his commandments1 you shall want no manner of good thing2 that you shall have no cause to envy these heathen their riches and prosperity1 for the ,lord will bless you in house and land1 by day and night1 at home and abroad1 with every blessing that a nation can desire4 ,moses' law tells you this1 ,god's prophets have been telling you this1 ,god's wonderful dealings with you have been telling you this1 that the ,lord ,god is enough for you4 ,and if you1 who are meant to be a nation of kings and priests to ,god1 to teach all nations and serve solely ,him1 fancy that you will be allowed to throw away the high honour which ,god has put upon you1 and lower yourselves to the follies and sins of these heathen round you1 you are mistaken4 ,you were meant to be above such folly1 you can be above it2 and you shall not prosper by serving ,god and idols at once2 you shall not even prosper by serving idols alone4 ,god will visit you with a mighty hand1 and with fury poured out1 and you shall know that ,he is the ,lord40 ,well1 my friends1 and what has this to do with us8 ,this it has to do with us--that if ,god taught the ,jews about ,himself1 ,he has taught us still more4 ,if he has shown signs and wonders of ,his love1 and wrought mightily for the ,jews1 ,he has wrought far more mightily for us2 for ,he spared not ,his own ,son1 but gave ,him freely for us4 ,if ,he promised to teach the ,jews1 ,he has promised still more to teach us2 for ,he has promised ,his ,holy ,spirit freely to young and old1 rich and poor1 to as many as ask ,him1 to guide us into all truth4 ,if he expected the ,jews to set an example to all the nations around1 ,he expects us to do so still more4 ,and if ,he punished the ,jews1 and drove them back again by shame1 and affliction1 and disappointment1 whenever they went after other gods1 and tried to be like the heathen around1 and despised their high calling1 and their high privileges1 ,he will punish us1 and drive us back again still more fiercely1 and still more swiftly4 ,god has called us to be a nation of ,christians1 and ,he will not let us be a nation of heathens4 ,we are longing to do in these days very much as the ,jews did of old2 we are all too apt to say to ourselves3 8,of course we must love ,god1 or ,he might be angry with us2 and besides1 how else should we get our souls saved8 ,but the old heathen nations1 and a great many nations now1 and a great many rich and comfortable people in ,england now1 too1 get on very well without ,god1 by just worshipping selfishness1 and money1 and worldly cunning1 and why should not we do the same8--why should we not worship ,god and ,mammon at once1 and serve ,god on ,sundays1 and the selfish ways of the world all the week8 ,surely then we should be doubly safe2 we should have ,god and the world on our side both at once40 ,now1 my friends1 ,god will not allow us to succeed on that plan4 ,we are members of ,his ,church1 whose head is ,jesus1 who gave ,himself for sinners2 whose members are all brothers of ,his ,church1 which is held together by self-sacrifice and fellow-help4 ,if we try to be like the heathens1 and fancy that we can succeed by selfishness1 and cunning1 and covetousness1 ,god will not let us fall from the honour which ,he has put on us1 and trample our blessings under foot4 ,he will bring our plans to nought4 ,whomsoever he may let prosper in sin1 ,he will not let those who have heard the message prosper in it4 ,whatever nation ,he may let become great by covetousness1 and selfish competing and struggling of man against man1 ,he will not let ,england grow great by it4 ,he loves her too well to let her fall so1 and cast away her high honour of being a ,christian nation4 ,by great and sore afflictions1 by bringing our cleverest plans to nothing1 ,he will teach us that we cannot worship ,god and ,mammon at once2 that the sure riches1 either for a man or for a nation1 are not money1 but righteousness love1 justice1 wisdom2 that this new idol of selfish competition which men worship nowadays1 and fancy that it is the secret cause of all plenty1 and cheapness1 and civilisation1 has no place in the church of ,jesus ,christ1 who gave up ,his own life for those who hated ,him1 and came not to do ,his own will1 but the will of ,his ,father2 not to enable men to go to heaven after a life of selfishness here2 but by the power of ,his ,spirit--the spirit of love and fellowship to sweep all selfishness off the face of ,god's good earth4 ,by sore trials and afflictions will ,god in ,his mercy teach this to ,england1 and to every man in ,england who is deluded into fancying that he can serve ,god1 and selfishness at once1 till we learn once more1 as our forefathers did of old1 that ,he is the ,lord4 ,because we are ,his children ,god will chasten us2 because ,he receives us1 ,he will scourge us back to ,him2 because ,he has prepared for us things such as eye hath not seen1 ,he will not let us fill our bellies with the husks which the swine eat1 and like the dumb beasts1 snarl and struggle one against the other for a place at ,his table1 as if it were not wide enough for all ,his creatures1 and for ten times as many more1 forgetting that ,he is the giver1 and fancying that we are to be the takers1 and spoiling the gift itself in our hurry to snatch it out of our neighbours' hands4 ,in one word1 ,god will not give us false prosperity1 as the children of the world1 the flesh1 and the devil1 because he wishes to give us real prosperity as the sons of ,god1 in the kingdom of his ,son ,jesus ,christ1 who died on the cross for us4 ,,xix4 ,,the ,,deliverance ,,of ,,jerusalem4 ,and it came to pass that the angel of the ,lord went out1 and smote in the camp of the ,assyrians an hundred and eighty five thousand3 and when they arose in the morning1 behold1 they were all dead corpses4--#b ,,kings xix4 #ce4 ,,you heard read in the first lesson last ,sunday afternoon1 the threats of the king of ,assyria against ,jerusalem1 and his defiance of the true ,lord whose temple stood there4 ,in the first lesson for this morning's service1 you heard of king ,hezekiah's fear and perplexity2 of the ,lord's answer to him by ,isaiah1 and of the great and wonderful destruction of the ,assyrian army1 of which my text tells you4 ,of course you have a right to ask3 8,this which happened in a foreign country more than two thousand years ago1 what has it to do with us80 ,and1 of course1 my preaching about it will be of no use whatsoever1 unless ,i can show you what it has to do with us2 what lesson we ,english here1 in the year #ahea1 are to draw1 from the help which ,god sent the ,jews4 ,but to find out that1 we must hear the whole story4 ,before we can find out why ,god drove the ,assyrians out of ,juda1 we must find out1 it seems to me1 why ,he sent them1 or allowed them to come into ,juda2 and to find out that1 we must first see how the ,jews were behaving in those times1 and what sort of state their country was in2 and we must find out1 too1 what sort of a man this great king of ,assyria was1 and what sort of thoughts were in his heart4 ,now1 by the favour of ,god1 we can find out this4 ,you will see1 in the first thirty-seven chapters of ,isaiah's prophecies1 a full account of the ways of the ,jews in that time1 and the reasons why ,god allowed so fearful a danger to come upon them4 ,the whole first thirty-five chapters belong to each other1 and are1 so to speak1 a spiritual history of the ,jews1 and the ,assyrians1 and all the nations round them1 for many years4 ,a spiritual history--that is1 not merely a history of what they did1 but of what they were1 what was in their inmost hearts1 and thoughts1 and spirits2 a spiritual history--that is1 not merely of what they thought they were doing1 but of what ,god saw that they were doing--a history of ,god's mind about them all4 ,isaiah had ,god's spirit on him2 and so he saw what was going on round him in the same light in which ,god saw it1 and hated it1 or praised it1 only according as it was good1 and according to the good ,spirit of ,god1 or bad1 and contrary to that ,spirit4 ,so ,isaiah's history of his own nation1 and the nations around him1 was very unlike what they would have written for themselves2 just as ,i am afraid he would write a very different history of ,england now1 from what we should write1 if we were set to do it4 ,now what ,isaiah thought of the doings of his countrymen1 the ,jews1 ,i must tell you in another sermon1 next ,sunday4 ,it will be enough this morning to speak of the king of ,assyria4 ,these kings of ,assyria thought themselves the greatest and strongest beings in the world2 they thought that their might was right1 and that they might conquer1 and ravage1 and plunder and oppress every country round them for thousands of miles1 without being punished4 ,they thought that they could overcome the true ,god of ,juda1 as they had conquered the empty idols and false gods of ,sepharvaim1 ,hena1 and ,iva4 ,but ,isaiah saw that they were wrong4 ,he told his countrymen3 8,these ,assyrian kings are strong1 but there is a stronger ,king than they1 ,jehovah the ,lord of all the earth4 ,it is ,he who sent them to punish nation after nation1 ,sennacherib is the rod of ,jehovah's anger2 but he is a fool after all2 for all his cunning1 for all his armies1 he is a fool rushing on his ruin4 ,he may take ,tyre1 ,damascus1 ,babylon1 ,egypt itself1 and cast their gods into the fire1 for they are no gods1 but the work of men's hands1 wood and stone2 but let him once try his strength against the real living ,god2 let the axe once begin to boast itself against ,him that hews therewith2 and he will find out that there is one stronger than he1 one who has been using him as a #8tool1 and who will crush him like a moth the moment he rebels4 ,his father destroyed ,samaria and her idols1 but he shall not destroy ,jerusalem4 ,he may ravage ,ephraim1 and punish the gluttony and drunkenness1 and oppression of the great landlords of ,bashan2 he may bring misery and desolation through the length and breadth of the land3 there is reason1 and reason but too good for that3 but ,jerusalem1 the place where ,god's honour dwells1 the temple without idols1 which is the sign that ,jehovah is a living ,god1 against it he shall not cast up a bank1 or shoot an arrow into it40 8,i know10 said ,isaiah1 8what he is saying of himself1 this proud king of ,assyria3 but this is what ,god says of him1 that he is only a puppet1 a tool in the hand of ,god1 to punish these wicked nations whom he is conquering one by one1 and us ,jews among the rest4 ,he1 this proud king of ,assyria1 thinks that he is the chosen favourite of the sun1 and the moon1 and the stars1 whom1 in his folly1 he worships as gods4 ,he will find out who is the real ,lord of the earth2 he will find out that this great world is ruled by that very ,god of ,israel whom he despises4 ,he will find that there is something in this earth1 of which he fancies himself lord and master1 which is too strong for him1 which will obey ,god1 and not him4 ,god rules the earth1 and ,god rules ,tophet1 and the great fire-kingdoms which boil and blaze for ever in the bowels of the earth1 and burst up from time to time in earthquakes and burning mountains2 and ,god has ordained that they shall conquer this proud king of ,assyria1 though we ,jews are too weak and cowardly1 and split up into parties by our wickedness1 to make a stand against him40 4 4 4 ,this great eruption or breaking out of burning mountains1 which would destroy the king of ,assyria's army1 was to happen1 ,isaiah says1 close to ,jerusalem1 nay1 it was to shake ,jerusalem itself4 ,jerusalem was to be brought to great misery by everlasting burnings1 as well as by being besieged by the ,assyrians2 and yet the very shaking of the earth and eruption of fire which was nearly to destroy it1 was to be the cause of its deliverance4 ,so ,isaiah prophesied1 and we cannot doubt his words came true4 ,for this may explain to us the way in which the king of ,assyria's army was destroyed4 ,the text says1 that when they encamped near ,jerusalem the messenger of the ,lord went out1 and slew in one night one hundred and eighty thousand of them1 who were all found dead in the morning4 ,how they were killed we cannot exactly tell1 most likely by a stream of poisonous vapour1 such as often comes forth out of the ground during earthquakes and eruptions of burning mountains1 and kills all men and animals who breathe it4 ,that this was the way that this great army was destroyed1 ,i have little doubt1 not only on account of what ,isaiah says in his prophecies of ,god's 8sending a blast0 upon the king of ,assyria1 but because it was just like the old lesson which ,god had been teaching the ,jews all along1 that the earth and all in it was ,his property1 and obeyed ,him4 ,for what could teach them that more strongly than to see that the earthquakes and burning mountains1 of all things on earth the most awful and most murderous1 the very things against which man has no defence1 obeyed ,god2 burst forth when ,he chose1 and did ,his work as ,he willed8 ,for man can conquer almost everything in the world except these burning mountains and earthquakes4 ,he can sail over the raging sea in his ships2 he can till the most barren soils2 he can provide against famine1 rain1 and cold1 ay1 against the thunder itself3 but the earthquakes alone are too strong for him4 ,against them no cunning or strength of man is of any use4 ,without warning1 they make the solid ground under his feet heave1 and reel1 and sink1 hurling down whole towns in a moment1 and burying the inhabitants under the ruins1 as an earthquake did in ,italy only a month ago4 ,or they pour forth streams of fire1 clouds of dust1 brimstone1 and poisonous vapour1 destroying for miles around the woods and crops1 farms and cities1 and burying them deep in ashes1 as they have done again and again1 both in ,italy and ,iceland1 and in ,south ,america1 even during the last few years4 ,how can man stand against them8 ,what greater warning or lesson to him than they1 that ,god is stronger than man2 that the earth is not man's property1 and will not obey him1 but only the ,god who made it8 ,now that was just what ,god intended to teach the ,jews all along2 that the earth and heaven belonged to ,him and obeyed ,him2 that they were not to worship the sun and stars1 as the ,assyrians and ,canaanites did1 nor the earth and the rivers as the ,egyptians did3 but to worship the ,god who made sun and stars1 earth and rivers1 and to put their trust in ,him to guide all heaven and earth aright2 and to make all things1 sun1 earth1 and weather1 ay1 and the very burning mountains and earthquakes1 work together for good for them if they loved ,god4 ,therefore it was that ,god gave ,his law to ,moses on the burning mountain of ,sinai1 amid thunders1 and lightnings1 and earthquakes1 to show them that the lightnings and the mountains obeyed ,him4 ,therefore it was that the earthquake opened the ground and swallowed up ,korah1 ,dathan1 and ,abiram1 who rebelled against ,moses4 ,therefore it was that ,god once used an earthquake and eruption to preserve ,david from his enemies1 as we read in the eighteenth ,psalm4 ,and all through ,david's ,psalms we find how well he had learnt this great lesson which ,god had taught him4 ,again and again we find verses which show that he knew well enough who was the ,lord of all the earth4 ,in ,isaiah's time1 it seems1 ,god taught the ,jews once more the same thing4 ,he taught them1 and the proud king of ,assyria1 once and for all1 that ,he was indeed the ,lord--,lord of all nations1 and ,king of kings1 and also ,lord of the earth1 and all that therein is4 ,he taught it to the poor oppressed ,jews by that miraculous deliverance4 ,he taught it to the cruel invading king by that miraculous destruction4 ,just in the height of his glory1 after he had conquered almost every nation in the east1 and overcome the whole of ,juda1 except that one small city of ,jerusalem1 ,sennacherib's great army was swept away1 he neither knew how nor why1 in a single night1 and utterly disheartened and abashed1 he returned to his own land2 and even there he found that the ,god of ,israel had followed him--that the idols whom he worshipped could not save him from the wrath of that ,god to whom ,assyria1 just as much as ,jerusalem1 belonged4 ,for as he was worshipping in the house of ,nisroch his god1 his two sons smote him with the sword1 and there was an end of all his pride and conquests4 4 4 4 ,now ,nisroch was the name of a star--the star which we call the planet ,saturn2 and the ,assyrians fancied in their folly1 that whosoever worshipped any particular star1 that star would protect and help him4 4 4 4 ,but1 alas for the king of ,assyria1 there was ,one above who had made the stars1 and from whose vengeance the stars could not save him2 and so even while he was worshipping1 and praying to1 this favourite star of his which could not hear him1 he fell dead1 a murdered man1 and found out too late how true were the great words of ,isaiah when he prophesied against him4 ,yes1 my friends1 this is the lesson which the ,jews had to learn1 and which the king of ,assyria had to learn1 and which we have to learn also2 and which ,god will1 in ,his great mercy1 teach us over and over again by bitter trials whensoever we forget it2 that ,the ,lord is ,king2 that ,he is near us1 living for ever1 all-wise1 all-powerful1 all-loving2 that those who really trust in ,him shall never be confounded2 that those who trust in themselves are trying their paltry strength against the ,god who made heaven and earth1 and will surely find out their own weakness1 just when they fancy themselves most successful4 ,so it was in ,hezekiah's time2 so it is now1 hard as it may be to us to believe it4 ,the ,lord ,jehovah1 ,jesus ,christ1 who saved ,jerusalem from the ,assyrians1 ,he still is ,king1 let the earth be never so unquiet4 ,and all men1 or governments1 or doctrines1 or ways of thinking and behaving1 which are contrary to ,his will1 or even pretend that they can do without ,him1 will as surely come to nought as that great and terrible king of ,assyria4 ,though man be too weak to put them down1 ,christ is not4 ,though man neglect to put them down1 ,christ will not4 ,if man dare not fight on the ,lord's side against sin and evil1 the ,lord's earth will fight for ,him4 ,storm and tempest1 blight and famine1 earthquakes and burning mountains1 will do ,his work1 if nothing else will4 ,as ,he said ,himself1 if man stops praising ,him1 the very stones will cry out1 and own ,him as their ,king4 ,not that the blessed ,lord is proud1 or selfish1 or revengeful2 ,god forbid6 ,he is boundless pity1 and love1 and mercy4 ,but it is just because ,he is perfect love and pity that ,he hates sin1 which makes all the misery upon earth4 ,he hates it1 and he fights against it for ever2 lovingly at first1 that ,he may lead sinners to repentance2 for ,he wills the death of none1 but rather that all should come to repentance4 ,but if a man will not turn1 ,he will whet his sword2 and then woe to the sinner4 ,let him be as great as the king of ,assyria1 he must down4 ,for the ,lord will have none guide ,his world but ,himself1 because none but ,he will ever guide it on the right path4 ,yes--but what a glorious thought1 that ,he will guide it1 and us1 on that right path4 ,oh blessed news for all who are in sorrow and perplexity6 ,whatsoever it is that ails you--and who is there1 young or old1 rich or poor1 who has not their secret ailments at heart8--whatsoever ails you1 whatsoever terrifies you1 whatsoever tempts you1 trust in the same ,lord who delivered ,jerusalem from the ,assyrians1 and ,he will deliver you4 ,he will never suffer you to be tempted above that you are able1 but will with the temptation also make a way for you to escape1 that you may be able to bear it4 ,this has been ,his loving way from the beginning1 and this will be ,his way until the day when ,he wipes away tears from all eyes4 ,,xx4 ,,profession ,,and ,,practice4 ,though they say1 8,the ,lord liveth10 surely they swear falsely4--,,jeremiah v4 #b4 ,i ,,spoke last ,sunday morning of the wonderful way in which the ,lord delivered the ,jews from the ,assyrian army1 and ,i promised to try and explain to you this morning1 the reason why the ,lord allowed the ,assyrians to come into ,juda1 and ravage the whole country except the one small city of ,jerusalem4 ,my text is taken from the first lesson1 from the book of the prophet ,jeremiah4 ,and it1 ,i think1 will explain the reason to us4 ,for though ,jeremiah lived more than a hundred years after ,isaiah1 yet he had much the same message from ,god to give1 and much the same sins round him to rebuke4 ,for the ,jews were always1 as the ,bible calls them1 8a backsliding people20 and1 as the years ran on1 and they began to forget their great deliverance from the ,assyrians1 they slid back into the very same wrong state of mind in which they were in ,isaiah's time1 and for which ,god punished them by that terrible invasion4 ,now1 what was this8 ,one very remarkable thing strikes us at once4 ,that when the ,assyrians came into ,juda1 the ,jews were not given up to worshipping false gods4 ,on the contrary1 we find1 both from the book of ,kings and the book of ,chronicles1 that a great reform in religion had taken place among them a few years before4 ,their king ,hezekiah1 in the very first year of his reign1 removed the high places1 and cut down the groves 7which are said to have been carved idols meant to represent the stars of heaven71 and even broke in pieces the brazen serpent which ,moses had made1 because the ,jews had begun to worship it for an idol4 ,he trusted in the ,lord ,god1 and obeyed ,him1 more than any king of ,judah4 ,he restored the worship of the true ,god in the temple1 according to the law of ,moses1 with such pomp and glory as had never been seen since ,solomon's time4 ,and not only did he turn to the true ,god1 but his people also4 ,from the account which we find in ,chronicles1 they seemed to have joined him in the good work4 ,they offered sin-offerings as a token of the wickedness of which they have been guilty1 in leaving the true ,god for idols2 and all other kinds of offerings freely and willingly4 8,and ,hezekiah rejoiced1 and all the people that ,god had prepared the people4 ,moreover1 ,hezekiah called all the men in ,juda up to ,jerusalem1 to keep the passover according to the law of ,moses10 which they had neglected to do for many years1 and the people answered his call and 8came1 and kept the feast at ,jerusalem seven days1 with joy and great gladness1 offering peace-offerings1 and making confession to the ,god of their fathers4 ,so there was great joy in ,jerusalem2 for since the time of ,solomon there was not the like in ,jerusalem4 ,then the priests and the ,levites arose1 and blessed the people1 and their voice was heard1 and their prayer came up to the ,lord's holy dwelling1 even to heaven40 ,and when it was all finished1 the people went out of their own accord1 and destroyed utterly all the idols1 and high places1 and altars throughout the land1 and returned to their houses in peace4 ,now does not all this sound very satisfactory and excellent8 ,what better state of mind could people be in8 ,what a wonderful reform1 and spread of true religion6 ,the only thing like it1 that we know1 is the wonderful reform and spread of religion in ,england in the last sixty years1 after all the ungodliness and wickedness that went on from the year #affj to the time of the ,french war2 the building of churches1 the founding of schools1 the spread of ,bibles1 and tracts1 and the wonderful increase of gospel preachers1 so that every old man will tell you1 that religion is talked about and written about now1 a thousand times more than when he was a boy4 ,indeed1 unless a man makes a profession of some sort of religion or other1 nowadays1 he can hardly hope to rise in the world1 so religious are we ,english become4 ,now let us hear what ,isaiah thought of all that wonderful spread of true religion in his time2 and then1 perhaps1 we may see what he would think of ours now1 if he were alive4 ,his opinion is sure to be the right one4 ,his rules can never fail1 for he was an inspired prophet1 and saw things as they are1 as ,god sees them2 and therefore his rules will hold good for ever4 ,let us see what they were4 ,the first chapter of the book of the prophet ,isaiah is called 8,the vision of ,isaiah1 the son of ,amoz1 which he saw concerning ,judah and ,jerusalem1 in the days of ,uzziah1 ,jotham1 ,ahaz1 and ,hezekiah40 ,now this is one prophecy by itself1 in the shape of a poem2 for in the old ,hebrew it is written in regular verses4 ,the second chapter begins with another heading1 and is the beginning of a different poem2 so that this first chapter is1 as it were1 a summing up of all that he is going to say afterwards2 a short account of the state of the ,jews for more than forty years4 ,and what is more1 this first chapter of ,isaiah must have been written in the reign of ,hezekiah1 in those very religious days of which ,i was just speaking2 for it says that the country was desolate1 and ,jerusalem alone left4 ,and this never happened during ,isaiah's lifetime1 till the fourteenth year of ,hezekiah1 that is1 till this great spread of the true religion had been going on for thirteen years4 ,now what was ,isaiah's vision8 ,what did he1 being taught by ,god's ,spirit1 see was ,god's opinion of these religious ,jews8 ,listen1 my friends1 and take it solemnly to heart6 8,hear the word of the ,lord1 ye rulers of ,sodom2 give ear unto the law of our ,god1 ye people of ,gomorrah4 ,to what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me8 saith the ,lord3 ,i am full of the burnt offerings of rams1 and the fat of fed beasts3 and ,i delight not in the blood of bullocks1 or of lambs1 or of he-goats4 ,when ye come to appear before me1 who hath required this at your hand1 to tread my courts8 ,bring no more vain oblations2 incense is an abomination unto me2 the new moons and ,sabbaths1 the calling of assemblies1 ,i cannot away with2 it is iniquity1 even the solemn meeting4 ,your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth3 they are a trouble unto me2 ,i am weary to bear them4 ,and when ye spread forth your hands1 ,i will hide my eyes from you2 yea1 when ye make many prayers1 ,i will not hear3 your hands are full of blood4 ,wash you1 make you clean2 put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes2 cease to do evil2 learn to do well1 seek judgment1 relieve the oppressed1 judge the fatherless1 plead for the widow4 4 4 4 ,how is the faithful city become an harlot6 it was full of judgment2 righteousness lodged in it2 but now murderers4 ,thy silver is become dross1 thy wine mixed with water2 thy princes are rebellious1 and companions of thieves2 every one loveth gifts1 and followeth after rewards3 they judge not the fatherless1 neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them4 ,therefore1 saith the ,lord1 the ,lord of hosts1 the mighty one of ,israel1 ,ah1 ,i will ease me of mine adversaries1 and avenge me of mine enemies40 4 4 4 ,again1 ,i say1 my friends1 listen to it1 and take it solemnly to heart6 ,that is ,god's opinion of religion1 even the truest and soundest in worship and doctrine1 when it is without godliness1 without holiness2 when it goes in hand with injustice1 and covetousness1 and falsehood1 and cheating1 and oppression1 and neglect of the poor1 and keeping company with the wicked1 because it is profitable2 in short1 when it is like too much of the religion which we see around us in the world at this day4 ,yes--it was of no use holding to the letter of the law while they forgot its spirit4 ,god had commanded church-going1 and woe to those1 then or now1 who neglect it4 ,yet the ,lord asks1 8,who hath required this at your hands1 to tread my courts804 4 4 ,he had commanded the ,sabbath-day to be kept holy2 and woe to those1 then or now1 who neglect it4 ,yet ,he says1 8,your ,sabbaths ,i cannot away with2 it is iniquity1 even the solemn meeting40 ,the ,lord had appointed feasts3 and yet ,he says that ,his soul hated them2 they were a trouble to ,him2 ,he was weary to bear them4 ,the ,lord had commanded prayer2 and woe to those1 then or now1 in ,england1 as in ,juda1 who neglect to pray4 ,and yet ,he says3 8,when ye spread forth your hands1 ,i will hide mine eyes from you2 yea1 when ye make many prayers1 ,i will not hear40 ,and why8--,he himself condescends to tell them the reason1 which they ought to have known for themselves3 8,because10 ,he says1 8your hands are full of blood40 ,this was the reason why all their religiousness1 and orthodoxy1 and church-going1 and praying1 was only disgusting to ,god2 because there was no righteousness with it4 ,their faith was only a dead1 rotten1 sham faith1 for it brought forth no fruits of justice and love2 and their religion was only hypocrisy1 for it did not make them holy4 ,no doubt they thought themselves pious and sincere enough2 no doubt they thought that they were pleasing ,god perfectly1 and giving ,him all that ,he could fairly ask of them2 no doubt they were fiercely offended at ,isaiah's message to them2 no doubt they could not understand what he meant by calling them a hypocritical nation1 a second ,sodom and ,gomorrah1 while they were destroying idols1 and keeping the law of ,moses1 and worshipping ,god more earnestly than ,he had been worshipped since ,solomon's time4 ,but so it was4 ,that was the message of ,god to them2 that was the vision of ,isaiah concerning them2 that there was no soundness in the whole of the nation1 8from the sole of the foot to the crown of the head1 nothing but wounds1 and bruises1 and putrefying sores0--that is1 that the whole heart and conscience1 and ways of thinking1 were utterly rotten1 and abominable in the sight of ,god1 even while they were holding the true doctrines about them1 and keeping up the pure worship of ,him4 ,this1 says the ,lord1 is not the way to please me4 8,he hath showed thee1 oh man1 what is good4 ,and what doth the ,lord require of thee1 but to do justly1 and to love mercy1 and to walk humbly with thy ,god80 ,to do justly1 to love mercy1 and then to walk humbly1 sure that when you seem to have done all your duty1 you have left only too much of it undone2 even as ,st4 ,paul felt when he said1 that though he knew nothing against himself2 though he could not recollect a single thing in which he had failed of his duty to the ,corinthians1 yet that did not justify him4 8,for he that judgeth me10 he says1 8is the ,lord40 ,he sees deeper than ,i can2 and ,he1 alas6 may take a very different view of my conduct from what ,i do2 and this life of mine1 which looks to me1 from my ignorance1 so spotless and perfect1 may be1 in ,his eyes1 full of sins1 and weakness1 and neglects1 and shameful follies4 8,to walk humbly with ,god40 ,not to believe that because you read the ,bible1 and have heard the gospel1 and are sharp at finding out false doctrine in preachers1 and belong to the ,church of ,england1 that therefore you know all about ,god1 and can look down upon poor papists1 and heathens1 and say3 8,this people1 which knoweth not the law1 is accursed3 but we are enlightened1 we understand the whole ,bible1 we know everything about ,god's will1 and man's duty2 and whosoever differs from us1 or pretends to teach us anything new about ,god1 must be wrong40 ,not to do so1 my friends1 but to believe what ,st4 ,paul tells us solemnly1 8,that if any man think that he knows anything1 he knows nothing yet as he ought to know0--to believe that the ,great ,god1 and the will of ,god1 and the love of ,god1 and the mystery of ,redemption1 and the treasures of wisdom which are in ,his ,bible1 are1 as ,st4 ,paul told you1 boundless1 like a living well1 which can never be fathomed1 or drawn dry1 but fills again with fresh water as fast as you draw from it4 ,that is walking humbly with ,god2 and those who do not do so1 but like the ,pharisees of old1 believe that they have all knowledge1 and can understand all the mysteries of the ,bible1 and go through the world1 despising and cursing all parties but their own--let them beware1 lest the ,lord be saying of them1 as ,he said of the church of ,sardis1 of old3 8,thou sayest1 ,i am rich1 and increased with goods1 and have need of nothing1 and knowest not that thou art wretched1 and miserable1 and poor1 and blind1 and naked40 ,how is this8 ,what is this strange thing1 without which even the true knowledge of doctrine is of no use2 which1 if a man1 or a nation has not1 he is poor1 and blind1 and wretched1 and naked in soul1 in spite of all his religion8 ,isaiah will tell us--,what did he say to the ,jews in his day8 8,wash you1 make you clean2 put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes4 ,do justice to the fatherless1 and relieve the widow60 8,do that10 says the ,lord1 8and then your repentance will be sincere4 ,church building and church going are well--but they are not repentance--churches are not souls4 ,i ask you for your hearts1 and you give me fine stones and fine words4 ,i want souls--,i want your souls--,i want you to turn to me4 ,and what am ,i8 saith the ,lord4 ,i am justice1 ,i am love1 ,i am the ,god of the oppressed1 the fatherless1 the widow4--,that is my character4 ,turn to justice1 turn to love1 turn to mercy2 long to be made just1 and loving1 and merciful2 see that your sin has been just this1 and nothing else1 that you have been unjust1 unloving1 unmerciful4 ,repent for your neglect and cruelty1 and repent in dust and ashes1 when you see what wretched hypocrites you really are4 ,and then1 my boundless mercy and pardon shall be open to you4 ,as you wish to be to me1 so will ,i be to you2 if you wish to become merciful1 you shall taste my mercy2 if you wish to become loving to others1 you shall find that ,i love you2 if you wish to become just1 you shall find that ,i am just1 just to deal by you as you deal by others2 faithful and just to forgive you your sins1 and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness4 ,and then1 all shall be forgiven and forgotten2 8though your sins be as scarlet1 they shall be white as snow3 though they be red like crimson1 they shall be as wool40 ,surely1 my friends1 these things are worth taking to heart2 for this is the sin which most destroys all men and nations--high religious profession with an ungodly1 covetous1 and selfish life4 ,it is the worst and most dangerous of all sins2 for it is like a disease which eats out the heart and life without giving pain2 so that the sick man never suspects that anything is the matter with him1 till he finds himself1 to his astonishment1 at the point of death4 ,so it was with the ,jews1 three times in their history4 ,in the time of ,isaiah1 under ,king ,hezekiah2 in the time of ,jeremiah1 under ,king ,josiah2 and last and worst of all1 in the time of ,jesus ,christ4 ,at each of these three times the ,jews were high religious professors1 and yet at each of these three times they were abominable before ,god1 and on the brink of ruin4 ,in ,isaiah's time their eyes seemed to have been opened at last to their own sins4 ,their fearful danger1 and wonderful deliverance from the ,assyrians of which you heard last ,sunday1 seem to have done that for them2 as ,god intended it should4 ,during the latter part of ,hezekiah's reign they seemed to have turned to ,god with their hearts1 and not with their lips only2 and ,isaiah can find no words to express the delight which the blessed change gives him4 ,nevertheless1 they soon fell back again into idolatry2 and then there was another outward lip-reformation under the good ,king ,josiah2 and ,jeremiah had to give them exactly the same warning which ,isaiah had given them nearly a hundred years before4 ,but that time1 alas6 they would not take the warning2 and then all the evil which had been prophesied against them came on them4 ,from hypocritical profession1 they fell back again into their old idolatry2 their covetousness1 selfishness1 party-quarrels1 and profligate lives made them too weak and rotten to stand against ,nebuchadnezzar1 ,king of ,babylon1 when he attacked them2 and ,jerusalem was miserably destroyed1 the temple burnt1 and the ,jews carried captives to ,babylon4 ,there they repented in bitter sorrow and slavery2 and ,god allowed them after seventy years to return to their own land4 ,then at first they seemed to be a really converted people1 and to be worshipping ,god in spirit and in truth4 ,they never again fell back into the idolatry of the heathen4 ,so far from it1 they became the greatest possible haters of it2 they went on keeping the law of ,god with the utmost possible strictness1 even to the day when the ,lord ,jesus appeared among them4 ,their religious people1 the ,scribes and ,pharisees1 were the most strict1 moral1 devout people of the whole world4 ,they worshipped the very words and letters of the ,bible2 their thoughts seemed filled with nothing but ,god and the service of ,god3 and yet the ,lord ,jesus told them that they were in a worse state1 greater sinners in the sight of ,god1 than they had ever been2 that they1 who hated idolatry1 were filling up the measure of their idolatrous forefathers' iniquity2 that the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth was to fall on them2 that they were a race of serpents1 a generation of vipers2 and that even ,he did not see how they could escape the damnation of hell4 ,and they proved how true ,his words were1 by crucifying the very ,lord of whom their much-prized ,scriptures bore witness1 whom they pretended to worship day and night continually2 and received the just reward of their deeds in forty years of sedition1 bloodshed1 and misery1 which ended by the ,romans coming and sweeping the nation of the ,jews from off the face of the earth4 ,so much for profession without practice4 ,so much for true doctrine with dishonest and unholy lives4 ,so much for outward respectability with inward sinfulness4 ,so much for hating idolatry1 while all the while men's hearts are far from ,god6 ,oh6 my friends1 let us all search our hearts carefully in these times of high profession and low practice2 lest we be adding our drop of hypocrisy to the great flood of it which now stifles this land of ,england1 and so fall into the same condemnation as the ,jews of old1 in spite of far nobler examples1 brighter and wider light1 and more wonderful and bounteous blessings4 ,,xxi4 ,,the ,,unfaithful ,,servant4 ,but and if that servant say in his heart1 ,my lord delayeth his coming2 and shall begin to beat the men servants and the maid servants1 and to eat and drink and to be drunken2 the lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him1 and in an hour when he is not aware1 and will cut him asunder1 and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers4--,,luke xii4 #de1 #df4 ,,but why with the unbelievers8 ,the man had not disbelieved that he had any ,lord at all2 he had only believed that his ,lord delayed his coming4 ,and why was he to be put with those who do not believe in him at all8 ,this is a very fearful question1 friends1 for us1 when we think how it is the fashion among us now1 to believe that our ,lord delays ,his coming4--,and surely most of us do believe that8 ,for is it not our notion that1 when the ,lord ,jesus ascended up to heaven1 ,he went away a great distance off1 perhaps millions of miles beyond the stars2 and that ,he will not come back again till the last--which1 for aught we know1 and as we rather expect1 may not happen for hundreds or thousands of years to come8 ,is not that most people's notion1 rich as well as poor8 ,and if that is not believing that our ,lord delays ,his coming1 what is8 ,but1 you may answer1 the ,creed says plainly1 that ,he ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of ,god4 ,ah6 my friends1 those great words of the ,creed which you take into your lips every ,sunday1 mean the very opposite to what most people fancy4 ,they do not say1 8,the ,lord ,jesus has left this poor earth to itself and its misery30 but they say1 8,lo1 ,he is with you1 even to the end of the world40 ,true1 ,he is ascended into heaven4 ,and how far off is heaven8--for so far off is the ,lord ,jesus1 and no farther4 ,not so far off1 my friends1 after all1 if you knew where to find it4 ,truly said the great and good poet1 now gone home to his reward3 ,heaven lies about us in our infancy4 ,and if we lose sight of it as we grow up to be men and women1 it is not because heaven goes farther off1 but because we grow less heavenly4 ,even now1 so close is heaven to us1 that any one of us might enter into heaven this moment1 without stirring from his seat4 ,one real cry from the depths of your heart--8,father1 forgive thy sinful child60--one real feeling of your own worthlessness1 and weakness1 and emptiness1 and of ,god's righteousness1 and love1 and mercy1 ready for you--and you are in heaven there and then1 as near the feet of the blessed ,lord ,jesus1 as ,mary ,magdalen was1 when she tried to clasp them in the garden4 ,i am serious1 my friends2 ,i am not given to talk fine figures of poetry2 ,i am talking sober1 straightforward1 literal truth4 ,and the ,lord sits at ,god's right hand too8 you believe that8 ,then how far off is ,god8--for as far off as ,god is1 so far off is the ,lord ,jesus1 and no farther4 ,what says ,st4 ,paul8 ,that 8,god is not far off from any one of us--for in ,him we live1 and move1 and have our being0 4 4 4 ,,in ,him 4 4 4 4 ,how far off is that8 ,and is not ,god everywhere1 if indeed we can say that ,he is any where8 ,then the ,lord ,jesus1 who is at ,god's right hand1 is everywhere also--here1 now1 with us this day4 ,one would have thought that there was no need to prove that by argument1 considering that ,his own blessed lips told us3 8,lo1 ,i am with you1 even to the end of the world20 and again3 8,wheresoever two or three are gathered together in my name1 there am ,i in the midst of them40 ,and this is the ,lord whom people fancy is gone away far above the stars1 till the end of time6 ,oh1 my friends1 rather bow your heads before ,him here this moment4 ,for here ,he is among us now1 listening to every thought of our poor sinful hearts4 4 4 4 ,he is where ,god is--,god in whom we live1 and move1 and have our being--and that is everywhere4 ,do you wish ,him to be any nearer1 my friends8 ,or do you--do you--take care what your hearts answer1 for ,he is watching them--do you in the depth of your hearts wish that ,he were a little farther off8 ,does the notion of ,his being here on this earth1 watching and interfering 7as we call it nowadays in our atheism7 with us and everything1 seem unpleasant and burdensome8 ,is it more comfortable to you to think that ,he is away far up beyond the stars8 ,do you feel the lighter and freer for fancying that ,he will not visit the earth for many a year to come8 ,in short1 is it in your hearts that you are saying1 ,the ,lord delays ,his coming8 ,that is a very important question4 ,for mind1 a pious man might be1 as many a pious man has been in these days1 deceived by bad teaching into the notion that ,jesus ,christ was gone far away4 ,but if he were a truly pious man1 if he truly loved the ,lord1 that would be a painful thought--as ,i should have fancied1 an unbearable thought--to him1 when he looked out upon this poor miserable1 confused world4 ,he would be crying night and day3 8,oh1 that thou wouldest rend the heavens and come down60 ,he would be in an agony of pity for this poor deserted earth1 and of longing for the ,saviour of it to come back and save it4 ,he would never have a moment's peace of mind till he had either seen the ,lord come back again in ,his glory1 or till he had found out--what ,i am sure the blessed ,lord would teach him as a reward for his love--that it was all a dream and a nightmare1 and that the ,lord of the earth was in the earth1 and close to him1 all along2 only that his weak eyes were held so that he did not know the ,lord and the ,lord's works when he saw them4 ,but that was not the temper of this servant in the ,lord's parable4 ,i am afraid it is by no means the temper of many of us nowadays4 ,the servant said in his heart1 that his master would be long away4 ,it was his heart put the thought into his head4 ,he took to the notion heartily1 as we say1 because he was glad to believe it was true2 glad to think that his master would not come to 8interfere0 with him2 and that in the meantime he might be lord and master himself1 and treat everyone in the house as if he himself was the owner of it1 and tyrannise over his fellow-servants1 and enjoy himself in luxury and good living4 ,so says ,david of the fool3 8,the fool hath said in his heart1 there is no ,god20 his heart puts that thought into his head4 ,he wishes to believe that there is no ,god2 and when there is a will there is a way2 and he soon finds out reasons and arguments enough to prove what he is so very anxious to prove4 ,now1 my friends1 ,i am afraid that there is not so much difference as people fancy1 between the fool who says in his heart1 8,there is no ,god10 and the fool who says in his heart1 8,my master delays ,his coming40--8,god has left the world to us1 and we must shift for ourselves in it40 ,the man who likes to be what ,st4 ,paul calls 8without ,god in the world10 is he so very much wiser than the man who likes to have no ,god at all8 ,st4 ,james did not think so2 for what does he say3 8,thou believest that there is one ,god8 ,thou doest well--the devils also believe and tremble40 ,they know as much as that2 but it does them no good--only increases their fear4 8,but wilt thou know1 oh6 vain man1 that faith without works10 believing without doing1 8is dead80 ,and are not too many1 as ,i said just now1 afraid of the thought of ,god2 so afraid of it that they wish to allow the ,son of ,god as little share as possible in the management of this world8 ,have not too many a belief without works2 a mere belief that there is one ,god and not two1 which hardly1 from one year's end to another1 makes them do one single thing which they would not have done if they had believed that there was no ,god at all8 ,fear of the law1 fear of the policeman1 fear of losing their work or their custom2 fear of losing their neighbour's good word--that is what keeps most people from breaking loose4 ,there is not much of the fear of ,god in that1 or the love of ,god either as far as ,i can see4 ,they go through life as if they had made a covenant with ,god1 that ,he should have his own way in the world to come1 if ,he would only let them have their way in this world4 ,oh6 my friends1 my friends1 do you think ,god is ,god of the next world and not of this also8 ,do you think the kingdom1 and the power1 and the glory will be ,his a great many hundreds of years hence1 in what you call heaven2 and will not see what every page of ,scripture tells you1 what you yourself say every time you repeat the ,lord's ,prayer1 that the ,kingdom1 and the ,power and the ,glory are ,his now1 here in this life1 and that ,he has committed all things to ,his ,son ,jesus ,christ and given the power into ,his hand1 that ,he may rule this earth in righteousness now1 here1 in this life1 and conquer back for ,god one by one1 if it be possible1 every creature upon earth8 ,so says the ,bible--and people profess nowadays to believe their ,bibles4 ,my friends1 too many1 nowadays1 while they profess very loudly to believe what the ,bible says1 only believe what their favourite teachers tell them that the ,bible says4 ,if they really read their ,bibles for themselves1 and took ,god at ,his word1 there would be less tyrannising of one man over another1 less grinding down of men by masters1 and of men by each other--for the poor are often very hard on each other in ,england1 now1 my friends--very envious and spiteful1 and slanderous about each other4 ,they say that dog won't eat dog--yet how many a poor man grudges and supplants his neighbour1 and tries to get into his place and beat him down in his wages8 ,and there are those who call themselves learned men1 who tell the poor that that is ,god's will1 and the way by which ,god intends them to prosper4 ,if those men believed their ,bibles1 they would be repenting in sackcloth and ashes for having preached such a devil's sermon to ,god's children4 ,if men really read their ,bibles1 there would be less eating and drinking with the drunken2 less idleness and luxury among the rich2 less fancying that a man has a right to do what he likes with his own1 because all men would know that they were only the ,lord's stewards1 bound to give an account to him of the good which they had done with what he has lent them4 ,there would be fewer parents fancying that they can tyrannise over their children1 bringing them up as heathens for the sake of the few pence they earn2 using bad language1 and doing shameful things before them1 which they dared not do if they recollected that the ,lord was looking on2 beating and scolding them as if they were brutes or slaves1 to save themselves the trouble of teaching them gently what the poor little creatures cannot know without being taught3 and most shameful of all1 robbing the poor children of their little earnings to spend it themselves in drunkenness4 ,ah1 blessed ,lord6 if people did but know how near ,thou wert to them1 all that would vanish out of ,england1 as the night clouds vanish away before the sun6 ,and ,he is near1 my friends3 ,he is watching2 ,he is governing2 ,he is at hand3 and in this life or in the life to come1 forget ,him as we choose1 ,he will make us know plain enough1 and without any doubt whatsoever1 that ,he is the ,lord4 ,he has fulfilled this awful parable of his about the unfaithful servant already2 many a time1 against many a man1 many a great king1 and prince1 and nation2 and he will fulfil it against each and every man1 from the nobleman in his castle to the labourer in his cottage1 who says in his heart1 8,my ,lord delays his coming10 and begins to tyrannise over those who are weaker than himself1 and to enjoy himself as he likes1 and forget that he is not his own1 but bought with the price of ,christ's blood1 and bound to work for ,christ's kingdom and glory4 ,so he punished the popes of ,rome1 three hundred years ago4 ,when all the nations in ,europe were listening to them and obeying them1 and they had put into their hands by ,god a greater power of doing good than ,he ever gave to any human being before or since1 what did they do8 ,instead of using their power for ,christ1 they used it for themselves4 ,instead of preaching to all nations the good news that ,christ the ,son of ,god was their ,king1 they said3 8,i1 the pope1 am your king4 ,christ is gone far away into heaven1 and has committed all power on earth to us2 we are ,christ's vicars2 we are in ,christ's place2 ,he has entrusted to our keeping all the treasures of ,his merits and ,his grace1 and no one can get any blessing from ,christ1 unless we choose to give it him40 ,so they said in their hearts just what the foolish servant in the parable said3 and fancying that they were lords and masters1 naturally enough went on to behave as such2 to beat the men-servants and maid-servants1 that is1 to oppress and tyrannise over the bodies and minds and consciences of men1 and women too1 ,god knows2 and to eat and drink with the drunken1 to live in riot and debauchery4 ,but the ,lord was not so far off as those foolish popes fancied4 ,and in an hour when they were not aware1 ,he came and cut them asunder4 ,he snatched from them one-half of the nations of ,europe1 and ,england among the rest2 ,he punished them by doubt1 ignorance1 confusion1 and utter blindness1 and appointed them their portion among the unbelievers in such terrible earnest1 that to this very day1 to judge by the things which they say and do1 it is difficult to persuade ourselves that the popes really believe in any ,god at all4 ,so ,he did1 only three years ago1 to many kings and princes on the ,continent4 #bag ,they professed to be ,christians2 but they had forgotten that they were ,christ's stewards1 that all their power came from ,him1 and that he had given it them only to use for the good of their subjects4 ,and they too went on saying3 8,the ,lord delays ,his coming1 we are rulers in this world1 and ,god is ruler in the world to come40 ,so they1 too1 oppressed their subjects1 and lived in ease on what they wrung out of the poor wretches below them4 ,but the ,lord was nearer them1 too1 than they fancied2 and all at once--as they were fancying themselves all safe and prosperous1 and saying1 8,we are those who ought to speak1 who is ,lord over us80--their fool's paradise crumbled from under their feet4 ,a few paltry mobs of foolish starving people1 without weapons1 without leaders1 without good counsel to guide them1 rose against them4 ,and what did they do8 ,they might have crushed down the rebels most of them1 in a week1 if they had had courage4 ,and in the only country where the rebels were really strong1 that is1 in ,austria1 all might have been quiet again at once1 if the king had only had the heart to do common justice1 and keep his own solemn oaths4 ,but no--the terror of the ,lord came upon them4 ,he most truly cut them in sunder4 ,they were every man of a different mind1 and none of them in the same mind a day together2 they became utterly conscience-stricken1 terrified1 perplexed1 at their wit's end1 not having courage or determination to do anything1 or even to do nothing1 and fled shamefully away one after another1 to their everlasting disgrace4 ,and those of them who have got back their power since are showing sadly enough1 by their obstinate folly and wickedness1 that the ,lord has appointed them their portion with the unbelievers1 and left them to fill up the measure of their iniquity1 and drink deep the cup of wrath which is in ,his hand1 full and mixed for those who forget ,god4 ,oh6 my friends1 let us lay these things solemnly to heart4 ,do not fancy that the ,lord will punish the wicked great1 and forget the wicked small4 ,in ,his sight there is neither great nor small2 all are small enough for ,him to crush like the moth2 and all are too great to be overlooked1 or forgotten by ,him1 without whom not a sparrow falls to the ground4 ,again ,i say1 my friends1 let us lay ,his parable to heart4 ,let us who have property1 and station1 and education1 never forget who has given it us1 and for whom we must use it4 ,let us never forget that to whom much is given1 of them will much be required4 ,let us pray to the ,lord daily to write upon our inmost hearts those solemn words3 8,who made thee to differ from another2 and what hast thou which thou didst not receive80 ,let us look on our servants1 our labourers1 on every human being over whom we have any influence1 as weaker brothers whom ,god has commanded us to help1 teach1 and guide in body1 mind1 and spirit1 not that we may make them our slaves1 but make them free1 manful1 self-helping1 and in due time independent of us and of everyone except ,god4 ,and you young people1 who have no authority over anyone1 but over your own bodies2 to whom the ,lord has given little or nothing to manage and take care of except your own health and strength--do not let the devil tempt you to believe that that health and strength is your own property1 to do what you like with4 ,it belongs to the ,lord who died for you1 and ,he will require an account from you how you have used it4 ,do not let the devil tempt you to believe that the ,lord delays ,his coming to you--that you may do what you like now1 in the prime of your years1 and that it will be time enough to think about ,god and religion when ,god visits you with cares1 and sickness1 and old age4 ,that is the fancy of too many2 but it will surely turn out to be a mistake4 ,those who misuse their youth1 and health1 and strength1 in tyrannising over those who are weaker than themselves1 and laughing at those who are not as clever as themselves1 and eating and drinking with the drunken--the ,lord will come to them in an hour when they are not aware1 and cut them asunder1 in some way or other1 by loss of work1 or poverty1 or sickness1 or doubt and confusion1 and bitter shame and perplexity of mind2 till they find out1 poor things1 that they have been living like the unbelievers all their youth1 without ,god in the world1 while ,god's love and ,god's teaching1 and ,god's happiness was ready for them2 and have to go back again to their ,father and their ,lord1 and cry3 8,father1 we have sinned against heaven and before ,thee1 and are no more worthy to be called ,thy children60 ,oh1 you who have been fancying that the ,lord was gone far away1 and that you had a right to do what you liked with the powers which ,he has given you1 go back to ,him1 now at once1 and confess that you1 and all belonging to you1 belong to ,him1 and ask ,him to teach you how to use it aright4 ,ask ,him to teach you how to please ,him with it1 and not yourselves only4 ,ask ,him to teach you how to do good to all around you1 and not merely to do what you like4 ,ask ,him to show you how to do your duty to ,him1 and to your neighbours1 for whom ,he died on the cross1 in that station of life to which ,he has called you4 ,ask ,him to show you how to use your property1 your knowledge1 your business1 your strength1 your health1 so that you may be a blessing and a help to those whom ,he blesses and helps1 and who1 ,he wishes1 should bless and help each other4 ,go back to ,him at once1 my friends4 ,you will not have far to go1 seeing that ,he is now even among us here hearing my clumsy words2 and ,i do hope1 and trust1 and pray1 bringing them home to some of your hearts with that spirit and power of ,his1 which is like a two-edged sword1 piercing to the very depths of a man's heart1 and showing him how ugly it is--and how noble the ,lord will make it1 if he will but repent and pray to ,him who never cast out any that came to ,him4 ,,xxii4 ,,the ,,way ,,to ,,wealth4 ,seek ye the ,lord while ,he may be found1 call ye upon ,him while ,he is near3 let the wicked forsake his way1 and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the ,lord1 and ,he will have mercy upon him1 and to our ,god1 for he will abundantly pardon4--,,isaiah lv4 #f1 #g4 ,,some of you1 surely1 while the first lesson was being read this morning1 must have felt the beauty of it2 and if you were thoughtful1 perplexed1 weary1 sad at heart1 perhaps you felt that it was more than beautiful--that it was full of comfort4 ,and so it should be full of comfort to you1 my friends4 ,god meant it to give you comfort4 ,for though it was written and spoken by a man of like passions with ourselves1 it was just as truly written and spoken by ,god1 who made heaven and earth4 ,it is true and everlasting1 the message which it brings1 and like all true and everlasting words1 it is the voice of ,god who cannot change2 who makes no difference between ,jew and ,gentile1 between us in ,england here1 and nations which perished hundreds of years ago4 ,and what is its message8 ,what was ,god's word to the old ,jews1 among all their sin1 and sorrow1 and labour8 ,is it the message of a stern judge1 saying3 8,pay me that thou owest1 to the uttermost farthing2 and if you cannot do that1 fret and torment yourselves in shame and terror here on earth1 for all your sins1 if1 possibly1 you may chance to change my mind1 and find forgiveness at the last day80 ,is it the message of a proud tyrant1 saying3 8,if you are miserable1 and fallen1 and sinful1 what is that to me8 ,i am perfect1 blest1 contented with myself1 alone in my glory1 far away beyond the sight of men1 beyond the sun and stars--what are you worms of earth to me80 ,or is it the voice of a loving ,father1 calling to his self-willed children who have gone proudly and boldly away from their ,father's house1 and thrown off their ,father's government1 and said in their conceit3 8,we are men4 ,do not we know good and evil8 ,do we not know what is our interest8 ,cannot we judge for ourselves1 and shift for ourselves1 and take care of ourselves8 ,why are we to be barred from pleasant things here1 and profitable things there8 ,we will be our own masters40 ,to self-willed children who have said thus1 and done thus in their foolish hearts1 and have found all their conceit1 and shrewdness1 only lead them into sorrow1 and perplexity1 and distress4--,who have found that with all their cleverness they could not get the very good things for which they left their ,father's house2 or if they get them1 find no enjoyment in them1 but only discontent1 and shame1 and danger1 and a sad self-accusing heart--spending their money for that which does not feed them after all1 and labouring hard for things which do not satisfy them2 always longing for something more--always finding the pleasure1 or the profit1 or the honour which a little way off looked so fine1 looked quite ugly and worthless1 when they come up to it and get hold of it--finding all things full of labour2 the eye never satisfied with seeing1 or the ear with hearing2 the same thing coming over and over again4 ,each young man starting with gay hopes1 as if he were the first man that ever was born1 and he was going to do out of hand such fine things as man never did before1 and make his own fortune1 and set the world to right at once2 and then as he grows older1 falling into the same weary ruts as his forefathers went dragging on it1 every fresh year bringing its own labour and its own sorrow2 and dying like them1 taking nothing away with him of all he has earned1 and crying with his last breath3 8,that which is crooked cannot be made straight1 and that which is wanting cannot be numbered4 ,what profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun1 for all is vanity and vexation of spirit80 ,to self-willed children1 who have tried their own way ever since they were born1 they and their fathers before them1 and found it go round in a ring and leave them just where they started in heart and soul1 and1 on their death-beds1 in purse and power also-- ,to such struggling1 dissatisfied beings--such as nine-tenths of the men and women on this earth1 alas6 are still--comes the word of this loving ,father3 8,ho1 every one that thirsteth1 come ye to the waters6 and he that hath no money1 come1 buy and eat4 ,yea1 come1 buy wine and milk without money1 and without price40 ,why do you fancy that money can give you all you want8 ,why this labouring and straining after money1 as if it was ,god1 as if it made heaven and earth1 and all therein8 ,is money a ,god8 or money's worth8 8,i am ,god10 saith the ,lord1 8and beside me there is none else4 ,it is ,i who give1 and not money4 ,it is ,i who save men1 and not money4 ,and ,i do save1 and ,i do give freely to all4 ,come1 and try my mercy1 and see if my word be not true40 ,this struggling and snarling1 like dogs over a bone--what profit comes of it8 are you happier8 are you wiser8 are you better8 are you more at peace with your neighbours2 more at peace with your own hearts and consciences8 ,if you are1 money has not made you so1 nor plotting1 and scraping1 and struggling1 and pushing your neighbour down1 that you may rise a few inches on his shoulders4 ,no4 ,hear what the voice of your ,father says is the true way to wealth and comfort1 after which you all struggle and labour so hard in vain4--8,hearken diligently unto me1 and you shall eat that which is good1 and your soul shall delight itself in fatness4 ,incline your ear and come unto me4 ,hear1 and your soul shall live4 ,and ,i will make an everlasting covenant with you1 even the sure mercies10 or rather 8the faithful oath which ,i sware unto ,david80 ,and what is this faithful oath which ,god sware to ,david4--8,of the fruit of thy body1 ,i will set on thy seat40 ,a promise of a righteous king who should arise in ,david's family4 ,how far ,david understood the full meaning of that glorious promise we cannot tell4 ,he thought most probably1 at first1 that ,solomon1 his son1 was to be the king who would fulfil it4 ,but all through many of his psalms1 there are deep and great words about some nobler and more perfect king than ,solomon--about one who1 as ,isaiah says here1 would perfectly witness to the people that ,god was their ,king2 one who would be a perfect leader and commander of the people2 a holy one of ,israel1 who would sit on ,god's right hand2 to hear the good news of whom1 the ,jews would call nations whom they then did not know of1 and for whose sake nations who did not know them would run to them4 ,and dimly ,david did see this1 that ,god would raise up a true ,christ1 that is1 one truly anointed by ,god1 chosen and sent out by ,god1 to sit on his throne1 and be perfectly what ,david was only in part2 a ,king made perfect by suffering1 a ,king of poor men1 a ,king who bore the sins and carried the iniquities of all ,his people1 from the highest to the lowest4 ,we know who that was4 ,we know clearly what ,david only knew dimly1 what ,isaiah only knew a little more clearly4 ,we know who was born of the ,virgin ,mary1 crucified under ,pontius ,pilate1 ascended into heaven1 and now sits at the right hand of ,god1 ever praying for us1 ruling the world in righteousness1 ,jesus the ,lord1 the ,holy ,one of ,israel1 to whom all power is given in heaven and earth4 ,but ,isaiah1 though he knew ,him only dimly1 still knew ,him4 ,he did not know that the ,lord1 the ,holy ,one of ,israel1 would take on ,himself the form of a poor man1 and be called the son of the carpenter4 ,such boundless love and condescension in the ,son of ,god he never could have fancied for himself1 and ,god had not chosen to reveal it to him2 or to anyone else in those days4 ,but this he did see1 that the ,lord ,jesus1 ,he whom he calls the ,holy ,one of ,israel1 was near the ,jews in his time2 that ,he was watching over them1 mourning over their sins1 arguing with them1 and calling them to return to ,him with most human love and tenderness1 as a husband to the woman whom he loves in spite of her unfaithfulness to him4 ,as he says to his sinful and distressed country in the chapter before this3 8,thy ,maker is thy husband3 the ,lord of ,hosts is ,his name1 and thy ,redeemer is the ,holy ,one of ,israel1 the ,lord of the whole earth shall ,he be called4 ,for the ,lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit4 ,for a small moment have ,i forsaken thee1 but with great mercies will ,i gather thee4 ,in a little anger ,i hid my face from thee for a moment1 but with everlasting kindness will ,i have mercy on thee1 saith the ,lord thy ,redeemer40 ,this1 then1 ,isaiah knew--that the heart of the ,holy ,lord pitied and yearned after those poor sinful ,jews1 as a husband's after a foolish and sinful wife4 ,and how much more should we believe the same1 how much more should we believe that ,his heart pities and yearns for all foolish and sinful people here in ,england now6 ,we who know a thousand times more than ,isaiah knew of ,his love1 ,his pity1 ,his condescension1 which led ,him to sacrifice ,himself upon the cross for us8 ,surely1 surely1 if ,isaiah had a right to say to those ,jews1 8,seek the ,lord while ,he may be found10 ,i have a thousand times as much right to say it to you4 ,if ,isaiah had a right to say to those ,jews1 8,let the wicked forsake his ways and the unrighteous man his thoughts1 and let him return unto the ,lord1 and ,he will have mercy upon him1 and to our ,god1 for ,he will abundantly pardon10 then ,i have a right to say it to you4 ,free mercy1 utter pardon1 pardon for all1 even for the worst4 ,and what is the argument which ,isaiah uses to make his countrymen repent8 ,is it 8,repent1 or you shall be damned3 ,repent because ,god's wrath and curse is against you4 ,the ,lord hates you and despises you1 and you must crawl to ,his feet like beaten hounds1 and entreat ,him not to strike you into hell as ,he intends08 ,not so2 it was because ,god loved the ,jews1 that they were to repent4 ,it is because ,god loves you that you must repent4 8,incline your ear10 saith the ,lord1 8and come unto me1 hear1 and your soul shall live2 and you shall eat that which is good1 and your soul shall delight itself in fatness40 ,yes1 ,god is love4 ,god's delight and glory is to give2 in spite of all our sins ,he gives and gives1 sending rain and fruitful seasons to just and unjust1 to fill their hearts with joy and gladness2 and all the while men fancy that it is not ,god that gives1 but they who take4 ,god has not left ,himself1 as ,st4 ,paul says1 without a witness2 every fruitful shower and quickening gleam of sunshine cries to us--,see6 ,god is love3 ,he is the giver4 ,and men will not hear that voice4 ,they say in their hearts1 8,the ,lord is far away above the skies2 ,he does not care for us3 we must help ourselves1 each man to what he can get off this earth2 nay1 even1 when we are hard put to it for a living1 we must break ,god's laws to keep ourselves alive1 and so steal from ,god's table the very good things which ,he offers us freely40 ,but some will say3 8,he does not give freely2 we must work and struggle4 ,why do you mock poor hard-worked creatures with such words as these80 ,ask that question of ,god1 my friends1 and not of me4 ,isaiah said that those who hearkened to ,god diligently should eat what is good4 ,the ,lord ,jesus ,christ ,himself said the same--that if we seek first the kingdom of ,god and ,his justice1 all other things should be added to them4 ,he did not mean us to be idle1 ,god forbid6 but this ,he meant1 that if we1 each in his business and calling1 put steadily before ourselves what is right1 what ,god would wish us1 ,his subjects1 to be in ,his ,kingdom--if instead of making our first thought in every business we take in hand1 8,what will suit my interest best1 what will raise most money1 what will give me most pleasure80 we said to ourselves all day long1 8,what will be most right1 and just1 and merciful for us to do2 what will be most pleasing to a ,god who is love and justice itself8 what will do most good to my neighbour as well as myself80 then all things would go well with us4 ,then we should be prosperous and joyful4 ,then our plans would succeed and our labour bring forth real profit to us1 because they would be according to the will of ,god3 we should be fellow-workers with ,jesus ,christ in the great work of doing good to this poor distracted world1 and ,his help and blessing would be with us4 ,and if you ask me1 how can this come to pass1 ,i must answer1 as ,isaiah does in this same chapter3 8,the ,lord's ways are not as our ways1 nor ,his thoughts as our thoughts1 but higher than ours1 as the heavens are above the earth40 ,but if we do turn to ,god1 and repent each man of us of his selfishness1 his unfaithfulness1 his hard-heartedness1 his covetousness1 his self-will1 his ungodliness--then ,god's blessing1 as ,isaiah says1 will come down on us1 and spring up among us1 we know not how or whence1 like the rain and snow1 which comes down from heaven and waters the earth1 and makes it bud and bring forth to give seed to the sower and bread to the eater4 ,so shall be the ,lord's word1 which goes out of ,his mouth2 it will not return to ,him void1 but will accomplish what ,he pleases1 and prosper in that whereto ,he sends it4 ,he will teach us and guide us in the right way4 ,he will put ,his word into the mouths of true teachers to show us our duty4 ,he will pour out ,his spirit upon us1 to make us love our duty4 ,in one way and another1 we know not how1 we shall be taught what is good for ,england1 good for each parish1 good for each family4 ,and wealth1 peace1 and prosperity for rich and poor will be the fruit of obeying the word of ,god1 and giving up our hearts to be led by ,his spirit4 ,as it was to be in ,juda1 of old1 if they repented1 so will it be with us4 ,they should go forth with joy and do their work in peace4 ,the hills should break before them into singing1 and all the trees of the field should clap their hands2 instead of thorns should come up timber-trees3 instead of briers1 garden-shrubs4 ,the whole cultivation of the country was to improve1 and be to the ,lord for a name1 and a sign for ever that the true way to wealth and prosperity is the way of ,god1 justice1 mercy to each other1 and obedience to the will of ,him who made heaven and earth1 trees and fruitful fields1 rain and sunshine1 and gives the blessings of them freely to ,his children of mankind1 in proportion as they look up to ,him as a loving ,father1 and return to him day by day1 with childlike repentance1 and full desire to amend their lives according to ,his holy word4 ,,xxiii4 ,,the ,,love ,,of ,,christ4 ,for the love of ,christ constraineth us2 because we thus judge1 that if one died for all1 then were all dead4 ,and that ,he died for all1 that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves1 but unto ,him which died for them1 and rose again4--#b ,,cor4 v4 #ad1 #ae4 ,,what is the use of sermons8--what is the use of books8 ,here are hundreds and thousands of people hearing weekly and daily what is right1 and how many do what is right8--much less love what is right8 ,what can be the reason of this1 that men should know the better and choose the worse8 ,what motive can one find out8--what reason or argument can one put before people1 to make them do their duty8 ,how can one stir them up to conquer themselves2 to conquer their own love of pleasure1 laziness1 cowardice1 conceit1 above all their own selfishness1 and do simply what is right1 morning1 noon1 and night8 ,that is a question worth asking and considering1 for there ought to be some use in sermons and in books2 and there ought to be some use in every one of us too4 ,woe to the man who is of no use6 ,the ,lord have mercy on his soul2 for he needs it6 ,it is1 indeed1 worth his while to take any trouble which will teach him a motive for being useful2 in plain words1 stir him up to do his duty1 to do his rights2 for a man's rights are not1 as the world thinks1 what is right others should do to him1 but what is right he should do to others4 ,our duty is our right1 the only thing which is right for us4 ,what motive will constrain us1 that is1 bind us1 and force us to do that8 ,will self-interest8 ,will a man do right because you tell him it is his interest1 it will pay him to do it8 ,look round you and see4--,the drunkard knows that drinking will ruin him1 and yet he gets drunk4 ,the spendthrift knows that extravagance will ruin him1 and yet he throws away his money still4 ,the idler knows that he is wasting his only chance for all eternity1 and yet he puts the thought out of his head1 and goes on idling4 ,the cheat knows that he is in danger of being almost certainly found out sooner or later2 he knows too that he is burdening his own conscience with the curse of inward shame and self-contempt2 and yet he goes on cheating4 ,the hard master knows1 or ought to know 7for there is quite enough to prove it to him7 that it would pay him better in the long run to be more merciful1 and less covetous2 that by grinding those whom he employs down to the last farthing1 he degrades them till they become burdens on him and curses to him2 that what he gains by high prices1 he will lose in the long run by bad debts2 that what he saves in low wages1 he will pay in extra poor-rates2 and that even if he does make money out of the flesh and bones of those beneath him1 that money ill gotten is sure to be ill spent1 that there is a curse on it1 that it brings a curse in the gnawing of a man's own conscience1 and a curse too in the way it flows away from his family as fast as it flowed to them4 8,he that by usury and unjust gain increases his wealth1 shall gather for him that will pity the poor40 ,so said ,solomon of old4 ,and men who worship ,mammon find it come true daily1 and see that1 taking all things together1 a man's life does not consist in the abundance of the things which he possesses1 and that those who make such haste to be rich1 fall1 as the apostle says1 8into temptation and a snare1 and pierce themselves through with many sorrows40 ,such a man sees his neighbours making money1 and making themselves more unhappy1 anxious1 discontented by it2 he sees1 in short1 that it is not his interest to do nothing but make money and save money3 and yet in spite of that1 he thinks of nothing else4 ,self-interest cannot keep him from that sin4 ,i do not believe that self-interest ever kept any man from any sin1 though it may keep him from many an imprudence4 ,self-interest may make many a man respectable1 but whom did it ever make good8 ,you may as well make house-walls of paper1 or take a rush for a walking-stick1 as take self-interest to keep you upright1 or even prudent4 ,the first shake--and the rush bends1 and the paper wall breaks1 and a man's selfish prudence is blown to the winds4 ,let pleasure tempt him1 or ambition1 or the lust of making money by speculation2 let him take a spite against anyone2 let him get into a passion2 let his pride be hurt2 and he will do the maddest things1 which he knows to be entirely contrary to his own interest1 just to gratify the fancy of the moment4 ,those who call themselves philosophers1 and fancy that men's self-interest1 if they can only feel it strong enough1 would make all men just and merciful to each other1 know as little of human nature as they do of ,god or the devil4 ,what will make a man to do his duty8 ,will the hope of heaven8 ,that depends very much upon what you mean by heaven4 ,but what people commonly mean by going to heaven1 is--not going to hell4 ,they believe that they must go to either one place or the other4 ,they would much sooner of course stay on earth for ever1 because their treasure is here1 and their heart too4 ,but that cannot be1 and as they have no wish to go to hell1 they take up with heaven instead1 by way of making the best of a bad matter4 ,i ask you solemnly1 my friends1 each one of you1 which would you sooner do--stay here on earth1 or go to heaven8 ,you need not answer me4 ,i am afraid many of you would not dare answer me as you really felt1 because you would be ashamed of not liking to go to heaven4 ,but answer ,god4 ,answer yourselves in the sight of ,god4 ,when you keep yourselves back from doing a wrong thing1 because you know it is wrong1 is it for love of heaven1 or for mere fear of being punished in hell8 ,some of you will answer boldly at once3 8,for neither one nor the other2 when we keep from wrong1 it is because we hate and despise what is wrong3 when we do right it is because it is right and we ought to do it4 ,we can't explain it1 but there is something in us which tells us we ought to do right40 ,very good1 my friends1 ,i shall have a word to say to you presently2 but in the meantime there are some others who have been saying to themselves3 8,well1 ,i know we do right because we are afraid of being punished if we do not do it1 but what of that8 at all events we get the right thing done1 and leave the wrong thing undone1 and what more do you want8 ,why torment us with disagreeable questions as to why we do it80 ,now1 my friends1 to make the matter simpler1 ,i will take you at your words1 for the sake of argument4 ,suppose you do avoid sin from the fear of hell1 does that make what you do right8 ,does that make you right8 ,does that make your heart right8 ,it is a great blessing to a man's neighbours1 certainly1 if he is kept from doing wrong any how--by the fear of hell1 or fear of jail1 or fear of shame1 or fear of ghosts if you like1 or any other cowardly and foolish motive--a great blessing to a man's neighbours3 but no blessing1 that ,i can see1 to the man himself4 ,he is just the same2 his heart is not changed2 his heart is no more right in the sight of ,god1 or in the sight of any man of common sense either1 than it would be if he did the wrong thing1 which he loves and dare not do4 ,you feel that yourselves about other people4 ,you will say 8,that man has a bad heart1 for all his respectable outside4 ,he would be a rogue if he dared1 and therefore he is a rogue40 ,just so1 ,i say1 my friends1 take care lest ,god should say of you1 8,he would be a sinner if he dared1 and therefore he is a sinner40 ,how can the hope of heaven1 or the fear of hell1 make a man do right8 ,the right thing1 the true thing for a man1 is to be loving1 and do loving things2 and can fear of hell do that1 or hope of heaven either8 ,can a man make himself affectionate to his children because he fancies he shall be punished if he is not so1 and rewarded if he is so8 ,will the hope of heaven send men out to feed the hungry1 to clothe the naked1 visit the sick1 preach the gospel to the poor8--,the ,papists say it will4 ,i say it will not4 ,i believe that even in those who do these things from hope of heaven and fear of hell1 there is some holier1 nobler1 more spiritual motive1 than such everlasting selfishness1 such perfect hypocrisy1 as to do loving works for others1 for the sake of one's own self-love4 ,what feeling then is there left which will bind a man to do good1 not once in a way1 but always and habitually8 to do good1 not only to himself1 but to all around him8 ,i know but of one1 my friends1 and that is ,love4 ,there are many sides to love--admiration1 reverence1 gratitude1 pity1 affection--they are all different shapes of that one great spirit of love4 ,surely all of you have felt its power more or less2 how wonderfully it can conquer a man's whole heart1 change his whole conduct4 ,for love of a woman2 for pity to those in distress2 for admiration for anyone who is nobler and wiser than himself2 for gratitude to one who has done him kindness2 for loyalty to one to whom he feels he owes a service--a man will dare to do things1 and suffer things1 which no self-interest or fear in the world could have brought him to4 ,do you not know it yourselves8 ,is it not fondness for your wives and children1 that will make you slave and stint yourselves of pleasure more than any hope of gain could ever do8 ,but there is no one human being1 my friends1 whom we can meet among us now1 for whom we can feel all these different sorts of love8 ,surely not3 and yet there must be ,one ,person somewhere for whom ,god intends us to feel them all at once2 or else ,he would not have given all these powers to us1 and made them all different branches of one great root of love4 ,there must be ,one ,person somewhere1 who can call out the whole love in us--all our gratitude2 all our pity2 all our admiration2 all our loyalty2 all our brotherly affection4 ,and there is ,one1 my friends4 ,one who has done for us more than ever husband or father1 wife or brother1 can do to call out our gratitude4 ,one who has suffered for us more than the saddest wretch upon this earth can suffer1 to call out our pity4 ,one who is nobler1 purer1 more lovely in character than all others who ever trod this earth1 to call out our admiration4 ,one who is wiser1 mightier than all rulers and philosophers1 to call out all our reverence4 ,one who is tenderer1 more gentle1 more feeling-hearted1 than the kindest woman who ever sat by a sick bed1 to call out all our love4 ,of whom can ,i be speaking8 ,of whom but of ,jesus2 ,he who for us stooped out of the heaven of heavens2 for us left ,his eternal glory in the bosom of the ,father2 for us took upon ,him the form of a servant1 and was born of a village maiden1 and was called the son of a carpenter2 for us wandered this earth for thirty years in sorrow and shame2 for us gave ,his back to the scourge1 and ,his face to shameful spitting2 for us hung upon the cross and died the death of the felon and the slave4 ,oh6 my friends1 if that story will not call out our love1 what will8 ,if we cannot admire ,christ1 whom can we admire8 ,if we cannot be grateful to ,christ1 to whom can we be grateful8 ,if we cannot pity ,christ1 whom can we pity8 ,if we cannot feel bound in honour to live for ,christ1 to work for ,christ1 to delight in talking of ,christ1 thinking of ,christ1 to glory in doing ,christ's commandments to the very smallest point1 to feel no sacrifice too great1 no trouble too petty1 if we can please ,christ by it and help forward ,christ's kingdom upon earth--if we cannot feel bound in honour to do that for ,christ1 what honour is there in us8 ,again1 ,i say1 if we cannot love ,christ1 whom can we love8 ,if the remembrance of what ,he has worked for us will not stir us up to work for ,him1 what will stir us up8 ,i say it again1 we are bound by every tie1 by every feeling that can bind man to man1 to devote ourselves to ,christ1 the ,man of all men4 ,i say this is no dream or fancy1 it is an actual fact which thousands and hundreds of thousands on this earth have felt4 ,nothing but love to ,christ1 nothing but loving ,him because ,he first loved us1 can constrain and force a man as with a mighty feeling which he cannot resist1 to labour day and night for ,christ's sake1 and therefore for the sake of ,god the ,father of ,christ4 ,what else do you suppose it was which could have stirred up the apostles--above all1 that wise1 learned1 high-born1 prosperous man1 ,st4 ,paul1 to leave house and home1 and wander in daily danger of his life8 ,what does ,st4 ,paul say himself8 8,the love of ,christ constraineth us1 because we thus judge1 and if one died for all then were all dead1 and that ,he died for all1 that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves1 but unto ,him who died for them40 ,and what else could have kept ,st4 ,paul through all that labour and sorrow of his own choosing1 of which he speaks in the chapter before8--8,we are troubled on every side1 yet not distressed2 we are perplexed1 but not in despair2 persecuted1 but not forsaken2 cast down1 but not destroyed2 always bearing about in the body the dying of the ,lord ,jesus1 that the life also of ,jesus might be made manifest in our body2 for we which live are alway delivered unto death for ,jesus' sake1 that the life also of ,jesus might be made manifest in our body40 ,we may say that ,st4 ,paul was an exceedingly benevolent man1 and that made him do it2 or that he had found out certain new truths and opinions which delighted him very much1 and therefore he did it4 ,but ,st4 ,paul gives no such account of himself3 and we have no right to take anyone's account but his own4 ,he knew his own heart best4 ,he does not say that he came to preach a scheme of redemption1 or opinions about ,christ4 ,he says he came to preach nothing but ,christ ,himself--,christ crucified--to tell people about the ,lord he loved1 about the ,lord who loved him1 certain that when they had heard the plain story of ,him1 their hearts1 if they were simple1 and true1 and loving1 would leap up in answer to his words1 and find out1 as by instinct1 what ,christ had done for them1 what they were to do for ,christ4 ,ay1 ,i believe1 my friends--indeed ,i am certain--from my own reading1 that in every age and country1 just in proportion as men have loved ,christ personally as a man would love another man1 just in that proportion have they loved their neighbours1 worked for their neighbours1 sacrificed their time1 their pleasure1 their money1 to do good to all1 for the sake of ,him who commanded3 8,if ye love ,,me1 keep my commandments2 and my commandment is this1 that ye should love one another as ,i have loved you40 ,that is the only sure motive4 ,all other motives for doing good or being good1 will fail in one case or another case1 because they do not take possession of a man's whole heart1 but only of some part of his heart4 ,love--love to ,christ1 can alone sweep away a man's whole heart and soul with it1 and renew it1 and transfigure it1 and make it strong instead of weak1 pure instead of foul1 gentle instead of fierce1 brave instead of being vain and cowardly1 and fearing what everyone will say of him4 ,only love for ,christ1 who loved all men unto the death1 will make us love all men too3 not only one here and there who may agree with us or help us2 but those who hate us1 those who misunderstand us1 those who thwart us1 ay1 even those who disobey and slight not only us1 but ,jesus ,christ ,himself4 ,that is the hardest lesson of all to learn2 but thousands have learnt it2 everyone ought to learn it4 ,in proportion as a man loves ,christ1 he will learn to love those who do not love ,christ4 ,for ,christ loves them whether they know it or not2 ,christ died for them whether they believe it or not2 and we must love them because our ,saviour loves them4 ,oh6 my friends1 why do so few love ,christ8 ,why do so few live as those who are not their own1 but bought with the price of ,his precious blood and bound to devote themselves1 body and soul1 to ,his cause8 ,why do so many struggle against their sins1 while yet they cannot break off those sins1 but go struggling and sinning on1 hating their sins and yet unable to break through their sins1 like birds beating themselves to death against the wires of their cage8 ,why8 ,because they do not know ,christ4 ,and how can they know ,him1 unless they read their ,bibles with simple1 childlike hearts1 determined to let the ,bible tell its own story3 believing that those who walked with ,christ on earth1 must know best what ,he was like8 ,why8 ,because they will not ask ,christ to come and show ,himself to them1 and make them see ,him1 and love ,him1 and admire ,him1 whether they will or not4 ,oh6 remember1 if ,christ be the ,son of ,god1 the ,lord of heaven and earth1 we cannot go to ,him1 poor1 weak1 ignorant creatures as we are4 ,we cannot ascend up into heaven to bring ,christ down4 ,he must come down out of ,his own great love and condescension1 and dwell in our hearts as ,he has promised to do1 if we do but love ,him4 ,he must come down and show ,himself to us4 ,oh6 read your ,bibles--read the story of ,christ1 and if that does not stir up in you some love for ,him1 you must have hearts of stone1 not flesh and blood4 ,and then go to ,him2 pray to ,him1 whether you believe in ,him altogether or not1 upon the mere chance of ,his being able to hear you and help you4 ,you would not throw away a chance on earth2 will you throw away such a chance in heaven as having the ,son of ,god to help you8 ,oh1 cry to ,him2 say out of the depths of your heart3 8,thou most blessed and glorious ,being who ever walked this earth1 who hast gone blameless through all sorrow and temptation that man can feel2 if ,thou dost love anyone1 if ,thou canst hear anyone1 hear me6 ,if thou canst not help me1 no one can4 ,i have a hundred puzzling questions which ,i cannot answer for myself1 a hundred temptations which ,i cannot conquer for myself1 a hundred bad habits which ,i cannot shake off of myself2 and they tell me that ,thou canst teach me1 ,thou canst guide me1 ,thou canst strengthen me1 ,thou canst take out of my heart this shame and gnawing of an evil conscience4 ,if ,thou be the ,son of ,god1 make me clean6 ,if it be true that ,thou lovest all men1 show ,thy love to me6 ,if it be true that ,thou canst teach all men1 teach me6 ,if it be true that ,thou canst help all men1 help my unbelief1 for if ,thou dost not1 there is no help for me in heaven or earth60 ,you1 who are sinful1 distracted1 puzzled1 broken-hearted1 cry to ,christ in that way1 if you have no better way1 and see if ,he does not hear you4 ,he is not one to break the bruised reed1 or quench the smoking flax4 ,he will hear you1 for ,he has heard all who have ever called on ,him4 ,cry to ,him from the bottom of your hearts4 ,tell ,him that you do not love ,him1 and that yet you long to love ,him4 ,and see if you do not find it true that those who come to ,christ1 ,he will in no wise cast out4 ,he may not seem to answer you the first time1 or the tenth time1 or for years2 for ,christ has ,his own deep1 loving1 wise ways of teaching each man1 and for each man a different way4 ,but try to learn all you can of ,him4 ,try to know ,him4 ,pray to know1 and understand ,him1 and love ,him4 ,and sooner or later you will find ,his words come true1 8,if a man love me1 ,i and my ,father will come to him1 and take up our abode with him40 ,and then you will feel arise in you a hungering and a thirsting after righteousness1 a spirit of love1 and a desire of doing good1 which will carry you up and on1 above all that man can say or do against you--above all the laziness1 and wilfulness1 and selfishness1 and cowardice which dwells in the heart of everyone4 ,you will be able to trample it all under foot for the sake of being good and doing good1 in the strength of that one glorious thought1 8,christ lived and died for me1 and1 so help me ,god1 ,i will live and die for ,christ40 ,,xxiv4 ,,david',s ,,victory4 ,thou comest to me with a sword1 and with a spear1 and with a shield3 but ,i come to thee in the name of the ,lord of armies1 the ,god of ,israel1 whom thou hast defied4--#a ,,samuel xvii4 #de4 ,,we have been reading to-day the story of ,david's victory over the ,philistine giant1 ,goliath4 ,now ,i think the whole history of ,david may teach us more about the meaning of the ,old ,testament1 and how it applies to us1 than the history of any other single character4 ,david was the great hero of the ,jews2 the greatest1 in spite of great sins and follies1 that has ever been among them2 in every point the king after ,god's own heart4 ,our ,lord ,jesus ,christ ,himself did not disdain to be called especially the ,son of ,david4 ,david was the author1 too1 of those wonderful psalms which are now in the mouths and the hearts of ,christian people all over the world2 and will last1 as ,i believe1 till the world's end1 giving out fresh depths of meaning and spiritual experience4 ,but to understand ,david's history1 we must go back a little through the lessons which have been read in church the last few ,sundays4 ,we find in the eighth and in the twelfth chapters of this same book of ,samuel1 that the ,jews asked ,samuel for a king--for a king like the nations round them4 ,samuel consulted ,god1 and by ,god's command chose ,saul to be their king2 at the same time warning them that in asking for a king they had committed a great and fearful sin1 for 8the ,lord their ,god was their king40 ,and the ,lord said unto ,samuel1 that in asking for a king they had rejected ,god from reigning over them4 ,now what was this sin which the ,jews committed8 for the mere having a king cannot be wrong in itself2 else ,god would not have anointed ,saul and ,david kings1 and blessed ,david and ,solomon2 much less would ,he have allowed the greater number of ,christian nations to remain governed by kings unto this day1 if a king had been a wrong thing in itself4 ,i think if we look carefully at the words of the story we shall see what this great sin of the ,jews was4 ,in the first place1 they asked ,samuel to give them a king--not ,god4 ,this was a sin1 ,i think2 but it was only the fruit of a deeper sin--a wrong way of looking at the whole question of kings and government4 ,and that deeper sin was this3 they were a free people1 and they wanted to become slaves4 ,god had made them a free people2 ,he had brought them up out of the land of ,egypt1 out of slavery to ,pharaoh4 ,he had given them a free constitution4 ,he had given them laws to secure safety1 and liberty1 and equal justice to rich and poor1 for themselves1 their property1 their children2 to defend them from oppression1 and over-taxation1 and all the miseries of misgovernment4 ,and now they were going to trample under foot ,god's inestimable gift of liberty4 ,they wanted a king like the nations round them1 they said4 ,they did not see that it was just their glory not to be like the nations round them in that4 ,we who live in a free country do not see the vast and inestimable difference between the ,jews and the other nations4 ,the ,jews were then1 perhaps1 so far as ,i can make out1 the only free people on the face of the earth4 ,the nations round them were like the nations in the ,east1 now governed by tyrants1 without law or parliament1 at the mercy of the will1 the fancy1 the lust1 the ambition1 and the cruelty of their despotic kings4 ,in fact1 they were as the ,eastern people now are--slaves governed by tyrants4 ,samuel warned the ,jews that it would be just the same with them2 that neither their property1 their families1 nor their liberty would be safe under the despots for whom they wished4 ,and yet1 in spite of that warning1 they would have a king4 ,and why8 ,because they did not like the trouble of being free4 ,they did not like the responsibility and the labour of taking care of themselves1 and asking counsel of ,god as to how they were to govern themselves4 ,so they were ready to sell themselves to a tyrant1 that he might fight for them1 and judge for them1 and take care of them1 while they just ate and drank1 and made money1 and lived like slaves1 careless of what happened to them or their country1 provided they could get food1 and clothes1 and money enough4 ,and as long as they got that1 if you will remark1 they were utterly careless as to what sort of king they had4 ,they said not one word to ,samuel about how much power their king was to have4 ,they made not the slightest inquiry as to whether ,saul was wise or foolish1 good or bad4 ,they did not ask ,god's counsel1 or trouble themselves about ,god2 so they proved themselves unworthy of being free4 ,they turned1 like a dog to his vomit1 and the sow to her wallowing in the mire1 cowardly back again into slavery2 and ,god gave them what they asked for4 ,he gave them the sort of king they wanted2 and bitterly they found out their mistake during several hundred years of continually increasing slavery and misery4 ,there is a deep lesson for us1 my friends1 in all this4 ,and that is1 that ,god's gifts are not fit for us1 unless we are more or less fit for them4 ,that to him that makes use of what he has1 more shall be given2 but from him who does not1 will be taken away even what he has4 ,and so even the inestimable gift of freedom is no use unless men have free hearts in them4 ,god sets a man free from his sins by faith in ,jesus ,christ2 but unless that man uses ,his grace1 unless he desires to be free inwardly as well as outwardly--to be free not only from the punishment of his sins1 but from the sins themselves2 unless he is willing to accept ,god's offer of freedom1 and go boldly to the throne of grace1 and there plead his cause with his heavenly ,father face to face1 without looking to any priest1 or saint1 or other third person to plead for him2 if1 in short1 a man has not a free spirit in him1 the grace of ,god will become of no effect in him1 and he will receive the spirit of bondage 7of slavery1 that is71 again to fear4 ,perhaps he will fall back more or less into popery and half-popish superstitions2 perhaps1 as we see daily round us1 he will fall back again into antinomianism1 into the slavery of those very sins from which ,god once delivered him4 ,and just the same is it with a nation4 ,when ,god has given a nation freedom1 then1 unless there be a free heart in the people and true independence1 which is dependence on ,god and not on man2 unless there be a spirit of justice1 mercy1 truth1 trust of ,god in them1 their freedom will be of no effect2 they will only fall back into slavery1 to be oppressed by fresh tyrants4 ,so it was with the great ,spanish colonies in ,south ,america a few years ago4 ,god gave them freedom from the tyranny of ,spain2 but what advantage was it to them8 ,because there was no righteousness in them2 because they were a cowardly1 profligate1 false1 and cruel people1 therefore they only became the slaves of their own lusts2 they turned ,god's great grace of freedom into licentiousness1 and have been ever since doing nothing but cutting each other's throats2 every man's hand against his own brother2 the slaves of tyrants far more cruel than those from whom they had escaped4 ,look at the ,french people1 too4 ,three times in the last sixty years has ,god delivered them from evil rulers1 and given them a chance of freedom2 and three times have they fallen back into fresh slavery4 ,and why8 ,because they will not be righteous2 because they will be proud1 boastful1 lustful1 godless1 cruel1 making a lie and loving it4 ,god help them6 ,we are not here to judge them1 but to take warning ourselves4 ,now there is no use in boasting of our ,english freedom1 unless we have free and righteous hearts in us2 for it is not constitutions1 and parliaments1 and charters which make a nation free2 they are only the shell1 the outside of freedom4 ,true freedom is of the heart and spirit1 and comes down from above1 from the ,spirit of ,god2 for where the ,spirit of ,god is1 there is liberty1 and there only4 ,oh1 every one of you6 high and low1 rich and poor1 pray and struggle to get your own hearts free2 free from the sins which beset us ,englishmen in these days2 free from pride1 prejudice1 and envy2 free from selfishness and covetousness2 free from unchastity and drunkenness2 free from the conceit that ,england is safe1 while all the rest of the world is shaking4 ,be sure that the spirit of freedom1 like every other good and perfect gift1 is from above1 and comes down from ,god1 the ,father of lights2 and that to keep that spirit with us1 we must keep ourselves worthy of it1 and not expect to remain free if we indulge ourselves in mean and slavish sins4 ,so the ,jews got the king they wanted--a king to look at and be proud of4 ,saul was1 we read1 a head taller than all the rest of the people1 and very handsome to look at4 ,and he was brave enough1 too1 in mere fighting1 when he was awakened and stirred up to act now and then2 but there was no wisdom in him2 no real trust in ,god in him4 ,he took ,god for an idol1 like the heathens' false gods1 which had to be pleased and kept in good humour by the smell of burnt sacrifices2 and not for a living1 righteous ,person1 who had to be obeyed4 ,we read of ,saul's misconduct in these respects1 in the thirteenth and fifteenth chapters of the ,first ,book of ,samuel4 ,that was only the beginning of his wickedness4 ,the worst points in his character1 as ,i shall show in my next sermon1 came out afterwards4 ,but still1 his disobedience was enough to make ,god cast him off1 and leave him to go his own way to ruin4 ,but ,god was not going to cast off ,his people whom ,he loved4 ,he deals not with mankind after their sins1 neither rewards them according to their iniquities2 and so he chose out for them a king after ,his own heart--a true king of ,god's making1 not a mere sham one of man's making4 ,you may think it strange why ,god should have given them a second king2 why1 as soon as ,saul died1 ,he did not let them return back to their old freedom4 ,but that is not ,god's way4 ,he brings good out of evil in ,his great mercy4 ,but it is always by strange winding paths4 ,his ways are not as our ways4 ,first1 ,god gives man what is perfectly proper for him at that time2 sets man in his right place2 and then when man falls from that1 ,god brings him1 not back to the place from which he fell1 but on forward into something far higher and better than what he fell from4 ,he put ,adam into ,paradise4 ,adam fell from it1 and ,god made use of the fall to bring him into a state far better than ,paradise--into the kingdom of ,god--into everlasting life--into the likeness of ,christ1 the new ,adam1 who is a quickening1 life-giving spirit1 while the old ,adam was1 at best1 only a living soul4 ,so with the church of ,christian men4 ,after the apostles' time1 and even during the apostles' time1 as we read from the ,epistle to the ,galatians1 they fell away1 step by step1 from the liberty of the gospel1 till they sunk entirely into popish superstition4 ,and yet ,god brought good out of that evil4 ,he made that very popery a means of bringing them back at the ,reformation into clearer light than any of the first ,christians ever had had4 ,he is going on step by step still1 bringing ,christians into a clearer knowledge of the gospel than even the ,reformers had4 ,and so with the ,jews4 ,they fell from their liberty and chose a king4 ,and yet ,god made use of those kings of theirs1 of ,david1 of ,solomon1 of ,josiah1 and ,hezekiah1 to teach them more and more about ,himself and ,his law1 and to teach all nations1 by their example1 what a nation should be1 and how ,he deals with one4 ,but now let us see what this true king1 ,david1 was like1 whom ,god chose1 that ,he might raise1 by his means1 the ,jews higher than they ever yet had been1 even in their days of freedom4 ,now remark1 in the first place1 that ,david was not the son of any very great man4 ,his father seems to have been only a yeoman4 ,he was not bred up in courts4 ,we find that when ,samuel was sent to anoint ,david king1 he was out keeping his father's sheep in the field4 ,and though1 no doubt1 he had shown signs of being a very remarkable youth from the first1 yet his father thought so little of him1 that he was going to pass him over1 and caused all his seven elder sons to pass before ,samuel for his choice first1 though there seems to have been nothing particular in them1 except that some of them were fine men and brave soldiers4 ,so ,david seems to have been overlooked1 and thought but little of in his youth--and a very good thing for him4 ,it is a good thing for a young man to bear the yoke in his youth1 that he may be kept humble and low2 that he may learn to trust in ,god1 and not in his own wit4 ,and even when ,samuel anointed ,david1 he anointed him privately4 ,his brothers did not know what a great honour was in store for him2 for we find1 in the lesson which we have just read1 that when ,david came down to the camp1 his elder brother spoke contemptuously to him1 and treated him as a child4 8,i know thy pride10 he said1 8and the naughtiness of thy heart4 ,thou art come down to see the battle40 ,while ,david answers humbly enough3 8,what have ,i done8 is there not a cause80 feeling that there was more in him than his brother gave him credit for2 though he dare not tell his brother1 hardly1 perhaps1 dare believe himself1 what great things ,god had prepared for him4 ,so it is yet--a prophet has no honour in his own country4 ,how many a noble-hearted man there is1 who is looked down upon by those round him6 ,how many a one is despised for a dreamer1 or for a ,methodist1 by shallow worldly people1 who in ,god's sight is of very great price6 ,but ,god sees not as man sees4 ,he makes use of the weak people of this world to confound the strong4 ,he sends about ,his errands not many noble1 not many mighty2 but the poor man1 rich in faith1 like ,david4 ,he puts down the mighty from their seat1 and exalts the humble and meek4 ,he takes the beggar from the dunghill1 that ,he may set him among the princes of ,his people4 ,so ,he has been doing in all ages4 ,so ,he will do even now1 in some measure1 with everyone like ,david1 let him be as low as he will in the opinion of this foolish world1 who yet puts his trust utterly in ,god1 and goes about all his work1 as ,david did1 in the name of the ,lord of hosts4 ,oh6 if a poor man feels that ,god has given him wit and wisdom--feels in him the desire to rise and better himself in life1 let him be sure that the only way to rise is ,david's plan--to keep humble and quiet till ,god shall lift him up1 trusting in ,god's righteousness and love to raise him1 and deliver him1 and put him in that station1 be it high or low1 in which he will be best able to do ,god's work1 or serve ,god's glory4 ,and now for the chapter from which the text is taken1 which relates to us ,david's first great public triumph--his victory over ,goliath the giant4 ,i will not repeat it to you1 because everyone here who has ears to hear or a heart to feel ought to have been struck with every word in that glorious story4 ,all ,i will try to do is1 to show you how the working of ,god's ,spirit comes out in ,david in every action of his on that glorious day4 ,we saw just now ,david's humbleness and gentleness1 the fruits of ,god's ,spirit in him1 in his answer to his proud and harsh brother4 ,look next at ,david's spirit of trust in ,god1 which1 indeed1 is the key to his whole life2 that is the reason why he was the man after ,god's own heart--not for any virtues of his own1 but for his unshaken continual faith in ,god4 ,david saw in an instant why the ,israelites were so afraid of the giant2 because they had no faith in ,god4 ,they forgot that they were the armies of the living ,god4 ,david did not3 8,who is this uncircumcised1 that he shall defy the armies of the living ,god80 ,and therefore1 when ,saul tried to dissuade him from attacking the ,philistine1 his answer is still the same--full of faith in ,god4 ,he knew well enough what a fearful undertaking it was to fight with this giant1 nearly ten feet high1 armed from head to foot with mail1 which perhaps no sword or spear which he could use could pierce4 ,it was no wonder1 humanly speaking1 that all the ,jews fled from him--that his being there stopped the whole battle4 ,in these days1 fifty such men would make no difference in a battle2 bullets and cannon-shot would mow down them like other men3 but in those old times1 before firearms were invented1 when all battles were hand-to-hand fights1 and depended so much on each man's strength and courage1 that one champion would often decide the victory for a whole army1 the amount of courage which was required in ,david is past our understanding2 at least we may say1 ,david would not have had it but for his trust in ,god1 but for his feeling that he was on ,god's side1 and ,goliath on the devil's side1 unjustly invading his country in self-conceit1 and cruelty1 and lawlessness4 ,therefore he tells ,saul of his victory over the lion and the bear4 ,you see again1 here1 the ,spirit of ,god showing in his modesty4 ,he does not boast or talk of his strength and courage in killing the lion and the bear2 for he knew that that strength and courage came from ,god1 not from himself2 therefore he says that the ,lord delivered him from them4 ,he knew that he had been only doing his duty in facing them when they attacked his father's sheep1 and that it was ,god's mercy which had protected him in doing his duty4 ,he felt now1 that if no one else would face this brutal giant1 it was his duty1 poor1 simple1 weak youth as he was1 and therefore he trusted in ,god to bring him safe through this danger also4 ,but look again how the ,spirit of ,god shows in his prudence4 ,he would not use ,saul's armour1 good as it might be1 because he was not accustomed to it4 ,he would use his own experience1 and fight with the weapons to which he had been accustomed--a sling and stone4 ,you see he was none of those presumptuous and fanatical dreamers who tempt ,god by fancying that ,he is to go out of ,his way to work miracles for them4 ,he used all the proper and prudent means to kill the giant1 and trusted to ,god to bless them4 ,if he had been presumptuous1 he might have taken the first stone that came to hand1 or taken only one1 or taken none at all1 and expected the giant to fall down dead by a miracle4 ,but no2 he chooses five smooth stones out of the brook4 ,he tried to get the best that he could1 and have more ready if his first shot failed4 ,he showed no distrust of ,god in that2 for he trusted in ,god to keep him cool1 and steady1 and courageous in the fight1 and that1 he knew1 ,god alone could do4 ,the only place1 perhaps1 where he could strike ,goliath to hurt him was on the face1 because every other part of him was covered in metal armour4 ,and he knew that1 in such danger as he was1 ,god's ,spirit only could keep his eye clear and his hand steady for such a desperate chance as hitting that one place4 ,so he went2 and as he went his courage rose higher and higher2 for unto him that hath shall more be given2 and so he began to boast too--but not of himself1 like the giant4 ,he boasted of the living ,god1 who was with him4 ,he ran boldly up to the ,philistine1 and at the first throw1 struck on the forehead1 and felled him dead4 ,so it is2 many a time the very blessing which we expect to get only with great difficulty1 ,god gives us at our first trial1 to show that ,he is the ,giver1 to cheer up our poor doubting hearts1 and show us that ,he is able1 and willing too1 to give exceeding abundantly more than we can ask or think4 ,so ,david triumphed3 and yet that triumph was only the beginning of his troubles4 ,sad and weary years had he to struggle on before he gained the kingdom which ,god had promised him4 ,so it is often with ,god's elect4 ,he gives them blessings at first1 to show them that ,he is really with them2 and then ,he lets them be evil-entreated by tyrants1 and suffer persecution1 and wander out of the way in the wilderness1 that they may be made perfect by suffering1 and purified1 as gold is in the refiner's fire1 from all selfishness1 conceit1 ambition1 cowardliness1 till they learn to trust ,god utterly1 to know their own weakness1 and ,his strength1 and to work only for ,him1 careless what becomes of their own poor worthless selves1 provided they can help ,his kingdom to come1 and get ,his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven4 ,and now1 my friends1 surely there is a lesson in all this for you4 ,do you wish to rise like ,david8 ,of course not one in ten thousand can rise as high1 but we may all rise somewhat1 if not in rank1 yet still1 what is far better1 in spirit1 in wisdom1 in usefulness1 in manfulness4 ,do you wish to rise so8 then follow ,david's example4 ,be truly brave1 be truly modest1 and in order to be truly brave and truly modest1 that is1 be truly manly1 be truly godly4 ,trust in ,god2 trust in ,god2 that is the key to all greatness4 ,courage1 modesty1 truth1 honesty1 and gentleness2 all things1 which are noble1 lovely1 and of good report2 all things1 in short1 which will make you men after ,god's own heart1 are all only the different fruits of that one blessed life-giving root--,,faith ,,in ,,god4 ,,xxv4 ,,david',s ,,education4 ,made perfect through sufferings4--,,hebrews ii4 #aj4 ,,that is my text2 and a very fit one for another sermon about ,david1 the king after ,god's own heart4 ,and a very fit one too1 for any sermon preached to people living in this world now or at any time4 8,a melancholy text10 you will say4 ,but what if it be melancholy8 ,that is not the fault of me1 the preacher4 ,the preacher did not make suffering1 did not make disappointment1 doubt1 ignorance1 mistakes1 oppression1 poverty1 sickness4 ,there they are1 whether we like it or not4 ,you have only to go on to the common here1 or any other common or town in ,england1 to see too much of them--enough to break one's heart if--1 but ,i will not hurry on too fast in what ,i have to say4 ,what ,i want to make you recollect is1 that misery is here round us1 in us4 ,a great deal which we bring on ourselves2 and a great deal more misery which we do not1 as far as we can see1 bring on ourselves2 but which comes1 nevertheless1 and lets us know plainly enough that it is close to us4 ,every man and woman of us have their sorrows4 ,there is no use shutting our eyes just when we ourselves happen to feel tolerably easy1 and saying1 as too many do1 8,i don't see so very much sorrow2 ,i am happy enough60 ,are you1 friend1 happy enough8 ,so much the worse for you1 perhaps4 ,but at all events your neighbours are not happy enough2 most of them are only too miserable4 ,it is a sad world4 ,a sad world1 and full of tears4 ,it is4 ,and you must not be angry with the preacher for reminding you of what is4 ,true2 you would have a right to quarrel with the preacher or anyone else who made you sorrowful with the thoughts of the sorrow round you1 and then gave you no explanation of it--told you of no use1 no blessing in it1 no deliverance from it4 ,that would be enough to break any man's heart1 if all the preacher could say was3 8,this wretchedness1 and sickness1 and death1 must go on as long as the world lasts1 and yet it does no good1 for ,god or man40 ,that thought would drive any feeling man to despair1 tempt him to lie down and die1 tempt him to fancy that ,god was not ,god at all1 not the ,god whose name is ,love1 not the ,god who is our ,father1 but only a cruel taskmaster1 and ,lord of a miserable hell on earth1 where men and women1 and worst of all1 little children1 were tortured daily by tens of thousands without reason1 or use1 or hope of deliverance1 except in a future world1 where not one in ten of them will be saved and happy4 ,that is many people's notion of the world--religious people's even4 ,how they can believe1 in the face of such notions1 8that ,god is love20 how they can help going mad with pity1 if that is all the hope they have for poor human beings1 is more than ,i can tell4 ,not that ,i judge them--to their own master they stand or fall3 but this ,i do say1 that if the preacher has no better hope to give you about this poor earth1 then ,i cannot tell what right he has to call himself a preacher of the gospel--that is1 a preacher of good news2 then ,i do not know what ,jesus ,christ's dying to take away the sins of the world means2 then ,i do not know what the kingdom of ,god means2 then ,i do not know why the ,lord taught us to pray1 8,thy kingdom come1 ,thy will be done on earth1 as it is in heaven10 if the only way in which that can be brought about is by ,his sending ninety-nine hundredths of mankind to endless torture1 over and above all the lesser misery which they have suffered in this life4 ,what will be the end of the greater part of mankind we do not know2 we were not intended to know4 ,god is love1 and ,god is justice1 and ,his justice is utterly loving1 as well as ,his love utterly just2 so we may very safely leave the world in the hands of ,him who made the world1 and be sure that the ,judge of all the earth will do right1 and that what is right is certain never to be cruel1 but rather merciful4 ,but to every one of you who are here now1 a preacher has a right1 ay1 and a bounden duty1 to say much more than that4 ,he is bound to tell you good news1 because ,god has called you into ,his church1 and sent you here this day1 to hear good news4 ,he has a right to tell you1 as ,i tell you now1 that1 strange as it may seem1 whatsoever sufferings you endure are sent to make you perfect1 even as your ,father in heaven is perfect2 even as the blessed ,lord1 whom may you all love1 and trust1 and worship1 for ever and ever1 was made perfect by sufferings1 even though ,he was the sinless ,son of ,god4 ,consider that4 8,it behoved ,him10 says ,st4 ,paul1 8the ,captain of our salvation1 to be made perfect through sufferings40 ,and why8 8,because10 answers ,st4 ,paul1 8it was proper for ,him to be made in all things like ,his brothers0--like us1 the children of ,god--8that ,he might be a faithful and merciful high priest20 for1 just 8because ,he has suffered being tempted1 ,he is able to succour us who are tempted40 ,a strange text1 but one which1 ,i think1 this very history of ,david's troubles will help us to understand4 ,for it was by suffering1 long and bitter1 that ,god trained up ,david to be a true king1 a king over the ,jews1 8after ,god's own heart40 ,you all know1 ,i hope1 something at least of ,david's psalms4 ,many of them1 seven of them at least1 were written during ,david's wanderings in the mountains1 when ,saul was persecuting him to kill him1 day after day1 month after month1 as you may read in the ,first ,book of ,samuel1 from chapters xix4 to xxviii4 ,bitter enough these troubles of ,david would have been to any man1 but what must have made them especially bitter and confusing to him was1 that they all arose out of his righteousness4 ,because he had conquered the giant1 ,saul envied him--broke his promise of giving ,david his daughter ,merab--put his life into extreme danger from the ,philistines1 before he would give him his second daughter ,michal2 the more he saw that the ,lord was with ,david1 and that the young man won respect and admiration by behaving himself wisely1 the more afraid of him ,saul was2 again and again he tried to kill him2 as ,david was sitting harmless in ,saul's house1 soothing the poor madman by the music of his harp1 ,saul tries to stab him unawares2 and not content with that proceeds deliberately to hunt him down1 from town to town1 and wilderness to wilderness2 sends soldiers after him to murder him2 at last goes out after him himself with his guards4 ,was not all this enough to try ,david's faith8 ,hardly any man1 ,i suppose1 since the world was made1 had found righteousness pay him less2 no man was ever more tempted to turn round and do evil1 since doing good only brought him deeper and deeper into the mire4 ,but no1 we know that he did not lose his trust in ,god2 for we have seven psalms1 at least1 which he wrote during these very wanderings of his2 the fifty-second1 when ,doeg had betrayed him to ,saul2 the fifty-fourth1 when ,ziphim betrayed him2 the fifty-sixth1 when the ,philistines took him in ,gath2 the fifty-seventh1 8when he fled from ,saul in the cave20 the fifty-ninth1 8when they watched the house to kill him20 the sixty-third1 8when he was in the wilderness of ,judah20 the thirty-fourth1 8when he was driven away by ,abimelech20 and several more which appear to have been written about the same time4 ,now1 what strikes us first1 or ought to strike us1 in these psalms1 is ,david's utter faith in ,god4 ,i do not mean to say that ,david had not his sad days1 when he gave himself up for lost1 and when ,god seemed to have forsaken him1 and forgotten his promise4 ,he was a man of like passions with ourselves2 and therefore he was1 as we should have been1 terrified and faint-hearted at times4 ,but exactly what ,god was teaching and training him to be1 was not to be fainthearted--not to be terrified4 ,he began in his youth by trusting ,god4 ,that made him the man after ,god's own heart1 just as it was the want of trust in ,god which made ,saul not the man after ,god's own heart1 and lost him his kingdom4 ,in all those wanderings and dangers of ,david's in the wilderness1 ,god was training1 and educating1 and strengthening ,david's faith according to ,his great law3 ,to whomsoever hath shall be given1 and he shall have more abundantly2 but from him that hath not1 shall be taken away even that which he seems to have4 ,and the first great fruit of ,david's firm trust in ,god was his patience4 ,he learned to wait ,god's time1 and take ,god's way1 and be sure that the same ,god who had promised that he should be king1 would make him king when he saw fit4 ,he knew1 as he says himself1 that the ,strength of ,israel could not lie or repent4 ,he had sworn that ,he would not fail ,david4 ,and he learned that ,god had sworn by ,his holiness4 ,he was a holy1 just1 righteous ,god2 and ,david and ,david's country now were safe in ,his hands4 ,it was his firm trust in ,god which gave him strength of mind to use no unfair means to right himself4 ,twice ,saul1 his enemy1 was in his power4 ,what a temptation to him to kill ,saul1 rid himself of his tormentor1 and perhaps get the kingdom at once6 ,but no4 ,he felt3 8,this ,saul is a wicked1 devil-tormented murderer1 a cruel tyrant and oppressor2 but the same ,god who chose me to be king next1 chose him to be king now4 ,he is the ,lord's anointed4 ,god put him where he is1 and leaves him there for some good purpose2 and when ,god has done with him1 ,god will take him away1 and free this poor oppressed people2 and in the meantime1 ,i1 as a private man1 have no right to touch him4 ,i must not do evil that good may come4 ,if ,i am to be a true king1 a true man at all hereafter1 ,i must keep true now2 if ,i am to be a righteous lawgiver hereafter1 ,i must respect and obey law myself now4 ,the ,lord be judge between me and ,saul2 for ,he is ,judge1 and ,he will right me better than ,i can ever right myself40 ,and thus did trust in ,god bring out in ,david that true respect for law1 without which a king1 let him be as kind-hearted as he will1 is but too likely to become at last a tyrant and an oppressor4 ,but another thing which strikes any thinking man in ,david's psalms1 is his strong feeling for the poor1 and the afflicted1 and the oppressed4 ,that is what makes the ,psalms1 above all1 the poor man's book1 the afflicted man's book4 ,but how did he get that fellow-feeling for the fallen8 ,by having fallen himself1 and tasted affliction and oppression4 ,that was how he was educated to be a true king4 ,that was how he became a picture and pattern--a 8type10 as some call it1 of ,jesus ,christ1 the man of sorrows4 ,that is why so many of ,david's psalms apply so well to the ,lord2 why the ,lord fulfilled those psalms when ,he was on earth4 ,david was truly a man of sorrows2 for he had not only the burden of his own sorrows to bear1 but that of many others4 ,his parents had to escape1 and to be placed in safety at the court of a heathen prince4 ,his friend ,abimelech the priest1 because he gave ,david bread when he was starving1 and ,goliath's sword--which1 after all1 was ,david's own--was murdered by ,saul's hired ruffians1 at ,saul's command1 and with him his whole family1 and all the priests of the town1 with their wives and children1 even to the baby at the breast4 ,and when ,david was in the mountains1 everyone who was distressed1 and in debt1 and discontented1 gathered themselves to him1 and he became their captain2 so that he had on him all the responsibility1 care1 and anxiety of managing all those wild1 starving men1 many of them1 perhaps1 reckless and wicked men1 ready every day to quarrel among themselves1 or to break out in open riot and robbery against the people who had oppressed them2 for--7and this1 too1 we may see from ,david's psalms1 was not the smallest part of his anxiety7--the nation of the ,jews seems to have been in a very wretched state in ,david's time4 ,the poor seem in general to have lost their land1 and to have become all but slaves to rich nobles1 who were grinding them down1 not only by luxury and covetousness1 but often by open robbery and bloodshed4 ,the sight of the misrule and misery1 as well as of the bloody and ruinous border inroads which were kept up by the ,philistines and other neighbouring tribes1 seems for years to have been the uppermost1 as well as the deepest thought in ,david's mind1 if we may judge from those psalms of his1 of which this is the key-note2 and it was not likely to make him care and feel less about all that misery when he remembered 7as we see from his psalms he remembered daily7 that ,god had set him1 the wandering outlaw1 no less a task than to mend it all2 to put down all that oppression1 to raise up that degradation1 to train all that cowardice into self-respect and valour1 to knit into one united nation1 bound together by fellow-feeling and common faith in ,god1 that mob of fierce1 and greedy1 and 7hardest task of all1 as he himself felt7 utterly deceitful men4 ,no wonder that his psalms begin often enough with sadness1 even though they may end in hope and trust4 ,he had a work around him and before him which ought to have made his heart sad1 which was a great part of his appointed education1 and helped to make him perfect by sufferings4 ,and so1 upon the bare hill-side1 in woods and caves of the earth1 in cold and hunger1 in weariness and dread of death1 did ,david learn to be the poor man's king1 the poor man's poet1 the singer of those psalms which shall endure as long as the world endures1 and be the comfort and the utterance of all sad hearts for evermore4 ,agony it was1 deep and bitter1 and for the moment more hopeless than the grave itself1 which crushed out of the very depths of his heart that most awful and yet most blessed psalm1 the twenty-second1 which we read in church every ,good ,friday4 ,the 8,hind of the ,morning0 is its title2 some mournful air to which ,david sang it1 giving1 perhaps1 the notion of a timorous deer roused in the morning by the hunters and the hounds4 ,we read that psalm on ,good ,friday1 and all say that our ,lord ,jesus ,christ fulfilled it4 ,what do we mean hereby8 ,we mean hereby1 that we believe that our ,lord ,jesus ,christ fulfilled all sorrows which man can taste4 ,he filled the cup of misery to the brim1 and drained it to the dregs4 ,he was afflicted in all ,david's afflictions1 in the afflictions of all mankind4 ,he bare all their sicknesses1 and carried all their infirmities2 and therefore we read this psalm upon ,good ,friday1 upon the day in which ,he tasted death for every man1 and went down into the lowest depths of terror1 and shame1 and agony1 and death2 and1 worst of all1 into the feeling that ,god had forsaken ,him1 that there was no help or hope for ,him in heaven1 as well as earth--no care or love in the great ,god1 whose ,son ,he was--went down1 in a word1 into hell2 that hell whereof ,david and ,heman1 and ,hezekiah after them1 had said1 8,shall the dust give thanks unto thee8 and shall it declare thy truth80--8,thou wilt not leave my soul in hell2 neither wilt thou suffer thy ,holy ,one to see corruption40--8,my life draweth nigh unto hell4 4 4 ,i am like one stript among the dead1 like the slain that lie in the grave1 whom thou rememberest no more2 and they are cut off from thy hand4 4 4 4 ,wilt thou show wonders to the dead8 and shall the dead arise and praise thee8 ,shall thy wonders be known in the dark8 and thy righteousness in the land of destruction80--8,for the grave cannot praise thee2 death cannot celebrate thee3 they that go down to the pit cannot hope for thy truth40 ,even into that lowest darkness1 where man feels1 even for one moment1 that ,god is nothing to him1 and he is nothing to ,god--even into that ,jesus condescended to go down for us4 ,that worst of all temptations1 of which ,david only tasted a drop when he cried out1 8,my ,god1 my ,god1 why hast thou forsaken me80 ,jesus drained to the very dregs for us4--,he went down into hell for us1 and conquered hell and death1 and the darkness of the unknown world1 and rose again glorious from them1 that ,he might teach us not to fear death and hell2 that ,he might know how to comfort us in the hour of death3 and in the day of judgment1 when on our sick bed1 or in some bitter shame and trouble1 the lying devil is telling us that we are damned and lost1 and forsaken by ,god1 and every sin we ever did rises up and stares us in the face4 ,truly ,he is a king6--a king for rich and poor1 young and old1 ,englishmen and negro2 all alike ,he knows them1 ,he feels for them1 ,he has tasted sorrow for them1 far more than ,david did for those poor1 oppressed1 sinful ,jews of his4 ,read those ,psalms of ,david2 for they speak not only of ,david1 now long since dead and gone1 but of the blessed ,jesus1 who lives and reigns over us now at this very moment4 ,read them1 for they are inspired2 the honest words of a servant of ,god crying out to the same ,god1 the same ,saviour and ,deliverer as we have4 ,and ,his love has not changed4 ,his arm is not shortened that ,he cannot save4 ,your words need not change4 ,the words of those psalms in which ,david prayed1 in them you and ,i may pray4 ,right out of the depths of his poor distracted heart they came4 ,let them come out of our hearts too4 ,they belong to us more than even they did to the ,jews1 for whom ,david wrote them--more than even they did to ,david himself2 for ,jesus has fulfilled them--filled them full--given them boundlessly more meaning than ever they had before1 and given us more hope in using them than ever ,david had3 for now that love and righteousness of ,god1 in which ,david only trusted beforehand1 has come down and walked on this earth in the shape of a poor man1 ,jesus ,christ1 the ,son of the maiden of ,bethlehem4 ,oh1 you who are afflicted1 pray to ,god in those psalms2 not merely in the words of them1 but in the spirit of them4 ,and to do that1 you must get from ,god the spirit in which ,david wrote them--the ,spirit of ,god4 ,pray for that ,spirit2 for the spirit of patience1 which made ,david wait ,god's good time to right him1 instead of trying1 as too many do1 to right himself by wrong means2 for the spirit of love1 which taught ,david to return good for evil2 for the spirit of fellow-feeling1 which taught ,david to care for others as well as himself2 and in that spirit of love1 do you pray for others while you are praying for yourself4 ,pray for that ,spirit which taught ,david to help and comfort those who were weaker than himself1 that you in your time may be able and willing to comfort and help those who are weaker than yourselves4 ,and above all1 pray for the ,spirit of faith1 which made ,david certain that oppression and wrong-doing could not stand2 that the day must surely come when ,god would judge the world righteously1 and hear the cry of the afflicted1 and deliver the outcast and poor1 that the man of the world might be no more exalted against them4 ,pray1 in short1 for the ,spirit of ,christ2 and then be sure ,he will hear your prayers1 and answer them1 and show ,himself a better friend1 and a truer ,king to you1 than ever ,david showed himself to those poor ,jews of old4 ,he will deliver you out of all your troubles--if not in this life1 yet surely in the life to come2 and though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death1 yet the peace of ,god shall keep your hearts and minds in ,him who loved you1 and gave ,himself for you1 that you might inherit all heaven and earth in ,him4 ,,xxvi4 ,,the ,,value ,,of ,,law4 ,let every soul be subject unto the higher powers4 ,for there is no power but of ,god4 ,the powers that be are ordained of ,god4--,,romans xiii4 #a4 ,,what is the difference between a civilised man and a savage8 ,you will say3 ,a civilised man can read and write2 he has books and education2 he knows how to make numberless things which makes his life comfortable to him4 ,he can get wealth1 and build great towns1 sink mines1 sail the sea in ships1 spread himself over the face of the earth1 or bring home all its treasures1 while the savages remain poor1 and naked1 and miserable1 and ignorant1 fixed to the land in which they chance to have been born4 ,true3 but we must go a little deeper still4 ,why does the savage remain poor and wretched1 while the civilised people become richer and more prosperous8 ,why1 for instance1 do the poor savage gipsies never grow more comfortable or wiser--each generation of them remaining just as low as their forefathers were1 or1 indeed1 getting lower and fewer8 for the gipsies1 like all savages1 are becoming fewer and fewer year by year1 while1 on the other hand1 we ,english increase in numbers1 and in wealth1 and knowledge2 and fresh inventions are found out year by year1 which give fresh employment and make life more safe and more pleasant4 ,this is the reason3 ,that the ,english have laws and obey them1 and the gipsies have none4 ,this is the whole secret4 ,this is why savages remain poor and miserable1 that each man does what he likes without law4 ,this is why civilised nations like ,england thrive and prosper1 because they have laws and obey them1 and every man does not do what he likes1 but what the law likes4 ,laws are made not for the good of one person here1 or the other person there1 but for the good of all2 and1 therefore1 the very notion of a civilised country is1 a country in which people cannot do what they like with their own1 as the savages do4 8,not do what he likes with his own80 ,certainly not2 no one can or does4 ,if you have property1 you cannot spend it all as you like4 ,you have to pay a part of it to the government1 that is1 into the common stock1 for the common good1 in the shape of rates and taxes1 before you can spend any of it on yourself4 ,if you take wages1 you cannot spend them all upon yourself and do what you like with them4 ,if you do not support your wife and family out of them1 the law will punish you4 ,you cannot do what you like with your own gun1 for you may not shoot your neighbour's cattle or game with it4 ,you cannot do what you like with your own hands1 for the law forbids you to steal with them4 ,you cannot do what you like with your own feet1 for the law will punish you for trespassing on your neighbour's ground without his leave4 ,in short1 you can only do with your own what will not hurt your neighbour1 in such matters as the law can take care of4 ,and more1 in any great necessity the law may actually hurt you for the good of the nation at large4 ,the law may compel you to sell your land1 to your own injury1 if it is wanted for a railroad4 ,the law may compel you1 as it did fifty years ago1 to serve as a soldier in the militia1 to your own injury1 if there is a fear of foreign invasion2 so that the law is above each and all of us4 ,our own wills are not our masters4 ,no man is his own master4 ,the law is the master of each and all of us1 and if we will not obey it willingly1 it can make us obey unwillingly4 ,can make us8 ,ay1 but ought it to make us8 ,is it right that the law should over-ride our own free wills1 and prevent our doing what we like with our own8 ,it is right--absolutely right4 ,st4 ,paul tells us what gives law this authority3 8,there is no power but of ,god4 ,the powers that be are ordained of ,god40 ,and he tells us also why this authority is given to the law4 8,rulers10 he says1 8are not a terror to good works1 but to evil4 ,wilt thou then not be afraid of those who administer the law8 ,do that which is good1 and thou shalt have praise from them1 for they are ,god's ministers to thee for good40 ,for good1 you see4 ,for the good of mankind it was1 that ,god put into their hearts and reasons1 that notion of making laws1 and appointing kings and magistrates to see that those laws are obeyed4 ,for our good4 ,for without law no man's life1 or family1 or property would be safe4 ,every man's private selfishness1 and greediness1 and anger1 would struggle without check to have its way1 and there would be no bar or curb to keep each and every man from injuring each and every man else2 so the strong would devour the weak1 and then tear each other in pieces afterwards4 ,so it is among the savages4 ,they have little or no property1 for they have no laws to protect property2 and therefore every man expects his neighbour to steal from him1 and finds it his shortest plan to steal from his neighbour1 instead of settling down to sow corn which he will have no chance of eating1 or build houses which may be taken from him at night by some more strong and cunning savage4 ,there is no law among savages to protect women and children against the men1 and therefore the women are treated worse than beasts1 and the children murdered to save the trouble of rearing them4 ,every man's hand is against his neighbour4 ,no one feels himself safe1 and therefore no one thinks it worth while to lay up for the morrow4 ,no one expects justice and mercy to be done to him1 and therefore no one thinks it worth while to do justice and mercy to others4 ,and thus they live in continual fear and quarrelling1 feeding like wild animals on game or roots1 often1 when they have bad luck in their hunting1 on offal which our dogs would refuse1 and dwindle away and become fewer and wretcheder year by year2 in this way do the savages in ,new ,south ,wales live to this day1 for want of law4 ,it is for our good1 then1 that ,god has put into the heart of man to make laws1 and to obey them as sacred and divine things4 ,for our good1 in order to save us from sinking down into the same state of poverty and misery in which the savages are4 ,for our good1 because we are fallen creatures1 with selfish and corrupt wills1 continually apt to break loose1 and please ourselves at the expense of our neighbours4 ,for our good1 because1 however fallen we are1 we are still brothers1 members of ,god's family1 bound to each other by duty and relationship1 if not by love4 ,just as in a family1 if parents1 brothers1 and sisters will not do their duty to each other lovingly and of their free will1 the law interferes1 and the custom of the country interferes1 and the opinion of neighbours interferes1 and says3 8,you may not love your parents3 but you have no right to leave them to starve40 8,you may not love your brothers3 but if you try to injure and slander them1 you are doing an unnatural and hateful thing1 abhorred by ,god and man1 and you must expect us to treat you accordingly1 as a wild beast who does not feel the common laws of nature and right and wrong40 ,so with the law of the land4 ,the law is meant to remind us more or less that we are brothers1 members of one body2 that we owe a duty to each other2 that we are all equal in ,god's sight1 who is no respecter of persons1 or of rank1 or of riches1 any more than the law is when it punishes the greatest nobleman as severely as the poorest labourer4 ,the law is meant to remind us that ,god is just2 that when we injure each other1 we sin against ,god2 that ,god's rule and law is1 that each transgression should receive its just reward1 and that1 therefore1 because man is made in the likeness of ,god1 man is bound1 as far as he can1 to visit every offence with due and proportionate punishment4 ,and the law punishes1 as ,st4 ,paul says1 in ,god's name1 and for ,god's sake4 ,the magistrate is a witness for ,god's righteous government of the world1 the minister of ,god's vengeance against evil-doers1 to remind all continually that evil-doing has no place1 and cannot prosper1 and must not be allowed1 upon this ,god's earth whereon we live4 ,but what if the laws are unfair1 and punish only some sorts of evil-doers and not others8 ,what if they are like spiders' webs1 which catch the little flies1 and let the great wasps break through8 ,what if they punish poor and weak offenders1 and let the rich and powerful sinners escape8 8,obey them still10 says ,st4 ,paul4 ,in his time and country the laws were as unfair in that way as laws ever were1 and yet he tells ,christians to obey them for conscience's sake4 ,thank ,god that they do punish weak offenders4 ,pray ,god that the time may come when they may be strong enough to punish great offenders also4 ,but1 in the meantime1 see that they have not to punish you4 ,as far as the laws go1 they are right and good4 ,as far as they keep down any sort of wrong-doing whatsoever1 they are ,god's ordinances1 and you must obey them for ,god's sake4 ,but what if the laws are not only unfair and partial1 but also unjust and wrong8 ,are we to obey them then8 ,obey them still1 says ,st4 ,paul4 ,of course1 if they command you to do a clearly wrong thing2 if1 for instance1 the law commanded you to worship idols1 or to commit adultery1 there is no question then2 such laws cannot be ,god's ordinance4 ,the laws can only be ,god's ordinance as far as they agree with what we know of ,god's will written in our hearts1 and written in ,his holy ,bible4 ,then a man must resist the law to the death1 if need be1 as the old martyrs did1 dying as witnesses for ,god's righteous and eternal law1 against man's false and unrighteous law4 ,it is a very difficult thing1 no doubt1 to tell where to draw the line in such matters4 ,but we1 thank ,god1 here in ,england now1 have no need to puzzle our heads with such questions4 ,every man's conscience is free here1 and he has full liberty to worship ,god as he thinks best1 provided that by so doing he does not interfere with his neighbour's character1 or property1 or comfort4 ,there is no single law in ,england now1 that ,i know of1 which a man has any need to refuse to obey1 let his conscience be as tender as it may4 ,and as for laws which we think hurtful to the country1 or hurtful to any particular class in the country1 our thinking them hurtful is no reason that we should not obey them4 ,as long as they are law1 they are ,god's ordinance1 and we have no right to break them4 ,they may be useful after all4 ,or even if they are hurtful in some way1 still ,god may be bringing good out of them in some other way1 of which we little dream1 as ,he has often done out of laws and customs which seem at first sight most foolish and hurtful1 and yet which ,he endured and winked at1 for the sake of bringing good out of evil4 ,at all events1 whatsoever laws are here in ,england1 are made by the men whom we ,english have chosen1 as the men most fit and wise to make them1 and we are bound to abide by them4 ,if ,parliament is not wise enough to make perfectly good laws1 that is no one's fault but our own2 for if we were wise1 we should choose wise law-makers1 and we must be filled with the fruit of our own devices4 ,as long as these laws have been made and passed1 by ,commons1 ,lords1 and ,queen1 according to the ancient forms and constitution which ,god has taught our forefathers from time to time for more than a thousand years1 and which have had ,god's blessing and favour on them1 and made us1 from the least of all nations1 the greatest nation on the earth2 in short1 as long as those laws are made according to law1 so long we are bound to believe them to be ,god's ordinance1 and obey them4 ,but understand2 that is no reason why we should not try to get them improved2 for when they are changed and done away according to the same law which made them1 that will be a sign that they are ,god's ordinances no longer2 that ,god thinks we have no more need for them1 and does not require us to keep them4 ,but as long as any law is what ,st4 ,paul calls 8the powers that be10 obeyed it must be1 not only for wrath1 but for conscience's sake4 ,that is a very important part of the matter4 ,obey the law1 ,st4 ,paul says1 not only for wrath1 that is1 not only for fear of punishment1 but for conscience's sake4 ,even if you do not expect to be punished2 even if you think no one will ever find out that you have broken the law1 remember it is ,god's ordinance4 ,he sees you4 ,do not hurt your own conscience1 and deaden your own sense of right and wrong1 by breaking the least or the most unjust law in the slightest point4 ,for instance3 some people think the income-tax is very unfair2 and therefore they think there is no harm in cheating the revenue a little1 by making out their income less than it is4 ,others1 again1 think the laws against smuggling unjust and harsh2 and therefore they see no harm in trying to avoid paying duty on goods which they bring home1 whenever they have an opportunity1 or buying cheap goods1 which they must know from their price are smuggled4 ,others1 again1 think the game laws are unfair1 and therefore see no harm in going out shooting on their own lands without a licence2 while many see no harm1 or say they see no harm1 in poaching on other people's grounds1 and killing game contrary to law wherever they can4 ,that it is wrong to break the law in these two first cases1 you all know in your own hearts4 ,on the matter of poaching1 some of you1 ,i know1 have many very mistaken notions4 ,but1 my friends1 ,i ask you only to look at the sin and misery which poaching causes1 if you want to see that those who break the law do indeed break the ordinance of ,god1 and that ,god's laws avenge themselves4 ,look at the idleness1 the untidiness1 the deceit1 the bad company1 the drunkenness1 the misery and sin1 to man1 woman1 and child1 which that same poaching brings about1 and then see how one little sin brings on many great ones2 how a man1 by despising the authority of law1 and fancying that he does no harm in disobeying the laws1 from his own fancy about poaching being no harm1 falls into temptation and a snare1 and pierces himself through with many sorrows4 ,my young friends1 believe my words4 ,avoid poaching1 even once in a way4 ,the beginning of sin is like the letting out of water2 no one can tell where it will stop4 ,he who breaks the law in little things will be tempted to go on and break it in greater and greater things4 ,he who begins by breaking man's law1 which is the pattern of ,god's law1 will be tempted to go on and break ,god's law also4 ,is it not so8 ,there is no use telling me1 8,the game is no one's2 there is no harm in taking it40 ,light words of that kind will not do to answer ,god with4 ,you know there is harm in taking it2 for you know1 as well as ,i do1 that you cannot go after game without neglecting your work to get it2 or without going to the worst of public-houses1 among the worst of company1 to sell it4 ,you know1 as well as ,i do1 that hand in hand with poaching go lying1 and idling1 and sneaking1 and fear1 and boasting1 and swearing1 and drinking1 and the company of bad men and bad women4 ,and then you say there is no harm in poaching4 ,do you suppose that ,i do not know1 as well as any one of you here1 what goes to the snaring of a hare1 and the selling of a hare1 and the spending of the ill-got price of a hare8 ,my dear young men1 ,i know that poaching1 like many other sins1 is tempting3 but ,god has told us to flee from temptation--to resist the devil1 and he will flee from us4 ,if we are to give up ourselves without a struggle to every pleasant thing which tempts us1 we shall soon be at the devil's door4 ,we were sent into the world to fight against temptation and to conquer it4 ,we were sent into the world to do what ,god likes1 not what we like2 and therefore we were sent into the world to obey the laws of the land wherein we live1 be they better or worse2 because if we break one law because we don't like it1 our neighbour may break another because he don't like that1 and so forth2 till there is neither law1 nor peace1 nor safety1 but every man doing what is right in his own eyes1 which is sure to end by every man's doing what is right in the devil's eyes4 ,we were sent into the world to live as brothers1 under laws which make us give up our own wills and selfish lusts for the common good4 ,and if we find it difficult to keep the laws1 if we are tempted to break the laws1 ,god has promised ,his ,spirit to those who ask ,him4 ,god has promised ,his ,spirit to us4 ,if we pray for that ,spirit night and morning1 ,he will make it easy for us to keep the laws4 ,he will make us what our ,lord was before us1 humble1 patient1 loving1 manful and strong enough to restrain our fancies and appetites1 and to give up our wills for the good of our neighbours1 anxious and careful to avoid all appearance of evil1 trusting that because ,god is just1 and ,god is ,king1 all laws which are not wicked are ,his ordinance1 and therefore being obedient to every ordinance of man for the ,lord's sake1 even as ,jesus ,christ ,himself was1 who1 though ,he was ,lord of all1 paid taxes and tribute money to the ,roman government1 like the rest of the ,jews1 and kept the law of ,moses perfectly1 and was baptised with ,john's baptism1 to show that in all just and reasonable things we are to obey the laws and customs of our forefathers1 in the country to which it has pleased the ,lord that we should belong4 ,,xxvii4 ,,the ,,source ,,of ,,law4 ,let every soul be subject unto the higher powers4 ,for there is no power but of ,god4 ,the powers that be are ordained of ,god4--,,romans xiii4 #a4 ,,in this chapter1 which we read for the second lesson for this afternoon's service1 ,st4 ,paul gives good advice to the ,romans1 and equally good advice to us4 ,of course what he says must be equally good for us1 and for all people1 at all times1 in all countries1 as long as time shall last2 because ,st4 ,paul spoke by the ,spirit of ,god1 who is ,god eternal1 and therefore cannot change ,his mind1 but lays down1 by the mouth of ,his apostles and prophets1 the everlasting laws of right and wrong1 which are always equally good for all4 ,but there is something in this lesson which makes it especially useful to us2 because we ,english are in some very important matters very like the ,romans to whom ,st4 ,paul wrote2 though in others1 thanks to ,almighty ,god1 we are still very unlike them4 ,now1 these old ,romans1 as ,i have often told you1 had risen to be the greatest and mightiest people in the world1 and to conquer many foreign countries1 and set up colonies of ,romans in them1 very much as the ,english have done in ,india1 and ,north ,america1 and ,australia3 so that the little country of ,italy1 with its one great city of ,rome1 was mistress of vast lands far beyond the seas1 ten times as large as itself1 just as this little ,england is4 ,but it is not so much this which ,i have to speak to you about now1 as how this ,rome became so great2 for it was at first nothing but a poor little country town1 without money1 armies1 trade1 or any of those things which shallow-minded people fancy are the great strength of a nation4 ,true1 all those things are good2 but they are useless and hurtful--and1 what is more1 they cannot be got--without something better than them2 something which you cannot see nor handle2 something spiritual1 which is the life and heart of a country or nation1 and without which it can never become great4 ,this the old ,romans had2 and it made them become great4 ,this we ,english have had for now fifteen hundred years2 even when our forefathers were heathens1 like the ,romans1 before we came into this good land of ,england1 while we were poor and simple people1 living in the barren moors of ,germany1 and the snowy mountains of ,norway2 even then we had this wonderful charm1 by which nations are sure to become great and powerful at last2 and in proportion as we have remembered and acted upon it1 we ,english have thriven and spread2 and whenever we have forgotten it and broken it1 we have fallen into distress1 and poverty1 and shame1 over the whole land4 ,now1 what is this wonderful charm which made the old ,romans and we ,english great1 which is stronger than money1 and armies1 and trade1 and all the things which we can see and handle8 ,st4 ,paul tells us in the text3 8,let every soul be subject to the higher powers4 ,for there is no power but of ,god4 ,the powers that be are ordained of ,god40 ,to respect the law2 to believe that ,god wills men to live according to law2 and that ,he will teach men right and good laws2 that magistrates who enforce the laws are ,god's ministers1 ,god's officers and servants2 that to break the laws is to sin against ,god2--that is the charm which worked such wonders1 and will work them to the end of time4 ,so you see it was a very proper thing for ,st4 ,paul1 when he wrote to these ,romans after they became ,christians1 to speak to them as he does in this chapter4 ,they might have fancied1 and many did fancy1 that because they were ,jesus ,christ's servants now1 they need not obey their heathen rulers and laws any more4 ,but ,st4 ,paul says3 8,no2 ,jesus ,christ's being ,king of ,kings1 is only the strongest possible reason for your obeying these heathen rulers4 ,for if ,he is ,king of all the earth1 ,he is ,king of ,rome also1 and of all her colonies2 and therefore you may be sure that ,he would not leave these ,roman rulers1 and laws here if ,he did not think it right and fitting4 ,if ,jesus ,christ is ,lord of lords ,he is ,lord of these ,roman rulers1 and they are ,his ministers and stewards2 and you must obey them1 and pay taxes to them for conscience's sake1 as unto the ,lord1 and not unto man40 ,so you see that ,st4 ,paul gave these ,roman ,christians no new commandment on these matters2 nothing different from what their old heathen forefathers had believed4 ,for the law which he mentions in verse #i1 8,thou shalt not kill1 thou shalt not steal10 etc41 had been for centuries past part of the old ,roman law1 as well as of ,moses' law4 ,those old heathen ,romans believed1 and rightly1 that all law and order came from the great ,god of gods1 whom they called in their tongue ,jupiter1 that is1 the ,heavenly ,father4 ,they believed that ,he would bless those who kept the laws2 who kept their oaths and agreements1 and the laws about government1 about marriage1 about property1 about inheritance2 and that ,he would surely punish those who broke the laws1 who defrauded their neighbours of their rights1 who swore falsely against their neighbour1 or broke their agreements1 who were unfaithful to their wives and husbands1 or in any way offended against justice between man and man4 ,and they believed too1 and rightly1 that as long as they kept the laws1 and lived justly and orderly by them1 the great ,heavenly ,father would protect and prosper their town of ,rome1 and make it grow great and powerful1 because they were living as ,he would have men live2 not doing each what was right in the sight of his own eyes1 but conquering their own selfish wills and private fancies1 for the sake of their neighbour's good1 and the good of his country1 that they might all help and trust each other1 as fellow-citizens of one nation4 ,only ,st4 ,paul had told them3 ,your forefathers were right in fancying that law and right came from the great ,god of gods3 but they knew hardly anything1 or rather1 in time they forgot almost everything1 about that ,heavenly ,father4 ,in their ignorance they mixed up the belief in the one great almighty and good ,god1 which dwells in the hearts of all men1 with filthy fables and superstitions till they came to fancy that there were many gods and not one1 and that these many gods were sinful1 foul1 proud1 and cruel1 as fallen men4 ,but you have been brought back to the knowledge of the one true1 and righteous1 and loving ,god1 which your forefathers lost4 ,he has revealed and shown ,himself1 and what ,he is like1 in ,his ,son ,jesus ,christ4 ,he is love1 and wisdom1 and justice1 and order itself2 and1 therefore1 you must be sure1 even more sure than your old heathen forefathers1 that ,he cares for a nation being at peace and unity within itself1 governed by wise laws1 doing justice between man and man1 and keeping order throughout all its business1 that every man may do his work and enjoy his wages without hindrance1 or confusion1 or fear1 or robbery and oppression from those who are stronger than he4 ,and so ,st4 ,paul says to them3 8,you must believe that power and law come from ,god1 far more firmly and clearly than ever your heathen forefathers did40 ,now that ,st4 ,paul was right in this we may see from the ,old ,testament4 ,in the first lesson for this afternoon's service1 we read how ,jeremiah was sent with the most awful warnings to the king1 and the queen1 and the crown prince of his country4 ,and why8 ,because they had broken the laws2 because1 in a word1 they had been unfaithful stewards and ministers of the ,lord ,god1 who had given them their power and kingdom1 and would demand a strict account of all which ,he had committed to their charge4 ,but in the same book of the prophet ,jeremiah we read more than this2 we read exactly what ,st4 ,paul says about the heathen ,roman governors3 for the ,lord ,god1 who is the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 sent ,jeremiah with a message to all the heathen kings round about1 to tell them that ,he was their ,lord and ,master1 that ,he had given them their power1 heathens as they were1 because it seemed fit to ,him1 and that now1 for their sins1 ,he was going to deliver them over into the hand of another heathen1 ,his servant ,nebuchadnezzar1 king of ,babylon2 and that whosoever would not serve ,nebuchadnezzar1 the ,lord ,god would punish him with sword1 and famine1 and pestilence till he had consumed them4 ,and the first four chapters of the book of ,daniel1 noble and wonderful as they are1 seem to me to have been put into the ,bible simply to teach us this one thing1 that heathen rulers1 as well as ,christians1 are the ,lord's servants1 and that their power is ordained by ,god4 ,for these chapters are entirely made up of the history1 how ,god1 by ,his prophet ,daniel1 taught the heathen king ,nebuchadnezzar that he was ,god's minister and steward4 ,and the latter part of the book of ,daniel is the account of his teaching the same thing to another heathen1 ,cyrus the great and good king of ,persia4 ,and here ,st4 ,paul teaches the ,christian ,romans just the same thing about their heathen governors and heathen laws1 that they are the ministers and the ordinance of ,god4 ,now1 our own ,english forefathers1 as ,i said before1 believed this same thing2 and if ,i had time1 ,i could show you1 ,i think1 plainly enough from ,god's dealings with ,england1 how ,he has blest and prospered us whensoever we have acted up to it4 ,but whether we have believed it or not1 there is enough in our ,english laws1 and in our ,english ,prayer ,book too1 to witness for it and remind us of it4 ,the very title which we give the ,queen1 8,queen by the grace of ,god20 the solemn prayers for her when she is crowned and anointed1 not in her own palace1 or in the ,house of ,parliament1 but in the ,church of ,god at ,westminster2 the prayers which we have just offered up for the ,queen1 for the government1 and for the magistrates--these are all so many signs and tokens to us that they are ,god's stewards1 called to do ,god's work1 and that we must pray for ,god's grace to help them to fulfil their calling4 ,and are not those ten commandments which stand in every church1 a witness of the same thing8 ,they are the very root of all law whatsoever4 ,and more1 the solemn oath which a witness takes in the court of justice1 what is it but a sign of the same thing1 that our forefathers1 who appointed these forms1 believed that law and justice were holy things1 and that he who goes into a court of law goes into the presence of ,god ,himself1 and confesses1 when he promises to speak the truth1 so help him ,god1 that ,god is the protector and the avenger of law and justice8 ,but some people1 and especially young and light-hearted persons1 are ready to say3 8,obey the powers that be1 whosoever they may be1 good or bad1 and believe that to break their laws is to sin against ,god8 ,we might as well be slaves at once4 ,a man has a right to his own opinion2 and if he does not think a law good1 how can he be bound to obey it80 ,you will often hear such words as those when you go out into the world1 into great towns1 where men meet together much4 ,let me give you1 young people1 a little advice about that beforehand2 for1 fine as it sounds1 it is hollow and false at root4 ,if you wish to be really free1 and to do what you like1 like what is right2 and do that1 says ,st4 ,paul1 and then the law will not interfere with you3 8,for rulers are not a terror to good works1 but to the evil4 ,wilt thou then not be afraid of the power8 ,do that which is good1 and thou shalt have praise of the same3 for he is the minister of ,god to thee for good4 ,but if thou do that which is evil1 be afraid2 for he beareth not the sword in vain3 for he is the minister of ,god1 a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil40 ,and then he sums up what doing right is1 in one short sentence3 8,love thy neighbour as thyself2 for love is the fulfilling of the law40 ,all that the laws want to make you do1 is to behave like men who do love their neighbours as themselves1 and therefore do them no harm--to behave like men who are ready to give up their own private wills and pleasures1 and even their own private property1 if wanted1 for the good of their neighbours and their country4 ,therefore the law calls on you to pay rates and taxes1 which are to be spent for the good of the nation at large4 ,and if you love your neighbour as yourself1 and have the good of everyone round you at heart1 you will no more grudge paying rates and taxes for their benefit than you will grudge spending money to support and educate your own children4 ,and so you will be free1 free to do what you like1 because you like1 from the fear and love of ,god1 to do those right things which the law is set to make you do4 ,but some may say3 8,that is not what we mean by being free4 ,we mean having a share in choosing ,members of ,parliament1 and so in making the laws and governing the country4 ,when people can do that the country is a free country40 ,well1 my friends1 and it is a strange thing1 or rather not a strange thing1 if we will but study our ,bibles1 that a country cannot be free in that way1 unless the people of it do really believe that the powers that be are ordained of ,god4 ,instead of that faith making the old ,romans slavish1 or careless what laws were made1 or how they were governed1 as some fancy it would make a people1 they were as free a people1 and freer almost than we ,english now4 ,they chose their own magistrates1 and they made their own laws1 and prospered by so doing4 ,and why8 ,because they believed that laws came from ,god2 and1 therefore1 they not only obeyed the laws when they were made1 but they had heart and spirit to help to make them1 because they trusted that ,the ,heavenly ,father1 who loved justice1 would teach them to be just1 and that ,the ,god who protected laws and punished law-breakers1 would put into their minds how to make the laws well2 and so they were not afraid to govern themselves1 because they believed that ,god would enable them to govern themselves well1 and therefore they were free4 ,and so far from their having a slavish spirit in them1 they were the most bold and independent people of the whole earth4 ,their soldiers conquered almost every nation against whom they fought1 because they always obeyed their officers dutifully and faithfully1 believing that it was their duty to ,god to obey1 and to die1 if need was1 for their country4 ,old history is full of tales1 which will never be forgotten1 ,i trust1 till the world's end1 of the noble deeds of their men1 ay1 and even of their women1 who counted their own lives worthless in comparison with the good of their country1 and died in torments rather than break the laws1 or do what they knew would injure the people to whom they belonged4 ,and so with us ,english4 ,for hundreds of years we have been growing more and more free1 and more and more well-governed1 simply because we have been acting on ,st4 ,paul's doctrine--obeying the powers that be1 because they are ordained by ,god4 ,it is the ,englishman's respect for law1 as a sacred thing1 which he dare not break1 which has made him1 sooner or later1 respected and powerful wherever he goes to settle in foreign lands2 because foreigners can trust us to be just1 and to keep our promises1 and to abide by the laws which we have laid down4 ,it is the ,english respect for law1 as a sacred thing1 which has made our armies among the bravest and the most successful on earth2 because they know how to obey their officers1 and are therefore able to fight and to endure as men should do4 ,and as long as we hold to that belief we shall prosper at home and abroad1 and become more and more free1 and more and more strong2 because we shall be united1 helping each other1 trusting each other1 knowing what to expect of each other1 because we all honour and obey the same laws4 ,and1 on the other hand1 have we not close to us1 in ,france1 a fearful sign and proof from ,god that without the fear of ,god no people can be free8 ,three times in the last sixty years have the ,french risen up against evil rulers1 and driven them out4 ,and have they been the better for it8 ,they are at this very moment in utter slavery to a ruler more lawless than ever oppressed them before4 ,and why8 ,because they did not believe that law came from ,god1 and that the powers that be are ordained by ,him4 ,therefore1 whenever they were oppressed1 they did not try to right themselves by lawful ways1 according to the old ,english ,god-fearing custom1 but to break down the old law by riot and bloodshed1 and then to set up new laws of their own4 ,but those new laws would never stand4 ,they made them1 but they would not obey them when they were made1 and they could not make others obey them2 because they had no real reverence for law1 and did not believe that law came from ,god1 or that ,his ,spirit would give them understanding to make good laws4 ,they talked loud about the power and rights of the people1 and that whatever the people willed was right3 but they said nothing about the power and rights of the ,lord ,god2 they forgot that it is only what ,god has willed from everlasting that is right2 and so they made laws in the strength of their own hearts1 according to what was right in the sight of their own eyes1 to please themselves4 ,how could they respect the laws1 when the laws were only copies of their own selfish fancies8 ,so1 because they made them to please themselves1 they soon broke them to please themselves4 ,and so came more lawlessness and riot1 and confusion worse confounded1 till1 of course1 the strongest1 and cunningest1 and most shameless got the upper hand2 and they were plunged1 poor creatures6 into the same pit of misery out of which they had been trying to deliver themselves in their own strength1 for a sign and an example that the ,lord is ,king1 and not man at all1 and that the fear of the ,lord is the only beginning of wisdom4 ,and very much the same sad fate had happened to the ,romans a little before ,st4 ,paul's time4 ,they gave up their ancient respect for law2 they broke the laws1 and ran into all kinds of violence1 and riot1 and filthy sin2 and therefore ,god took away their freedom from them1 because they were not fit for it1 and delivered them over into the hand of one cruel tyrant after another2 and perhaps the cruellest of them all was the man who was emperor of ,rome in ,st4 ,paul's time4 ,therefore it was that ,st4 ,paul says to them3 ,love each other1 and obey the laws1 8knowing the time1 that now it is high time to awake out of sleep40 ,as much as to say3 8,your souls have fallen asleep2 you have been in a dark night1 not seeing that ,god would avenge you of all these sins of yours2 that ,god's eye was on them3 you have fallen asleep and forgotten your forefathers' belief1 that ,god loves law1 and order1 and justice1 and will punish those who break through them4 ,but now the ,lord ,jesus1 the light of the world1 is come to awaken you1 and to open your eyes to see the truth about this1 and to show you that you are in ,god's kingdom1 and that ,god commands you to repent1 and to obey ,him1 and do justly and righteously4 ,therefore awake out of your sleep2 give up the works of darkness1 those mean and wicked habits which were contrary to the good old laws of your forefathers1 and which you were at heart ashamed of1 and tried to hide even while you indulged in them4 ,open your eyes1 and see that ,god is near you1 your ,judge1 your ,king1 seeing through and through your souls1 keen and sharp to discern the secret thoughts and intents of the heart1 so that all things are naked and open in the sight of ,him with whom we have to do40 ,and so ,i may say to you1 my friends1 it is high time for us to awake out of sleep4 ,the people in ,england1 religious as well as others1 have fallen asleep of late years too much about this matter4 ,they have forgotten that ,god is ,king1 that magistrates are ,god's ministers4 ,they talk as if laws were meant to be only the device of man's will1 to serve men's private interests and selfishness2 and therefore they have lost very much of their respect for law1 and their care to make good laws for the future4 ,and it is high time for us1 while all the nations of ,europe are tottering and crumbling round us1 to awake out of sleep on this matter4 ,we must open our eyes and see where we are4 ,for we are in ,god's kingdom4 ,god's ,bible1 ,god's churches1 ,god's commandments1 and all the solemn old law forms of ,england witness to us that ,god is ,king1 set in the throne which judges right2 that order and justice1 fellow-feeling and public spirit1 are ,his gifts1 ,his likeness1 on which ,he looks down with loving care and protection2 and that if we forget that1 and begin to fancy that law stands merely by the will of the many1 or by the will of the stronger1 or even by the will of the wiser--by any will of man in short2 we shall end by neither being able to make just laws any more1 nor to obey those which we have1 by the blessing of ,god1 already4 ,,xxviii4 ,,the ,,education ,,of ,a ,,heathen4 ,now ,i ,nebuchadnezzar praise1 and extol1 and honour the ,king of heaven1 all whose works are truth1 and ,his ways judgment2 and those that walk in pride ,he is able to abase4--,,daniel iv4 #cg4 ,,we read for the first lesson to-day two chapters out of the book of ,daniel4 ,those who love to study their ,bibles1 have read often1 of course1 not only these two chapters1 but the whole book4 ,and ,i would advise all of you who wish to understand ,god's dealings with mankind1 to study this book of ,daniel1 and especially at this present time4 ,i do not wish you to study it merely on account of those prophecies in it1 which many wise and good men think foretell the dates of our ,lord's first and second comings1 and of the end of the world4 ,i am not skilled1 my friends1 in that kind of wisdom4 ,i cannot tell you what ,god will do hereafter4 ,but ,i think that the book of ,daniel like the other prophets1 tells us what ,god is always doing on earth1 and so gives us certain and eternal rules by which we may understand strange and terrible events1 wars1 distress of nations1 the fall of great men1 and the suffering of innocent men1 when we see them happen1 as we may see any day--perhaps very soon indeed4 ,the great lesson1 ,i think1 that this book of ,daniel teaches us is1 that ,god is not the ,lord of the ,jews only1 or of ,christians only1 but of the whole earth2 that the heathens are under ,his moral law and government1 as well as we2 and that1 as ,st4 ,peter says1 ,god is no respecter of persons3 but in every nation1 he that feareth ,god1 and worketh righteousness1 is accepted of him4 ,for the history of ,nebuchadnezzar seems to me to be the history of ,god's educating a heathen and an idolater to know ,him4 ,and we must always remember1 that as far as we can see1 it was because ,nebuchadnezzar was faithful to the light which he had1 that ,god gave him more4 ,of course he had his sins2 the ,bible tells us what they were2 just the sins which one would expect of a man brought up a heathen and an idolater2 of one who was a great conqueror1 and had gained many bloody battles1 and learned to hold men's lives very cheap2 of one who was an absolute emperor1 with no law but his own will1 furious at any contradiction2 of a man of wonderful power of mind--confident in himself1 his own power1 his own cunning4 ,but he seems not to have been a bad man1 considering his advantages4 ,the ,bible never speaks harshly of him1 though he carried away the ,jews captive to ,babylon4 ,in all that fearful war1 ,nebuchadnezzar was in the right1 and the ,jews in the wrong2 so at least ,jeremiah the prophet declared4 ,nebuchadnezzar saved and respected ,jeremiah2 and ,daniel seems to have regarded the great conqueror with real respect and affection4 ,when ,daniel says to him1 8,o king1 live for ever10 and tells him that he is the head of gold1 and prays that his fearful dream may come true of his enemies and not of him1 ,i cannot believe that the prophet was using mere empty phrases of court-flattery4 ,he really felt1 ,i doubt not1 that ,nebuchadnezzar was a great and good king1 as kings went then1 and his government a gain 7as it easily might be7 to the nations whom he had conquered1 and that it was good that he should reign as long as possible4 ,and we may well believe ,daniel's interest in this great king1 when we consider how teachable ,nebuchadnezzar showed himself under ,god's education of him1 so proving that there was in him the honest and good heart1 which1 when ,the ,word is sown in it1 will bring forth fruit1 thirty-fold or a hundred-fold1 according to the talents which ,god has bestowed on each man4 ,this first lesson we read in the first chapter of ,daniel4 ,he dreamt a dream4 ,he felt that it was a very wonderful one3 but he forgot what it was4 ,none of the magicians of ,babylon could tell him4 ,a young ,jew1 named ,daniel1 told him the dream and its meaning1 and declared at the same time that he had found it out by no wisdom of his own1 but ,god had revealed it to him4 ,nebuchadnezzar learned his lesson1 and confessed ,daniel's ,god to be a ,god of gods and a ,lord of kings1 and a revealer of secrets1 seeing that ,daniel could reveal that secret2 and forthwith1 like a wise prince1 advanced ,daniel and his companions to places of the highest authority and trust4 ,but ,nebuchadnezzar required another lesson4 ,he had learned that the ,god of the ,jews was wiser than all the planets and heavenly lords and gods whom the ,babylonian magicians consulted2 he had not learned that that same ,god of the ,jews was the ,creator and ,lord of heaven and earth4 ,he had learned that the ,god of heaven favoured him1 and had helped him toward his power and glory2 but he thought that for that very reason the power and glory were his own--that he had a right over the souls and consciences of his subjects1 and might make them worship what he liked1 and how he liked4 ,three ,jews1 whom he had set over the affairs of ,babylon1 refused to worship the golden image which he had set up1 and were cast into a fiery furnace1 and forthwith miraculously delivered1 and beheld by ,nebuchadnezzar walking unhurt and loose in the midst of the furnace1 and with them a fourth1 whose form was like the form of the ,son of ,god4 ,so ,nebuchadnezzar was taught that this ,god of the ,jews was the ,lord of men's souls and consciences2 that they were to obey ,god rather than man4 ,so he was taught that the ,god of the ,jews was no mere star or heavenly influence who could help men's fortunes1 or bestow on them a certain fixed destiny2 but a living person1 the ,lord and ,master of the fire1 and of all the powers of the earth1 who could change and stop those powers at ,his will1 to deliver those who trusted in ,him and obeyed ,him4 ,and this lesson1 too1 ,nebuchadnezzar learned4 ,he confessed his mistake upon the spot1 just in the way in which we should have expected a great ,eastern king to do1 though not in the most enlightened or merciful way4 ,he 8blessed the ,god of ,shadrach1 ,meshach1 and ,abednego1 who hath sent ,his angel1 and delivered ,his servants who trusted in ,him4 ,therefore ,i make a decree1 that every people1 nation1 and language1 which speak anything amiss against the ,god of ,shadrach1 ,meshach1 and ,abednego1 shall be cut in pieces1 and their houses be made a dunghill3 because there is no other ,god that can deliver after this sort40 ,but there was still one deep mistake lying in the great king's heart which required to be rooted out4 ,he had learnt that ,jehovah1 the ,god of the ,jews1 was a revealer of secrets1 a master of the fire1 a deliverer of those who trusted in ,him1 a living personal ,lord1 wise1 just1 and faithful1 very different from any of his star gods or idols4 ,but he looked upon ,jehovah only as the ,god of the ,jews1 as ,daniel's ,god4 ,he had not yet learnt that ,god was his ,god as well as ,daniel's2 that ,jehovah was very near his heart and mind1 and had been near him all his life2 that from ,jehovah came all his wisdom1 his strength of mind1 his success1 and all which made him differ1 not only from his fellow-men1 but from the beast2 that ,jehovah1 in a word1 was the light and the life of the world1 who fills all things and by whom all things consist1 deserted by whose inward light1 even for a moment1 man becomes as one of the beasts which perish4 ,in his own eyes ,nebuchadnezzar was still the great self-dependent1 self-sufficing conqueror1 wiser and stronger than all the men around him4 ,he thought1 most probably1 that on account of his wisdom1 and courage1 and royalty of soul1 the ,god of heaven had become fond of him and favoured him4 ,in short1 he was swollen with pride4 ,god sent him again a strange dream1 which made him troubled and afraid4 ,he told it to his old counsellor ,daniel2 and ,daniel1 at the danger of his life1 interpreted it for him2 and a very awful meaning it had4 ,a fearful and shameful downfall was to come upon the king2 no less than the loss of his reason1 and with it1 of his throne4 ,but whether this came to pass or not1 depended1 like all ,god's everlasting promises and threats1 on ,nebuchadnezzar's own behaviour4 ,if he repented1 and broke off his sins by righteousness1 and his iniquities by showing mercy to the poor1 there was good reason to hope that so his tranquillity might be lengthened4 ,but the lesson was too hard for the proud conqueror2 he did not take the warning4 ,he could not believe that the ,most ,high ruled in the kingdom of men1 and giveth it to whomsoever ,he will4 ,he still fancied that he1 and such as he1 were the lords of the world1 and took from others by their own power and cunning whatsoever they would4 ,he does not seem to have been angry1 however1 with ,daniel for his plain speaking4 ,most ,eastern kings like ,nebuchadnezzar would have put ,daniel to a cruel death on the spot as the bearer of evil news1 speaking blasphemy against the king2 and no one in those times and countries would have considered him wicked and cruel for so doing2 but ,nebuchadnezzar seems to have learnt too much already so to give way to his passion4 ,yet1 as ,i said before1 he had not learned enough to take ,god's warning4 ,the lesson that he was nothing1 and that ,god is all in all1 was too hard for him4 ,and1 alas6 my friends1 for whom of us is it not a hard lesson8 ,and yet it is the golden lesson1 the first and the last which man has to learn on earth1 ay1 and through all eternity3 8,i am nothing2 ,god is all in all40 ,all in us which is worth calling anything2 all in us which is worth having1 or worth being2 all in us which is not disobedience and shortcoming1 failure and mistake1 ignorance and madness1 filthiness and fierceness1 as of the beasts which perish2 all strength in us1 all understanding1 all prudence1 all right-mindedness1 all purity1 all justice1 all love2 all in us which is worth living for1 all in us which is really alive1 and not mere death in life1 the death of sin and the darkness of the pit--all is from ,god the ,father of lights1 and from ,jesus ,christ the life and the light1 who lighteth every man who cometh into the world1 shining for ever in the darkness of our spirits1 though that darkness1 alas6 too often cannot comprehend1 and embrace1 and confess ,him who is striving to awake it from the dead and give it light4 ,hardest of all lessons6 ,most blessed of all lessons6 ,so blessed1 that if we will not let ,god teach it us in any other way1 it would be good and advantageous to us for ,him to teach it us as ,he taught it to ,nebuchadnezzar--good for us to become with him for awhile like the beasts that perish1 that we might learn with him to lift up our eyes to heaven1 and so have our understandings return to us1 and learn to bless the ,most ,high1 and not our own wit1 and cunning1 and prudence2 and praise and honour ,him that liveth for ever1 instead of praising and honouring our own pitiful paltry selves1 who are in death in the midst of life1 who come up and are cut down like the flower1 and never continue in one stay4 8,all this came upon the ,king ,nebuchadnezzar40 ,it seems that after he or his father had destroyed the old ,babylon1 the downfall of which ,isaiah had prophesied1 he built a great city1 after the fashion of ,eastern conquerors1 near the ruins of the old one2 and 8at the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of ,babylon4 ,the king spake1 and said1 ,is not this great ,babylon1 that ,i have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power1 and for the honour of my majesty8 ,while the word was in the king's mouth1 there fell a voice from heaven1 saying1 ,o king ,nebuchadnezzar1 to thee it is spoken1 ,the kingdom is departed from thee4 ,and they shall drive thee from men1 and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field3 they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen1 and seven times shall pass over thee1 until thou know that the ,most ,high ruleth in the kingdom of men1 and giveth it to whomsoever ,he will4 ,the same hour was the thing fulfilled upon ,nebuchadnezzar40 ,what a lesson6 ,the great conqueror of all the ,east now a brutal madman1 hateful and disgusting to all around him--a beast feeding among the beasts3 and yet a cheap price--a cheap price--to pay for this golden lesson4 ,seven times past over him in his madness4 ,what those seven times were we do not know4 ,they may have been actual years3 or they may have been1 as ,i am inclined to think1 changes in his own soul and state of mind4 ,but1 at the end of the days1 the truth dawned on him4 ,he began to see what it all meant4 ,he saw what he was1 and why he was so2 and he lifted up his eyes to heaven2 and from that moment his madness past4 ,he lifted up his eyes to heaven4 ,that is no mere figure of speech3 it is an actual truth4 ,most madmen1 if you watch them1 have that down look1 or rather that inward look1 as if their eyes were fixed only on their own fancies4 ,they are thinking only of themselves1 poor creatures--of their own selfish and private suspicions and wrongs--of their own selfish superstitious dreams about heaven or hell--of their own selfish vanity and ambition--sometimes of their own frantic self-conceit1 or of their selfish lusts and desires--of themselves1 in short4 ,they have lost the one ,divine light of reason1 and conscience1 and love1 which binds men to each other1 and are parted for a while from ,god and from their kind--alone in their own darkness4 ,so was ,nebuchadnezzar4 ,at last he looked up1 as men do when they pray2 up from himself to ,one greater than himself2 up from the earth to heaven2 up from the natural things which we do see1 which are temporal and born to die1 to moral and spiritual things which we do not see1 which are real and eternal in the heavens2 up from his own lonely darkness1 looking for the light and the guidance of ,god2 for now he began to see that all the light which he had ever had1 all his wisdom1 and understanding1 and strength of will1 had come from ,god1 however he might have misused them for his own selfish ambition2 that it was because ,god had taken from him ,his light1 who is the ,word of ,god1 that he had become a beast4 ,and then his reason returned to him1 and he became again a man1 a rational being1 made1 howsoever fallen and sinful1 in the likeness of ,god2 then he blessed and praised ,god4 ,it was not merely that he confessed that ,god was strong1 and he weak2 righteous1 and he sinful2 wise1 and he foolish2 but he blessed and praised ,god2 he felt and confessed that ,god had done him a great benefit1 and taught him a great lesson--that ,god had taught him what he was in himself and without ,god1 that he might see what he was with ,god in its true light1 and honour and obey ,him from whom his reason and understanding1 as well as his power and glory1 came1 that so it might be fulfilled which the prophet says3 8,let not the wise man glory in his wisdom1 nor the mighty man in his might1 nor the rich man in his riches3 but let him that glorieth glory in this1 that he understandeth and knoweth me1 that ,i am the ,lord which exercise loving-kindness1 judgment1 and righteousness in the earth2 for in these things ,i delight1 saith the ,lord40 ,and so was ,nebuchadnezzar's soul brought to utter1 in his own way1 the very same glorious song which1 or something like it1 is said to have been sung by the three men whom1 years before1 he had seen delivered from the fiery furnace1 which calls on all the works of the ,lord1 angels and heaven1 sun and stars1 seas and winds1 mountains and hills1 fowls and cattle1 priests and laymen1 spirits and souls of the righteous1 to bless the ,lord1 praise ,him1 and magnify ,him for ever4 ,and so ends ,nebuchadnezzar's history4 ,we read no more of him4 ,he had learnt the golden lesson4 ,may ,god grant that we may learn it also6 ,but who tells the story of his madness8 ,he himself4 ,the whole account is in the man's own words4 ,it seems to be some public letter or proclamation1 which he either sent round his empire1 or commanded to be laid up among his records2 having1 as it seems1 set ,daniel to write it down from his mouth4 ,this one fact1 ,i think1 justifies me in all that ,i have said about ,nebuchadnezzar's nobleness1 and ,daniel's affection for him4 ,he does not try to smooth things over2 to pretend that he has not been mad2 to find excuses for himself2 to lay any blame on any human being4 ,he repents openly1 confesses openly4 ,shameful as it may be to him1 he tells the whole story4 ,he confesses that he had fair warning1 that all was his own fault4 ,he justifies ,god utterly4 ,my friends1 we may read1 thank ,god1 many noble1 and brave1 and righteous speeches of kings and great men3 but never have ,i read one so noble1 so brave1 so righteous as this of the great king of ,babylon4 ,and therefore it is2 because this letter of his1 in the fourth chapter of the book of ,daniel1 is indeed full of the eternal ,holy ,spirit of ,god2 therefore it is1 ,i say1 that it forms part of the ,bible1 part of holy scripture to this day1--a greater honour to ,nebuchadnezzar than all his kingdom2 for what greater honour than to have been inspired to write one chapter1 yea1 one sentence1 of the ,book of ,books8 ,my friends1 every one of you here is in ,god's school-house1 under ,god's teaching1 far more than ,nebuchadnezzar was4 ,you are baptised men1 knowing that blessed name of ,father1 ,son1 and ,holy ,spirit1 which ,nebuchadnezzar only saw dimly1 and afar off4 ,jesus ,christ1 the ,word of ,god1 is striving with your hearts1 giving to them whatsoever light and life they have4 ,you have been taught from childhood to look up to ,him as your ,king and ,deliverer2 to ,his ,father as your ,father1 to ,his ,holy ,spirit as your ,inspirer4 ,take heed how you listen to ,his voice within your hearts4 ,take heed how you learn ,god's lessons2 for ,god is surely educating you1 and teaching you far more than ,he taught the king of ,babylon in old time4 ,as you learn or despise these lessons of ,god's1 will be your happiness or your misery now and for ever4 ,unto the king of ,babylon little was given1 and of him was little required4 ,to you and me much has been given2 of you and me will much be required4 ,,xxix4 ,,jeremiah',s ,,calling4 ,behold1 the days come1 saith the ,lord1 that ,i will raise unto ,david a righteous ,branch1 and a ,king shall reign and prosper1 and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth4--,,jeremiah xxiii4 #e4 ,,at the time when ,jeremiah the prophet spoke those words to the ,jews1 nothing seemed more unlikely than that they would ever come true4 ,the whole ,jewish nation was falling to pieces from its own sins4 ,brutish and filthy idolatry in high and low--oppression1 violence1 and luxury among the court and the nobility--shame1 and poverty1 and ignorance among the lower classes--idleness and quackery among the priesthood--and as kings over all1 one fool and profligate after another1 set on the throne by a foreign conqueror1 and pulled down again by him at his pleasure4 ,ten out of the twelve tribes of ,israel had been carried off captive1 young and old1 into a distant land4 ,the small portion of country which still remained inhabited round ,jerusalem1 had been overrun again and again by cruel armies of heathens4 ,without ,jerusalem was waste and ruins1 bloodshed and wretchedness2 within every kind of iniquity and lies1 division and confusion4 ,if ever there was a miserable and contemptible people upon the face of the earth1 it was the ,jewish nation in ,jeremiah's time4 ,jeremiah makes no secret of it4 ,his prophecies are full of it--full of lamentation and shame3 8,oh that my head were a fountain of tears1 to weep for the sins of my people60 ,he feels that ,god has sent him to rebuke those sins1 to warn and prophesy to his fellow-countrymen the certain ruin into which they are rushing headlong2 and he speaks ,god's message boldly4 ,from the poor idol-ridden labourer1 offering cakes to the ,queen of ,heaven to coax her into sending him a good harvest1 to the tyrant king who had built his palace of cedar and painted it with vermilion1 he had a bitter word for every man4 ,the lying priest tried to silence him2 and ,jeremiah answered him1 that his wife should be a harlot in the city1 and his children sold for slaves4 ,the king tried to flatter him into being quiet2 and he told him in return1 that he should be buried with the burial of an ass1 dragged out and cast forth beyond the gates of ,jerusalem4 ,the luxurious queen1 who made her nest in the cedars1 would be ashamed and confounded1 he said1 for her wickedness4 ,the crown prince was a despised broken idol--a vessel in which was no pleasure2 he should be cast out1 he and his children1 into slavery in a land which he knew not4 ,the whole royal family1 he said1 would perish2 none of them should ever again prosper or sit upon the throne of ,david4 ,this was his message2 shame and confusion1 woe and ruin1 to high and low2 every human being he passed in the street was a doomed man4 ,for the day of the ,lord was at hand1 and who should be able to escape it8 ,a sad calling1 truly1 to have to work at2 and all the more sad because ,jeremiah had no pride1 no steadfast opinion of his own excellence to keep him up4 ,he hates his calling of prophet4 ,at the very moment he is foretelling woe1 he prays ,god that his prophecy may not come true2 he tries every method to prevent its coming true1 by entreating his countrymen to repent4 ,there runs through all his awful words a vein of tenderness1 and pity1 and love unspeakable1 which to me is the one great mark of a true prophet2 a sign that ,jeremiah spoke by the ,spirit of ,god2 a sign that too many writers nowadays do not speak by the ,spirit of ,god4 ,if they rebuke the rich and powerful1 they do it generally in a very different spirit from ,jeremiah's--in a spirit of bitterness and insolence1 not very easy to describe1 but easy enough to perceive4 ,they seem to rejoice in evil1 to delight in finding fault1 to be sorry1 and not glad1 when their prophecies of evil turn out false2 to try to set one class against another1 one party against another1 as if we were not miserably enough split up already by class interests and party spirit4 ,they are glad enough to rebuke the wicked great2 but not to their face1 not to their own danger and hurt like ,jeremiah4 ,their plan is to accuse the rich to the poor1 on their own platform1 or in their own newspaper1 where they are safe2 and1 moreover1 to make a very fair profit thereby2 to say behind the back of authorities that which they dare not say to their face1 and which they soon give up saying when they have worked their own way into office2 and meanwhile take mighty credit to themselves for seeing that there is wrong and misery in the world2 as if the spirits in hell should fancy themselves righteous1 because they hated the devil6 ,no1 my friends1 ,jeremiah was of a very different spirit from that4 ,if he ever was tempted to it when he was young1 and began to fancy himself a very grand person1 who had a right to look down on his neighbours1 because ,god had called him and set him apart to be a prophet from his mother's womb1 and revealed to him the doom of nations1 and the secrets of ,his providence--if he ever fancied that in his heart1 ,god led him through such an education as took all the pride out of him1 sternly and bitterly enough4 ,he was commissioned to go and speak terrible words1 to curse kings and nobles in the name of the ,lord3 but he was taught1 too1 that it was not a pleasant calling1 or one which was likely to pay him in this life4 ,his fellow-villagers plotted against his life4 ,his wife deserted him4 ,the nobles threw him into a dungeon1 into a well full of mire1 whence he had to be drawn up again with ropes to save his life4 ,he was beaten1 all but starved1 kept for years in prison4 ,he had neither child nor friend4 ,he had his share of all the miseries of the siege of ,jerusalem1 and all the horrors of its storm2 and when he was set free by ,nebuchadnezzar1 and clung to his ruined home1 to see if any good could still be done to the remnant of his countrymen1 he was violently carried off into a heathen land1 and at last stoned to death1 by those very countrymen of his whom he had been trying for years to save4 ,in everything1 and by everything1 he was taught that he was still a ,jew1 a brother to his sinful brothers2 that their sorrows were his sorrows1 their shame his shame1 their ruin his ruin4 ,in all their afflictions he was afflicted1 even as his ,lord was after him4 ,he struggled1 we find1 again and again against this strange and sad calling of a prophet4 ,he cried out in bitter agony that ,god had deceived him2 had induced him to become a prophet1 and then repaid him for speaking ,god's message with nothing but disappointment and misery4 ,and yet he felt he must speak2 ,god1 he said1 was stronger than he was1 and forced him to it4 ,he said3 8,i will speak no more words in ,his name2 but the ,word of the ,lord was as fire within his bones1 and would not let him rest20 and so1 in spite of himself1 he told the truth1 and suffered for it2 and hated to have to tell it1 and pitied and loved the very country which he rebuked till he cursed 8the day in which he saw the light1 and the hour in which it was said to his father1 there is a man-child born40 ,you who fancy that it is a fine thing1 and a paying profession1 to be a preacher of righteousness and a rebuker of sin1 look at ,jeremiah1 and judge6 ,for as surely as you or any other man is sent by ,god to do ,jeremiah's work1 so surely he must expect ,jeremiah's wages4 ,do you think1 then1 that ,jeremiah was a man only to be pitied8 ,pitiable he was indeed1 and sad4 ,there was ,one hung on a cross eighteen hundred years ago1 more pitiable still3 and yet ,he is the ,lord of heaven and earth4 ,yes2 ,jeremiah had a sad life to live1 and a sad task to work out2 and yet1 my friends1 was not that a cheap price to pay for the honour and glory of being taught by ,god's ,spirit1 and of speaking ,god's words8 ,i do not mean the mere honour of having his fame and name spread over all ,christ's kingdom2 the honour of having his writings read and respected by the wisest and the holiest to the end of time2 that mere earthly fame is but a slight matter4 ,i mean the real honour1 the real glory1 of knowing what was utterly right and true1 and therefore of knowing ,him who is utterly right and true2 of knowing ,god2 of knowing what ,god's character is3 that he is a living ,god1 and not a dead one2 a ,god who is near and not absent at all1 loving and merciful1 just and righteous1 strong and mighty to save4 ,ay1 my friends1 this is the lesson which ,god taught ,jeremiah2 to know the ,lord of heaven and earth1 and to see ,his hand1 ,his rule1 in all that was happening to his fellow-countrymen1 and himself2 to know that from the beginning the ,lord1 the ,saviour-,god1 ,jehovah1 the messenger of the covenant1 ,he who brought up the ,jews out of ,egypt1 was the wise and just and loving ,king of the ,jews1 and of all the nations upon earth2 and that some day or other ,he must and would conquer all the sinfulness1 and misery1 and tyranny1 and idolatry in the world1 and show ,himself openly to men1 and fulfil all the piteous longings after a just and good king which poor wretches had ever felt1 and all the glorious promises of a just and good king which ,god had made to the wise men of old time2 and1 therefore1 in the midst of shame and persecution1 despair and ruin1 ,jeremiah could rejoice4 ,jehoiakim1 the wicked king1 and all his royal house1 might be driven out into slavery2 ,jerusalem might become a heap of ruins and corpses2 the fair land of ,juda1 and the village where he was bred1 might become thorns1 and thistles1 and heaps of stones2 the vineyard which he loved1 the little estate at ,anathoth which had belonged to him1 might be trodden down by the stranger1 and he himself die in a foreign land2 around him might be nothing but sin and decay1 before him nothing but despair and ruin3 yet still there was hope1 joy1 everlasting certainty for that poor1 childless1 captive old man2 for he had found out that the ,lord still lived1 the ,lord still reigned4 ,he could not lie2 he could not forget his people4 ,could a mother forget her sucking child8 ,no4 ,when the ,jews turned to ,him1 ,he would still have mercy4 ,his punishment of them was a sign that he still cared for them4 ,if ,he had forgotten them1 ,he would have let them go on triumphant in their iniquity4 ,no4 ,all these afflictions were meant to chasten them1 teach them1 bring them back to ,him4 ,it would be good for them1 an actual blessing to them1 to be taken away into captivity in ,babylon4 ,it might be hard to believe1 but it must be true4 ,the ,lord of ,israel1 the ,saviour-,god1 who had been caring for them so long1 rising up early and sending ,his prophets to them1 pleading with them as a father with his child1 ,he would have mercy2 ,he would teach them1 in sorrow and slavery1 the lesson they were too rebellious and hard-hearted to learn in prosperity and freedom3 that the ,lord was their righteousness1 and that there was no other name under heaven which could save them from the plague1 and from the famine1 from the swords of the ,chaldeans1 or from the division1 and oppression1 and brutishness1 and manifold wickedness1 which was their ruin4 ,and then ,jeremiah saw and felt--how we cannot tell--but there his words1 the words of this text1 stand to this day1 to show that he did see and feel it1 that some day or other1 in ,god's good time1 the ,jews would have a true ,king--a very different king from ,jehoiakim the tyrant--a son of ,david in a very different sense from what ,jehoiakim was2 that ,he would come1 and must come1 sooner or later1 ,the unseen ,king1 who had all along been governing ,jews and heathens1 and telling his prophets that ,nebuchadnezzar and ,cyrus1 the ,chaldee and the ,persian1 were his servants as well as they1 and that all the nations of the earth could do but what he chose4 8,behold the days come1 saith the ,lord1 that ,i will raise unto ,david a righteous ,branch1 and a ,king shall reign and prosper1 and shall execute justice and judgment on the earth40 ,this was the blessed knowledge which ,god gave ,jeremiah in return for all the misery he had to endure in warning his countrymen of their sins4 ,and this same blessed knowledge1 the knowledge that the earth is the ,lord's1 that to ,jesus ,christ is given1 as ,he said ,himself1 all power in heaven and earth1 and that ,he is reigning1 and must reign1 and conquer1 and triumph till ,he has put all ,his enemies under ,his feet1 ,god will surely give to everyone1 high or low1 who follows ,jeremiah's example1 who boldly and faithfully warns the sinner of his way1 who rebukes the wickedness which he sees around him3 only he must do it in the spirit of ,jeremiah4 ,he must not be insolent to the insolent1 or proud to the proud4 ,he must not be puffed up1 and fancy that because he sees the evil of sin1 and the certain ruin which is the fruit of it1 that he is therefore to keep apart from his fellow-countrymen1 and despise them in ,pharisaic pride4 ,no4 ,the truly ,christian man1 the man who1 like ,jeremiah1 has the ,spirit of ,god in him1 will feel the most intense pity and tenderness of sinners4 ,he will not only rebuke the sins of his people1 but mourn for them2 he will be afflicted in all their affliction4 ,however harshly he may have to speak1 he will never forget that they are his countrymen1 his brothers1 children of the same ,father1 to be judged by the same ,lord4 ,he will feel with shame and fear that he has in himself the root of the very same sins which he sees working death around him--that if others are covetous1 he might be so too--if they be profligate1 and deceitful1 and hypocritical1 without ,god in the world1 he might be so too4 ,and he must feel not only that he might be as bad as his neighbours1 but that he actually would be1 if ,god withdrew ,his ,spirit from him for a moment1 and allowed him to forget the only faith which saves him from sin1 loyalty to his unseen ,saviour1 the righteous ,king of kings4 ,therefore he will not only rebuke his sinful neighbours2 but he will tell them1 as ,jeremiah told his countrymen1 that all their sin and misery proceed from this one thing1 that they have forgotten that the ,lord is their ,king4 ,he will pray daily for them1 that the ,lord their ,king may show ,himself to their hearts and thoughts1 and teach them all that ,he has done for them1 and is doing for them2 and may convert them to ,himself that they may be truly ,his people1 and ,his way may be known upon earth1 ,his saving health among all nations4 ,,xxx4 ,,the ,,perfect ,,king4 ,tell ye the daughter of ,zion1 ,behold1 thy ,king cometh to thee1 meek1 and sitting upon an ass1 and a colt1 the foal of an ass4--,,matthew xxi4 #e4 ,,you all know that this ,sunday is called the ,first ,sunday in ,advent4 ,you all know1 ,i hope1 that ,advent means coming1 and that these four ,sundays before ,christmas1 as ,i have often told you1 are called ,advent ,sundays1 because upon them we are called to consider the coming of our ,king and ,saviour ,jesus ,christ4 ,if you will look at the ,collects1 ,epistles1 and ,gospels for these next four ,sundays1 you will see at once that they all bear upon our ,lord's coming4 ,the ,gospels tell us of the prophecies about ,christ which ,he fulfilled when ,he came4 ,the ,epistles tell us what sort of men we ought to be1 both clergy and people1 because ,he has come and will come again4 ,the ,collects pray that the ,spirit of ,god would make us fit to live and die in a world into which ,christ has come1 and in which ,he is ruling now1 and to which ,he will come again4 ,the text which ,i have taken this morning1 you just heard in this ,sunday's ,gospel4 ,st4 ,matthew tells you that ,jesus ,christ fulfilled it by riding into ,jerusalem in state upon an ass's colt2 and ,st4 ,matthew surely speaks truth4 ,let us consider what the prophecy is1 and how ,jesus ,christ fulfilled it4 ,then we shall see and believe from the ,epistle what effect the knowledge of it ought to have upon our own souls1 and hearts1 and daily conduct4 ,now this prophecy1 8,behold1 thy king cometh unto thee10 etc41 you will find in your ,bibles1 in the ninth verse of the ninth chapter of the book of ,zechariah4 ,but ,i do not think that ,zechariah wrote it4 ,st4 ,matthew does not say he wrote it2 he merely calls it that which was spoken by the prophet1 without mentioning his name4 ,provided it is an inspired word from ,god1 which it is1 it perhaps does not matter to us so much who wrote it3 but ,i think it was written by the prophet ,jeremiah1 perhaps in the beginning of the reign of the good king ,josiah2 for the chapter in which this text is1 and the two or three chapters which follow1 are not at all like the rest of ,zechariah's writings1 but exactly like ,jeremiah's4 ,they certainly seem to speak of things which did not happen in ,zechariah's time1 but in the time of ,jeremiah1 nearly ninety years before4 ,and1 above all1 ,st4 ,matthew himself seems plainly to have thought that some part1 at least1 of those chapters was ,jeremiah's writing2 for in the twenty-seventh chapter of ,st4 ,matthew's ,gospel1 and in the ninth verse1 you will find a prophecy about the potter's field1 which ,st4 ,matthew says was spoken by ,jeremiah the prophet4 ,now1 those words are not in the book of ,jeremiah as it stands in our ,bibles3 but they are in the book of ,zechariah1 in the eleventh chapter1 twelfth and thirteenth verses1 coming shortly after my text1 and making a part of the same prophecy4 ,this has puzzled ,christians very much1 because it seemed as if ,st4 ,matthew has made a mistake1 and miscalled ,zechariah ,jeremiah4 ,but ,i believe firmly that1 as we are bound to expect1 ,st4 ,matthew made no mistake whatsoever1 and that ,jeremiah did write that prophecy as ,st4 ,matthew said1 and the two chapters before it1 and perhaps the two after it1 and that they were probably kept and preserved by ,zechariah during the troublous times of the ,babylonish captivity1 and at last copied by ,nehemiah into ,zechariah's book of prophecy1 where they stand now2 and ,i think it is a comfort to know this1 and to find that the evangelist ,st4 ,matthew has not made a mistake1 but knew the ,scriptures better than we do4 ,but ,i think ,jeremiah having written this prophecy in my text1 which ,i believe he did1 is also very important1 because it will show us what the prophet meant when he spoke it1 and how it was fulfilled in his time2 and the better we understand that1 the better we shall understand how our blessed ,lord fulfilled it afterwards4 ,now1 when ,jeremiah was a young man1 the ,jews and their king ,amon were in a state of most abominable wickedness4 ,they were worshipping every sort of idol and false god4 ,and the ,bible1 the book of ,god's law1 was utterly unknown amongst them2 so that ,josiah the king1 who succeeded ,amon1 had never seen or heard the book of the law of ,moses1 which makes part of our ,old ,testament1 till he had reigned eighteen years1 as you will find if you refer to #b ,kings xxii4 #c4 ,but this ,josiah was a gentle and just prince1 and finding the book of the law of ,god1 and seeing the abominable forgetfulness and idolatry into which his people had fallen1 utterly breaking the covenant which ,god had made with their forefathers when he brought them up out of ,egypt--when he found the book of the law1 ,i say1 and all that he and his people should have done and had not done1 and the awful curses which ,god threatened in that book against those who broke ,his law1 8he humbled himself before ,god1 because his heart was tender1 and turned to the ,lord1 as no king before him had ever turned10 says the scripture1 8with all his heart1 and with all his soul1 and with all his might2 so that there was no such king before him1 or either after him40 ,the history of the great reformation which this great and good king worked1 you may read at length in #b ,kings xxii4 xxiii4 and #b ,chron4 xxxiv4 xxxv4 which ,i advise you all to read4 ,and it appears to me that this prophecy in the text first applies to the gentle and holy king ,josiah1 the first true and good king the ,jews had had for years1 and the best they were ever to have till ,christ came ,himself2 and that it speaks of ,josiah coming to ,jerusalem to restore the worship of ,god1 not with pomp and show1 like the wicked kings both before and after him1 but in meekness and humbleness of heart1 for all the sins of his people1 as the prophetess said of him in #b ,kings xxii4 #ai1 8that his heart was tender and humble before the ,lord20 neither coming with chariots and guards1 like a king and conqueror1 but riding upon an ass's colt2 for that was1 in those countries1 the ancient sign of a man's being a man of peace1 and not of war2 a magistrate and lawgiver1 and not a soldier and a conqueror4 ,various places of holy scripture show us that this was the meaning of riding upon an ass in ,juda1 just as it is in ,eastern countries now4 ,but some may say1 ,how then is this a prophecy8 ,it merely tells us what good king ,josiah was1 and what every king ought to be4 ,well1 my friends1 that is just what makes it a prophecy4 ,if it tells you what ought to be1 it tells you what will be4 ,yes1 never forget that2 whatever ought to be1 surely will be2 as surely as this is ,god's earth and ,christ's kingdom1 and not the devil's4 ,now1 it does not matter in the least whether the prophet1 when he spoke these words1 knew that they would apply to the ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,we have no need whatsoever to suppose that he did3 for scripture gives us no hint or warrant that he did2 and if we have any real or honest reverence for scripture1 we shall be careful to let it tell its own story1 and believe that it contains all things necessary for salvation1 without our patching our own notions into it over and above4 ,wise men are generally agreed that those old prophets did not1 for the most part1 comprehend the full meaning of their own words4 ,not that they were mere puppets and mouthpieces1 speaking what to them was nonsense--,god forbid6--,but that just because they did thoroughly understand what was going on round them1 and see things as ,god saw them1 just because they had ,god's ,eternal ,spirit with them1 therefore they spoke great and eternal words1 which will be true for ever1 and will go on for ever fulfilling themselves for more and more4 ,for in proportion as any man's words are true1 and wide1 and deep1 they are truer1 and wider1 and deeper than that man thinks1 and will apply to a thousand matters of which he never dreamt4 ,and so in all true and righteous speech1 as in the speeches of the prophets of old1 the glory is not man's who speaks them1 but ,god's who reveals them1 and who fulfils them again and again4 ,it is true1 then1 that this text describes what every king should be--gentle and humble1 a merciful and righteous lawgiver1 not a self-willed and capricious tyrant4 ,but ,josiah could not fulfil that4 ,he was a good king3 but he could not be a perfect one2 for he was but a poor1 sinful1 weak1 and inconsistent man1 as we are4 ,but those words being inspired by the ,holy ,spirit1 must be fulfilled4 ,there ought to be a perfect king1 perfectly gentle and humble1 having a perfect salvation1 a perfect lawgiver2 and therefore there must be such a king2 and therefore ,st4 ,matthew tells us there came at last a perfect king--one who fulfilled perfectly the prophet's words--one who was not made king of ,jerusalem1 but was her ,king from the beginning2 for that is the full meaning of 8,thy ,king cometh to thee40 ,to ,jerusalem ,he came1 riding on the ass's colt1 like the peaceful and fatherly judges of old time1 for a sign to the poor souls round ,him1 who had no lawgivers but the proud and fierce ,scribes and ,pharisees1 no king but the cruel and godless ,csar1 and his oppressive and extortionate officers and troops4 ,meek and lowly ,he came2 and for once the people saw that ,he was the true ,son of ,david--a man and king1 like him1 after ,god's own heart4 ,for once they felt that ,he had come in the name of the ,lord the old ,deliverer who brought them out of the land of ,egypt1 and made them into a nation1 and loved and pitied them still1 in spite of all their sins1 and remembered ,his covenant1 which they had forgotten4 ,and before that humble man1 the ,son of the village maiden1 they cried3 8,hosanna to the ,son of ,david4 ,blessed is ,he that cometh in the name of the ,lord4 ,hosanna in the ,highest40 ,and do you think ,he came1 the true and perfect ,king1 only to go away again and leave this world as it was before1 without a law1 a ruler1 a heavenly kingdom8 ,god forbid6 ,jesus is the same yesterday1 to-day1 and for ever4 ,what ,he was then1 when ,he rode in triumph into ,jerusalem1 that is ,he now to us this day--a king1 meek and lowly1 and having salvation2 the head and founder of a kingdom which can never be moved1 a city which has foundations1 whose builder and maker is ,god4 ,to that kingdom this land of ,england now belongs4 ,into it we1 as ,englishmen1 have been christened4 ,and the unchristened1 though they know not of it1 belong to it as well4 ,what ,god's will1 what ,christ's mercies may be to them1 we know not4 ,that ,he has mercy for them1 if their ignorance is not their own fault1 we doubt not2 perhaps1 even if their ignorance be their own fault1 we need not doubt that ,he has mercy for them1 considering the mercy which ,he has shown to us1 who deserved no more than they4 ,but ,his will to us we do know2 and ,his will is this--our holiness4 ,for ,he came not only to assert ,his own power1 to redeem his own world1 but to set ,his people1 the children of men1 an example1 that they should follow in ,his steps4 ,herein1 too1 ,he is the perfect king4 ,he leads ,his subjects1 ,he sets a perfect example to ,his subjects1 and more1 ,he inspires them with the power of following that example1 as1 if you will think1 a perfect ruler ought to be able to do4 ,josiah set the ,jews an example1 but he could not make them follow it4 ,they turned to ,god at the bidding of their good king1 with their lips1 in their outward conduct2 but their hearts were still far from ,him4 ,jeremiah complains bitterly of this in the beginning of his prophecies4 ,he complains that ,josiah's reformation was after all empty1 hollow1 hypocritical1 a change on the surface only1 while the wicked root was left4 ,they had healed1 he said1 the hurt of the daughter of his people slightly1 crying1 8,peace1 peace1 when there was no peace40 ,but ,jesus1 the perfect ,king1 is ,king of men's spirits as well as of their bodies4 ,he can turn the heart1 ,he can renew the soul4 ,none so ignorant1 none so sinful1 none so crushed down with evil habits1 but the ,lord will and can forgive him1 raise him up1 enlighten him1 strengthen him1 if he will but claim his share in his ,king's mercy1 his citizenship in the heavenly kingdom1 and so put himself in tune again with himself1 and with heaven1 and earth1 and all therein4 ,keeping in mind these things1 that ,jesus1 because ,he is our perfect ,king1 is both the example and the inspirer of our souls and characters1 we may look without fear at the epistle for the day1 where it calls on us to be very different persons from what we are1 and declares to us our duty as subjects of ,him who is meek and lowly1 just and having salvation4 ,it is no superstitious1 slavish message1 saying3 8,you have lost ,christ's mercy and ,christ's kingdom2 you must buy it back again by sacrifices1 and tears1 and hard penances1 or great alms-deeds and works of mercy40 ,no4 ,it simply says3 8,you belong to ,christ already1 give up your hearts to ,him and follow ,his example4 ,if ,he is perfect1 ,his is the example to follow2 if he is perfect1 ,his commandments must be perfect1 fit for all places1 all times1 all employments2 if ,he is the ,king of heaven and earth1 ,his commandments must be in tune with heaven and earth1 with the laws of nature1 the true laws of society and trade1 with the constitution1 and business1 and duty1 and happiness of all mankind1 and for ever obey ,him40 ,owe no man anything save love1 for ,he owed no man anything4 ,he gave up all1 even ,his own rights1 for a time1 for ,his subjects4 ,will you pretend to follow ,him while you hold back from your brothers and fellow-servants their just due8 ,one debt you must always owe2 one debt will grow the more you pay it1 and become more delightful to owe1 the greater and heavier you feel it to be1 and that is love2 love to all around you1 for all around you are your brothers and sisters2 all around you are the beloved subjects of your ,king and ,saviour4 ,love them as you love yourself1 and then you cannot harm them1 you cannot tyrannise over them1 you cannot wish to rise by scrambling up on their shoulders1 taking the bread out of their mouths1 making your profit out of their weakness and their need4 ,this1 ,st4 ,paul says1 was the duty of men in his time1 because the night of heathendom was far spent1 the day of ,christianity and the ,church was at hand4 ,much more is it our duty now--our duty1 who have been born in the full sunshine of ,christianity1 christened into ,his church as children1 we and our fathers before us1 for generations1 of the kingdom of ,god4 ,ay1 my friends1 these words1 that kingdom1 that ,king1 witness this day against this land of ,england4 ,not merely against popery1 the mote which we are trying to take out of the foreigner's eye1 but against ,mammon1 the beam which we are overlooking in our own4 ,owe no man anything save love4 8,thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself40 ,that is the law of your ,king1 who loved not ,himself or ,his own profit1 ,his own glory1 but gave ,himself even to death for those who had forgotten ,him and rebelled against ,him4 ,that law witnesses against selfishness and idleness in rich and poor4 ,it witnesses against the employer who grinds down his workmen2 who1 as the world tells him he has a right to do1 takes advantage of their numbers1 their ignorance1 their low and reckless habits1 to rise upon their fall1 and grow rich out of their poverty4 ,it witnesses against the tradesman who tries to draw away his neighbour's custom4 ,it witnesses against the working man who spends in the alehouse the wages which might support and raise his children1 and then falls back recklessly and dishonestly on the parish rates and the alms of the charitable4 ,against them all this law witnesses4 ,these things are unfit for the kingdom of ,christ1 contrary to the laws and constitution thereof1 hateful to the ,king thereof2 and if a nation will not amend these abominations1 the ,king will arise out of ,his place1 and with sore judgments and terrible ,he will visit ,his land and purify ,his temple1 saying3 8,my ,father's house should be a house of prayer1 and ye have made it a den of thieves40 ,ay1 woe to any soul1 or to any nation1 which1 instead of putting on the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 copying ,his example1 obeying ,his laws1 and living worthy of ,his kingdom1 not only in the church1 but in the market1 the shop1 the senate1 or the palace1 give themselves up to covetousness1 which is idolatry2 and care only to make provision for the flesh1 to fulfil the lusts thereof4 ,woe to them2 for1 let them be what they will1 their ,king cannot change4 ,he is still meek and lowly2 ,he is still just and having salvation2 and ,he will purge out of ,his kingdom all that is not like ,himself1 the unchaste and the idle1 the unjust and the unmerciful1 and the covetous man1 who is an idolater1 says the scripture1 though he may call himself seven times a ,protestant1 and rail at the ,pope in public meetings1 while he justifies greediness and tyranny by glib words about the necessities of business and the laws of trade1 and by philosophy falsely so called1 which cometh not from above1 but is earthly1 sensual1 devilish4 ,such a man loves and makes a lie1 and the ,lord of truth will surely send him to his own place4 ,,xxxi4 ,,god',s ,,warnings4 ,it may be that the house of ,judah will hear all the evil which ,i purpose to do unto them2 that they may return every man from his evil way2 that ,i may forgive their iniquity and their sin4--,,jeremiah xxxvi4 #c4 ,,the first lesson for this evening's service tells us of the wickedness of ,jehoiakim1 king of ,judah4 ,how1 when ,jeremiah's prophecies against the sins of ,jehoiakim and his people were read before him1 he cut the roll with a penknife1 and threw it into the fire4 ,now1 we must not look on this story as one which1 because it happened among the ,jews many hundred years ago1 has nothing to do with us2 for1 as ,i continually remind you1 the history of the ,jews1 and the whole ,old ,testament1 is the history of ,god's dealings with man--the account of ,god's plan of governing this world4 ,now1 ,god cannot change2 but is the same yesterday1 to-day1 and for ever2 and therefore ,his plan of government cannot change3 but if men do as those did of whom we read in the ,old ,testament1 ,god will surely deal with them as ,he dealt with the men of the ,old ,testament4 ,this ,st4 ,paul tells us most plainly in the tenth chapter of #a ,corinthians1 where he says that the whole history of the ,jews was written for our example--that is for the example of those ,christian ,corinthians1 who were not ,jews at all1 but ,gentiles as we are2 and therefore for our example also4 ,he tells them1 that it was ,christ ,himself1 the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 who fed and guided the old ,jews in the wilderness1 and that the ,lord will deal with us exactly as ,he dealt with the old ,jews4 ,therefore it is a great and fearful mistake1 to suppose that because the ,jews were a peculiar people and ,god's chosen nation1 that therefore the ,lord's way of governing them is in any wise different from ,his way of governing us ,english at this very day2 for that fancy is contrary to the express words of ,holy ,scripture1 in a hundred different places2 it is contrary to the whole spirit of our ,prayer ,book1 which is written all through on the belief that the ,lord deals with us just as ,he did with the ,jewish nation1 and which will not even make sense if it be understood in any other way2 and besides1 it is most dangerous to the souls and consciences of men4 ,it is most dangerous for us to fancy that ,god can change2 for if ,god can change1 right and wrong can change2 for right is the will of ,god1 and wrong is what is against ,his will2 and if we once let into our hearts the notion that ,god can change ,his laws of right1 our consciences will become daily dimmer and more confused about right and wrong1 till we fall1 as too many do1 under the prophet's curse1 8,woe to them who call good evil1 and evil good2 who put sweet for bitter1 and bitter for sweet10 and fancy1 like ,ezekiel's ,jews1 that ,god's ways are unequal2 that is1 unlike each other1 changeable1 arbitrary1 and capricious1 doing one thing at one time1 and another at another4 ,no4 ,it is sinful man who is changeable2 it is sinful man who is arbitrary4 ,but ,the ,lord is not a man1 that ,he should lie or repent2 for ,he is the only-begotten ,son1 and therefore the express likeness1 of ,the ,everlasting ,father1 in whom is no variableness1 nor shadow of turning4 ,but some may say1 ,is not that a gloomy and terrible notion of ,god1 that ,he cannot change ,his purpose8 ,is not that as much as to say that there is a dark necessity hanging over each of us2 that a man must just be what ,god chooses1 and do just what ,he has ordained to do1 and go to everlasting happiness or misery exactly as ,god has foreordained from all eternity1 so that there is no use trying to do right1 or not to do wrong8 ,if ,i am to be saved1 say such people1 ,i shall be saved whether ,i try or not2 and if ,i am to be damned1 ,i shall be damned whether ,i try or not4 ,i am in ,god's hands like clay in the hands of the potter2 and what ,i am like is therefore ,god's business1 and not mine4 ,no1 my friends1 the very texts in the ,bible which tell us that ,god cannot change or repent1 tell us what it is that ,he cannot change in--in showing loving-kindness and tender mercy1 long-suffering1 and repenting of the evil4 ,whatsoever else ,he cannot repent of1 ,he cannot repent of repenting of the evil4 ,it is true1 we are in ,his hand as clay in the hand of the potter4 ,but it is a sad misreading of scripture to make that mean that we are to sit with our hands folded1 careless about our own way and conduct2 still less that we are to give ourselves up to despair1 because we have sinned against ,god2 for what is the very verse which follows after that8 ,listen4 8,o house of ,israel1 cannot ,i do with you as this potter8 saith the ,lord4 ,behold1 as the clay is in the hand of the potter1 so are ye in my hand1 ,o house of ,israel4 ,at what instant ,i shall speak concerning a kingdom1 to pull down and destroy it2 if that nation against whom ,i have pronounced1 turn from their evil1 ,i will repent of the evil which ,i thought to do to them4 ,and at what instant ,i shall speak concerning a nation1 and concerning a kingdom1 to build and to plant it2 if it do evil in my sight1 that it obey not my voice1 then ,i will repent of the good wherewith ,i said ,i would benefit them40 ,so that the lesson which we are to draw from the parable of the potter's clay is just the exact opposite which some men draw4 ,not that ,god's decrees are absolute3 but that they are conditional1 and depend on our good or evil conduct4 ,not that ,his election or ,his reprobation are unalterable1 but that they alter 8at that instant0 at which man alters4 ,not that ,his grace and will are irresistible1 as the foolish man against whom ,st4 ,paul argues fancies3 but that we can resist ,god's will1 and that our destruction comes only by resisting ,his will2 in short1 that ,god's will is no brute material necessity and fate1 but the will of a living1 loving ,father4 ,and the very same lesson is taught us in ,ezek4 xviii41 of which ,i spoke just now2 for if we read that chapter we shall find that the ,jews had a false notion of ,god that ,he had changed ,his character1 and had become in their time unmerciful and unjust4 ,they fancied that ,god was1 if ,i may so speak1 obstinate--that if ,his anger had once arisen1 there was no turning it away1 but that ,he would go on without pity1 punishing the innocent children for their father's sin2 and therefore they fancied ,god's ways were unfair1 self-willed1 and arbitrary1 without any care of what sort of person ,he afflicted2 punishing the righteous as well as the wicked1 after ,he had promised in ,his law to reward the righteous and punish the wicked4 ,they fancied that ,his way of governing the world had changed1 and that ,he did not in their days make a difference between the bad and the good4 ,therefore ,ezekiel says to them3 8,when the righteous man turneth away from his righteousness1 he shall die40 8,when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness1 he shall live40 8,have ,i any pleasure at all that the wicked should die8 saith the ,lord ,god1 and not that he should return from his ways1 and live80 ,this1 then1 is the good news1 that ,god is love2 love when ,he punishes1 and love when ,he forgives2 very pitiful1 and full of long-suffering and tender mercy and repenting ,him1 never of the good1 but only of the evil which ,he threatens4 ,both ,jeremiah1 therefore1 and ,ezekiel1 give us the same lesson4 ,god does not change1 and therefore ,he never changes ,his mercy and ,his justice3 for ,he is merciful because ,he is just4 ,if we confess our sins1 ,he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins4 ,that is ,his everlasting law1 and has been from the beginning3 ,punishment1 sure and certain1 for those who do not repent2 and free forgiveness1 sure and certain also1 for those who do repent4 ,so ,he spoke to ,jeremiah in the time of ,jehoiakim3 8,it may be that the house of ,judah will hear all the evil that ,i purpose to do to them2 that ,i may forgive them their iniquity and their sin40 ,the ,lord1 you see1 wishes to forgive--longs to forgive4 ,his heart yearns over sinful men as a father's over his rebellious child4 ,but if they will still rebel1 if they will still turn their wicked wills away from ,him1 ,he must punish4 ,why we know not2 but ,he knows4 ,punish ,he must1 unless we repent--unless we turn our wills toward ,his will4 ,and woe to the stiff-necked and stout-hearted man who1 like the wicked king ,jehoiakim1 sets his face like a flint against ,god's warnings4 ,how many1 how many behave for years1 ,sunday after ,sunday1 just as king ,jehoiakim did6 ,when he heard that ,god had threatened him with ruin for his sins1 he heard also that ,god offered him free pardon if he would repent4 ,jeremiah gave him free choice to be saved or to be ruined2 but his heart and will were hardened4 ,hearing that he was wrong only made him angry4 ,his pride and self-will were hurt by being told that he must change and alter his ways4 ,he had chosen his way1 and he would keep to it2 and he cared nothing for ,god's offers of forgiveness1 because he could not be forgiven unless he did what he was too proud to do1 confess himself to be in the wrong1 and openly alter his conduct4 ,and how many1 as ,i first said1 are like him6 ,they come to church2 they hear ,god's warnings and threats against their evil ways2 they hear ,god's offers of free pardon and forgiveness2 but being told that they are in the wrong makes them too angry to care for ,god's offers of pardon4 ,pride stops their cars4 ,they have chosen their own way1 and they will keep it4 ,they would not object to be forgiven1 if they might be forgiven without repenting4 ,but they do not like to confess themselves in the wrong4 ,they do not like to face their foolish companions' remarks and sneers about their changed ways4 ,they do not like even good people to say of them3 8,you see now that you were in the wrong after all2 for you have altered your mind and your doings yourself1 as we told you you would have to do40 ,no2 anything sooner than confess themselves in the wrong2 and so they turn their backs on ,god's mercy1 for the sake of their own carnal pride and self-will4 ,but1 of course1 they want an excuse for doing that2 and when a man wants an excuse1 the devil will soon fit him with a good one4 ,then1 perhaps1 the foolish sinner behaves as ,jehoiakim did4 ,he tries to forget ,god's message in the man who brings it4 ,he grows angry with the preacher1 or goes out and laughs at the preacher when service is over1 as if it was the preacher's fault that ,god had declared what he has2 as if it was the preacher's doing that ,god has revealed ,his anger against all sin and unrighteousness4 ,so he acts like ,jehoiakim1 who tried to take ,jeremiah the prophet and punish him1 for what not he but the ,lord ,god had declared4 ,nay1 they will often peevishly hate the very sight of a good book1 because it reminds them of the sins of which they do not choose to be reminded1 just as the young king ,jehoiakim was childish enough to vent his spite on ,jeremiah's book of prophecies1 by cutting the roll on which it was written with a penknife1 and throwing it into the fire4 ,so do sinners who are angry with the preacher who warns them1 or hate the sight of good books4 ,but let such foolish and wilful sinners1 such full-grown children--for1 after all1 they are no better--hear the word of the ,lord which came to ,jehoiakim3 8,as it is written1 he that despiseth ,me shall be despised1 saith the ,lord40 ,and let them not fancy that their shutting their ears will shut the preacher's mouth1 still less shut up ,god's everlasting laws of punishment for sin4 ,no4 ,god's word stands true1 and it will happen to them as it did to ,jehoiakim4 ,his burning ,jeremiah's book did not rid him of the book1 or save him from the woe and ruin which was prophesied in it2 for we have ,jeremiah's book here in our ,bibles to this day1 as a sign and a warning of what happens to men1 be they young or old1 be they kings or labouring men1 who fight against ,god4 ,jeremiah's words were not lost after all2 they were all re-written1 and there were added to them also many more like words2 for ,jehoiakim1 by refusing the ,lord's offer of pardon1 had added to his sins1 and therefore the ,lord added to his punishment4 ,perhaps1 again1 the devil finds the wilful sinner another excuse1 and the man says to himself1 as the ,jews did in ,ezekiel's time3 8,the fathers have eaten sour grapes1 and the children's teeth are set on edge4 ,it is not my own fault that ,i am living a bad life1 but other people's4 ,my parents ought to have brought me up better4 ,i have had no chance4 ,my companions taught me too much harm4 ,i have too much trouble to get my living2 or1 ,i was born with a bad temper2 or1 ,i can't help running after pleasure4 ,why did ,god make me the sort of man ,i am1 and put me where ,i am8 ,god is hard upon me2 ,he is unfair to me4 ,his ways are unequal2 ,he expects as much of me as ,he does of people who have more opportunities4 ,he threatens to punish me for other people's sins40 ,and then comes another and a darker temptation over the man1 and the devil whispers to him such thoughts as these3 8,god does not care for me2 ,god hates me4 ,luck1 and everything else is against me4 ,there seems to be some curse upon me4 ,why should ,i change8 ,let ,god change first to me1 and then ,i will change toward ,him4 ,but ,god will not change2 ,he is determined to have no mercy on me4 ,i can see that2 for everything goes wrong with me4 ,then what use in my repenting8 ,i will just go my own way1 and what must be must4 ,there is no resisting ,god's will4 ,if ,i am to be saved1 ,i shall be2 if ,i am to be damned1 ,i shall be4 ,i will put all melancholy thoughts out of my head1 and go and enjoy myself and forget all4 ,at all events1 it won't last long3 #8,let me eat and drink1 for to-morrow ,i die4'0 ,oh1 my dear friends1 have not some of you sometimes had such thoughts8 ,then hear the word of the ,lord to you3 8,when--whensoever--whensoever the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness which he hath committed1 and doeth that which is lawful and right1 he shall save his soul alive40 8,have ,i any pleasure in the death of him that dieth8 saith the ,lord1 and not rather that he should be converted1 and live80 ,true1 most true1 that the ,lord is unchangeable3 but it is in love and mercy4 ,true1 that ,god's will and law cannot alter3 but what is ,god's will and law8 ,the soul that sinneth1 it shall die8 ,yes4 ,but also1 the soul that turneth away from its sin1 it shall live4 ,never believe the devil when he tells you that ,god hates you4 ,never believe him when he tells you that ,god has been too hard on you1 and put you into such temptation1 or ignorance1 or poverty1 or anything else1 that you cannot mend4 ,no4 ,that font there will give the devil the lie4 ,that font says3 8,be you poor1 tempted1 ignorant1 stupid1 be you what you will1 you are ,god's child--your ,father's love is over you1 ,his mercy is ready for you40 ,you feel too weak to change2 ask ,god's ,spirit1 and ,he will give you a strength of mind you never felt before4 ,you feel too proud to change2 ask ,god's ,spirit1 and ,he will humble your proud heart1 and soften your hard heart2 and you will find to your surprise1 that when your pride is gone1 when you are utterly ashamed of yourself1 and see your sins in their true blackness1 and feel not worthy to look up to ,god1 that then1 instead of pride1 will come a nobler1 holier1 manlier feeling--self-respect1 and a clear conscience1 and the thought that1 weak and sinful as you are1 you are in the right way2 that ,god1 and the angels of ,god1 are smiling on you2 that you are in tune again with all heaven and earth1 because you are what ,god wills you to be--not ,his proud1 peevish1 self-willed child1 fancying yourself strong enough to go alone1 when in reality you are the slave of your own passions and appetites1 and the plaything of the devil3 but ,his loving1 loyal son1 strong in the strength which ,god gives you1 and able to do what you will1 because what you will ,god wills also4 ,,xxxii4 ,,pharaoh',s ,,heart4 ,and the heart of ,pharaoh was hardened1 and he did not let the people go4--,,exodus ix4 #ag4 ,,what lesson1 now1 can we draw from this story8 ,one1 at least1 and a very important one4 ,what effect did all these signs and wonders of ,god's sending1 have upon ,pharaoh and his servants8 ,did they make them better men or worse men8 ,we read that they made them worse men2 that they helped to harden their hearts4 ,we read that the ,lord hardened ,pharaoh's heart1 so that he would not let the children of ,israel go4 ,now1 how did the ,lord do that8 ,he did not wish and mean to make ,pharaoh more hard-hearted1 more wicked4 ,that is impossible4 ,god1 who is all goodness and love1 never can wish to make any human being one atom worse than he is4 ,he who so loved the world that ,he came down on earth to die for sinners1 and take away the sins of the world1 would never make any human being a greater sinner than he was before4 ,that is impossible1 and horrible to think of4 ,therefore1 when we read that the ,lord hardened ,pharaoh's heart1 we must be certain that that was ,pharaoh's own fault2 and so1 we read1 it was ,pharaoh's own fault4 ,the ,lord did not bring all these plagues on ,egypt without giving ,pharaoh fair warning4 ,before each plague1 ,he sent ,moses to tell ,pharaoh that the plague was coming4 ,the ,lord told ,pharaoh that ,he was his ,master1 and the ,master and ,lord of the whole earth2 that the children of ,israel belonged to ,him1 and the ,egyptians too2 that the river1 light and darkness1 the weather1 the crops1 and the insects1 and the locusts belonged to ,him2 that all diseases which afflict man and beast were in ,his power4 ,and the ,lord proved that ,his words were true1 in a way ,pharaoh could not mistake1 by changing the river into blood1 and sending darkness1 and hailstones1 and plagues of lice and flies1 and at last by killing the firstborn of all the ,egyptians4 ,the ,lord gave ,pharaoh every chance2 ,he condescended to argue with him as one man would with another1 and proved ,his word to be true1 and proved that ,he had a right to command ,pharaoh4 ,and therefore1 ,i say1 if ,pharaoh's heart was hardened1 it was his own fault1 for the ,lord was plainly trying to soften it1 and to bring him to reason4 ,and the ,bible says distinctly that it was ,pharaoh's own fault4 ,for it says that ,pharaoh hardened his own heart1 he and his servants1 and therefore they would not let the children of ,israel go4 ,now how could ,pharaoh harden his own heart1 and yet the ,lord harden it at the same time8 ,just in the same way1 my friends1 as too many of us are apt to make the ,lord harden our hearts by hardening them ourselves1 and to make1 as ,pharaoh did1 the very things which the ,lord sends to soften us1 the causes of our becoming more stubborn2 the very things which the ,lord sends to bring us to reason1 the means of our becoming more mad and foolish4 ,believe me1 my friends1 this is no old story with which we have nothing to do4 ,what happened to ,pharaoh's heart may happen to yours1 or mine1 or any man's4 ,alas6 alas6 it does happen to many a man's and woman's heart every day--and may the ,lord have mercy on them before it be too late1--and yet how can the ,lord have mercy on those who will not let ,him have mercy on them8 ,what do ,i mean8 ,this is what ,i mean1 my friends2 ,oh1 listen to it1 and take it solemnly to heart1 you who are living still in sin2 take it to heart1 lest you1 like ,pharaoh1 die in your sins1 and your latter end will be worse than your beginning4 ,suppose a man to be going on in some sinful habit2 cheating his neighbours1 grinding his labourers1 or getting tipsy1 or living with a woman without being married to her4 ,he comes to church1 and there he hears the word of the ,lord1 by the ,bible1 or in sermons1 telling him that ,god commands him to give up his sin1 that ,god will certainly punish him if he does not repent and amend4 ,god sends that message to him in love and mercy1 to soften his heart by the terrors of the law1 and turn him from his sin4 ,but what does the man feel8 ,he feels angry and provoked2 angry with the preacher2 ay1 angry with the ,bible itself1 with ,god's words4 ,for he hates to hear the words which tell him of his sin2 he wishes they were not in the ,bible2 he longs to stop the preacher's mouth2 and1 as he cannot do that1 he dislikes going to church4 ,he says3 8,i cannot1 and what is more1 ,i will not1 give up my sinful ways1 and therefore ,i shall not go to church to be told of them40 ,so he stops away from church1 and goes on in his sins4 ,so that man's heart is hardened1 just as ,pharaoh's was4 ,yet the ,lord has come and spoken to that sinful man in loving warnings3 though all the effect it has had is that the ,lord's message has made him worse than he was before1 more stubborn1 more godless1 more unwilling to hear what is good4 ,but men may fall into a still worse state of mind4 ,they may determine to set the ,lord at naught2 to hear ,him speaking to their conscience1 and know that ,he is right and they wrong1 and yet quietly put the good thoughts and feelings out of their way1 and go in the course which they know to be the worst4 ,how many a man in business or the world says to himself1 ay1 and in his better moments will say to his friend3 8,ah1 yes1 if one could but be what one would wish to be4 4 4 4 ,what one's mother used to say one might be4 4 4 4 ,but for such a world as this1 the gospel ideal is somewhat too fine and unpractical4 ,one has one's business to carry on1 or one's family to provide for1 or one's party in politics to serve2 one must obey the laws of trade1 the usages of society1 the interests of one's class20 and so forth4 ,and so an excuse is found for every sin1 by those who know in their hearts that they are sinning2 for every sin2 and among others1 too often1 for that sin of ,pharaoh's1 of 8not letting the people go40 ,and how many1 my friends1 when they come to church1 harden their hearts in the same quiet1 almost good-humoured way1 not caring enough for ,god's message to be even angry with it1 and take the preacher's warnings as they would a shower of rain1 as something unpleasant which cannot be helped2 and which1 therefore1 they must sit out patiently1 and think about it as little as possible8 ,and when the sermon is over1 they take their hats and go out into the churchyard1 and begin talking about something else as quickly as possible1 to drive the unpleasant thoughts1 if there are a few left1 out of their heads4 ,and thus they let the ,lord's message to them harden their hearts4 ,for it does harden them1 my friends1 if it be taken in this temper4 ,every time anyone sits through the service or the sermon in this stupid and careless mood1 he dulls and deadens his soul1 till at last he is able coolly to sit through the most awful warnings of ,god's judgment1 the most tender entreaties of ,god's love1 as if he were a brute animal without understanding4 ,ay1 he is able to make the responses to the commandments1 and join in the psalms1 and so with his own mouth1 before the whole congregation1 confess that ,god's curse is on his doings1 with no more sense or care of what the words mean1 and of what a sentence he is pronouncing against himself1 than if he were a parrot taught to speak by rote words which he does not understand4 ,and so that man1 by hardening his own heart1 makes the ,lord harden it for him4 ,but there is a third way1 and a worse way still1 in which people's hearts are hardened by the ,lord's speaking to them4 ,a man is warned of his sins by the preacher2 and he says to himself3 8,if the minister thinks that he is going to frighten me away from church1 he is very much mistaken4 ,he may go his way1 and ,i shall go mine4 ,let him preach at me as much as he will2 ,i shall go to church all the more for that1 to show him that ,i am not afraid40 ,and so the ,lord's warnings harden his heart1 and provoke him to set his face like a flint1 and become all the more proud and stubborn4 ,now1 young people1 ,i speak openly to you as man to man4 ,will you tell me that this was not the very way in which some of you took my sermon last ,sunday afternoon1 in which ,i warned you of the misery which your sinful lives would bring upon you8 ,was there not more than one of you1 who1 as soon as he got outside the church1 began laughing and swaggering1 and said to the lad next him3 8,well1 he gave it us well in his sermon this afternoon1 did he not8 ,but ,i don't care2 do you80 ,to which the other foolish fellow answered3 8,not ,i4 ,it is his business to talk like that2 he is paid for it1 and ,i suppose he likes it4 ,so if he does what he likes1 we shall do what we like4 ,come along40 ,and at that all the other foolish fellows round burst out laughing1 as if the poor lad had said a very clever thing2 and they all went off together1 having their hearts hardened by the ,lord's warning to them1 as ,pharaoh's was4 ,and they showed1 ,i am afraid1 that very evening that their hearts were hardened4 ,for out of a sort of spite and stubbornness they took a delight in doing what was wrong1 just because they had been told that it was wrong1 and because they were determined to show that they would not be frightened or turned from what they chose4 ,and all the while they knew that it was wrong1 did those poor foolish lads4 ,if you had asked one of them openly1 8,do you not know that ,god has forbidden you to do this80 they would have either been forced to say1 8,yes10 or else they would have tried to laugh the matter off1 or perhaps held their tongues and looked silly1 or perhaps again answered insolently2 showing by each and all of these ways of taking it1 that the ,lord's message had come home to their consciences1 and convinced them of their sin1 though they were determined not to own it or obey it4 ,and the way they would have put the matter by and excused themselves to themselves would have been just the way in which ,pharaoh did it4 ,they would have tried to forget that the ,lord had warned them1 and tried to make out to themselves that it was all the preacher's doing1 and to make it a personal quarrel between him and them4 ,just so ,pharaoh did when he hardened his heart4 ,he made the ,lord's message a ground for hating and threatening ,moses and ,aaron1 as if it was any fault of theirs4 ,he knew in his heart that the ,lord had sent them2 but he tried to forget that1 and drove them out from his presence1 and told them that if they dared to appear before him again they should surely die4 ,and just so1 my friends1 people will be angry with the preacher for telling them unpleasant truths1 as if it was any more pleasure to him to speak than for them to hear4 ,oh1 why will you forget that the words which ,i speak from this pulpit are not my words1 but ,god's8 ,it is not ,i who warn you of what you are bringing on yourselves by your sins1 it is ,god ,himself4 ,there it is written in ,his ,bible--judge for yourselves4 ,read your ,bibles for yourselves1 and you will see that ,i am not speaking my own thoughts and words4 ,and as for being angry with me for telling you truth1 read the ordination service which is read whenever a clergyman is ordained1 and judge for yourselves4 ,what is a clergyman sent into the world for at all1 but to say to you what ,i am saying now8 ,what should ,i be but a hypocrite and a traitor to the blessed ,lord who died for me1 and saved me from my sins1 and ordained me to preach to sinners1 that they too may be saved from their sins1--what should ,i be but a traitor to ,him1 if ,i did not say to you1 whenever ,i see you going wrong3 8,o come1 let us worship1 and fall down and kneel before the ,lord our ,maker4 8,for ,he is the ,lord our ,god2 and we are the people of ,his pasture1 and the sheep of ,his hand4 8,to-day1 if ye will hear ,his voice1 harden not your hearts1 8,lest ,he sware in ,his wrath that you shall not enter into ,his rest60 ,and now1 my friends1 ,i will tell you what will happen to you4 ,you see that ,i know something1 without having been told of what has been going on in your hearts4 ,i beseech you1 believe me when ,i tell you what will go on in them4 ,god will chastise you for your sins4 ,he will2 just because ,he loves you1 and does not hate you2 just because you are ,his children1 and not dumb animals born to perish4 ,troubles will come upon you as you grow older4 ,of what sort they will be ,i cannot tell2 but that they will come1 ,i can tell full well4 ,and when the ,lord sends trouble to you1 shall it harden your hearts or soften them8 ,it depends on you1 altogether on you1 whether the ,lord hardens your hearts by sending those sorrows1 or whether ,he softens and turns them and brings them back to the only right place for them--home to ,him4 ,but your trouble may only harden your heart all the more4 ,the sorrows and sore judgments which the ,lord sent ,pharaoh only hardened his heart4 ,it all depends upon the way in which you take these troubles1 my friends4 ,and that not so much when they come as after they come4 ,almost all1 let their hearts be right with ,god or not1 seem to take sorrow as they ought1 while the sorrow is on them4 ,pharaoh did so too4 ,he said to ,moses and ,aaron3 8,i have sinned this time4 ,the ,lord is righteous1 and ,i and my people are wicked4 ,entreat the ,lord that there be no more mighty thunderings and hail2 and ,i will let you go40 ,what could be more right or better spoken8 ,was not ,pharaoh in a proper state of mind then8 ,was not his heart humbled1 and his will resigned to ,god8 ,moses thought not4 ,for while he promised ,pharaoh to pray that the storm might pass over1 yet he warned him3 8,but as for thee and thy servants1 ,i know that ye will not yet fear the ,lord your ,god40 ,and so it happened2 for1 8when ,pharaoh saw that the rain1 and hail1 and thunder had ceased1 he sinned yet more1 and hardened his heart1 he and his servants4 ,neither would he let the children of ,israel go40 4 4 4 ,and so1 alas6 it happens to many a man and woman nowadays4 ,they find themselves on a sick-bed4 ,they are in fear of death1 in fear of poverty1 in fear of shame and punishment for their misdeeds4 ,and then they say3 8,it is ,god's judgment4 ,i have been very wicked4 ,i know ,god is punishing me4 ,oh1 if ,god will but raise me up off this sick-bed2 if ,he will but help me out of this trouble1 ,i will give up all my wicked ways4 ,i will repent and amend40 ,so said ,pharaoh2 and yet1 as soon as he was safe out of his distress1 he hardened his heart4 ,and so does many a man and woman1 who1 when they get safe through their troubles1 never give up one of their sins1 any more than ,pharaoh did4 ,they really believe that ,god has punished them4 ,they really intend to amend1 while they are in the trouble3 but as soon as they are out of it1 they try to persuade themselves that it was not ,god who sent the sorrow1 that it came 8by accident10 or that 8people must have trouble in this life10 or that 8if they had taken better care1 they might have prevented it40--,all of them excuses to themselves for forgetting ,god in the matter1 and1 therefore1 for forgetting what they promised to ,god in trouble2 and so1 after all1 they go on just as they went on before4 ,and yet not as they went on before4 ,for every such sin hardens their hearts2 every such sin makes them less able to see ,god's hand in what happens to them2 every such sin makes them more bold and confident in disobeying ,god1 and saying to themselves3 8,after all1 why should ,i be so frightened when ,i am in trouble1 and make such promises to amend my life8 ,for the trouble goes away1 whether ,i mend my life or not2 and nothing happens to me2 ,god does not punish me for not keeping my promises to ,him4 ,i may as well go on in my own way1 for ,i seem not the worse off in body or in purse for so doing40 ,thus do people harden their hearts after each trouble1 as ,pharaoh did2 so that you will see people1 by one affliction after another1 one loss after another1 all their lives through1 warned by ,god that sin will not prosper them2 and confessing that their sins have brought ,god's punishment on them3 and yet going on steadily in the very sins which have brought on their troubles1 and gaining besides1 as time runs on1 a heart more and more hardened4 ,and why8 ,because they1 like ,pharaoh1 love to have their own way4 ,they will not submit to ,god1 and do what ,he bids them1 and believe that what ,he bids them must be right--good for them1 and for all around them4 ,they promised to mend4 ,but they promised as ,pharaoh did4 8,if ,god will take away this trouble1 then ,i will mend0--meaning1 though they do not dare to say it3 8,and if ,god will not take away this trouble1 of course ,he cannot expect me to mend40 ,in plain ,english--,if ,god will not act toward them as they like1 then they will not act toward ,him as ,he likes4 ,my friends1 ,god does not need us to bargain with ,him4 ,we must obey ,him whether we like it or not2 whether it seems to pay us or not2 whether ,he takes our trouble off us or not2 we must obey1 for ,he is the ,lord2 and if we will not obey1 ,he will prove ,his power on us1 as ,he did on ,pharaoh1 by showing plainly what is the end of those who resist ,his will4 ,what1 then1 are we to do when our sins bring us1 as they certainly will some day bring us1 into trouble8 ,what we ought to have done at first1 my friends4 ,what we ought to have done in the wild days of youth1 and so have saved ourselves many a dark day1 many a sleepless night1 many a bitter shame and heartache4 ,to open our eyes1 and see that the only thing for men and women1 whom ,god has made1 is to obey the ,god who has made them4 ,he is the ,lord4 ,he has made us4 ,he will have us do one thing4 ,how can we hope to prosper by doing anything else8 ,it is ill fighting against ,god4 ,which is the stronger1 my friends1 you or ,god8 ,make up your minds on that4 ,it surely will not take you long4 ,but someone may say3 8,i do wish and long to obey ,god2 but ,i am so weak1 and my sins have so entangled me with bad company1 or debts1 or--1 or--40 ,we all know1 alas6 into what a net everyone who gives way to sin gets his feet3 8,and therefore ,i cannot obey ,god4 ,i long to do so4 ,i feel1 ,i know1 when ,i look back1 that all my sin1 and shame1 and unhappiness1 come from being proud and self-willed1 and determined to have my own way1 and do what ,i choose4 ,but ,i cannot mend40 ,do not despair1 poor soul6 ,i had a thousand times sooner hear you say you cannot mend1 than that you can4 ,for those who say they can mend1 are apt to say3 8,i can mend2 and therefore ,i shall mend when ,i choose1 and no sooner40 ,but those who really feel they cannot mend--those who are really weary and worn out with the burden of their sins--those who are really tired out with their own wilfulness1 and feel ready to lie down and die1 like a spent horse1 and say3 8,god1 take me away1 no matter to what place2 ,i am not fit to live here on earth1 a shame and a torment to myself day and night0--those who are in that state of mind1 are very near--very near finding out glorious news4 ,those who cannot mend themselves and know it1 ,god will mend4 ,god will mend your lives for you4 ,he knows as well as you what you have to struggle against2 ay1 a thousand times better4 ,he knows--what does ,he not know8 ,pray to ,him1 and try what ,he does not know4 ,cry to ,him to rid you of your bad companions2 ,he will find a way of doing it4 ,cry to ,him to bring you out of the temptations you feel too strong for you2 ,he will find a way for doing it4 ,cry to ,him to teach you what you ought to do1 and ,he will send someone1 and that the right person1 doubt it not1 to teach you in ,his own good time4 ,above all1 cry and pray to ,him to conquer the pride1 and self-conceit1 and wilfulness in your heart2 to take the hard proud heart of stone out of you1 and give you instead a heart of flesh1 loving1 and tender1 and kindly to every human creature2 and ,he will do it4 ,cry to ,him to make your will like ,his own will1 that you may love what ,he loves1 and hate what ,he hates1 and do what ,he wishes you to do4 ,and then you will surely find my words come true3 8,those who long to mend1 and yet know that they cannot mend themselves1 let them but pray1 and ,god will mend them40 ,,xxxiii4 ,,the ,,red ,,sea ,,triumph4 ,preached ,easter-day ,morning1 #aheb4 ,this is a night to be much observed unto the ,lord1 for bringing the children of ,israel out of the land of ,egypt4--,,exodus xii4 #db4 ,,you all1 my friends1 know what is the meaning of ,easter-day--that it is the ,day on which ,the ,lord rose again from the dead4 ,you must have seen that most of the special services for this day1 the ,collect1 ,epistle1 and ,gospel1 and the second lessons1 both morning and evening1 reminded you of ,christ's rising again2 and so did the proper ,psalms for this day1 though it may seem at first sight more difficult to see what they have to do with the ,lord's rising again4 ,now the first lessons1 both for the morning and evening services1 were also meant to remind us of the very same thing1 though it may seem even more difficult still1 at first sight1 to understand how they do so4 ,let us see what these two first lessons are about4 ,the morning one was from the twelfth chapter of ,exodus1 and told us what the ,passover was1 and what it meant4 ,the first lesson for this afternoon was the fourteenth chapter of ,exodus4 ,surely you must remember it4 ,surely the most careless of you must have listened to that glorious story1 how the ,jews went through the ,red ,sea as if it had been dry land1 while ,pharaoh and the ,egyptian army1 trying to follow them1 were overwhelmed in the water4 ,surely you cannot have heard how the poor ,jews looked back from the farther shore1 and hardly believed their own eyes for joy and wonder1 when they saw their proud masters swept away for ever1 and themselves safe and free out of the hateful land where they had been slaves for hundreds of years4 ,you cannot surely1 my friends1 have heard that glorious story1 and forgotten it again already4 ,i hope not2 for ,god knows1 that tale of the ,jews coming safe through the ,red ,sea has a deep and blessed meaning enough for you1 if you could but see it4 ,but some of you may be saying to yourselves3 8,no doubt it is a very noble story2 and a man cannot help rejoicing at the poor ,jews' escape1 and at the downfall of those cruel ,egyptians4 ,it is a pleasant thought1 no doubt1 that if it were but for that once1 ,god interfered to help poor suffering creatures1 and rid them of their tyrants4 ,but what has that to do with ,easter ,day and ,christ's rising again80 ,i will try to show you1 my friends4 ,the ,jews' ,passover is the same as our ,easter-day1 as you know already4 ,but they are not merely alike in being kept on the same day4 ,they are alike because they are both of them remembrances and tokens of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ's delivering men out of misery and slavery4 ,for never forget--though1 indeed1 in these strange times1 ,i ought rather to say1 ,i beseech you to read your ,bibles and see--that it was ,jesus ,christ ,himself who brought the ,jews out of ,egypt4 ,st4 ,paul tells us so positively1 again and again4 ,in #a ,cor4 x4 #d he tells us that it was ,christ who followed them through the wilderness4 ,in verse #i of the same chapter1 he says that it was ,christ ,himself whom they tempted in the wilderness4 ,he was the ,angel of the ,covenant who went with them4 ,he was the ,god of ,israel whom the elders of the ,jews saw1 a few weeks afterwards1 on ,mount ,sinai1 and under ,his feet a pavement like a sapphire stone4 ,true1 the ,lord did not take flesh upon ,him till nearly two thousand years after4 ,but from the very beginning of all things1 while ,he was in the bosom of the ,father1 ,he was the ,king of men4 ,man was made in ,his image1 and therefore in the image of the ,father1 whose perfect likeness ,he is--8the brightness of ,his glory1 and the express image of ,his person40 ,it was ,he who took care of men1 guided and taught them1 and delivered them out of misery1 from the very beginning of the world4 ,st4 ,paul says the same thing1 in many different ways1 all through the epistle to the ,hebrews4 ,he says1 for instance1 that ,moses1 when he fled from ,pharaoh's court in ,egypt1 esteemed the reproach of ,christ greater riches than the treasures of ,egypt2 for he endured as seeing ,him who is invisible4 ,the ,lord said the same thing of ,himself4 ,he said openly that ,he was the person who is called1 all through the ,old ,testament1 8,the ,lord40 ,he asked the ,pharisees3 8,what think ye of ,christ8 whose son is ,he8 ,they say unto ,him1 ,david's son4 ,christ answered1 ,how then does ,david in spirit call him ,lord1 saying1 the ,lord said unto my ,lord1 ,sit thou on my right hand until ,i make thy foes thy footstool80 ,so did ,christ declare1 that ,he ,himself1 who was standing there before them1 was the ,lord of ,david1 who had died hundreds of years before4 ,he told them again that their father ,abraham rejoiced to see ,his day1 and saw it and was glad2 and when they answered1 in anger and astonishment1 8,thou art not yet fifty years old1 and hast thou seen ,abraham80 ,jesus said1 8,verily ,i say unto you1 ,before ,abraham was1 ,i am40 ,i am4 ,the ,jews had no doubt whom ,he meant2 and we ought to have none either4 ,for that was the very name by which ,god had told ,moses to call ,him1 when he was sent to the ,jews3 8,thou shalt say unto them1 ,i ,,am hath sent me to you40 ,the ,jews1 ,i say1 had no doubt who ,jesus said that ,he was2 that ,he meant them to understand1 once and for all1 that ,he whom they called the carpenter's son of ,nazareth1 was the ,lord ,god who brought their forefathers up out of the land of ,egypt1 on the night of the first ,passover4 ,so they1 to show how reverent and orthodox they were1 and how they honoured the name of ,god1 took up stones to stone ,him--as many a man1 who fancies himself orthodox and reverent1 would now1 if he dared1 stone the preachers who declare that the ,lord ,jesus ,christ is not changed since then2 that ,he is as able and as willing as ever to deliver the poor from those who grind them down1 and that ,he will deliver them1 whenever they cry to ,him1 with a mighty hand and a stretched-out arm1 and that ,easter-day is as much a sign of that to us as the ,passover was for the ,jews of old4 ,but1 my friends1 if ,christ the ,lord showed ,his love and power in behalf of poor oppressed wretches on that first ,passover1 surely ,he showed it a thousand times more on that first ,easter-day4 ,his great love helped the ,jews out of slavery2 and that same great love of ,his at this ,easter-tide1 moved ,him to die and rise again for the sins of the whole world4 ,in that first ,passover ,he delivered only one people4 ,on the first ,easter ,he delivered all mankind4 ,the ,jews were under cruel tyrants in the land of ,egypt4 ,so were all mankind over the world1 when ,jesus came4 ,the ,jews in ,egypt were slaves to worse things than the whip of their task-masters2 they had slaves' hearts1 as well as slaves' bodies4 ,they were kept down not only by the ,egyptians1 but by their own ignorance1 and idolatry1 and selfish division1 and foul sins4 ,they were spiritually dead--without a noble1 pure1 manful feeling left in them4 ,their history makes no secret of that4 ,the ,bible seems to take every care to let us see into what a miserable and brutal state they had fallen4 ,christ sent ,moses to raise them out of that death2 to take them through the ,red ,sea1 as a sign that all that was washed away1 to be forgiven of ,god and forgotten by them1 and that from the moment they landed1 a free people1 on the farther shore1 they were to consider all their old life past and a new one begun4 ,so they were baptized unto ,moses in the cloud and in the sea1 as ,st4 ,paul says4 ,and now all was to be new4 ,they had been fancying that they belonged to the ,egyptians4 ,now they had found out1 and had it proved to them by signs and wonders which they could not mistake1 that they belonged to the ,lord4 ,they had been brutal sinners4 ,the ,lord began to teach them that they were to rise above their own appetites and passions4 ,they had been worshipping only what they could see and handle4 ,the ,lord began to teach them to worship ,him--a person whom they could not see1 though ,he was always near them1 and watching over them4 ,they had been living without independence1 fellow-feeling1 the sense of duty1 or love of order4 ,the ,lord began to teach them to care for each other1 to help each other1 to know that they had a duty to perform towards each other1 for which they were accountable to ,him4 ,they had owned no master except the ,egyptians1 whom they feared and obeyed unwillingly4 ,the ,lord began to teach them to obey ,him loyally1 from trust1 and gratitude1 and love4 ,they had been willing to remain sinners1 and brutes1 and slaves1 provided they could get enough to eat and drink4 ,the ,lord began to teach them that ,his favour1 ,his protection1 were better than the flesh-pots of ,egypt1 and that ,he was able to feed them where it seemed impossible to men2 to teach them that 8man does not live by bread alone--cheap or dear1 my friends--not by bread alone1 but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of ,god1 does man live40 ,that was the meaning of their being baptized in the cloud and in the sea4 ,that was the meaning1 and only a very small part of the meaning1 of their ,passover4 ,would you not think1 my friends1 that ,i had been speaking rather of our own ,baptism1 and of our own ,supper of the ,lord1 to which you have been all called to-day1 and that ,i had been telling you the meaning of them8 ,for when ,jesus1 the ,lord1 and ,king1 and ,head of mankind1 died and rose again1 ,he took away the sin of the world4 ,he was the true ,passover1 the ,lamb without spot1 slain1 as the scripture tells us1 for the sins of the whole world4 ,in the ,jews' ,passover1 when the angel saw the lamb's blood on the door of the house1 he passed by1 and spared everyone in it4 ,so now4 ,the blood of ,jesus1 the ,lamb of ,god1 is upon us2 and for ,his sake1 ,god is faithful and just to forgive us our sins1 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness4 ,but the ,lord rose again this day4 ,and when ,he1 the ,lord1 the ,king1 and ,head of all men1 rose1 all men rose in ,him4 8,as in ,adam all die10 says ,st4 ,paul1 8even so in ,christ shall all be made alive40 ,baptism is a sign of that to us1 as the going through the ,red ,sea1 and being baptized to ,moses in it1 was to the ,jews4 ,the passing of the ,red ,sea said to the ,jews3 8,you have passed now out of your old miserable state of slavery into freedom4 ,the sins which you committed there are blotted out4 ,you are taken into covenant with ,god4 ,you are now ,god's people1 and nothing can lose you this love and care1 except your own sins1 your own unfaithfulness to ,him1 your own wilful falling back into the slavish and brutal state from which ,he has delivered you40 ,and just so1 baptism says to us3 8,your sins are forgiven you4 ,you are taken into covenant with ,god4 ,you are ,god's people1 ,god's family4 ,you must forget and cast away the old ,adam1 the old slavish and savage pattern of man1 which your ,lord died to abolish1 the guilt of which ,he bore for you on ,his cross2 and you must rise to the new ,adam1 the new pattern of man1 which is created after ,god in righteousness and true holiness1 which the ,lord showed forth in ,his life1 and death1 and rising again4 ,for now ,god looks on you not as a guilty and condemned race of beings1 but as a redeemed race1 ,his children1 for the sake of ,jesus ,christ the ,lamb of ,god1 who takes away the sins of the world4 ,you have a right to believe that1 as human beings1 you are dead with ,christ to the old ,adam1 the old sinful1 brutal pattern of man40 ,baptism is the sign of it to you4 ,every child1 let it or its parents be who they may1 is freely baptized as a sign that all that old pattern of man is washed away1 that they can and must have nothing to do with it hence-forward1 that it is dead and buried1 and they must flee from it and forget it1 as they would a corpse4 ,and the ,lord's ,supper also is a sign to us that1 as human beings1 we are risen with ,christ1 to a new life4 ,a new life is our birthright4 ,we have a right to live a new life4 ,we have a duty to live a new life4 ,we have a power1 if we will1 to live a new life2 such a life as we never could live if we were left to ourselves2 a noble1 just1 godly1 manful1 ,christlike1 ,godlike life1 bred and nourished in us by the ,spirit of ,christ4 ,that is our right2 for we belong to ,him who lived that life ,himself1 and bought us our share in it with ,his own death and resurrection4 ,that is our duty2 for if we share the ,lord's blessings1 it can only be in order that we may become like the ,lord4 ,do you fancy that ,he died to leave us all no better than we are8 ,his death would have had very little effect if that was all4 ,no1 says ,st4 ,paul2 if you have a share in ,christ1 prove that you believe in your own share by becoming like ,christ4 ,you belong to ,his kingdom1 and you must live as ,his subjects4 ,he has bought for you a new and eternal life1 and you must use that life4 8,if ye then be risen with ,christ1 seek those things that are above40 4 4 4 ,and what are they8 ,love1 peace1 gentleness1 mercy1 pity1 truth1 faithfulness1 justice1 patience1 courage1 order1 industry1 duty1 obedience4 4 4 4 ,all1 in short1 which is like ,jesus ,christ4 ,for these are heavenly things4 ,these are above1 where ,christ sits at ,god's right hand4 ,these are the likeness of ,god4 ,that is ,god's character4 ,let it be your character likewise4 ,but again2 if it is our right and our duty to be like that1 it is also in our power4 ,god would not have commanded us to be1 what ,he had not given us the power to be4 ,he would not have told us to seek those things which are above1 if ,he had not intended us to find them4 ,wherefore it is written3 8,ask1 and ye shall receive2 seek1 and ye shall find2 for if ye1 being evil1 know how to give good gifts to your children1 how much more shall your ,heavenly ,father give ,his ,holy ,spirit to those who ask him80 ,this is the meaning of that text2 namely1 that ,god will give us the power of living this new and risen life1 which we are bound to live4 ,this is one of the gifts for men1 which the scripture tells us that ,christ received when ,he rose from the dead1 and ascended up on high4 ,this is one of the powers of which ,he spoke1 when after ,his resurrection ,he said1 8,that all power was given to ,him in heaven and earth40 ,the ,lord's ,supper is at once a sign of who will give us that gift1 and a sign that ,he will indeed give it us4 ,the ,lord's ,supper is the pledge and token to us that we all have a share in the likeness of ,christ1 the true pattern of man2 and that if we come and claim our share1 ,he will surely bestow it on us4 ,he will renew1 and change1 and purify our hearts and characters in us1 day by day1 into the likeness of ,himself4 ,he who is the eternal life of men will nourish us1 body1 soul1 and spirit1 with that everlasting life of ,his1 even as our bodies are nourished by that bread and wine4 ,and if you ask me how8 ,when you can tell me why a wheat grain cannot produce an oak1 or an acorn a wheat plant2 when you can tell me why our bodies are1 each of them1 the very same bodies which they were ten years ago1 though every atom of flesh1 and blood1 and bone in them has been changed2 when1 in short1 you1 or any other living man1 can tell me the meaning of those three words1 body1 life1 and growth1 then it will be time to ask that question4 ,in the meantime let us believe that ,he who does such wonders in the life and growth of every blade of grass1 can and will do far greater wonders for the life and growth of us1 immortal beings1 made in ,his own likeness1 redeemed by ,his blood1 and so believe1 and thank1 and obey1 and wait till another and a nobler life to understand4 ,and if we never understand at all--what matter1 provided the thing be true8 ,,xxxiv4 ,,christmas-,,day4 ,for unto us a child is born1 unto us a ,son is given2 and the government shall be on ,his shoulder3 and ,his name shall be called ,wonderful1 ,counsellor1 ,the ,mighty ,god1 ,the ,father of an ,everlasting age1 ,the ,prince of ,peace4 ,of the increase of ,his government and peace there shall be no end1 upon the throne of ,david1 and upon his kingdom1 to order it1 and to establish it with judgment and with justice henceforth even forever4--,,isaiah ix4 #f1 #g4 ,,in the time when the prophet ,isaiah wrote this prophecy1 everything round him was exactly opposite to his words4 ,the king of ,juda1 the prophet's country1 was not reigning in righteousness4 ,he was an unrighteous and wicked governor4 ,the princes and great men were not ruling in judgment4 ,they were unjust and covetous2 they took bribes1 and sold justice for money4 ,they were oppressors1 grinding down the poor1 and defrauding those below them4 ,so that the weak1 and poor1 and needy had no one to right them1 no one to take their part4 ,there was no man to feel for them1 and defend them1 and be a hiding-place and a covert for them from their cruel tyrants2 no man to comfort and refresh them as rivers of water refresh a dry place1 or the shadow of a great rock comforts the sunburnt traveller in the weary deserts4 ,neither were these very poor oppressed people of the ,jews in a right state of mind4 ,they were ignorant and stupid1 given to worship false gods4 ,they had eyes1 and yet could not use them to see that1 as the psalm told us this morning1 the heavens declared the glory of ,god1 and the firmament showed ,his handiwork4 ,they were worshipping the sun1 and moon1 and stars1 in stead of the ,lord ,god who made them4 ,they were brutish too1 and would not listen to teaching4 ,they had ears1 and yet would not hearken with them to ,god's prophets4 ,they were rash1 too1 living from hand to mouth1 discontented1 and violent1 as ignorant poor people will be in evil times4 ,and they were stammerers--not with their tongue1 but with their minds and thoughts4 ,they were miserable2 but they could not tell why4 ,they were full of discontent and longings2 but they could not put them into words4 ,they did not know how to pray1 how to open their hearts to ,god or to man4 ,they knew of no one who could understand them and their sorrows2 they could not understand them themselves1 much less put them into words4 ,they were altogether confused and stupefied2 just in the same state1 in a word1 as the poor negro slaves in ,america1 and the heathens ay1 and the ,christians too1 are in1 in all the countries of the world which do not know the good news of ,christmas-day or have forgotten it and disobeyed it4 ,but ,isaiah had ,god's ,spirit with him2 the ,holy ,spirit1 the ,spirit of holiness1 righteousness1 justice4 ,and that ,holy ,spirit convinced him of sin1 and of righteousness and of judgment1 as ,he convinces every man who gives himself up humbly to ,god's teaching4 ,first1 the ,spirit convinced ,isaiah of sin4 ,he made him feel that the state of his country was wrong4 ,and ,he made him feel why it was wrong2 namely1 because the men in it were wrong2 because they were thinking wrong notions1 feeling wrong feelings1 doing wrong things2 and that wrong was sin2 and that sin was falling short of being what a man was made1 and what every man ought to be1 namely1 the likeness and glory of ,god2 and that so his countrymen the ,jews1 one and all1 had sinned and come short of the glory of ,god4 ,next1 ,he convinced ,isaiah of righteousness4 ,he made ,isaiah feel and be sure that ,god was righteous2 that ,god was no unjust ,lord1 like the wicked king of the ,jews2 that such evil doings as are going on were hateful to ,him2 that all that covetousness1 oppression1 taking of bribes1 drunkenness1 deceit1 ignorance1 stupid rashness and folly1 of which the land was full1 were hateful to ,god4 ,he must hate them1 for ,he was a righteous and a good ,god4 ,they ought not to be there4 ,for man1 every man from the king on his throne to the poor labourer in the field1 was meant to be righteous and good as ,god is4 8,but how will it be altered80 thought ,isaiah to himself4 8,what hope for this poor miserable sinful world8 ,people are meant to be righteous and good3 but who will make them so8 ,the king and his princes are meant to be righteous and good1 but who will set them a pattern8 ,when will there be a really good king1 who will be an example to all in authority2 who will teach men to do right1 and compel and force them not to do wrong80 ,and then the ,holy ,spirit of ,god answered that anxious question of ,isaiah's1 and convinced him of judgment4 ,yes1 he felt sure2 he did not know why he felt so sure3 but he did feel sure2 ,god's ,spirit in his heart made him feel sure1 that in some way or other1 some day or other1 the ,lord ,god would come to judgment1 to judge the wicked princes and rulers of this world1 and cast them out4 ,it must be so4 ,god was a righteous ,god4 ,he would not endure these unrighteous doings for ever4 ,he was not careless about this poor sinful world1 and about all the sinful down-trodden ignorant men1 and women1 and children in it4 ,he would take the matter into ,his own hands4 ,he would show that ,he was ,lord and ,master4 ,if kings would not reign in righteousness1 ,he would come and reign in righteousness ,himself4 ,he would appoint princes under ,him1 who would rule in judgment4 ,and ,he would show men what true righteousness was2 what the pattern of a true ruler was2 namely1 to be able to feel for the poor1 and the afflicted1 and the needy1 to understand the wants1 and sorrows1 and doubts1 and fears of the lowest and the meanest2 in short1 to be a man1 a true1 perfect man1 with a man's heart1 a man's pity1 a man's fellow-feeling in ,him4 ,yes4 ,the ,lord ,god would show ,himself4 ,he would set ,his righteous ,king to govern4 ,and yet ,isaiah did not know how1 but he saw plainly that it must be so1 that same righteous ,king1 who was to set the world right1 would be a man4 ,it would be a man who was to be a hiding-place from the storm and a covert from the tempest4 ,a man who would understand man1 and teach men their duty4 ,then the eyes of the blind would see1 and the ears of those who heard should hearken2 for they would hear a loving human voice1 the voice of ,one who knew what was in man1 who could tell them just what they wanted to know1 and put ,his teaching into the shape in which it would sink most easily and deeply into their hearts4 ,and then the hearts of the rash would understand knowledge2 and the tongue of the stammerers would speak plainly4 ,there will be no more confused cries from poor ignorant brutish oppressed people1 like the cries of dumb beasts in pain2 for ,he who was coming would give them words to utter their sorrows in4 ,he would teach them how to speak to man and ,god4 ,he would teach them how to pray1 and when they prayed to say1 8,our ,father which art in heaven40 ,then the vile person would be no more called bountiful1 or the churl called liberal3 flattery and cringing to the evil great would be at an end4 ,the people would have sense to see the truth about right and wrong1 and courage to speak it4 ,men would then be held for what they really were1 and honoured and despised according to their true merits4 ,yes1 said ,isaiah1 we shall be delivered from our wicked king and princes1 from the heathen ,assyrian armies1 who fancy that they are going to sweep us out of our own land with fire and sword2 from our own sins1 and ignorance1 and infidelity1 and rashness4 ,we shall be delivered from them all1 for ,the righteous ,king is coming4 ,nay1 ,he is here already1 if we could but see4 ,his goings-forth have been from everlasting4 ,he is ruling us now--this wondrous ,child1 this ,son of ,god4 ,unto us a ,child is born already1 unto us a ,son is given already4 ,but one day or other ,he will be revealed1 and made manifest1 and shown to men as a man2 and then all the people shall know who ,he is2 and ,his name shall be called ,wonderful1 ,counsellor1 the ,mighty ,god1 the ,everlasting ,father1 the ,prince of ,peace4 ,ah1 my friends1 ,isaiah saw all this but dimly and afar off4 ,he saw as through a glass darkly4 ,he perhaps thought at times--indeed we can have little doubt that he thought--that the good young ,prince ,hezekiah1 8,the might of ,god10 as his name means1 who was growing up in his day to be a deliverer and a righteous king over the ,jews1 was to set the world right4 ,no doubt he had ,hezekiah in his mind when he said that a ,child was born to the ,jews1 and a ,son given to them2 just as1 of course1 he meant his own son1 who was born to him by the virgin prophetess1 when he called his name ,emmanuel1 that is to say1 ,god with us4 ,but he felt that there was more in both things than that4 ,he felt that his young wife's conceiving and bearing a son1 was a sign to him that some day or other a more blessed virgin would conceive and bear a mightier ,son4 ,and so he felt that whether or not ,hezekiah delivered the ,jews from their sin1 and misery1 and ignorance1 ,god ,himself would deliver them4 ,he knew1 by the ,spirit of ,god1 that his prophecy would come true1 and remain true for ever4 ,and so he died in faith1 not having received the promises1 ,god having prepared some better ,king for us1 and having fulfilled the words of ,his prophet in a way of which1 as far as we can see1 he never dreamed4 ,yes4 ,hezekiah failed to save the nation of the ,jews4 ,instead of being the 8father of an everlasting age10 and having 8no end of his family on the throne of ,david10 his great-grandchildren and the whole nation of the ,jews were swept away into captivity by the ,babylonians1 and no man of his house1 as ,jeremiah prophesied1 has ever since prospered or sat on the throne of ,david4 ,but still ,isaiah's prophecy was true4 ,true for us who are assembled here this day4 ,for unto us a ,child is born1 unto us a ,son is given2 even the ,babe of ,bethlehem1 ,jesus ,christ the ,lord4 ,the government shall indeed be upon ,his shoulder2 for it has been there always4 ,for the ,father has committed all things to the ,son1 that he may be ,king of kings and ,lord of lords for ever4 ,his name is indeed ,wonderful2 for what more wondrous thing was ever seen in heaven or in earth1 than that great love with which ,he loved us8 ,he is not merely called 8,the might of ,god10 as ,hezekiah was1--for a sign and a prophecy2 for ,he is the mighty ,god ,himself4 ,he is indeed the ,counsellor2 for ,he is the light who lighteth every man who comes into the world4 ,he is 8the ,father of an everlasting age40 ,there were hopes that ,hezekiah would be so2 that he would raise the nation of the ,jews again to a reform from which it would never fall away3 but these hopes were disappointed2 and the only one who fulfilled the prophecy is ,he who has founded ,his ,church for ever on the rock of everlasting ages1 and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it4 ,hezekiah was to be the prince of peace for a few short years only4 ,but the ,child who is born to us1 the ,son who is given to us1 is ,he who gave eternal peace to all who will accept it2 peace which this world can neither give nor take away2 and who will make that peace grow and spread over the whole earth1 till men shall beat their swords into plough-shares1 and their spears into pruning-hooks1 and the nations shall not learn war any more4 ,of the increase of ,his government and of ,his peace there shall be no end1 till the earth be full of the knowledge of the ,lord1 as the waters cover the sea1 and the spirit of ,god be poured out on all flesh1 to teach kings to reign in righteousness1 after the pattern of the ,king of kings1 the ,babe of ,bethlehem2 to make the rich and powerful do justice1 to teach the ignorant1 to give the rich wisdom1 to free the oppressed1 to comfort the afflicted1 to proclaim to all mankind the good news of ,christmas ,day1 the good news that there was a man born into the world on this day who will be a hiding-place from the storm1 a covert from the tempest1 like rivers of water in a dry place1 like the shadow of a great rock in a weary land2 even the man ,christ ,jesus1 who is able and willing to save to the uttermost those who come to ,god through ,him1 seeing that he has been tempted in all things like as we are1 yet without sin4 ,yes1 my friends1 on that holy table stands the everlasting sign that ,isaiah's prophecy has been fulfilled to the uttermost4 ,that bread and that wine declare to us1 that to us a ,child is born1 to us a ,son is given4 ,they declare to us1 in a word1 that on this blessed day ,god was made man1 and dwelt among men1 and we beheld ,his glory1 the glory as of the only-begotten of the ,father1 full of grace and truth4 ,oh1 come to that table this day1 and there claim your share in the most precious body and blood of the ,divine ,child of ,bethlehem4 ,come and ask ,him to pour out on you ,his ,spirit1 the ,spirit which ,he poured on ,hezekiah of old1 8that he might fulfil his own name and live in the might of ,god40 ,so will you live in the might of ,god4 ,so you will be able to govern yourselves1 and your own appetites1 in righteousness and freedom1 and rule your own households1 or whatsoever ,god has set you to do1 in judgment4 ,so you will see things in their true light1 as ,god sees them1 and be ready and willing to hear good advice1 and understand your way in this life1 and be able to speak your hearts out in prayer to ,god1 as to a loving and merciful ,father4 ,and in all your afflictions1 let them be what they will1 you will have a comfort1 and a sure hope1 and a wellspring of peace1 and a hiding-place from the tempest1 even ,the ,man ,christ ,jesus1 who said3 8,peace ,i leave with you2 my peace ,i give unto you2 let not your heart be troubled1 neither be ye afraid40 ,the ,man ,christ ,jesus1 at whose birth the angels sang3 8,glory to ,god in the ,highest1 and on earth peace1 good-will toward men40 ,now to ,him who on this day was born of the blessed virgin1 man of the substance of ,his mother1 yet ,god the ,son of ,god1 be ascribed1 with the ,father and the ,spirit1 all power1 glory1 majesty1 and dominion1 both now and for ever4 ,amen4 ,,xxxv4 ,,new ,,year',s ,,day4 7#ahec47 ,but now thus saith the ,lord that created thee1 ,o ,jacob1 and ,he that formed thee1 ,o ,israel1 ,fear not3 for ,i have redeemed thee1 ,i have called thee by thy name2 thou art mine4 ,when thou passest through the waters1 ,i will be with thee2 and through the rivers1 they shall not overflow thee3 when thou walkest through the fire1 thou shalt not be burnt2 neither shall the flame kindle upon thee4 ,for ,i am the ,lord thy ,god1 the ,holy ,one of ,israel1 thy ,saviour3 ,i gave ,egypt for thy ransom1 ,ethiopia and ,seba for thee4 ,since thou wast precious in my sight1 thou hast been honourable1 and ,i have loved thee3 therefore will ,i give men for thee1 and peoples for thy life4--,,isaiah xliii4 #a-d4 ,,the ,new ,year has now begun2 and ,i am bound to wish you all a happy ,new ,year4 ,but ,i am sent here to do more than that2 to teach you how you may make your own ,new ,year a happy one2 or1 if not altogether a happy one--for sorrows may and must come in their turn--yet still something better than a happy year1 namely1 a blessed year2 a year on which you will be able to look back this day twelvemonths1 and thank ,god for it2 thank ,god for the tears which you have shed in it1 as well as for the joy which you have felt2 thank ,god for the dark days as well as for the light2 thank ,god for what you have lost1 as well as what you have found2 and be able to say1 8,well1 this last year1 if it has not been a happy year for me1 at least it has been a blessed one for me4 ,it has left me a stronger1 soberer1 wiser1 godlier1 better man than it found me40 ,how1 then1 can you make the ,new ,year a blessed one for yourselves8 ,i know but one way1 my friends4 ,the ancient way4 ,the ,bible way4 ,the way by which ,abraham1 and ,jacob1 and ,david1 and all the holy men of old1 and all the saints1 and martyrs1 and righteous and godly among men1 made their lives blessed among themselves1 in spite of sorrow1 and misfortune1 and distress1 and persecution1 and torture1 and death itself2 the one only old way of being blessed1 which was from the beginning1 and will last for ever and ever1 through all worlds and eternities2 the way of the old saints1 which ,st4 ,paul sets forth in the eleventh chapter of the ,hebrews2 and that is1 faith4 ,faith1 which is the substance of what we hope for1 the evidence of things not seen4 ,faith1 of which it is written1 that the just shall live by his faith4 ,but how can faith give you a blessed ,new ,year8 ,in the same way in which it gave the old saints blessed years all their lives through1 and is giving them a blessed eternity now and for ever before the face of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 to which may ,god in ,his mercy bring us all likewise4 ,they trusted in ,god4 ,they had faith1 not in themselves1 like too many2 not in their own good works1 like too many2 not in their own faith1 in their own frames1 and feelings1 and assurances1 like too many2 but they had faith in ,god4 ,it was faith in ,god which made one of them1 the great prophet ,isaiah1 write the glorious words which ,i have chosen for my text this day1 to show his countrymen the ,jews1 even while they were in the very lowest depths of shame1 and poverty1 and misfortune1 that ,god had not forgotten them2 that for those who trusted in ,him1 a blessed time was surely coming4 ,and it was faith in ,god1 too1 which put it into the minds of the good men who choose these ,sunday lessons out of the ,bible1 to appoint such chapters as these to be read year by year1 at the coming in of the new year1 for ever4 ,faith in ,god1 ,i say1 put that into their minds4 ,for those good men trusted in ,god1 that ,he would not change2 that hundreds and thousands of years would make no difference in ,his love2 that the promises made by ,his ,holy ,spirit to ,isaiah the prophet would stand true for ever and ever4 ,and they trusted in ,god1 too1 that what ,he had spoken by the mouth of ,his holy apostles was true2 that after the blessed ,lord came down on earth1 there was to be no difference between ,jews and ,gentiles2 that the great and precious promises made by ,god to the ,jews were made also to all the nations of the earth2 that all things written in the ,old ,testament1 from the first chapter of ,genesis to the last of ,malachi1 were written not for the ,jews only1 but for ,english1 ,french1 ,italians1 ,germans1 ,russians--for all the nations of the world2 that we ,english were ,god's people now1 just as much1 ay1 far more1 than the old ,jews were1 and that1 therefore1 the ,old ,testament promises1 as well as the ,new ,testament ones1 were part of our inheritance as members of ,christ's ,church4 ,and therefore they appointed ,old ,testament lessons to be read in church1 to show us ,english what our privileges were1 what ,god's covenant and promise to us were4 ,we1 as much as the ,jews1 are called by the name of the ,lord who created us4 ,were we not baptised into ,his name at that font8 ,has ,he not loved us8 ,has ,he not heaped us ,english1 for hundreds of years past1 with blessings such as ,he never bestowed on any nation8 ,has ,he not given men for us1 and nations for our life8 ,while all the nations of the world have been at war1 slaying and being slain1 has ,he not kept this fair land of ,england free and safe from foreign invaders for more than eight hundred years8 ,since the world was made1 perhaps1 such a thing was never heard of1 such a mercy shown to any nation2 that a great and rich country like this should be preserved for eight hundred years from invasion of foreign armies1 and all the horrors and miseries of war1 which have swept1 from time to time1 every other nation in the world with the besom of desolation4 ,ay1 and but sixty years ago1 in the time of the ,french war1 when almost every other nation in ,europe was made desolate with fire1 and sword1 and war1 did not ,god preserve this land of ,england1 as ,he never preserved country before1 from all the miseries which were sweeping over other nations8 ,oh1 strange and wonderful mercy of ,god1 that at the very time that the gospel was dying out all over ,europe1 it was being lighted again in ,england2 and that while the knowledge of ,god was failing elsewhere1 it was increasing here6 ,oh1 strange and wonderful mercy of ,god1 who has given to us ,english1 now for one hundred and sixty years and more1 those very equal laws1 and freedom1 and rights of conscience1 for which so many other nations of ,europe are still crying and struggling in vain1 amid slavery1 and oppression1 and injustice1 and heavy burdens1 such as we here in ,england should not endure a week6 ,oh1 strange and wonderful mercy of ,god1 who but three years ago1 when all the other nations of ,europe were shaken with wars1 and riots1 and seditions1 every man's hand against his neighbour1 kept this land of ,england in perfect peace and quiet by those just laws and government1 proving to us the truth of ,his own promises1 that those who seek peace by righteous dealings1 shall find it1 and that1 as ,isaiah says1 the fruit of justice is quietness and assurance for ever6 ,and last1 but not least1 my friends1 is it not a sign1 a sign not to be mistaken1 of ,god's good-will and mercy to us1 that now1 at this very time of all others1 when almost every country in ,europe is going to wrack and ruin through the folly and wickedness of their kings and rulers1 ,he should have given us here in ,england a ,queen who is a pattern of goodness and purity1 in ruling not only the nation1 but her own household1 to every wife and mother1 from the highest to the lowest2 and a ,prince whose whole heart seems set on doing good1 and on helping the poor1 and improving the condition of the labourers8 ,my friends1 ,i say that we are unthankful and unfaithful4 ,we do not thank ,god a hundredth part enough for the blessings which ,he has given us4 ,we do not trust ,him a hundredth part enough for the blessings which ,he has in store for us4 ,if some of us here could but see and feel for a single month how people are off abroad2 if they could change places with a ,french1 an ,italian1 a ,russian labourer1 it would teach them a lesson about ,god's goodness to ,england which they would not soon forget4 ,may ,god grant that we may never have to learn that lesson in that way6 ,god grant that we may never1 to cure us of our unthankfulness and want of faith1 and godless and unmanly grumbling and complaining1 be brought1 for a single week1 into the same state as some hundred millions of our fellow-creatures are in foreign parts6 ,oh1 my friends1 let us thank ,god for the mercies of the past year6 ,most truly ,he has fulfilled to ,england his promise given by the mouth of the prophet ,isaiah3 8,when thou passest through the waters1 ,i will be with thee2 and through the rivers1 they shall not overflow thee4 ,for ,i am the ,lord thy ,god1 the ,holy ,one1 thy ,saviour4 ,thou hast been precious in my sight1 and ,i have loved thee3 therefore will ,i give men for thee1 and peoples for thy life40 ,away1 then1 with discontent and anxiety for the coming year4 ,or rather1 let us be only discontented with ourselves4 ,let us only be anxious about our own conduct4 ,god cannot change4 ,if anything goes wrong1 it will be not because ,he has left us1 but because we have left ,him4 ,is it not written that all things work together for good to those who love ,god8 ,then if things do not work together for good in this coming year1 it will be because we do not love ,god4 ,do not let us say1 8,i am righteous1 but my neighbours are wicked1 and therefore ,i must be miserable20 neither let us lay the blame of our misfortunes on our rulers2 let us lay it on ourselves4 ,what was the word of the ,lord to the ,jews in a like case3 8,what means this proverb which you take up1 saying1 ,the fathers have eaten sour grapes1 and the children's teeth are set on edge8 ,it is not so1 ,o house of ,israel4 ,the son shall not die for the iniquity of his father1 nor the father for the iniquity of the son4 ,the soul that sinneth1 it shall die1 saith the ,lord40 ,oh1 my friends1 take this to heart solemnly1 in the year to come4 ,our troubles1 more of them at least than we fancy1 are our own fault1 and not our neighbours'1 or the government's1 or anyone's else4 ,and those which are not our own fault directly are so in this way1 that they are sent as sharp and wholesome lessons to us2 and if we were what we ought to be1 we should not want those lessons4 ,do not fancy that that is a sad and doleful thought to begin the new year with4 ,god forbid6 ,it would be doleful and sad indeed if any one of us1 in spite of all his right-doing1 might be plunged into any hopeless misery1 through the fault of other people1 over whom he has no control4 ,but thanks be to the ,lord1 it is not so4 ,we are ,his children1 and ,he cares for each and every one of us separately4 ,each and every one of us has to answer for himself alone1 face to face with his ,god1 day by day2 every man must bear his own burden2 and to every one of us who love ,god1 all things will work together for good4 ,it is1 and was1 and always will be1 as ,abraham well knew1 far from ,god to punish the righteous with the wicked4 ,the ,judge of all the earth will do right4 ,none of us who repents and turns from the sins he sees round him and in him2 none of us who prays for the light and guiding of ,god's ,spirit2 none of us who struggles day by day to keep himself unspotted from this evil world1 and live as ,god's son1 without scandal or ill-name in the midst of a sinful and perverse generation2 none of us who does that1 but ,god's blessing will rest on him4 ,what ruins others will only teach and strengthen him2 what brings others to shame1 will only bring him to honour1 and make his righteousness plain to be seen by all1 that ,god may be glorified in ,his people4 ,let the coming year be what it may2 to the holy1 the humble1 the upright1 the godly1 it will be a blessed year1 fulfilling the blessed promises of the ,lord1 that those who trust in ,him shall never be confounded4 ,oh1 my friends1 consider but this one thing1 that the ,almighty ,god1 who made all heaven and earth1 has bid us trust in ,him4 ,and when ,he bids us1 is it not a sin1 an insult to ,him1 not to trust ,him--not to believe ,his words to us8 8,put thou thy trust in the ,lord1 and be doing good2 dwell in the land10 working where ,he has set thee1 8and verily thou shalt be fed40 8,thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night1 nor for the arrow that flieth by day4 ,a thousand shall fall by thy side1 and ten thousand at thy right hand3 but it shall not come nigh thee4 ,only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked4 ,because thou hast made the ,lord thy refuge1 no plague shall come nigh thy dwelling4 ,thou shalt call upon me1 ,i will answer thee4 ,because thou hast set thy love on me1 ,i will deliver thee2 with long life will ,i satisfy thee1 and show thee my salvation40 ,my friends1 these words are in the book of ,psalms4 ,either they are the most cruel words that ever were spoken on earth to tempt poor wretches into vain security and fearful disappointment1 or they are--what are they8--the sure and everlasting promise of our ,father in heaven to us ,his children4 ,we have only to ask for them1 and we shall receive them2 to claim them1 and they will be fulfilled to us4 8,for ,he who spared not ,his own ,son1 but freely gave ,him for us1 will ,he not with ,him likewise freely give us all things10 and make1 by ,his fatherly care1 and providence1 and education1 all our new years blessed new years1 whether or not they are happy ones8 ,,xxxvi4 ,,the ,,deluge4 ,my spirit shall not always strive with man4--,,genesis vi4 #c4 ,,last ,sunday we read in the first lesson of the fall4 ,this ,sunday we read of the flood1 the first-fruits of the fall4 ,it is an awful and a fearful story4 ,and yet1 if we will look at it by faith in ,god1 it is a most cheerful and hopeful story--a gospel--a good news of salvation--like every other word in the ,bible1 from beginning to end4 ,ay1 and to my mind1 the most hopeful words of all in it1 are the very ones which at first sight look most terrible1 the words with which my text begins3 8,and the ,lord said1 ,my ,spirit shall not always strive with man40 ,for is it not good news--the good news of all news--the news which every poor soul who is hungering and thirsting after righteousness1 longs to hear2 and when they hear it1 feel it to be the good news--the only news which can give comfort to fallen and sorrowful men1 tied and bound with the chain of their sins1 that ,god's ,spirit does strive at all with man8 ,that ,god is looking after men8 ,that ,god is yearning over sinners1 as the heart of a father yearns over his rebellious child1 as the heart of a faithful and loving husband yearns after an unfaithful wife8 ,that ,god does not take a disgust at us for all our unworthiness1 but wills that none should perish1 but that all should come to repentance8 ,oh joyful news6 ,man may be1 as the text says that he was in the time of ,noah1 so low fallen that he is but flesh like the brutes that perish2 the imaginations of his heart may be only evil continually2 his spirit may be dead within him1 given up to all low and fleshly appetites and passions1 anger1 and greediness1 and filth2 and yet the pure and holy ,spirit of ,god condescends to strive and struggle with him1 to convince him of sin1 and make him discontented and ashamed at his own brutishness1 and shake and terrify his soul with the wholesome thought3 8,i am a sinner--,i am wrong--,i am living such a life as ,god never meant me to live--,i am not what ,i ought to be--,i have fallen short of what ,god intended me to be4 ,surely some evil will come to me from this40 ,then the ,holy ,spirit convinces man of righteousness4 ,he shows man that what he has fallen short of is the glory of ,god2 that man was meant to be1 as ,st4 ,paul says1 the likeness and glory of ,god2 to show forth ,god's glory1 and beauty1 and righteousness1 and love in his own daily life2 as a looking-glass1 though it is not the sun1 still gives an image and likeness of the sun1 when the sun shines on it1 and shows forth the glory of the sunbeams which are reflected on it4 ,and then1 the ,holy ,spirit convinces man of judgment4 ,he shows man that ,god cannot suffer men1 or angels1 or any other rational spirits and immortal souls1 to be unlike ,himself2 that because ,he is the only and perfect good1 whatsoever is unlike ,him must be bad2 because ,he is the only and perfect love1 who wills blessings and good to all1 whatsoever is unlike ,him must be unloving1 hating1 and hateful--a curse and evil to all around it2 because ,he is the only perfect ,maker and ,preserver1 whatsoever is unlike ,him must be in its very nature hurtful1 destroying1 deadly--a disease which injures this good world1 and which ,he will therefore cut out1 burn up1 destroy in some way or other1 if it will not submit to be cured4 ,for this1 my friends1 is the meaning of ,god's judgments on sinners2 this is why ,he sent a flood to drown the world of the ungodly2 this is why ,he destroyed ,sodom and ,gomorrah2 this is why ,he swept away the nations of ,canaan2 this is why ,he destroyed ,jerusalem1 ,his own beloved city1 and scattered the ,jews over the face of the whole earth unto this day2 this is why ,he destroyed heathen ,rome of old1 and why ,he has destroyed1 from time to time1 in every age and country1 great nations and mighty cities by earthquake1 and famine1 and pestilence1 and the sword2 because ,he knows that sin is ruin and misery to all2 that it is a disease which spreads by infection among fallen men2 and that ,he must cut off the corrupt nation for the sake of preserving mankind1 as the surgeon cuts off a diseased limb1 that his patient's whole body may not die4 ,but the surgeon will not cut off the limb as long as there is a chance of saving it3 he will not cut it off till it is mortified and dead1 and certain to infect the whole body with the same death1 or till it is so inflamed that it will inflame the whole body also1 and burn up the patient's life with fever4 ,till then he tends it in hope2 tries by all means to cure it4 ,and so does the ,lord1 the ,lord ,jesus1 the great ,physician1 whom ,his ,father has appointed to heal and cure this poor fallen world4 ,as long as there is hope of curing any man1 any nation1 any generation of men1 so long will his ,spirit strive lovingly and hopefully with man4 ,for see the blessed words of the text3 8,my ,spirit shall not always strive with man4 ,this must end4 ,this must end at some time or other4 ,this battle between my ,spirit and the wicked and perverse wills of these sinners2 this battle between the love and the justice and the purity which ,i am trying to teach them1 and the corruption and the violence with which they are filling the earth40 ,but there is no passion in the ,lord1 no spite1 no sudden rage1 like the brute passionate anger of weak man4 ,our anger1 if we are not under the guiding of ,god's ,spirit1 conquers our wills1 carries us away1 makes us say and do on the moment--,god forgive us for it--whatsoever our passion prompts us4 ,the ,lord's anger does not conquer ,him4 ,it does not conquer ,his patience1 ,his love1 ,his steadfast will for the good of all4 ,even when it shows itself in the flood and the earthquake2 even though it break up the fountains of the great deep1 and destroy from off the earth both man and beast1 yet it is1 and was1 and ever will be1 the anger of ,the ,lamb--a patient1 a merciful1 and a loving anger4 ,therefore the ,lord says3 8,yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years40 ,one hundred and twenty years more he would endure those corrupt and violent sinners1 in the hope of correcting them4 ,one hundred and twenty years more would ,god's ,spirit strive with men4 ,one hundred and twenty years more the long-suffering of ,god1 as ,st4 ,peter says1 would wait1 if by any means they would turn and repent4 ,oh1 wonderful love and condescension of ,god6 ,god waits for man6 ,the ,holy ,one waits for the unholy6 ,the ,creator waits for the work of ,his own hands6 ,the wrathful ,god1 who repents that ,he has made man upon the earth1 waits one hundred and twenty years for the very creatures whom ,he repents having made6 ,does this seem strange to us--unlike our notions of ,god8 ,if it is strange to us1 my friends1 its being strange is only a proof of how far we have fallen from the likeness of ,god1 wherein man was originally created4 ,if we were more like ,god1 then the accounts of ,god's long-suffering1 and mercy1 and repentance1 which we read in the ,bible1 would not be so strange to us4 ,we should understand what ,god declares of ,himself1 by seeing the same feelings working in ourselves1 which ,he declares to be working in ,himself4 ,and if we were more righteous and more loving1 we should understand more how ,god's will was a loving and a righteous will2 how ,his justice was ,his mercy1 and ,his mercy ,his justice1 instead of dividing ,his substance1 who is one ,god1 by fancying that ,his mercy and ,his justice are two different attributes1 which are at times contrary the one to the other4 ,we read nothing here about ,god's absolute purposes1 and fixed decrees1 whereof men talk so often1 making a god in their own fallen image1 after their own fallen likeness4 ,the ,lord1 the ,word of ,god1 of whom the ,bible tells us1 does not think it beneath his dignity to say3 8,it repenteth me that ,i have made man40 ,different1 truly1 from that false god which man makes in his own image4 ,man is proud1 and he fancies that ,god is proud2 man is self-willed and selfish1 and he fancies that ,god is self-willed and selfish2 man is arbitrary and obstinate1 and determined to have his own way just because it is his own way2 and then he fancies that ,god is arbitrary and obstinate1 and determines to have ,his own way and will1 just because it is ,his own way and will4 ,but wilt thou know1 oh vain man1 why ,god will have ,his own way and will8 ,because ,his way is a good way1 and ,his will a loving will2 because the ,lord knows that ,his way is the only path of life1 and joy1 and blessing to man and beast1 yes1 and to the very hairs of our head1 which are all numbered1 and to the sparrows1 whereof not one falls to the ground without our ,father's knowledge2 because ,his will is a loving will1 which wills that none should perish1 but that all should come and be saved in body1 soul1 and spirit4 ,he will have ,his own will done1 not because it is ,his own will1 but because it is good1 good for men4 ,and if men will change and repent1 then will ,he change and repent also4 ,if man will resist the striving of ,god's ,spirit with him1 then will the ,lord say3 8,it repenteth me that ,i have made that man40 ,but if a man will repent him of the evil1 then ,god will repent ,him of the evil also4 ,if a man will let ,god's ,spirit convince him1 and will open his ears and hear1 and open his eyes and see1 and open his heart to take in the loving thoughts and the right thoughts1 and the penitent and humble thoughts1 which do come to him--you know they do come to you all at times--then the ,lord will repent also1 as he repents1 and repent concerning the evil which ,he has declared concerning that man4 ,so said the ,lord1 who cannot change1 the same yesterday1 to-day1 and for ever1 the same now that ,he was in the days of the flood1 to ,jeremiah the prophet1 when ,he moved him to go down to the potter's house1 and watch him there at his work4 ,and the potter made a vessel--something which would be useful and good for a certain purpose--but the clay was marred in the hand of the potter4 ,he was good and skilful2 but there was a fault in the clay4 ,what did he do8 ,throw the clay away as useless8 ,no4 ,he made it again another vessel4 ,he was determined to make1 not anything1 but something useful and good4 ,and if the clay1 being faulty1 failed him once1 he would try again4 ,he would change his purpose and plan1 but not his right will to make good and useful vessels2 them he would make1 if not by one way1 then by another4 ,and ,jeremiah watched him2 and as he watched1 the ,spirit of the ,lord came on him1 and taught him that that poor potter's way of working with his clay1 was a pattern and likeness of the ,lord's work on earth4 ,oh shame1 that this great parable should have been twisted by men to make out that ,god is an arbitrary tyrant1 who works by a brute necessity6 ,it taught ,jeremiah the very opposite4 ,it taught him what it ought to teach us1 that ,god does change1 because man changes1 that ,god's steadfast will is the good of men1 and therefore because men change their weak self-willed course1 and fall1 and seek out many inventions1 therefore ,god changes to follow them1 like a good shepherd1 tracking and following the lost and wandering sheep up and down1 right and left1 over hill and dale1 if by any means ,he may find him1 and bring him home on ,his shoulders to the fold1 calling upon the angels of ,god3 8,rejoice with me1 for ,i have found my sheep which ,i had lost40 ,this is the likeness of ,god4 ,the good and loving will of a ,father following his wandering children4 ,the likeness of a loving ,father repenting that ,he hath brought into the world sinful children1 to be a misery to themselves and all around them1 and yet for the same reason loving those children1 striving with their wicked wills to the very last1 giving them one last chance and time for repentance2 as the ,lord did to those evil men of the old world1 sending to them ,noah1 a preacher of righteousness1 if by any means they would turn from their sins and be saved4 ,ay1 not only preaching to their ears by ,noah1 but to their hearts by ,his ,spirit2 as ,st4 ,peter tells us1 ,he ,himself1 ,christ the ,lord1 went ,himself by ,his ,spirit to those very sinners before the flood1 and strove to bring them to their reason again4 ,by ,his ,spirit2 by the very same one and only ,holy ,spirit of ,god1 ,st4 ,peter says1 by which ,christ ,himself was raised from the dead1 did ,he try to raise the souls of those sinners before the flood1 from the death of sin to the life of righteousness3 but they would not4 ,they were disobedient4 ,their wills resisted ,his will to the last2 and then the flood came1 and swept them all away4 ,and so the first work of the heavenly ,workman was marred in the making by no fault of ,his1 but by the fault of what ,he made4 ,he made men persons1 rational beings with wills1 that they might be willingly like ,him3 but they used those wills to be unlike ,him1 to rebel against ,him1 and to fill the earth with violence and corruption4 ,and so1 for the good of all mankind to come1 ,he had to sweep them all away4 ,but of that same sinful clay ,he made another vessel1 as it seemed good to ,him2 even ,noah and his ,sons1 whom ,he saved that ,he might carry on the race of the ,sons of ,god unto this day4 ,and after that again1 my friends1 in a day more dark and evil still1 when the earth was again corrupt before ,god1 and filled with violence2 when all flesh had corrupted ,his way upon the earth1 so that1 as ,st4 ,paul said of them1 there was none that did good1 no not one3 then the same ,lord1 when ,he saw that all the world lay in wickedness1 and that the clay of human-kind was marred in the hands of the potter1 then did ,he cast away that clay as reprobate and useless1 and destroy mankind off the face of the earth8 ,not so4 ,then1 when there was none to help1 ,his own arm brought salvation1 and ,his own righteousness sustained ,him2 ,he trod the wine-press alone1 and of the people there was none with ,him4 ,his own righteousness sustained ,him4 ,his perfectly good and righteous will never failed ,him for a moment2 man ,he would save1 and man ,he saved4 ,if none else could do it1 ,he would do it ,himself4 ,he would bring salvation with ,his own arm4 ,he would fulfil ,his ,father's will1 which is that none should perish2 ,he would be made flesh1 and dwell among men1 that man might behold the likeness of ,god the ,father1 full of grace and truth1 and see what they were meant to be4 ,then1 in ,him1 in ,jesus who wept over ,jerusalem1 was fully revealed and shown the likeness and glory of the ,lord2 the ,lord in whose image man was made2 who walked and spoke with ,adam in the garden2 who was not ashamed to say that it repented ,him that ,he had made man2 whom ,ezekiel saw upon ,his throne1 and as it were upon the throne the appearance of the likeness of a man2 whom ,daniel saw1 and knew him to be the ,son of ,man4 ,not a man1 then1 of flesh and blood2 but the ,eternal ,word of ,god1 in whose image man was made1 who could be loving and merciful1 long-suffering and repenting ,him of the evil1 but never of the good4 ,he came1 and ,he swept away1 as ,he had told the ,apostles that ,he would do1 by such afflictions as man had never seen since the beginning of the world until then1 that ,roman world with all its devilish systems and maxims1 whereby the nations were kept down in slavery and sin2 and ,he founded a new heaven and a new earth1 wherein dwell righteousness1 even this ,holy ,catholic ,church1 to which we all belong this day4 ,yes1 my friends1 this is our gospel1 our good news1 that there is a ,god whose ,spirit strives with sinners to change them into ,his own likeness4 ,a ,god who is no dark1 obstinate1 inexorable ,fate1 whose arbitrary decrees must come to pass2 but a loving and merciful ,god1 long-suffering1 and who repenteth ,him of the evil2 who repents ,him of the evil which is in man1 and hates it1 and has sworn to ,himself to fight against it1 till ,he has put all enemies under ,his foot1 and cast out of ,his kingdom all things which offend4 ,who repents ,him of the evil in man3 but who will never again repent ,him of having made man1 for then ,he would repent of having become man2 ,he would repent of having been conceived of the ,holy ,ghost2 ,he would repent of having been born of the ,virgin ,mary2 ,he would repent of having been crucified1 dead1 and buried2 ,he would repent of having risen from the dead1 and ascended up into heaven in ,his man's body1 and soul1 and spirit2 ,he would repent of sitting on the right hand of ,god2 ,he would repent of coming to judge the quick and the dead2 ,he would repent of having done ,his ,father's will on earth1 even as ,he did it from all eternity in the bosom of the ,father4 ,for ,he is a man2 and even as the reasonable soul and body are one man1 so ,god and man are one ,christ4 ,as man1 ,he did ,his ,father's will in ,juda of old2 as man1 ,he will judge the world2 as man ,he rules it now2 as man1 ,st4 ,john saw ,him fifty years after ,he ascended to heaven1 and ,his eyes were like a flame of fire1 and ,his hair like fine wool1 and ,he was girt under the bosom with a golden girdle1 and ,his voice was like the sound of many waters2 as man1 ,he said3 8,fear not3 ,i am the first and the last2 ,i am ,he that liveth1 and was dead2 and1 behold1 ,i am alive for evermore1 ,amen2 and have the keys of death and hell40 ,yes4 ,this is the gospel1 the good news for fallen man1 that there is a ,man in the midst of the throne of ,god1 to whom all power is given in heaven and earth2 that the fate of the world1 and all that is therein--the fate of suns and stars--the fate of kings and nations--the fate of every publican and harlot1 and heathen and outcast--the fate of all who are in death and hell1 depends alike upon the sacred heart of ,jesus2 the heart which groaned at the tomb of ,lazarus ,his friend2 the heart which wept over ,jerusalem2 the heart which said to the blessed ,magdalene1 the woman who was a sinner3 8,go in peace2 thy sins are forgiven thee20 the heart which now yearns after every sinful and wandering soul in ,his church1 and all over the earth of ,god1 crying to you all3 8,why will ye die8 ,have ,i any pleasure in the death of him that dieth1 saith the ,lord1 and not rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live8 ,come unto me1 all ye that are weary and heavy-laden1 and ,i will give you rest40 ,oh1 my friends1 wonderful as my words are--as wonderful to me who speak them as they can be to you who hear them--yet they are true4 ,true2 for on that table stand the bread and wine whereof ,he ,himself said1 standing upon this very earth which ,he ,himself had made3 8,this is my body which is given for you2 this cup is the new covenant in my blood1 which ,i will give for the life of the world40 ,,xxxvii4 ,,the ,,kingdom ,,of ,,god4 ,the kingdom of ,god is within you4--,,luke xvii4 #ba4 ,,these words are in the second lesson for this morning's service4 ,let us think a little about them4 ,what they mean must depend on what the kingdom of ,god means2 for that is the one thing about which they speak4 ,now1 the kingdom of ,god is very often spoken of in the ,new ,testament4 ,indeed1 it is the thing it speaks of above all others4 ,it was the thing which our ,lord went about preaching4 ,it was the thing of which ,he spoke in ,his parables1 likening the kingdom of ,god first to one thing1 then to another1 that ,he might make men understand what it was like4 ,now1 it is worth remarking that we--,i mean even religious people--speak very little about the kingdom of ,god nowadays4 ,one hears less about it than about any other words1 almost1 which stand in the ,new ,testament4 ,both in sermons and in religious books1 and in the talk of godly people1 one hears the kingdom of ,god spoken of very seldom4 ,one hears words about the ,church1 which are very good and true2 but very little1 if anything1 about the kingdom of ,god1 though both ,st4 ,paul1 and ,st4 ,john1 and the blessed ,lord ,himself1 speak of the two together1 as if they could not be parted2 as if one could not think of the one without thinking of the other4 ,and we hear words about the gospel1 too1 some of them very good and true1 and others1 ,i am sorry to say1 very bad and false3 but1 true or false1 they are not often joined now in men's minds1 or mouths1 or books1 with the kingdom of ,god4 ,but the ,new ,testament joins them almost always4 ,it says that gospel must be good news4 ,therefore the gospel must be good news about something4 ,but about what8 ,we hear all manner of answers nowadays2 but we hear the right one very seldom4 ,people talk of the gospel as if it only meant the good news that one man can be saved here1 and another man can be saved there4 ,and that is good news1 certainly4 ,it is good and blessed news to hear that any one poor sinner can be saved from sin1 and from the wages of sin4 ,but the holy scriptures1 when they talk of the gospel1 call it the gospel of the kingdom of ,god4 ,and ,i think it best and wisest to call it oftenest1 what the holy scripture calls it oftenest1 and to try and understand1 first of all1 what that means1 what the good news of the kingdom of ,god is3 and to understand that1 we must first understand what the kingdom of ,god is4 ,but some may answer1 holy scripture speaks of the gospel of salvation4 ,true1 it does1 once or twice4 ,but what does that show8 ,is that a different gospel from the gospel of the kingdom of ,god8 ,are there two gospels8 ,surely not4 ,else why would holy scripture speak so often of 8the gospel0--8the good news10 by itself1 without any word after to show what it was about8 ,it says often simply 8the gospel20 because there is but one gospel2 and1 as ,st4 ,paul says1 if any man or angel preach any other than that one1 8,let him be anathema40 ,therefore the gospel of salvation must be the same as the gospel of the kingdom of ,god2 and1 therefore1 it seems to me1 that salvation and the kingdom of ,god must be one and the same thing4 ,now1 do you think so8 ,when ,i say 8,the kingdom of ,god is salvation10 do you think it is8 ,have you even any clear notion of what ,i mean when ,i say it8 ,some of you have not1 ,i am afraid2 you cannot see at first sight what salvation and the kingdom of ,god have to do with each other4 ,and why8 ,you think salvation means being saved from hell1 and going to heaven1 when you die4 ,and so it does3 but ,i trust in ,god and in ,god's holy scripture1 that it means a great deal more2 for ,i think it means being unfit for hell1 and fit for heaven1 before we die4 ,at least1 so says the ,church ,catechism1 which teaches every little child to thank his ,heavenly ,father for having brought him into such a state of salvation in this life1 even while he is young4 ,thanks be to ,the ,spirit of ,god which taught our fore-fathers to put these precious words into the ,church ,catechism1 to guard us against falling into the very same mistake as the ,pharisees of old fell into1 when they asked our ,lord when the kingdom of ,god was to come4 ,and1 believe me1 it is easy enough and common enough to fall into the same mistake4 ,for what was their mistake8 ,they fancied that the kingdom of ,god was not yet come4 ,and do not most of you think the same8 ,they did not deny1 of course1 that ,god was almighty1 and could rule and govern all mankind if ,he chose so to do4 ,but they did not believe that ,he was ruling and governing all mankind then1 because they did not know what ,his rule and government were like4 ,now1 ,st4 ,paul tells us what ,god's kingdom is like4 ,the kingdom of ,god1 he says1 is righteousness1 and peace1 and joy in the ,holy ,spirit4 ,so wherever there is righteousness1 and peace1 and joy in the ,holy ,spirit1 there the kingdom of ,god is4 ,but ,his kingdom over what8 ,over dumb animals1 or over men8 ,over men1 certainly2 for dumb animals cannot have righteousness1 or joy in the ,holy ,spirit4 ,but over what part of a man8 ,over his body or over his spirit1 as we call it nowadays8 ,over his spirit1 certainly2 for it is only our spirits which can be righteous1 or peaceful1 or joyful in ,god's ,spirit4 ,therefore ,god's kingdom1 of which ,st4 ,paul speaks1 is a kingdom1 a government over the souls1 the spirits of men4 ,now1 are our spirits the inward part of us1 or our bodies8 ,our spirits1 certainly4 ,we all say1 and say rightly1 that our bodies are the outward part of us1 and that our spirits are within us4 ,now1 do you not see how that agrees exactly with the blessed ,lord's saying in the text1 8,behold1 the kingdom of ,god is within you0--that is1 in your spirits1 because it is righteousness1 and peace1 and joy in the ,holy ,spirit2 and these are things which only our souls1 not our bodies at all1 can have4 ,but these ,pharisees were not righteous2 they were wicked and hypocritical men4 ,was the kingdom of ,god within them8 ,the blessed ,lord said plainly that it was4 ,he said not1 8,the kingdom of ,god is within some people's hearts20 or1 8,the kingdom of ,god is within the hearts of believers20 or1 8,the kingdom of ,god might be within you if you liked40 ,but ,he said that the kingdom of ,god was then and there within the hearts of those wicked and unbelieving ,pharisees4 ,now1 how could that be8 ,in the same way that some time before that1 as ,st4 ,luke tells us1 the power of the ,lord was present to heal those same ,pharisees2 and they were for the time amazed1 and glorified ,god1 and were filled with fear at ,his mighty works2 but not healed4 ,their souls were not cured of their sin and folly by any means2 for we find in the very next chapter1 that because ,jesus cured a palsied man on the ,sabbath-day they were filled with madness1 and consulted together how to kill ,him4 ,for1 my friends1 as it was with them1 so it is with us4 ,god's kingdom is within every one of us2 but it may make us worse1 as well as make us better4 ,it may fill us with righteousness1 and peace1 and joy in the ,holy ,spirit2 or it may fill us1 as it filled the ,pharisees1 with madness1 and hatred of religion and of goodness2 as it is written1 that the gospel may be a savour of death unto death to us1 as well as a savour of life unto life4 ,and it depends on us which it shall be4 ,this is what ,i mean3 ,god's kingdom is within each of us4 ,god is the ,king of our hearts and souls2 our baptism tells us so2 and it tells us truly4 ,and because ,god is the ,king of each of our hearts1 ,he comes everlastingly to take possession of our hearts1 and continues claiming our souls for ,his own4 ,he speaks in our hearts day and night2 whenever we have a good thought1 ,he speaks in our hearts1 and says to us3 8,i am the ,king of your spirit4 ,it must obey me4 ,i put this good thought into your hearts1 and you are bound to follow that good thought1 because it is a law of my kingdom40 ,or again1 ,god speaks in our hearts1 and says to us3 8,you have done this wrong thing4 ,you know that it is wrong4 ,you know that it is an offence against my law4 ,why have you rebelled against me80 ,or again1 when we see anyone do a good1 a loving1 or a noble action2 or when we read of the lives of good and noble men and women2 above all1 when we read or hear of the character and doings of the blessed ,lord ,jesus1 then and there ,god speaks in our hearts1 and stirs us up to love and admire these noble and blessed examples1 and says to us3 8,that is right4 ,that is beautiful4 ,that is what men should do4 ,that is what you should do4 ,why are you not like that man8 ,why are you not like my saints8 ,why are you not like me1 the ,lord ,jesus ,christ80 ,you all surely know what ,i mean4 ,you know that ,i do not mean that you hear a voice speaking to your ears1 but that thoughts and feelings come into your heart1 without you putting them there3 ay1 often enough1 in spite of your trying to drive them away4 ,now1 those right thoughts are the kingdom of ,god within you4 ,they are the voice of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ speaking by ,his ,holy ,spirit to your spirit1 and telling you that ,he is your ,king1 and that you ought to obey ,him2 and that obeying ,him means being righteous and good1 as ,he is righteous and good2 and calling on you to give up your own wills and fancies1 and to do ,his will1 and let ,him make you holy1 even as ,he is holy4 ,that1 ,i say1 is the kingdom of ,god showing itself within you1 telling you that ,god is your ,king1 and telling you how to obey ,him4 ,but what if a man will not hear that voice8 ,what if a man rebels proudly against the good thoughts that rise in his mind1 and tries to forget them1 and grows angry with them1 angry with the preacher1 the ,church ,service1 the ,bible itself1 because they will go on reminding him of what he knows in his heart to be right8 ,what if those good thoughts only make him the more stubborn and determined to do his own pleasure1 and follow his own interests1 and do his own will8 ,do you not see that to that man ,god's kingdom over his heart is a savour of death unto death--that his finding out that ,god is his ,lord only makes him more rebellious--that ,god's ,spirit striving with his heart to bring it right1 only stirs up his stubbornness and self-will1 and makes him go the more obstinately wrong8 ,oh1 my friends1 this is a fearful thought6 ,that man can become worse by ,god's loving desire to make him better6 ,but so it is4 ,so it was with ,pharaoh of old4 ,all ,god's pleading with him by the message of ,moses and ,aaron1 by the mighty plagues which ,god sent on ,egypt1 only hardened ,pharaoh's heart4 ,the ,lord ,god spoke to him1 and his message only lashed ,pharaoh's proud and wicked will into greater fury and rebellion1 as a vicious horse becomes the more unmanageable the more you punish it4 ,therefore1 it is said plainly in scripture1 that ,the ,lord hardened ,pharaoh's heart2 not as some fancy1 that the ,lord's will was to make ,pharaoh hard-hearted and wicked4 ,god forbid4 ,the ,lord is the fountain of good only1 and not ,he1 but we and the devil1 make evil4 ,but the more the ,lord pleaded with ,pharaoh1 and tried to bend his will1 the more self-willed he became4 ,the more the ,lord showed ,pharaoh that the ,lord was ,king1 the more he hated the kingdom and will of ,god1 the more he determined to be king himself1 and to obey no law but his own wicked fancies and pleasures1 and asked3 8,who is the ,lord1 that ,i should obey ,him80 ,and so it was with the ,pharisees4 ,when they found out that the kingdom of ,god was within them1 that ,god was the ,king of their hearts and minds1 and was trying to change their feelings and alter their opinions1 it only maddened them4 ,they were determined not to change4 ,they were determined not to confess that they had been wrong1 and had mistaken the meaning of holy scripture4 ,they were too proud to confess what ,jesus told them1 that they were no better than the poor ignorant common people whom they despised4 ,and yet they knew in their hearts that ,he was right4 ,when the ,lord told them the parable of the vineyard1 they answered1 8,god forbid60 they felt at once that the parable had to do with them--that they were the wicked husbandmen on whom ,he said their master would take vengeance3 but that only maddened them the more1 till they ended by crucifying the ,lord of ,glory1 upon a pretence which they knew was a false and lying one2 and when ,judas ,iscariot said1 8,i have betrayed the innocent blood10 they did not deny that the ,lord ,jesus was innocent2 all they answered was1 8,what is that to us80 ,they were determined to have their own way whether ,he was innocent or not4 ,they had seen ,god's likeness4 ,they had seen what ,god was like1 by seeing the conduct of ,his only begotten ,son ,jesus ,christ4 ,and when they saw ,god's likeness they hated it1 because it was not like themselves4 ,and the more ,god strove with their hearts1 and tried to make them obey ,him1 the more1 in short1 they felt ,his kingdom within them1 the more they hated that kingdom of ,god within them1 because it reproved them1 and convinced them of sin4 ,oh1 my friends1 young people especially1 beware2 beware lest you fall into the same miserable state of mind4 ,the kingdom of ,god is within you4 ,the ,holy ,spirit1 by which you were regenerate in holy baptism1 is stirring and pleading with your hearts1 making you happy when you do right1 unhappy when you do wrong4 ,oh1 listen to those good thoughts and feelings within you6 ,never fancy that they are your own thoughts and feelings3 else you will fancy that you can put them away and take them back again when you choose to change and become religious4 ,do not let the devil deceive you into that notion4 ,these good thoughts and feelings are the ,spirit of ,god4 ,they are the signs that the kingdom of ,god is within you2 that ,god is ,king and ,master of your hearts and minds2 and that you cannot keep ,him out of them3 but that ,he can enter into them when ,he likes1 and put right thoughts into them4 ,but though you cannot prevent ,god and ,his kingdom entering into you1 you can refuse to enter into it4 ,alas6 alas6 how many of you shut your ears to ,god's voice3 try to drive ,god's ,spirit out of your own hearts2 try to forget what is right1 because it is unpleasant to remember it1 and say to yourselves1 8,i will have my own way4 ,i will try and forget what the clergyman said in his sermon1 or what ,i learnt at school4 ,i am grown up now1 and ,i will do what ,i like40 ,oh1 my friends1 is it a wise or a hopeful battle to fight against the living ,god8 ,grieve not the ,holy ,spirit of ,god1 whereby ye are sealed to the day of redemption1 lest ,he go away from you and leave you to yourselves1 spiritually dead1 twice dead1 plucked up by the roots1 whose end is to be burned4 ,grieve ,him not1 lest ,he depart1 and with ,him both the ,father and the ,son4 ,and then you will not know right from wrong1 because ,god the ,holy ,spirit1 the ,spirit of right1 has left you4 ,you will not know what a man ought to be or do1 because the ,son of ,man1 the perfect likeness of ,god1 and therefore the pattern of man1 has left you4 ,you will not know that ,god the ,father is your ,father1 but only fancy him a stern taskmaster1 reaping where ,he has not sown1 and requiring of you more than you are bound to pay1 because ,god the ,father has left you4 ,you may1 indeed1 keep out ugly thoughts for a time4 ,you may go on wantonly in sin1 and worldliness1 and self-will4 ,and then1 by way of falling deeper still1 you may take up with some false sort of religion1 which makes people fancy that they know ,god1 and are one of ,his elect1 while in works they deny ,him1 and their sinful heart is unchanged4 ,then your mouth indeed may be full of second-hand talk about the gospel4 ,but what gospel8 ,i call that a devil's gospel1 and not ,god's gospel1 which makes men fancy that they may continue in sin that grace may abound4 ,i call any grace which leaves men in their sins the devil's grace1 and not ,god's grace4 ,certainly it is not the gospel of the kingdom of ,god2 for if it was1 it would produce in men the fruits of that kingdom1 righteousness1 and peace1 and joy in the ,holy ,spirit1 instead of the fruits which we see too often1 bigotry and self-conceit1 bitterness1 evil-speaking1 and hard judgments1 and joy in a most unholy and damnable spirit1 not to mention covetousness and deceitfulness1 or even in some cases wantonness and lust4 ,and yet such men will often fancy that they belong especially to ,god1 and doubt whether ,he will have mercy on any who do not exactly agree with them2 while in reality ,god and ,his kingdom have utterly left their hearts1 and they are as blind and dark as the beasts which perish4 ,may ,god preserve us from that second death which comes on sinners1 when1 after a sinful youth1 their terrified souls begin to cry out in fear at the sight of their sins2 and they1 instead of casting away their sins1 keep their sins1 or change old sins for more respectable and safe new ones1 and drug their souls with false doctrines1 as foolish nurses quiet children's crying by giving them poisonous medicines4 ,i know men who have fallen1 ,i really fear at times1 into that state of mind1 and are like those ,pharisees of whom our ,lord said3 8,ye serpents1 ye generation of vipers1 how can ye escape the damnation of hell80 ,even for them it is not too late3 but1 let them recollect1 if the kingdom of ,god is within them1 if they have any feelings of right and wrong left in them1 that their covetousness1 and lying1 and slandering1 and conceit1 is fighting against ,god2 that these are just what ,god desires to cast out of them2 and that unless they give up their hearts to ,god1 and let ,him cast out their sins1 and be converted1 and become like little children1 gentle1 humble1 teachable1 friendly1 and kind-hearted1 obedient to their heavenly ,father1 ,god will cast them out of ,his kingdom among the things which offend1 and bring a bad name on religion2 among those very profligate and open sinners whom they are so ready to despise and curse4 ,,xxxviii4 ,,the ,,light4 ,but all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light3 for whatsoever doth make manifest is light4 ,wherefore ,he saith1 ,awake thou that sleepest1 and arise from the dead1 and ,christ shall give thee light4--,,ephesians v4 #ac1 #ad4 ,,st4 ,,paul has been telling the ,ephesians who they are2 that they are ,god's dear children4 ,to whom they belong2 to ,christ who has given ,himself for them4 ,what they ought to do2 to follow ,god's likeness1 and live in love4 ,that they are light in the ,lord2 and are to walk as children of the light2 and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness1 but rather reprove them4 ,as much as to say3 ,do not believe those who tell you that there is no harm in young people going wrong together before marriage1 provided they intend to marry after all4 ,do not believe those who tell you that there is no harm in filthy words1 provided you do not do filthy things2 and no harm in swearing1 provided you do not mean the curses which you speak4 ,do not believe those who tell you there is no harm in poaching another man's game1 provided you do not steal his poultry1 or anything except his game4 ,do not believe those who tell you that there is no harm in being covetous1 provided you do not actually cheat your neighbours2 and that the sin lies1 not in being covetous at all1 but in being more covetous than the law will let you be4 ,do not believe those who say to you that you may keep dark thoughts1 spite1 suspicion1 envy1 cunning1 covetousness in your hearts day after day1 year after year1 provided you do not openly act on them so as to do your neighbours any great and notorious injury4 ,plenty of people will tell you so1 and try to deceive you with vain words1 and give you arguments1 and texts of scripture perhaps1 to prove that sin is not sin1 and that the children of light may do the works of darkness4 ,but do not believe them1 says ,st4 ,paul4 ,they are deceivers1 and their words are vain4 ,these are the very things which bring down ,god's wrath on ,his disobedient children4 ,these are the bad ways which make young people1 when they are married1 despise1 and distrust1 and quarrel with each other1 and live miserable lives together1 as children of wrath1 peevish1 and wrathful1 and discontented with each other1 because they feel that ,god is angry with them1 just as ,adam in the garden1 when he felt that he had sinned1 and that ,god was wroth with him1 laid the blame on his wife1 and accused her1 whom he ought to have loved1 and protected1 and excused4 ,these are the bad ways which make people ashamed when they meet a good and a respectable person1 make them afraid of being overheard1 afraid of being found out1 fond of haunting low and out-of-the-way places where they will not be seen2 fond of prowling and lurching out at night after their own sinful pleasures1 because the darkness hides them from their neighbours1 and seems to hide them from themselves1 though it cannot hide them from ,god4 ,these are the sins which make men silent1 cunning1 dark1 sour1 double-tongued1 afraid to look anyone full in the face1 unwilling to make friends1 afraid of opening their minds to anyone1 because they have something on their minds which they dare not tell their neighbours1 which they dare not even tell themselves1 but think about as little as they can help4 ,do you not know what ,i mean8 ,do you not often see it in others8 ,have you never felt it in yourselves when you have done wrong1 that dark feeling within which shows itself in dark looks8 ,you talk of a 8dark-looking man10 or a 8dark sort of person20 and you mean1 do you not1 a man whom you cannot make out1 who does not wish you to make him out2 who keeps his thoughts and his feelings to himself1 and is never frank or free1 except with bad companions1 when the world cannot see him2 who goes about hanging down his head1 and looking out of the corners of his eyes1 as if he were afraid of the very sunshine--afraid of the light4 ,we know that such a man has something dark on his mind4 ,we call him a 8dark sort of man40 ,and we are right4 ,we say of him what ,st4 ,paul says of him in this very epistle1 when he says1 that sin is darkness1 and sinful works the deeds of darkness2 and that goodness1 and righteousness1 and truth1 are light1 the very light of ,god and the ,spirit of ,god4 ,our reason1 our common sense1 which is given us by ,god's ,spirit1 the ,spirit of light1 makes us use the right words1 the same words as ,st4 ,paul does1 and call sin darkness4 ,but rather reprove these dark works1 says ,st4 ,paul2 that is1 look at them1 and see that they are utterly worthless and damnable4 ,and how8 8,all things that are reproved10 he says1 8are made manifest by the light4 ,for whatsoever makes manifest is light40 ,whatsoever makes manifest1 that is1 makes plain and clear4 ,whatsoever makes you see anything or person in heaven or earth as it really is2 whatsoever makes you understand more about anything2 whatsoever shows you more what you are1 where you are1 what you ought to do2 whatsoever teaches you any single hint about your duty to ,god1 or man1 or the dumb beasts which you tend1 or the soil which you till1 or the business and line of life which you ought to follow2 whatsoever shows you the right and the wrong in any matter1 the truth and the falsehood in any matter1 the prudent course and the imprudent course in any matter2 in a word1 whatsoever makes your mind more clear about any single thing in heaven or earth1 is light4 ,for1 mind1 ,st4 ,paul does not say1 whatsoever is light makes things plain2 but whatsoever makes things plain is light4 ,that is saying a great deal more1 thank ,god2 for if he had said1 whatsoever is light makes things clear1 we should have been puzzled to know what was light2 we should have been tempted to settle for ourselves what was light4 ,and1 ,god knows1 people in all ages1 and people of all religions1 ,christians as well as heathens1 have been tempted to say so1 and to misread this text1 till they said3 8,whatsoever agrees with our doctrine is light1 of course1 but all other teaching is darkness1 and comes from the devil20 and so they oftentimes blasphemed against ,god's ,holy ,spirit by calling good actions bad ones1 just because they were done by people who did not agree with them1 and fell into the same sin as the ,pharisees of old1 who said that the ,lord cast out devils by ,beelzebub the prince of the devils4 ,but ,st4 ,paul says1 whatsoever makes anything clearer to you1 is light4 ,there is the gospel1 and there is the good news of salvation again1 coming out1 as it does all through ,st4 ,paul's epistles1 at every turn1 just where poor1 sinful1 dark man least expects it4 ,for1 what does ,st4 ,paul say in the very next verse8 8,wherefore10 he says1 8arise from the dead1 and ,christ shall give thee light40 8,christ shall give thee light60 ,oh blessed news6 ,christ gives us the light1 and therefore we need not be afraid of it1 but trust it1 and welcome it4 ,and ,christ gives us the light1 therefore we have not to hunt and search after it2 for ,he will give it us4 ,let us think over these two matters1 and see whether there is not a gospel and good news in them for all wretched1 ignorant1 sinful1 dark souls1 just as much as for those who are learned and wise1 or bright and full of peace4 ,christ gives us the light4 ,this agrees with what ,st4 ,john says1 that 8,he is the light who lights every man who comes into the world40 ,and it agrees also with what ,st4 ,james says3 8,be not deceived1 my beloved brethren4 ,every good gift and every perfect gift is from above1 and cometh down from ,god1 the ,father of lights1 with whom is no variableness1 nor shadow of turning40 ,and it agrees also with what the prophet says1 that it is the ,spirit of ,god which gives man understanding4 ,and it agrees also with what the ,lord ,himself promised us when ,he was on earth1 that ,he would send down on us the ,spirit of ,god--the ,spirit which proceeds alike from ,him and from ,his ,father1 to guide us into all truth4 ,ay1 my friends1 if we really believe this1 what a solemn and important thing education would seem to us6 ,if we really believed that all light1 all true understanding of any matter1 came from the ,lord ,jesus ,christ3 and if we remember what the ,lord ,jesus' character was2 how ,he came to do good to all2 to teach not merely the rich and powerful1 but the poor1 the ignorant1 the outcast1 the sinful3 should we not say to ourselves1 then3 8,if knowledge comes from ,christ1 who never kept anything to ,himself1 how dare we keep knowledge to ourselves8 ,if it comes from ,him who gave ,himself freely for all1 surely ,he means that knowledge should be given freely to all4 ,if ,he and ,his ,father1 and our ,father1 will that all should come to the knowledge of the truth1 how dare we keep the truth from anyone80 ,so we should feel it the will of our heavenly ,father1 the solemn command of our blessed ,saviour1 that our children1 and not only they1 but every soul around us1 young and old1 should be educated in the best possible way1 and in any way whatsoever1 rather than in none at all4 ,the education of the poor would be1 in our eyes1 the most sacred duty4 ,a school would be1 in our eyes1 as necessary and almost as sacred a thing as a church4 ,and to neglect sending our children to school1 or to leave our servants or work-people in ignorance1 would seem to us an awful sin against the ,father of lights2 a rebellion against the ,lord ,jesus1 who lights every man who comes into the world1 and against our ,father in heaven1 who willeth not that one of these little ones should perish4 ,and this is made still more plain and certain by the next word in the text3 8,christ shall give thee light30 not sell thee light1 or allow thee to find light after great struggles1 and weary years of study3 but1 give thee light4 ,give it thee of ,his free grace and generosity4 ,we might have expected that1 merely from remembering to whom the light belongs4 ,the mere fact that light belongs to the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 who is the express likeness of ,his ,father1 might have made us sure that ,he would give ,his light freely to the unthankful and to the evil1 just as ,his ,father makes ,his sun to shine alike on the evil and on the good4 ,therefore this text does not leave us to find out the good news for ourselves4 ,it declares to us plainly that ,he will give it us1 as freely as ,he gives us all things richly to enjoy4 ,but1 someone will say3 ,you surely cannot mean that we shall have understanding without study8 ,you cannot mean that we are to become wise without careful thought1 or that we are to understand books without learning to read8 ,of course not1 my friends4 ,the text does not say3 8,christ will give thee eyes2 ,christ will give thee sense30 but1 8,christ will give thee light40 4 4 4 ,do you not see the difference8 ,of what use would your eyes be without light8 ,and of what use would light be if your eyes were shut1 and you asleep8 ,in darkness you cannot see4 ,your eyes are there1 as good as ever2 the world is there1 as fair as ever3 but you cannot see it1 because there is no light4 ,you can only feel it1 by groping about with your hands1 and laying hold of whatsoever happens to be nearest you4 ,and do you think that though your bodily eyes cannot see1 unless ,god puts ,his light in the sky1 to shine on everything1 and show it you1 yet your minds and souls can see without any light from ,god8 ,not so1 my friends4 ,what the sun is to this earth1 that the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 the ,word of ,god1 is to the spirit--that is1 the reason and conscience--of every man who comes into the world4 ,now1 the good news of holy baptism is1 that the light is here2 that ,god's ,spirit is with us1 to teach us the truth about everything1 that we may see it in its true light1 as it is1 as ,god sees it2 that the day-spring from on high has visited us1 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death1 to guide our feet into the way of peace2 and that we are children of the light and of the day4 ,but what if those who sit in darkness like the darkness2 and wilfully shut their eyes tight that they may not see the day-spring from on high1 and the light which ,god has sent into the world8 ,then the light will not profit them1 but they will walk on still in darkness1 not knowing whither they are going4 ,but some may say1 wicked men are very wise2 although they rebel against ,god's ,spirit1 and do not even believe in ,god's ,spirit1 but say that man's mind can find out everything for itself1 without ,god's help1 yet they are very wise4 ,are they8 ,the ,bible tells us again and again that the wisdom of such men is folly2 that ,god takes such wise men in their own craftiness4 ,and the ,bible speaks truth4 ,if there is one thing of which ,i am more certain than another1 my friends1 it is that1 just in proportion as a man is bad1 just in proportion as he does not believe in a good ,spirit of ,god who wills to teach him1 and gives him light1 he is a fool4 ,if there is one thing more than another which such men's books have taught me1 it is that they are in darkness1 when they fancy they are in the brightest light2 that they make the greatest mistakes when they intend to say the cleverest things2 and when they least fancy it1 fall into nonsense and absurdities1 not merely on matters of religion1 but on points which they profess to have studied1 and in cases where1 by their own showing1 they ought to have known better4 ,but our business is rather with ourselves4 ,our business1 in this time of ,lent1 is to see whether we have been shutting our eyes2 whether we have been walking in darkness1 while ,god's light is all around us4 ,and how shall we know that8 ,let ,st4 ,john tell us3 8,he that saith he is in the light1 and hateth his brother1 is in darkness until now1 and knoweth not whither he goeth1 because darkness has blinded his eyes40 ,hating our brother4 ,covetousness1 which is indeed hating our brother1 for it teaches us to prefer our good to our neighbour's good1 to fatten ourselves at our neighbour's expense1 to get his work1 his custom1 his money1 away from him to ourselves2 bigotry1 which makes men hate and despise those who differ from them in religion2 spite and malice against those who have injured us2 suspicions and dark distrust of our neighbours1 and of mankind in general2 selfishness1 which sets us always standing on our own rights1 makes us always ready to take offence1 always ready to think that people mean to insult us or injure us1 and makes us moody1 dark1 peevish1 always thinking about ourselves1 and our plans1 or our own pleasures1 shut up as it were within ourselves--all these sins1 in proportion as anyone gives way to them1 darken the eyes of a man's soul4 ,they really and actually make him more stupid1 less able to understand his neighbours' hearts and minds1 less able to take a reasonable view of any matter or question whatsoever4 ,you may not believe me4 ,but so it is4 ,i know it by experience to be true4 ,i warn you that you will find it true one day2 that all spite1 passion1 prejudice1 suspicion1 hard judgments1 contempt1 self-conceit1 blind a man's reason1 and heart1 and soul1 and make him stumble and fall into mistakes1 even in worldly matters1 just as surely as shutting our eyes makes us stumble in broad daylight4 ,he who gives way to such passions is asleep1 while he fancies himself broad awake4 ,his life is a dream2 and like a dreamer1 he sees nothing really1 only appearances1 fancies1 pictures of things in his own selfish brain4 ,therefore it is written3 8,awake thou that sleepest1 and arise from the dead1 and ,christ shall give thee life40 ,you may say3 ,can ,i awaken myself8 ,perhaps not1 unless someone calls you4 ,and therefore ,christ calls on you to awake4 ,he says by my mouth3 ,awake1 thou sleeper1 and ,i will give thee light2 awake1 thou dreamer1 who fanciest that the sinful works of darkness can give thee any real profit1 any real pleasure2 awake1 thou sleep-walker1 who art going about the world in a dream1 groping thy way on from day to day and year to year1 only kept from fall and ruin by ,god's guiding and preserving mercy4 ,open thine eyes1 and let in the great eternal loving light1 wherein ,god beholds everything which ,he has made1 and behold it is very good4 ,open thine eyes1 for it is day4 ,the light is here if thou wilt but use it4 8,i will guide thee10 saith the ,lord1 8and inform thee with mine eye1 and teach thee in the way wherein thou shalt go40 ,only believe in the light4 ,believe that all knowledge comes from ,god4 ,expect and trust that ,he will give thee knowledge4 ,pray to ,him boldly to give thee knowledge1 because thou art sure that ,he wishes thee to have knowledge4 ,he wishes thee to know thy duty4 ,he wishes thee to see everything as ,he sees it4 8,if any man lack wisdom1 let him ask of ,god1 who giveth to all liberally and upbraideth not1 and he shall receive it40 ,and when thou hast prayed for knowledge1 expect it to come2 as it is written3 ,when thou prayest for anything1 believe that thou wilt receive it1 and thou wilt receive it4 ,if thou dost not believe that thou wilt have it1 of course thou wilt not have it4 ,and why8 ,because thou wilt pass by it without seeing it4 ,it will be there ready for thee in thy daily walks2 ,wisdom will cry to thee at the head of every street2 ,god will not deny ,himself or break ,his promise3 but thou wilt go past the place where wisdom is1 and miss the lessons which ,god is strewing in thy path1 because thou art not looking for them4 ,wisdom is here1 my friends1 and understanding is here1 and the ,spirit of ,god is here1 if our eyes were but open to see them4 ,oh my friends1 of all the sins of which we have to repent in this time of ,lent1 none ought to give us more solemn and bitter thoughts of shame than the way in which we overlook the teaching of ,god's ,spirit1 and shut our eyes to ,his light1 times without number1 every day of our lives4 ,my friends1 if our hearts were what they ought to be1 if we had humble1 loving1 trustful hearts1 full of faith and hope in ,god's promise to lead us into all truth1 ,i believe that every joy and every sorrow which befell us1 every book which we opened1 every walk which we took upon the face of ,god's earth1 ay1 every human face into which we looked1 would teach us some lesson1 whereby we should be wiser1 better1 more aware of where we are and what ,god requires of us as human beings1 neighbours1 citizens1 subjects1 members of ,his church4 ,all things would be clear to us2 for we should see them in the light of ,god's ,spirit4 ,all things would look bright to us1 for we should see them in the light of ,god's love4 ,all things would work together for good to us1 for we should understand each thing as it came before us1 and know what it was1 and what ,god meant it for1 and how we were to use it4 ,and knowing and seeing what was right1 we should see how beautiful it was1 and love it1 and take delight in doing it1 and so we should walk in the light4 ,dark thoughts would pass away from our minds1 dark feelings from our hearts1 dark looks from our faces4 ,we should look our neighbours cheerfully and boldly in the face2 for our consciences would be clear of any ill-will or meanness toward them4 ,we should look cheerfully and boldly up to ,god our ,father2 for we should know that ,he was with us1 guiding and teaching us1 well-pleased with all our endeavours to see things as ,he sees them1 and to live and work on earth after ,his image1 and in ,his likeness4 ,we should look out cheerfully and boldly on the world around us1 trying to get knowledge from everything we see1 expecting the light1 and welcoming it1 and trusting it1 because we know that it comes from ,him who is true and cannot lie1 ,him who is love and cannot injure1 ,him who is righteous and cannot lead us into temptation3 ,jesus ,christ1 the ,light who lighteth every man that cometh into the world4 ,,xxxix4 ,,the ,,unpardonable ,,sin4 ,wherefore ,i say unto you3 ,all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men2 but the blasphemy against the ,holy ,spirit shall not be forgiven unto men4 ,and whosoever speaketh a word against the ,son of ,man1 it shall be forgiven him2 but whosoever speaketh a word against the ,holy ,ghost1 it shall not be forgiven him1 either in this world1 or in the world to come4--,,matthew xii4 #ca1 #cb4 ,,these awful words were the ,lord's answer to the ,pharisees1 when they said of ,him3 8,he casts out devils by ,beelzebub1 the prince of the devils40 ,what was it now which made this speech of the ,pharisees so terrible a sin1 past all forgiveness8 ,of course we all feel that they were very sinful2 we shrink with horror from their words as we read them4 ,but why ought they to have done the same8 ,we know1 thank ,god1 who ,jesus ,christ was4 ,but they did not2 at that time1 when ,he was first beginning to preach1 they hardly could have known4 ,and mind1 we must not say3 8,they ought to have known that ,he was the ,son of ,god by ,his having the power of casting out devils20 for the ,lord ,himself says that the sons of these ,pharisees used to cast them out also1 or that the ,pharisees believed that they did2 and only asks them3 8,why do you say of my casting out devils1 what you will not say of your sons' casting them out80 ,pray bear this in mind2 for if you do not--if you keep in your mind the vulgar and unscriptural notion that the ,pharisees' sin was not being convinced by the great power of ,christ's miracles1 you will never understand this story1 and you will be very likely to get rid of it altogether as speaking of a sin which does not concern you1 and a sin which you cannot commit4 ,now1 if the ,pharisees did not know that ,jesus was the ,son of ,god1 the ,maker and ,king of the world1 as we do1 why were they so awfully wicked in saying that ,he cast out devils by the prince of the devils8 ,was it anything more than a mistake of theirs8 ,was it as wicked as crucifying the ,lord8 ,could it be a worse sin to make that one mistake1 than to murder the ,lord ,himself8 ,and yet it must have been a worse sin4 ,for the ,lord prayed for his murderers3 8,father1 forgive them1 for they know not what they do40 ,and these ,pharisees1 they knew not what they did3 and yet the ,lord1 far from praying for them1 told them that even ,he did not see how such serpents1 such a generation of vipers1 could escape the damnation of hell4 ,it is worth our while to think over this question1 and try and find out what made the ,pharisees' sin so great4 ,and to do that1 it will be wiser for us1 first1 to find out what the ,pharisees' sin was2 lest we should sit here this morning1 and think them the most wicked wretches who ever trod the earth2 and then go away1 and before a week is over1 commit ourselves the very same sin1 or one so fearfully like it1 that if other people can see a difference between them1 ,i confess ,i cannot4 ,and to commit such a sin1 my good friends1 is a far easier thing to do than some people fancy1 especially here in ,england now4 ,now1 the worst part of the ,pharisees' sin was not1 as we are too apt to fancy1 their insulting the ,lord3 but their insulting the ,holy ,spirit4 ,for what does the ,lord ,himself say8 ,that all manner of blasphemy as well as sin should be forgiven2 that whosever spoke a word against ,him1 the ,son of ,man1 should be forgiven3 but that the unpardonable part of their offence was1 that they had blasphemed the ,holy ,spirit4 ,and who is the ,holy ,spirit8 ,the ,spirit of holiness4 ,and what is holiness8 ,what are the fruits of holiness8 ,for1 as the ,lord told the ,pharisees on this very occasion1 the tree is known by its fruit4 ,what says ,st4 ,paul8 ,the fruit of the ,spirit is love1 joy1 peace1 long-suffering1 gentleness1 goodness1 meekness1 temperance4 ,those who do not show these fruits have not ,god's ,spirit in them4 ,those who are hard1 unloving1 proud1 quarrelsome1 peevish1 suspicious1 ready to impute bad motives to their neighbours1 have not ,god's ,spirit in them4 ,those who do show these fruits2 who are gentle1 forgiving1 kind-hearted1 ready to do good to others1 and believe good of others1 have ,god's ,spirit in them4 ,for these are good fruits1 which1 as our ,lord tells us1 can only spring from a good root4 ,those who have the fruit must have the root1 let their doctrines be what they may4 ,those who have not the fruit cannot have the root1 let their doctrines be what they may4 ,that is the plain truth2 and it is high time for preachers to proclaim it boldly1 and take the consequences from the ,scribes and ,pharisees of this generation4 ,that is the plain truth4 ,let doctrines be what they will1 the tree is known by its fruit4 ,the man who does wrong things is bad1 and the man who does right things is good4 ,it is a simple thing to have to say1 but very few believe it in these days4 ,most fancy that the men who can talk most neatly and correctly about certain religious doctrines are good1 and that those who cannot are bad4 ,that is no new notion4 ,some people thought so in ,st4 ,john's time2 and what did he say of them8 8,little children1 let no man deceive you2 it is he that doeth righteousness who is righteous1 even as ,god is righteous40 ,and again3 8,he who says1 ,i know ,god1 and keeps not ,his commandments1 is a liar1 and the truth is not in him40 ,st4 ,john was the apostle of love4 ,he was always preaching the love of ,god to men1 and entreating men to love one another4 ,his own heart was overflowing with love4 ,yet when it came to such a question as that2 when it came to people's pretending to be religious and orthodox1 and yet neither obeying ,god nor loving their neighbours1 he could speak sternly and plainly enough4 ,he does not say3 8,my dear friends1 ,i am sorry to have to differ from you1 but ,i am afraid you are mistaken20 he says3 8,you are liars1 and there is no truth in you40 ,now this was just what the ,pharisees had forgotten4 ,they had got to think1 as too many have nowadays1 that the sign of a man's having ,god's ,spirit in him1 was his agreeing with them in doctrine4 ,but if he did not agree with them2 if he would not say the words which they said1 and did not belong to their party1 and side with them in despising every one who differed from them1 it was no matter to them1 as they proved by their opinion of ,jesus ,himself1 how good he might be1 or how much good he might do2 how loving1 gentle1 patient1 benevolent1 helping1 and caring for poor people2 in short1 how like ,god he was2 all that went for nothing if he was not of their party4 ,for they had forgotten what ,god was like4 ,they forgot that ,god was love and mercy itself1 and that all love and mercy must come from ,god2 and1 that1 therefore1 no one1 let his creed or his doctrine be what it might1 could possibly do a loving or merciful thing1 but by the grace and inspiration of ,god1 the ,father of mercies4 ,and yet their own prophets of the ,old ,testament had told them so1 when they ascribed the good deeds of heathens to the inspiration of ,god1 just as much as the good deeds of ,jews1 and agreed1 as they do in many a text1 with what ,st4 ,james1 himself a ,jew1 said afterwards3 8,be not deceived2 every good gift1 and every perfect gift is from above1 and cometh down from the ,father of lights40 ,but the ,pharisees1 like too many nowadays1 did not think so4 ,they thought that good and perfect gifts might some of them very well come from below1 from the father of darkness and cruelty4 ,they saw the ,lord ,jesus ,christ doing good things2 driving out evil1 and delivering men from the power of it2 healing the sick1 cleansing the leper1 curing the mad1 preaching the gospel to the poor3 and yet they saw in that no proof that ,god's ,spirit was working in ,him4 ,of course1 if ,he had been one of their own party1 and had held the same doctrines as they held1 they would have praised ,him loudly enough1 and held ,him up as a great saint of their school1 and boasted of all ,his good deeds as proofs of how good their party was1 and how its doctrines came from ,god4 ,but as long as ,he was not one of them1 ,his good works went for nothing4 ,they could not see ,god's likeness in that loving and merciful character4 ,all ,his charity and benevolence made them only hate ,him the more1 because it made them the more afraid that ,he would draw the people away from them4 8,and of course10 they said to themselves1 8whosoever draws people away from us1 must be on the devil's side4 ,we know all ,god's law and will4 ,no one on earth has anything to teach us4 ,and therefore1 as for any one who differs from us1 if he cast out devils1 it must be because the devil is helping him1 for his own purposes1 to do it40 ,in one word1 then1 the sin of these ,pharisees1 the unpardonable sin1 which ruins all who give themselves up to it1 was bigotry2 calling right wrong1 because it did not suit their party prejudices to call it right4 ,they were fancying themselves very religious and pious1 and all the while they did not know right when they saw it2 and when the ,lord came doing right1 they called it wrong1 because ,he did not agree with their doctrines4 ,they fancied they were the only people on earth who knew how to worship ,god perfectly2 and yet while they pretended to worship ,him1 they did not know what ,he was like4 ,the ,lord ,jesus came down1 the perfect likeness of ,god's glory1 and the express pattern of ,his character1 helping1 and healing1 and delivering the souls and bodies of all poor wretches whom ,he met2 and these ,pharisees could not see ,god's ,spirit in that2 and because it was certainly not their own spirit1 called it the spirit of a devil1 and blasphemed against the ,holy ,spirit1 the ,spirit of ,right and ,love4 ,this was bigotry1 the flower and crown of all sins into which man can fall2 the worst of all sins1 because a man may keep from every other sin with all his might and main1 as the ,pharisees did1 and yet be led by bigotry into almost every one of them without knowing it2 into harsh and uncharitable judgment2 into anger1 clamour1 and railing2 into misrepresentation and slander2 and fancying that the ,god of truth needs the help of their lying2 perhaps1 as has often happened1 alas6 already1 into devilish cruelty to the souls and bodies of men4 ,the worst of all sins2 because a man who has given up his heart to bigotry can have no forgiveness4 ,he cannot2 for how can a man be forgiven unless he repent8 and how can a bigot repent8 how can he confess himself in the wrong1 while he fancies himself infallibly in the right8 ,as the ,lord said to these very ,pharisees3 8,if ye had been blind1 ye had had no sin3 but now ye say ,we see2 therefore your sin remaineth40 ,how can the bigot repent8 for repenting is turning to ,god2 and how can a man turn to ,god who does not know where to look for ,god1 who does not know who ,god is1 who mistakes the devil for ,god1 and fancies the all-loving ,father to be a taskmaster1 and a tyrant1 and an accuser1 and a respecter of persons1 without mercy or care for ninety-nine hundredths of the souls which ,he has made8 ,how can he find ,god8 ,he does not know whom to look for4 ,how can the bigot repent8 for to repent means to turn from wrong to right2 and he has lost the very notion of right and wrong1 in the midst of all his religion and his fine doctrines4 ,he fancies that right does not mean love1 mercy1 goodness1 patience1 but notions like his own2 and that wrong does not mean hatred1 and evil-speaking1 and suspicion1 and uncharitableness1 and slander1 and lying1 but notions unlike his own4 ,what he agrees with he thinks is heavenly1 and what he disagrees with is of hell4 ,he has made his own god for himself out of himself4 ,his own prejudices are his god1 and he worships them right worthily2 and if the ,lord were to come down on earth again1 and would not say the words which he is accustomed to say1 it would go hard but he would crucify the ,lord again1 as the ,pharisees did of old4 ,my friends1 there is too much of this bigotry1 this blasphemy against ,god's ,spirit1 abroad in ,england now4 ,may ,god keep us all from it6 ,pray to ,him night and day1 to give you ,his ,spirit1 that you may not only be loving1 charitable1 full of good works yourselves1 but may be ready to praise and enjoy a good1 and loving1 and merciful action1 whosoever does it1 whether he be of your religion or not2 for nothing good is done by any living man without the grace of ,christ1 and the inspiration of the ,spirit of ,god1 the ,father of lights1 from whom comes down every good and perfect gift4 ,and whosoever tries to escape from that great truth1 when he sees a man whose doctrines are wrong doing a right act1 by imputing bad motives to him1 or saying3 8,his actions must be evil1 however good they may look1 because his doctrines are wrong10--that man is running the risk of committing the very same sin as the ,pharisees1 and blaspheming against the ,holy ,spirit1 by calling good evil4 ,and be sure1 my friends1 that whosoever indulges1 even in little matters1 in hard judgments1 and suspicions1 and hasty sneers1 and loud railing1 against men who differ from him in religion1 or politics1 or in anything else1 is deadening his own sense of right and wrong1 and sowing the seeds of that same state of mind1 which1 as the ,lord told the ,pharisees1 is utterly the worst into which any human being can fall4 ,,xl4 ,,the ,,spirit ,,of ,,bondage4 ,for ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear2 but ye have received the ,spirit of adoption1 whereby we cry ,abba1 ,father4--,,romans viii4 #ae4 ,,some of you here may not understand this text at all4 ,some of you1 perhaps1 may misunderstand it2 for it is not an easy one4 ,let us1 then1 begin1 by finding out the meaning of each word in it2 and1 let us first see what is the meaning of the spirit of bondage unto fear4 ,bondage means slavery2 and the spirit of bondage means the spirit which makes men look up to ,god as slaves do to their taskmaster4 ,now1 a slave obeys his master from fear only2 not from love or gratitude4 ,he knows that his master is stronger than he is1 and he dreads being beaten and punished by him2 and therefore1 he obeys him only by compulsion1 not of his own good will4 ,this is the spirit of bondage2 the slavish1 superstitious spirit in religion1 into which all men fall1 in proportion as they are mean1 and sinful1 and carnal1 fond of indulging themselves1 and bearing no love to ,god or right things4 ,they know that ,god is stronger than they2 they are afraid that ,god will take away comforts from them if they offend ,him2 they have been taught that ,he will cast them into endless torment if they offend ,him2 and1 therefore1 they are afraid to do wrong4 ,they love what is wrong1 and would like to do it2 but they dare not1 for fear of ,god's punishment4 ,they do not really fear ,god2 they only fear punishment1 misfortune1 death1 and hell4 ,that is better1 perhaps1 than no religion at all4 ,but it is not the faith which we ought to have4 ,in this way the old heathens lived3 loving sin and not holiness1 and yet continually tormented with the fear of being punished for the very sins which they loved2 looking up to ,god as a stern taskmaster2 fancying ,him as proud1 and selfish1 and revengeful as themselves2 trying one day to quiet that wrath of ,his which they knew they deserved1 by all sorts of flatteries and sacrifices to ,him2 and the next day trying to fancy that ,he was as sinful as themselves1 and was well-pleased to see them sinful too4 ,and yet they could not keep that lie in their hearts2 ,god's light1 which lights every man who comes into the world1 was too bright for them1 and shone into their consciences1 and showed them that the wages of sin was death4 ,the law of ,god1 ,st4 ,paul tells us1 was written in their hearts2 and how much soever1 poor creatures1 they might try to blot it out and forget it1 yet it would rise up in judgment against them1 day by day1 night by night1 convincing them of sin4 ,so they in their terror sold themselves to false priests1 who pretended to know of plans for helping them to escape from this angry ,god1 and gave themselves up to superstitions1 till they even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to devils1 in some sort of confused hope of buying themselves off from misery and ruin4 ,and in the same way the ,jews lived1 for the most part1 before the ,lord ,jesus came in the flesh of man4 ,not so viciously and wickedly1 of course1 because the law of ,moses was holy1 and just1 and good2 the law which the ,lord ,himself had given them1 because it was the best for them then2 because they were too sinful1 and slavish1 and stupid1 for anything better4 ,but1 as ,st4 ,paul says1 ,moses's law could not give them life1 any more than any other law can4 ,that is1 it could not make them righteous and good2 it could not change their hearts and lives2 it could only keep them from outward wrong-doing by threats and promises1 saying3 8,thou shalt not40 ,it could1 at best1 only show them how sinful their own hearts were2 how little they loved what ,god commanded2 how little they desired what ,he promised2 and so it made them feel more and more that they were guilty1 unworthy to look up to a holy ,god1 deserving ,his anger and punishment1 worthy to die for their sins2 and thus by the law came the knowledge of sin1 a deeper feeling of guilt1 and shame1 and slavish dread of ,god1 as ,st4 ,paul sets forth1 with wonderful wisdom1 in the seventh chapter of ,romans4 ,now1 let us consider the latter half of the text4 8,but ye have received the ,spirit of adoption1 whereby we cry ,abba1 ,father40 ,what is this adoption8 ,st4 ,paul tells us in the beginning of the fourth chapter of his epistle to the ,galatians4 ,he says3 ,as long as a man's heir is a child1 and under age1 there is no difference in law between him and a slave4 ,he is his father's property4 ,he must obey his father1 whether he chooses or not2 and he is under tutors and governors1 until the time appointed by his father2 that is1 until he comes of age1 as we call it4 ,then he becomes his own master4 ,he can inherit and possess property of his own after that4 ,and from that time forth the law does not bind him to obey his father2 if he obeys him it is of his own free will1 because he loves1 and trusts1 and reverences his father4 ,now1 ,st4 ,paul says1 this is the case with us4 ,when we were infants1 we were in bondage under the elements of the world2 kept straight1 as children are1 by rules which they cannot understand1 by the fear of punishment which they cannot escape1 with no more power to resist their father than slaves have to resist their master4 ,but when the fulness of time was come1 ,god sent forth ,his ,son1 born of a woman1 born under a law1 that ,he might redeem those who were under a law1 that we might receive the adoption of sons4 ,as much as to say3 ,you were ,god's children all along3 but now you are more2 you are ,god's sons4 ,you have arrived at man's estate2 you are men in body and in mind2 you are to be men in spirit1 men in life4 ,you are to look up to the great ,god who made heaven and earth1 and know1 glorious thought6 that ,he is as truly your ,father as the men whose earthly sons you call yourselves4 ,and if you do this1 ,he will give you the ,spirit of adoption1 and you shall be able to call ,him ,father with your hearts1 as well as with your lips2 you shall know and feel that ,he is your ,father2 that ,he has been loving1 watching1 educating1 leading you home to ,him all the while that you were wandering in ignorance of ,him1 in childish self-will1 and greediness after pleasure and amusement4 ,he will give you ,his ,spirit to make you behave like ,his sons1 to obey ,him of your own free will1 from love1 and gratitude1 and honour1 and filial reverence4 ,he will make you love what ,he loves1 and hate what ,he hates4 ,he will give you clear consciences and free hearts1 to fear nothing on earth or in heaven1 but the shame and ingratitude of disobeying your ,father4 ,the ,spirit of adoption1 by which you look up to ,god as your ,father1 is your right4 ,he has given it to you1 and nothing but your own want of faith1 and wilful turning back to cowardly superstition1 and to the wilful sins which go before superstition1 and come after it1 can take it from you4 ,so said ,st4 ,paul to the ,romans and the ,galatians1 and so ,i have a right1 ay1 and a bounden duty1 to say to every man and woman in this church this day4 ,for1 my dear friends1 if you ask me1 what has this to do with us8 ,has it not everything to do with us8 ,whether we are leading good lives1 or middling lives1 or utterly bad worthless lives1 has it not everything to do with us8 ,who is there here who has not at times said to himself3 8,god so holy1 and pure1 and glorious2 while ,i am so unjust1 and unclean1 and mean6 ,and ,god so great and powerful2 while ,i am so small and weak6 ,what shall ,i do8 ,does not ,god hate and despise me8 ,will ,he not take from me all which ,i love best8 ,will ,he not hurl me into endless torment when ,i die8 ,how can ,i escape from ,him8 ,wretched man that ,i am1 ,i cannot escape from ,him6 ,how1 then1 can ,i turn away ,his hate8 ,how can ,i make ,him change ,his mind8 ,how can ,i soothe ,him and appease ,him8 ,what shall ,i do to escape hell-fire80 ,did you ever have such thoughts8 ,but1 did you find those thoughts1 that slavish terror of ,god's wrath1 that dread of hell1 made you any better men8 ,i never did4 ,i never saw them make any human being better4 ,unless you go beyond them--as far beyond them as heaven is beyond hell1 as far above them as a free son is above a miserable crouching slave1 they will do you more harm than good4 ,for this is all that ,i have seen come of them3 ,that all this spirit of bondage1 this slavish terror1 instead of bringing a man nearer to ,god1 only drove him further from ,god4 ,it did not make him hate what was wrong2 it only made him dread the punishment of it4 ,and then1 when the first burst of fear cooled down1 he began to say to himself3 8,i can never atone for my sins4 ,i can never win back ,god to love me4 ,what is done1 is done4 ,if ,i cannot escape punishment1 let me be at least as happy as ,i can while it lasts4 ,if it does not come to-day1 it will come to-morrow4 ,let me alone1 thou tormenting conscience4 ,let me eat and drink1 for to-morrow ,i die60 ,and so back rushed the poor creature into all his wrong-doing again1 and fell most probably deeper than ever into the mire1 because a certain feeling of desperation and defiance rose up in him1 till he began to fancy that his terror was all a dream--a foolish accidental rising up of old superstitious words which he learnt from his mother or his nurse2 and he tried to forget it all1 and did forget it--,god help him6--and his latter end was worse than his first4 ,how then shall a man escape shame and misery1 and an evil conscience1 and rise out of these sins of his8 ,for do it he must4 ,the wages of sin is death--death to body and soul2 and from sin he must escape4 ,there is but one way1 my friends4 ,there never was but one way4 ,believe the text1 and therefore believe the warrant of your ,baptism4 ,believe the message of your ,confirmation4 ,your baptism says to you1 ,god does not hate you1 be you the greatest sinner on earth4 ,he does not hate you4 ,he loves you2 for you are ,his child4 ,he hateth nothing that ,he hath made4 ,he willeth not the death of a sinner1 but that all should come to be saved4 ,and your baptism is the sign of that to you4 ,but ,god hates everything that ,he has not made2 for everything which ,he has not made is bad2 and ,he has made all things but sin2 and therefore ,he hates sin1 and1 loving you1 wishes to raise you out of sin2 and baptism is the sign of that also4 ,man was made originally in the image and likeness of ,god1 and of ,jesus ,christ1 the ,son of ,man1 the express image of ,god the ,father2 and therefore everything which is sinful is unmanly1 and everything which is truly manful1 and worthy of a man1 is like ,jesus ,christ2 and ,god's will is1 that you should rise out of all these unmanly sins1 to a truly manful life--a life like the life of ,jesus ,christ1 the ,son of ,man4 ,and baptism is ,god's sign of this also4 ,that is the meaning of the words in the ,baptism ,service which tell you that you were baptised into ,jesus ,christ1 that you might put off the old man--the sinful1 slavish1 selfish1 unmanly pattern of life1 which we all lead by nature2 and put on the new man--the holy and noble1 righteous and loving pattern of life1 which is the likeness of the ,lord ,jesus4 ,that is the message of your baptism to you2 that you are ,god's children1 and that ,god's will and wish is that you should grow up to become ,his sons1 to serve ,him lovingly1 trustingly1 manfully2 and that ,he can and will give you power to do so--ay1 that ,he has given you that power already1 if you will but claim it and use it4 ,but you must claim it and use it1 because you are meant not merely to be ,god's wilful1 ignorant1 selfish children1 obeying ,him from mere fear of the rod2 but to be ,his willing1 loving1 loyal sons4 ,and that is the message which ,confirmation brings you4 ,baptism says3 ,you are ,god's child1 whether you know it or not4 ,confirmation says3 ,yes2 but now you are to know it1 and to claim your rights as ,his sons1 of full age1 reasonable and self-governing4 ,baptism says3 ,you are regenerated and born from above1 by water and the ,holy ,spirit4 ,confirmation answers3 ,true1 most true2 but there is no use in a child's being born1 if it never comes to man's estate1 but remains a stunted idiot4 ,baptism says3 ,you may and ought to become more or less such a man as the ,lord ,jesus was4 ,confirmation says3 ,you can become such2 for you are no longer children2 you are grown to man's estate in body1 you can grow to man's estate in soul if you will4 ,god's ,spirit is with you1 to show you all things in their true light2 to teach you to value them or despise them as you ought2 to teach you to love what ,he loves1 and hate what ,he hates4 ,god wishes you no longer to be merely ,his children1 obeying ,him you know not why2 still less ,his slaves1 obeying ,him from mere brute coward fear1 and then breaking loose the moment that you forget ,him1 and fancy that ,his eye is not on you3 but ,he wishes you to be ,his sons2 to claim the right and the power which ,he has given you to trample your sins under foot2 to rise up by the strength which ,god your ,father will surely give to those who ask ,him2 and so to be new men1 free men1 true men1 who do look boldly up to ,god1 knowing that1 however wicked they may have been1 and however weak they are still1 ,god's love belongs to them1 ,god's help belongs to them1 and that those who trust in ,him shall never be confounded1 but shall go on from strength to strength to the measure of the stature of a perfect man1 to the noble likeness of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ ,himself4 ,for this is the message of the blessed sacrament of the body and blood of ,christ1 to which you have been all called this day4 ,that sacrament tells you that in spite of all your daily sins and failings1 you can still look up to ,god as your ,father2 to the ,lord ,jesus ,christ as your life2 to the ,holy ,spirit as your guide and your inspirer2 that though you be prodigal sons1 your ,father's house is still open to you1 your ,father's eternal love ready to meet you afar off1 the moment that you cry from your heart3 8,father1 ,i have sinned20 and that you must be converted and turn back to ,god your ,father1 not merely once for all at ,confirmation1 or at any other time1 but weekly1 daily1 hourly1 as often as you forget and disobey ,him2 and that he will receive you4 ,this is the message of the blessed sacrament1 that though you cannot come there trusting in your own righteousness1 you can come trusting in ,his manifold and great mercies2 that though you are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under ,his table1 yet ,he is the same ,lord whose property is ever to have mercy2 that ,he will1 as surely as ,he has appointed that sign of the bread and wine1 grant you so to eat and drink that spiritual flesh and blood of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 which is the life of the world1 that your sinful bodies may be made clean by ,his body1 and your souls washed in ,his most precious blood1 and that you may dwell in ,him1 and ,he in you1 for ever4 ,,xli4 ,,the ,,fall4 ,as by one man sin entered into the world1 and death by sin2 and so death passed on all men1 for that all have sinned4--,,romans v4 #ab4 ,,we have been reading the history of ,adam's fall4 ,with that fall we have all to do2 for we all feel the fruits of it in the sinful corruptions which we bring into the world with us4 ,and more1 every fall which we have is like ,adam's fall3 every time we fall into wilful sin1 we do what ,adam did1 and act over again1 each of us many times in our lives1 that which he first acted in the garden of ,paradise4 ,at least1 all mankind suffer for something4 ,look at the sickness1 death1 bloodshed1 oppression1 spite1 and cruelty1 with which the world is so full now1 of which it has been full1 as we know but too well from history1 ever since ,adam's time4 ,the world is full of misery1 there is no denying that4 ,how did that come8 ,it must have come somehow4 ,there must be some reason for all this sorrow4 ,the ,bible tells us a reason for it4 ,if anyone does not like the ,bible reason1 he is bound to find a better reason4 ,but what if the ,bible reason1 the story of ,adam's fall1 be the only rational and sensible explanation which ever has been1 or ever will be given1 of the way in which death and misery came among men8 ,some people will say3 ,what puzzle is there in it8 ,all animals die1 why should not man8 ,all animals fight and devour each other1 why should not man do so too8 ,but why need we suppose that man is fallen8 ,why should he not have been meant by nature to be just what he is8 ,some scholars who fancy themselves wise1 and think that they know better than the ,bible1 will say that now1 and pride themselves on having said a very fine thing2 ignorant men1 too1 often are led into the same mistake1 and are willing enough to say3 8,what if we are brutish1 and savage1 and ignorant1 and spiteful1 indulging ourselves1 hating and quarrelling with each other8 ,god made us what we are1 and we cannot help it40 ,but there is a voice in the heart of every man1 and just in proportion as a man is a man1 and not a beast and a savage1 that voice cries in his heart more loudly3 ,no2 ,god did not make you what you are4 ,you are not meant to be what you are1 but something better4 ,you are not meant to fight and devour each other as the animals do2 for you are meant to be better than they4 ,you are not meant to die as the animals do2 for you feel something in you which cannot die1 which hates death4 ,you may try to be a mere savage and a beast1 but you cannot be content to be so4 ,and yet you feel ready to fall lower1 and get more and more brutish4 ,what can be the reason8 ,there must be something wrong about men1 something diseased and corrupt in them1 or they would not have this continual discontent with themselves for being no better than they are2 this continual hankering and longing after some happiness1 some knowledge1 some good and noble state which they do not see round them1 and never have felt in themselves4 ,man must have fallen1 fallen from some good and right state into which he was put at first1 and for which he is hankering and craving now4 ,there must be an original sin in him2 that is1 a sin belonging to his origin1 his race1 his breed1 as we say1 which has been handed down from father to son2 an original sin as the church calls it4 ,and ,i believe firmly that the heart of man1 even among savages1 bears witness to the truth of that doctrine1 and confesses that we are fallen beings1 let false philosophers try as they will to persuade us that we are not4 ,then1 again1 there are another set of people1 principally easy1 well-to-do1 respectable people1 who run into another mistake1 the same into which the ,pelagians did in old time4 ,they think3 8,man is not fallen4 ,every man is born into the world quite good enough1 if he chose to remain good4 ,every man can keep ,god's laws if he likes1 or at all events keep them well enough40 ,as for his having a sinful nature which he got from ,adam1 they do not believe that really1 though often they might not like to say so openly4 ,they think3 8,adam fell1 and he was punished2 and if ,i fall ,i shall be punished2 but ,adam's sin is nothing to me1 and has not hurt me4 ,i can be just as good and right as ,adam was1 if ,i like40 ,that is a comfortable doctrine enough for easy-going well-to-do folks1 who have but few trials1 and few temptations1 and who love little because little has been forgiven them4 ,but what comfort is there in that for poor sinners1 who feel sinful and base passions dragging them down1 and making them brutish and miserable1 and yet feel that they cannot conquer their sins of themselves1 cannot help doing wrong1 all the while they know that it is wrong8 ,they feel that they have something more in them than a will and power to do what they choose4 ,they feel that they have a sinful nature which keeps their will and reason in slavery1 and makes sin a hard bondage1 a miserable prison-house1 from which they cannot escape4 ,in short1 they feel and know that they are fallen4 ,small comfort1 too1 to every thinking man1 who looks upon the great nations of savages1 which have lived1 and live still1 upon ,god's earth1 and sees how1 so far from being able to do right if they choose1 they go on from father to son1 generation after generation1 doing wrong1 more and more1 whether they like or not2 how they become more and more children of wrath1 given up to fierce wars1 and cruel revenge1 and violent passions1 all their thought1 and talk1 and study1 being to kill and to fight2 how they become more and more children of darkness1 forgetting more and more the laws of right and wrong1 becoming stupid and ignorant1 until they lose the very knowledge of how to provide themselves with houses1 clothes1 fire1 or even to till the ground1 and end in feeding on roots and garbage1 like the beasts which perish4 ,and how1 too1 long before they fall into that state1 death works in them4 ,how1 the lower they fall1 and the more they yield to their original sin and their corrupt nature1 they die out4 ,by wars with each other2 by murdering their own children1 to avoid the trouble of rearing them2 by diseases which they know not how to cure1 and which they too often bring on themselves by their own brutishness2 by bad food1 and exposure to the weather1 they die out1 and perish off the face of the earth1 fulfilling the ,lord's words to ,adam3 8,thou shalt surely die40 ,i do not say that their souls go to hell4 ,the ,bible tells us nothing of where they go to4 ,god's mercy is boundless4 ,and the ,bible tells us that sin is not imputed where there is no law1 as there is none among them4 ,so we may have hope for them1 and leave them in ,god's hand4 ,but what can we hope for them who are utterly dead in trespasses and sins8 ,well for them1 if1 having fallen to the likeness of the brutes1 they perish with the brutes4 ,i fancy if you1 as some may1 ever go to ,australia1 and there see the wretched black people1 who are dying out there1 faster and faster1 year by year1 after having fallen lower than the brutes1 then you will understand what original sin may bring a man to1 what it would have brought us to1 had not ,god in ,his mercy raised us and our forefathers up from that fearful down-hill course1 when we were on it fifteen hundred years ago4 ,and another thing which shows that these poor savages are not as ,god intended them to be1 but are falling1 generation after generation1 by the working of original sin1 is1 that they1 almost all of them1 show signs of having been better off long ago4 ,many1 like the ,south ,sea ,islanders1 have curious arts remaining among them in spite of their brutish ignorance1 which they could only have learned when they were far more clever and civilised than they are now4 ,and almost all of them have some sad remembrance1 handed down from father to son1 kept up in songs and foolish tales1 of having been richer1 and more prosperous1 and more numerous1 a long while ago4 ,they will confess to you1 if you ask them1 that they are worse than their fathers--that they are going down1 dying out--that the gods are angry with them1 as they say4 ,the ,lord have mercy upon them6 ,but what is1 to my mind1 the most awful part of the matter remains yet to be told--and it is this3 ,that man may actually fall by original sin too low to receive the gospel of ,jesus ,christ1 and be recovered again by it4 ,for the negroes of ,africa and the ,west ,indies1 though they have fallen very low1 have not fallen too low for the gospel4 ,they have still understanding left to take it in1 and conscience1 and sense of right and wrong enough left to embrace it2 thousands of them do embrace it1 and are received unto righteousness1 and lead such lives as would shame many a white ,englishman1 born and bred under the gospel4 ,but the black people in ,australia1 who are exactly of the same race as the ,african negroes1 cannot take in the gospel4 ,they seem to have become too stupid to understand it2 they seem to have lost the sense of sin and of righteousness too completely to care about it4 ,all attempts to bring them to a knowledge of the true ,god have as yet failed utterly4 ,god's grace is all-powerful2 ,he is no respecter of persons2 and ,he may yet1 by some great act of ,his wisdom1 quicken the dead souls of these poor brutes in human shape4 ,but1 as far as we can see1 there is no hope for them3 but1 like the ,canaanites of old1 they must perish off the face of the earth1 as brute beasts4 ,i have said so much to show you that man is fallen2 that there is original sin1 an inclination to sin and fall1 sink down lower and lower1 in man4 ,now comes the question3 ,what is this fall of man8 ,i said that the ,bible tells us rationally enough4 ,and ,i have also made use several times of words1 which may have hinted to some of you already what ,adam's fall was4 ,i have spoken of the likeness of the beasts1 and of men becoming like beasts by original sin4 ,and this is why ,i said it4 ,if you want to understand what ,adam's fall was1 you must understand what he fell from1 and what he fell to4 ,that is plain4 ,now1 the ,bible tells us1 that he fell from ,god's grace to nature4 ,what is nature8 ,nature means what is born1 and lives1 and dies1 and is parted and broken up1 that the parts of it may go into some new shape1 and be born and live1 and die again4 ,so the plants1 trees1 beasts1 are a part of nature4 ,they are born1 live1 die2 and then that which was them goes into the earth1 or into the stomachs of other animals1 and becomes in time part of that animal1 or part of the tree or flower1 which grows in the soil into which it has fallen4 ,so the flesh of a dead animal may become a grain of wheat1 and that grain of wheat again may become part of the body of an animal4 ,you all see this every time you manure a field1 or grow a crop4 ,nature is1 then1 that which lives to die1 and dies to live again in some fresh shape4 ,and1 in the first chapter of ,genesis1 you read of ,god creating nature--earth1 and water1 and light1 and the heavens1 and the plants and animals each after their kind1 born to die and change1 made of dust1 and returning to the dust again4 ,but after that we read very different words2 we read that when ,god created man1 ,he said3 8,let us make man in our image1 after our likeness2 and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea1 and over the fowl of the air1 and over the cattle1 and over all the earth1 and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth40 ,he was made in ,god's likeness2 therefore he could only be right in as far as he was like ,god4 ,and he could not be like ,god if he did not will what ,god willed1 and wish what ,god wished4 ,he was to live by faith in ,god2 he was justified by faith in ,god1 and by that only4 ,never fancy that ,adam had any righteousness of his own1 any goodness of which he could say3 8,this is mine1 part of me2 ,i may pride myself on it40 ,god forbid4 ,his righteousness consisted1 as ours must1 in looking up to ,god1 trusting ,him utterly1 believing that he was to do ,god's will1 and not his own4 ,his spirit1 his soul1 as we call it1 was given to him for that purpose1 and for none other1 that it might trust in ,god and obey ,god1 as a child does his father4 ,he had a free will2 but he was to use that will as we must use our wills1 by giving up our will to ,god's will1 by clinging with our whole hearts and souls to ,god4 ,adam fell4 ,he let himself be tempted by a beast1 by the serpent4 ,how1 we cannot tell3 but so we read4 ,he took the counsel of a brute animal1 and not of ,god4 ,he chose between ,god and the serpent1 and he chose wrong4 ,he wanted to be something in himself2 to have a knowledge and power of his own1 to use it as he chose4 ,he was not content to be in ,god's likeness2 he wanted to be as a god himself4 ,and so he threw away his faith in ,god1 and disobeyed ,him4 ,and instead of becoming a god1 as he expected1 he became an animal2 he put on the likeness of the brutes1 who cannot look up to ,god in trust and love1 who do not know ,god1 do not obey ,him1 but follow their own lusts and fancies1 as they may happen to take them4 ,whether the change came on him all at once1 the ,bible does not say3 but it did come on him2 for from him it has been handed down to all his children even to this day4 ,then was fulfilled against him the sentence1 ,in the day thou eatest thereof1 thou shalt surely die4 ,not that he died that moment2 but death began to work in him4 ,he became like the branch of a tree cut off from the stem1 which may not wither at the instant it is cut off1 but it is yet dead1 as we find out by its soon decaying4 ,he had come down from being a son of ,god1 and he had taken his place in nature1 among the things which grow only to die2 and death began to work in him1 and in his children after him4 ,he handed down his nature to his children as the animals do2 his children inherited his faults1 his weaknesses1 his diseases1 the seed of death which was in him1 just as the animals pass down to their breed1 their defects1 and diseases1 and certainty of dying after their appointed life is past4 ,for this1 my friends1 is the lesson which ,adam's fall teaches us1 that in ,god alone is the life of immortal souls1 whether of men1 or of angels1 or of archangels2 and in ,god alone is righteousness2 in ,god alone is every good thing1 and all good in men or angels comes from ,him1 and is only ,his pattern1 ,his likeness2 and that the moment either man or angel sets up his will against ,god's1 he falls into sin1 a lie1 and death4 ,that ,he has given us reasonable souls for that one purpose1 that with our souls we may look up to ,him1 with our souls we may cling to ,him1 with our souls we may trust in ,him1 with our souls we may understand ,his will1 and see that it is a good1 and a right1 and a loving will1 and delight in it1 and obey it1 and find all our delight and glory1 even as the ,lord ,jesus1 the ,son of ,man1 the ,new ,adam1 did1 in doing not our own will1 but the will of our ,father4 ,for1 as ,st4 ,augustine says1 man may live in two ways1 either according to himself1 or according to ,god2 by self-will or by faith4 ,he may determine to do his own will or to do ,god's will1 to be his own master or to let ,god be his master1 to seek his own glory1 and try to be something fine and grand in himself3 or he may seek ,god's glory and obey ,him1 believing that what ,god commands is the only good for him1 what makes ,god to be honoured in the eyes of his neighbours is the only real honour for him4 ,but1 says ,st4 ,augustine1 if he tries to live according to himself1 he falls into misery1 because he was meant to live according to ,god4 ,so he puts himself into a lie1 into a false and wrong state2 and because he has cut himself off from ,god he falls below what a man should be2 and puts on more and more of the likeness of the beast1 and is more and more the slave of his own lusts1 and passions1 and fancies1 as the dumb animals are4 ,and1 as ,st4 ,paul says1 the animal man1 the carnal man1 understands not the things of ,god4 ,and we need no one to tell us that this is the state of nature which we bring into the world with us4 ,we feel it2 from our very childhood1 from the earliest time we can recollect1 have we not had the longing to do what we liked8 to please ourselves1 to pride ourselves on ourselves1 to set up our own wills against our parents1 against what we learnt out of the ,bible8 ,ay1 has not this wilful will of ours been so strong1 that often we would long after a thing1 we would determine to have it1 only because we were forbidden to have it2 we might not care about the thing when we had it1 but we would have our own way just because it was our own way4 ,in short1 like ,adam1 we would be as gods1 knowing good and evil1 and choosing for ourselves what we should call good and what we shall call evil4 ,and1 my dear friends1 consider3 did not every wrong that we ever did come from this one root of all sin--determining to have our own way8 ,that root-sin of self-will first brought death and misery among mankind2 that sin of self-will keeps it up still3 that sin of self-will it is which hinders sinners from giving themselves up to ,god2 and that sin must be broken through1 or religion is a mockery and a dream4 ,oh my friends1 say to yourselves once for all1 ,i was made in ,god's likeness2 and therefore ,his will1 and not my own1 ,i must do4 ,i have no wisdom of my own1 no strength of mind of my own1 no goodness of my own1 no lovingness of my own4 ,god has them all2 ,god1 who is wisdom1 strength1 goodness1 love2 and ,i have none4 ,and then1 when the fearful thought comes over you3 8,i have no goodness1 and ,i cannot have any4 ,i cannot do right4 ,there is no use struggling and trying to be better4 ,my passions1 my lusts1 my fancies are too strong for me4 ,if ,i am brutish and low1 brutish and low ,i must remain4 ,if ,i have fallen in ,adam1 ,i must lie in the mire till ,i die--0 ,then1 then1 my friends1 answer yourselves3 8,no6 ,not so4 ,man fell in the first ,adam3 but man rose again in the second ,adam1 the ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,i belong no more to the old ,adam1 who fell in ,paradise4 ,i belong to the ,new ,adam1 who was conceived without sin1 and born of a pure virgin1 who lived by perfect faith1 in perfect obedience1 doing ,his ,father's will only1 even to the death upon the cross1 wherein ,he took away the sins of the whole world4 ,and now for ,his sake my original sin1 my fallen1 brutish nature1 is forgiven me4 ,god does not hate me for it4 ,he loves me1 because ,i belong to ,his ,son4 ,my baptism is a witness and a warrant1 a sign and a covenant between me and ,god1 that ,i belong not to old ,adam of ,paradise1 but to the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 who sits at ,god's right hand4 ,the cross which was signed on my forehead when ,i was baptised is ,god's sign to me that ,i am to sacrifice myself and give up my own will to do ,god's will1 even as the ,lord ,jesus did when ,he gave ,himself to die1 because it was ,his ,father's will4 ,and because ,i belong to ,jesus ,christ1 because ,god has called me to be ,his child1 therefore ,he will help me4 ,he will help me to conquer this low1 brutish nature of mine4 ,he will put ,his ,spirit into me1 the ,spirit of ,his ,son ,jesus ,christ1 that ,i may trust ,him1 cry to ,him1 ,my ,father6 that ,i may love ,him2 understand ,his will1 and see how good1 and noble1 and beautiful1 and full of peace and comfort it is2 delight in obeying ,him2 glory in sacrificing my own fancies and pleasures for ,his sake2 and find my only honour1 my only happiness1 in doing ,his will on earth as saints and angels do it in heaven40 ,,xlii4 ,,god',s ,,covenants4 ,i do set my bow in the cloud1 and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth4--,,genesis ix4 #ac4 ,,the text says that ,god made a covenant with ,noah1 and with his seed after him--that is1 with all mankind2 with us who sit here1 and our children after us1 and with all human beings who will ever live upon the face of the earth4 ,god made a covenant with them4 ,now1 what is a covenant8 ,we say that two men make a covenant with each other when they make a bargain1 an agreement2 in this way3 ,if you will do this thing1 then ,i will do that2 but if you will not do this thing1 ,i will not do that4 ,if you do not keep to our agreement1 ,i am free of it4 ,if ,i do not do my part of the agreement1 you are free4 ,is not that what we call a covenant--a bargain between two parties1 which1 if either party breaks it1 becomes null and void1 and binds neither8 ,let us see whether ,god's covenants with man are of this kind4 ,does ,god say to ,noah3 8,if you and your children are righteous1 ,i will look upon the rainbow1 and remember my covenant3 but if you and your children are unrighteous1 ,i will not look on the rainbow1 and ,i will break my covenant because you have broken it80 ,we read no such words2 ,god made no conditions with ,noah and his sons4 ,whether they forgot the covenant or not1 ,god would remember it4 ,it was a covenant of free grace1 even as all ,god's covenants are4 ,not a bargain1 but a promise4 8,by ,myself have ,i sworn1 saith the ,lord1 that ,i will not fail ,david40 ,by ,himself ,he sware to ,abraham3 8,surely blessing ,i will bless thee1 and multiplying ,i will multiply thee40 ,that is the form of ,god's covenants4 ,god swears by ,himself--by ,god who cannot change4 ,if ,god can change1 then ,his covenant can change4 ,if ,god can fail ,himself1 then can ,he fail ,his covenant to which ,he has sworn by ,himself4 ,if it had been a mere bargain1 like men's bargains1 and not a promise out of ,his absolute love1 ,his free grace1 ,his boundless mercy1 would ,he have sworn by ,himself8 ,nay1 rather1 ,he would have sworn by ,abraham3 8,by thy obedience or disobedience ,i swear to bless thee or curse thee40 ,but ,he swore by ,himself1 the absolute1 the unchangeable1 the ,giver whose name is ,love4 ,consider now the token of the covenant which ,god gave to ,noah4 ,it was the rainbow4 ,what is the rainbow8 ,sunlight turned back to our eye1 through drops of falling rain4 ,what sign could be more simple8 ,and yet what sign could be more perfect8 ,noah's sons would fear that another flood was coming1 perhaps flood after flood4 ,the token of the rainbow said to them1 ,no4 ,floods and rain are not to be the custom of this earth4 ,sunshine is to be the custom of it4 ,do not fear the clouds and storm and rain2 look at the bow in the cloud1 in the very rain itself4 ,that is a sign that the sun1 though you cannot see it1 is shining still4 ,that up above1 beyond the cloud1 is still sunlight1 and warmth1 and cloudless blue sky4 ,believe in ,god's covenant4 ,believe that the sun will conquer the clouds1 warmth will conquer cold1 calm will conquer storm1 fair will conquer foul1 light will conquer darkness1 joy will conquer sorrow1 life conquer death1 love conquer destruction and the devouring floods2 because ,god is light1 ,god is love1 ,god is life1 ,god is peace and joy eternal and without change1 and labours to give life1 and joy1 and peace1 to man and beast and all created things4 ,this was the meaning of the rainbow4 ,not a sudden or strange token1 a miracle1 as men call it1 like as some voice out of the sky1 or fiery comet1 might have been2 but a regular1 orderly1 and natural sign1 to witness that ,god is a ,god of order4 ,whenever there was a rainy day there might be a rainbow4 ,it came by the same laws by which everything else comes in the world4 ,it was a witness that ,god who made the world is the friend and preserver of man2 that ,his promises are like the everlasting sunshine which is above the clouds1 without spot or fading1 without variableness or shadow of turning4 ,and do you fancy1 my friends1 that the new covenant1 the covenant which ,god made with all mankind in the blood of ,his only-begotten ,son1 is narrower or weaker than the covenant which ,he made with ,noah1 ,abraham1 and ,david8 ,he asked no conditions from them4 ,do you think ,he asks them from us8 ,he called them by free grace4 ,do you think ,he calls us by anything less8 ,he swore by ,himself to them4 ,how much more has ,he sworn by ,himself to us8 ,he who was born1 and died1 and rose again for us1 who now sits at the right hand of the ,father1 very ,man of the substance of a human mother1 yet very ,god of very ,god begotten4 ,his covenants of old stood true and faithful1 however disobedient and unfaithful men might be2 as it is written3 8,i have sworn once for all by my holiness1 that ,i will not fail ,david40 ,and those words1 the ,new ,testament declares to us1 again and again1 are true of the new covenant1 and fulfilled in the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 into whose name we are baptized4 ,yes2 into whose name we are baptized4 ,there is the sign of the new covenant2 of a covenant of free grace4 ,therefore we can bring our children to be baptized as we were baptized ourselves1 before they have done either good or evil1 for a sign that ,god's love is over them1 ,god's kingdom is their inheritance1 ,god's love their everlasting portion4 ,but we may fall from grace2 and then what good will our baptism be to us8 ,we shall be lost1 just as if we had never been baptized4 ,my friends1 if1 though the sun was shining in the sky1 you shut your eyes close1 and kept out the light1 what use would the sunlight be to you8 ,you would stumble1 and fall1 and come to harm1 as certainly as in the darkest night4 ,but would the sun go out of the sky1 my friends1 because you were unwise enough to shut your eyes to it8 ,the sun would still be there1 shining as bright as ever4 ,you would have only to be reasonable and to open your eyes1 and you would see your way again as well as ever4 ,so it is with holy baptism4 ,in it we were made members of ,christ1 children of ,god1 inheritors of the kingdom of heaven4 ,god's love is above us and around us1 like a warm1 bright1 life-giving sun4 ,we may shut our eyes to it1 but it is there still4 ,we may disbelieve our baptism covenant1 but it is true still4 ,we are children of ,god2 and nothing that we can do1 no sin1 no unfaithfulness of ours1 can make us anything else4 ,we can no more become not ,god's children1 than a child can become not his own father's son4 ,but this we can do by sinning1 by disbelieving that we are ,god's children1 by behaving as the devil's children when we are ,god's2 we can believe ourselves not ,god's children when we are2 we can try to be what we are not2 we can enter into a lie1 and into the misery to which all lies lead2 we can walk in darkness1 and stumble1 and fall1 when all the while we are children of the light1 and have only to open our eyes to walk in the light4 ,ay1 we can shut our eyes to the light so long1 that at last we forget that there is any light at all2 and that is the gate of hell4 ,we may wrap ourselves up in our selfishness1 in selfish pleasures1 selfish cunning1 selfish covetousness1 and selfish pride1 till we forget that there is anything better for us than selfishness1 till we forget that ,god is love1 and that we ,his children are meant to be loving even as ,he is loving2 and that also is the gate of hell4 ,and worst and darkest of all1 when in that stupid1 sinful1 loveless state of mind1 ,god's loving ,spirit still strives and pleads with us1 and tries to awaken us1 and terrify us with the sight of the everlasting misery and ruin into which we have thrown ourselves1 we may turn those pleadings of ,god's ,spirit1 by our own evil wills1 into a darker curse than all which have gone before4 ,we may refuse to believe that ,god is love1 and fancy ,him as hard1 and cruel1 and proud1 and spiteful1 and unloving as we ourselves are4 ,we may refuse1 though ,scripture1 ,prayer-book1 sacraments1 preachers1 assure us of it1 that ,god is our ,father still2 and deny ,his covenant of baptism1 and blaspheme ,his holy name1 by fancying ,him our tyrant and taskmaster1 who hates us1 and willeth the death of a sinner1 and has pleasure in the death of him that dieth4 ,and then we may behave according to the lie which we ourselves have invented1 and all sorts of inventions of our own to escape ,god's wrath1 when1 in reality1 it is ,he who is wishing to turn ,his wrath away from us2 and to win back ,his favour1 when1 in reality1 it is not we who are out of favour with ,him1 but ,he who is out of favour with us1 who dread ,him and shrink from ,him2 we may try to deliver ourselves from ,him1 when all the while it is ,he1 the very ,god whom we are dreading and flying from1 who alone is able and willing to deliver us2 and with all our fears1 and self-tormentings1 and faithless terrors1 and blasphemings of ,god by fancying ,him the very opposite to what ,he has declared ,himself1 we shall get no peace of conscience1 no deliverance from sins1 or from the fear of punishment1 but only a fearful and fiery looking forward to judgment1 which is hell4 ,that is superstition2 hell on earth2 when men have so utterly forgotten the likeness of ,god1 which ,he manifested in ,his ,son ,jesus ,christ1 that they look on ,him as a stern and dreadful taskmaster1 a tyrant1 and not a deliverer4 ,hell on earth1 which may and must lead to hell hereafter2 a hell of fear1 and doubt1 and hatred of ,him who is all lovely2 the hell whereof it is written1 that its worst torment is being cast out from the sight of ,god3 unless the hapless sinner opens his eye and believes the covenant of his baptism1 and sees that ,god cannot lie1 ,god cannot change1 cannot break ,his covenant1 cannot alter ,his love2 that though he have left his ,father's house1 and wandered into far countries1 and wasted his ,father's substance in riotous living1 he is still his ,father's son1 his ,father's house is still where it was from the beginning1 his ,father's heart still what it was from the beginning2 and so arises and goes back to his ,father's house1 confessing that he is no more worthy to be called ,his son1 willing to be only as one of ,his hired servants2 and then--sees not the stern countenance1 the cruel punishments which he dreaded3 but--8,while he was yet afar off1 his ,father saw him1 and ran1 and fell on his neck1 and kissed him60 ,and if1 in our sins1 our only hope of comfort1 and peace1 and strength1 lies in remembering our baptismal covenant1 and being sure and certain that though we have changed1 ,god has not2 that though we are dark1 ,god's love shines bright and clear for ever1 how much more when the dark day of affliction comes8 ,why should ,i speak of this and that affliction8 ,each heart knows its own bitterness2 each soul has its own sorrow2 each man's life has its dark days of storm and tempest1 when all his joys seem flown away by some sudden blast of ill-fortune1 and the desire of his eyes is taken from him1 and all his hopes and plans1 all which he intended to do or to enjoy1 are hid with blinding mist1 so that he cannot see his way before him1 and knows not whither to go1 and whither to flee for help2 when faith in ,god seems broken up for the moment1 when he feels no strength1 no will1 no purpose1 and knows not what to determine1 what to do1 what to believe1 what to care for2 when the very earth seems reeling under his feet1 and the fountains of the abyss are broken up3 then let him think of ,god's covenant1 and take heart2 let him think of his baptism1 and be at peace4 ,is the sun's warmth perished out of the sky1 because the storm is cold with hail and bitter winds8 ,is ,god's love changed1 because we cannot feel it in our trouble8 ,is the sun's light perished out of the sky1 because the world is black with cloud and mist8 ,has ,god forgotten to give light to suffering souls1 because we cannot see our way for a few short days of perplexity8 ,for this is the gospel1 this is the message which we have received from ,god1 to preach to every sad and desolate heart on earth1 that ,god is light1 and in ,him is no darkness at all4 ,that ,god is love1 and in ,him there is no cruelty at all4 ,that ,god is one1 and in ,him there is no change at all4 ,and therefore1 we all1 the most ignorant of us as well as the wisest1 the most sinful of us as well as the holiest1 the saddest and most wretched of us as well as the happiest1 have a right to join in that ,litany which is offered up here thrice every week during the time of ,lent1 and to call upon ,god to deliver us and all mankind1 not merely because we wish to be delivered from evil1 but because ,god wishes to deliver us from evil4 ,if we pray that ,litany in any dark dread of ,god1 in doubt of ,his love and goodwill towards us1 like terrified slaves crying out to a hard taskmaster1 and entreating him not to torment them1 we do not pray that ,litany aright2 we do not pray it at all4 ,for it asks ,god not to leave us alone1 but to come to us2 not to stop punishing us1 but actually ,himself to deliver us1 to defend us1 to set us free4 ,therefore it begins by calling on ,god the ,father1 because ,he is our ,father2 on ,god the ,son1 because ,he has already redeemed and bought us for ,his own2 on ,god the ,holy ,spirit1 because ,he has been striving with our wilful hearts from our youth up till now1 lovingly desiring to teach us1 to change us1 to sanctify us4 ,therefore it calls on the holy1 blessed1 and glorious ,trinity1 three ,persons and one ,god1 because the ,son does not love us better than the ,father does1 or than the ,holy ,spirit does1 but in the life and death of the ,man ,christ ,jesus1 whom we call on to deliver us by ,his birth1 ,his baptism1 ,his death1 ,his resurrection1 by all that ,his manhood did and suffered here on earth1 in ,his life and death1 ,i say1 were shown forth bodily the glory1 and condescension1 and love1 and goodwill of the fulness of the ,godhead1 of all three ,persons of the one and undivided ,trinity1 ,father1 ,son1 and ,holy ,ghost4 ,therefore we may pray boldly to ,him to spare us1 because we know that we are already ,his people1 already redeemed with his most precious blood1 already declared by holy baptism to be bound to ,him in an everlasting covenant4 ,therefore we may pray boldly to ,him not to be angry with us for ever1 because we know that ,he desires to bless us for ever1 if we will only let ,him2 if we will only let ,his love have free course1 and not shut our hearts to it1 and turn our backs upon it4 ,therefore we can ask ,him to deliver us in all time of our tribulation and misery2 in all time of the still more dangerous temptations which wealth and prosperity bring with them2 in the hour of death1 whether of our own death or the death of those we love2 in the day of judgment1 whereof it is written3 8,it is ,god who justifieth us1 who is he that condemneth8 ,it is ,christ who died1 yea rather who is risen again1 who even now maketh intercession for us40 ,to that boundless love of ,god which ,he showed forth in the life of ,christ ,jesus2 to that utter and perfect will to deliver us1 which ,god showed forth in the death of ,christ ,jesus1 when the ,father spared not ,his only-begotten ,son1 but freely gave ,him for us2 to that boundless love we may trust ourselves1 our fortunes1 our families1 our bodies1 our souls1 the souls of those we love4 ,trusting in that great love1 we may pray in that ,litany for deliverance2 to be delivered from distress and accidents1 from all sins which drag us down1 and make us miserable1 ashamed1 confused1 terrified1 selfish1 hateful1 and hating each other4 ,we may pray to be delivered from evil1 because ,god is righteousness1 and hates evil4 ,we may pray to be delivered from our sins1 because ,god is righteousness1 and hates our sins4 ,we may pray for the ,queen1 her ministers1 her parliament1 because ,god's love and care is over them2 for all orders and ranks of men1 whether laymen or clergymen1 high or low1 in ,god's holy church2 for all who are afflicted and desolate2 for all who are wandering in ignorance1 and mistakes1 and sin2 ay1 for all mankind1 for ,god loves them all1 the ,son of ,god has bought them all with ,his most precious blood4 ,and however dark1 and sad1 and sinful the world may seem around us2 however dark1 and sad1 and sinful our own hearts may be within us1 we may find comfort in that ,litany1 and pour out in it our sorrows and our fears1 if we begin only as it begins1 with the thought of ,god who is righteousness1 ,god who is love1 ,god who is the ,deliverer4 ,and then1 as the rainbow reflects the sunbeams for a sign and token that the sun is shining1 though we see it not2 so will that blessed ,litany1 with its sacred name of ,god1 its calls to ,him who was born of the ,virgin ,mary1 and crucified under ,pontius ,pilate2 its entreaties to ,god to deliver us1 because ,he is a deliverer2 to hear us1 and send us good1 because ,he is a good ,lord ,himself2 its remembrances of the noble works which ,god did in our fathers' days1 and in the old time before them2 its noble declaration that ,god does not despise the sighing of a contrite heart1 nor the desire of a humble spirit1 and that it is the very glory of ,his name to turn from us those evils which we most justly have deserved--that ,litany1 ,i say1 will be like a rainbow declaring to our dark and stormy hearts that the sun is shining still above the clouds2 that over and above us1 and all mankind1 and all the changes and chances of this mortal life1 is the still bright sunshine1 the life-giving warmth of the ,sun of ,righteousness1 the absolute eternal love of our ,father who is in heaven1 who1 as he has declared by the mouth of ,his only-begotten ,son1 is perfect in this1 that ,he does not deal with us after our sins1 nor reward us according to our iniquities1 but is good to the unthankful and the evil1 sending ,his rain alike upon the just and on the unjust1 and making ,his sun to shine alike upon the evil and the good4 ,,xliii4 ,,the ,,mystery ,,of ,,godliness4 ,great is the mystery of godliness3 ,god was manifest in the flesh1 justified in the ,spirit1 seen of angels1 preached to the ,gentiles1 believed on in the world1 received up into glory4--#a ,,timothy iii4 #af4 ,,st4 ,,paul here sums up in one verse the whole of ,christian truth4 ,he gives us in a few words what he says is the great mystery of godliness4 ,now1 men had been inventing for themselves all kinds of mysteries of godliness2 all sorts of mysterious and wonderful notions about ,god2 all sorts of mysterious and strange ceremonies1 and ways of pleasing ,god1 or turning away ,his anger4 ,and ,christian men are apt to do so also1 as well as those old heathens4 ,they feel that they are very mysterious and wonderful beings themselves1 simply because they are men4 ,they say to themselves3 8,how strange that ,i should have a body of flesh and blood1 and appetites and passions1 like the animals1 and yet that ,i should have an immortal spirit in me4 ,how strange this notion of duty which ,i have1 and which the other animals have not2 this notion of its being right to do some things1 and wrong to do others6 ,from whence did that notion come8 ,and again1 this strange notion which ,i have1 and cannot help having1 that ,i ought to be like ,god3 and yet ,i do not know what ,god is like4 ,from whence did that notion come80 ,again3 8,i fancy that ,god ought to be good4 ,but how do ,i know that ,he really is good8 ,i see the world full of injustice1 and misery1 and death4 ,how do ,i know that this is not ,god's doing1 ,god's fault in some way80 ,again1 says a man to himself3 8,i have a fair right to believe that mankind are not the only persons in the universe--that there are other beings beside ,god whom ,i cannot see4 ,i call them angels4 ,i hardly know what ,i mean by that4 ,the really important question about them to me is3 ,will they do me harm8 ,can they do me good8 ,are they stronger than ,i8--,ought ,i not to fear them1 to try to please them1 to keep them favourable to me80 ,again1 he asks3 8,does ,god care whether ,i know what is right8 ,does ,god care to teach me about ,himself8 ,is ,god desirous that ,i should do my duty8 ,for if ,he does not care about my being good1 why should ,i care about it80 ,again1 he asks3 8,but if ,i knew my duty1 might ,i not find it something too far-fetched1 too difficult1 for poor simple folk to do3 so that ,i should be forced to leave a right life to great scholars1 and to rich people1 or to people of a very devout delicate temper of mind1 who have a natural turn that way80 ,and last of all3 8,even if ,i did struggle to do right2 even if ,i gave up everything for the sake of doing right2 how do ,i know that it will profit me to do so8 ,i shall die as every man dies1 and then what will become of me8 ,shall ,i be a man still1 or only--horrible thought6--some sort of empty ghost1 a spirit without body1 of which ,i dream1 and shudder while ,i dream of it80 ,men in all ages1 heathens and ,christians1 have been puzzled by such thoughts as these1 as soon as they began to feel that there was a world which they could not see1 as well as a world which they could see2 a spiritual world1 wherein ,god the ,spirit1 and their own spirits1 and spiritual things1 such as right1 wrong1 duty1 reason1 love1 dwell for ever2 and a strange hidden duty on all men to obey that unseen ,god1 and the laws of that spiritual world2 in short a mystery of godliness4 ,then they have tried to answer these questions for themselves2 and have run thereby into all manner of follies and superstitions1 and often1 too1 into devilish cruelties1 in the hope of pleasing ,god according to some mystery of godliness of their own invention4 ,but to each of these puzzles ,st4 ,paul gives an answer in the text4 ,let us take them each in its order1 and you will see what ,i mean4 ,the first puzzle was3 ,how is it that while ,i am like the animals in some things1 and yet feel as if ,i ought to be1 and can be1 like ,god in other things8 ,how is it that ,i feel two powers in me2 one dragging me downward to make me lower than the beasts1 the other lifting me upwards--,i dare not think whither8 ,it seems to me to be my body1 my bodily appetites and tempers which drag me down4 ,is my body me1 part of me1 or a thing ,i should be ashamed of1 and long to be rid of8 ,i fancy that ,i can be like ,god4 ,but can my body be like ,god8 ,must ,i not crush it1 neglect it1 get rid of it before ,i can follow the good instinct which draws me upward8 ,to which ,st4 ,paul told ,timothy to answer3 ,god was manifest in the flesh4 ,god sent down ,his only-begotten ,son1 co-equal and co-eternal with ,himself1 very ,god of very ,god1 the very same person who had been putting into men's minds those two notions of which we spoke1 that there is a right and a wrong1 and that men ought to be like ,god2 ,him the ,father sent into the world that ,he might be born1 and live1 and die1 and rise again1 as a man2 that so men might see from ,his example1 manifestly and plainly1 what ,god was like1 and what man ought to be like4 ,and so ,jesus ,christ was ,god1 manifested in the flesh4 ,now we do know what ,god is like4 ,we know that ,he is so like man1 that ,he can take upon ,him man's flesh and blood without changing1 or lowering1 or defiling ,himself4 ,that proves that man must have been originally made in ,god's likeness2 that man's being fallen1 means man's falling from the likeness of ,god1 and taking up instead with the likeness of the brutes which perish2 that the fault cannot be in our bodies1 but in our spirits which have yielded to our bodies1 and become their slaves instead of their masters1 as ,christ's ,spirit was master of ,his body4 ,but the ,son of ,god1 by being born and living as a man1 showed us that we are not fallen past hope1 not fallen so low that we cannot rise again4 ,he showed that though mankind are sinful1 yet they need not be sinful2 for ,he was a man as exactly1 and perfectly1 and entirely as we are1 and yet in ,him was no sin4 ,so ,he showed that brutishness and sinfulness is not our proper state1 but our disease and our fall2 and a disease of which we can be cured1 a fall out of which we can rise and be renewed into the true and real pattern of mankind1 the new ,adam1 ,jesus the sinless ,son of ,man and ,son of ,god4 ,the next question1 ,i said1 that rose in men's mind was3 8,how do ,i know that ,god is good1 as ,i fancy sometimes that ,he must be8 ,i see the world full of sin1 and injustice1 and misery1 and death4 ,perhaps that is ,god's doing1 ,god's fault40 ,that is a common puzzle enough1 and a sad and fearful one4 ,the sin and the misery and the death are here4 ,if ,god did not bring it here1 yet why did ,he let it come here8 ,he could have stopped if ,he would1 and kept out all this wretchedness3 why did ,he not8 ,was ,he just or loving in letting sin into the world8 ,to all which ,st4 ,paul answers3 8,god was justified in the ,spirit40 ,you do not see what that has to do with it8 ,then let me show you4 ,to be justified means to be shown and proved to be just1 righteous4 ,now what justified ,god to man was the ,spirit of ,god1 as ,he showed ,himself in the ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,for when ,god became man and dwelt among men1 what sort of works were ,his8 ,what was ,his conduct1 ,his character2 of what sort of spirit did ,he show ,himself to be8 ,he went1 we read1 doing good1 for ,god was with ,him4 ,not of ,his own will1 but to do ,his ,father's will1 and because ,he was filled without measure by the ,spirit of ,god1 ,he did good1 ,he healed the sick1 ,he rebuked the proud and self-conceited hypocrite1 ,he proclaimed pardon and mercy to the broken-hearted sinner1 wearied and worn out by the burden of his sins4 ,thus1 in every action of ,his life1 ,he was fighting against evil and misery1 and conquering it2 and so showing that ,god hates evil and misery1 and that the evil and the misery in the world are here against ,god's will4 ,strange as it may seem to have to say it1 so it is4 ,jesus ,christ showed that howsoever sin and sorrow came into the world1 it is ,god's will and purpose to root them out of the world1 and that ,he is righteous1 ,he is loving1 ,he is merciful1 ,he does and will fight against evil1 for those who are crushed by it2 and help poor sufferers always when they call upon ,him1 and often1 often1 of ,his most undeserved condescension and free grace1 when they are forgetting and disobeying ,him4 ,and so by the good1 and loving1 and just spirit which ,jesus showed1 ,god was justified before men1 and showed to be a ,god of goodness and justice4 ,the next puzzle1 ,i said1 was about angels and spirits1 whether we need to pray to them to help us1 and not to hurt us4 ,st4 ,paul answers3 ,god1 when ,he was manifested in the flesh of a man1 was seen by these angels4 ,and that is enough for us4 ,they saw the ,lord ,god condescend to be born in a stable1 to live as a poor man1 to die on the cross4 ,they saw that ,his will to man was love4 ,and they do ,his will4 ,and therefore they love men1 they help men1 they minister to men1 because they follow the ,lord's example1 and do the will of their ,father in ,heaven1 even as we ought to do it on earth4 ,therefore we have no need to fear them1 for they love us already4 ,and1 on the other hand1 we have no need to pray to them to help us1 for they know already that it is their duty to help us4 ,they know that the ,son of ,god has put on us a higher honour than ,he ever put on them2 for ,he took not on ,him the nature of angels1 ,he took on ,him the nature of man2 and thus1 though man was made a little lower than the angels1 yet by ,christ's taking man's nature1 man is crowned with a glory and honour higher than the angels4 ,know ye not1 says ,st4 ,paul1 that we shall judge angels8 ,and the angels1 as they told ,st4 ,john1 are our fellow-servants1 not our masters2 and they know that2 for they saw the ,son of ,god doing utterly ,his ,father's will1 and therefore they know that their duty is to do their ,father's will also2 not to do their own wills1 and set themselves up as our masters1 to be pleaded with by us4 ,they saw the ,son of ,god take our nature on ,him1 when they sang to the shepherds on the first ,christmas night3 8,peace on earth1 and good-will toward men20 and therefore they look on us with love and honour1 because we wear the human nature which ,christ their ,master wore1 and are partakers of the ,holy ,spirit of ,god1 even as they are4 ,for no angel or archangel could do a right thing1 any more than we1 except by the ,holy ,spirit of ,god4 ,and that ,holy ,spirit is bestowed on the poorest man who asks for it1 as freely as upon the highest of the heavenly host4 ,and this leads us on to the next puzzle of which ,i spoke3 ,men were apt1 and are apt now1 to say to themselves3 ,does ,god care whether ,i know what is right8 ,does ,god care to teach me about ,himself8 ,is ,god desirous that ,i should do my duty8 ,for if ,he does not care about my being good1 why should ,i care about it8 ,to this ,st4 ,paul answers3 8,god1 who was manifest in the flesh1 was preached to the ,gentiles40 ,god does care that men should know about ,god2 for ,he loves them4 ,he yearns after them as a father after his children1 and ,he knows that to know ,god1 to know the truth about ,god1 is the beginning of all wisdom1 the root of all safety and honour and happiness4 ,he willeth not that any should perish1 but that all should come to the knowledge of the truth4 ,and1 therefore1 when the ,son of ,god died for our sins1 ,he did not stop at that great deed of love2 but ,he ordained ,apostles1 and put upon them especially and above all men1 ,his ,holy ,spirit1 that they might go and preach to all nations the good news that ,god had become flesh1 and dwelt among men1 and borne their sorrows and infirmities1 and to baptize them into the very name of ,god itself1 into the name of the ,father1 and of the ,son1 and of the ,holy ,ghost2 that so1 instead of fancying now that ,god did not care for them1 they might be sure that ,god so longed to teach them1 that ,he called every child1 even from its cradle1 to come into ,his kingdom1 and be taught the whole mystery of godliness4 ,the next puzzle ,i mentioned was3 8,but this right life1 this mystery of godliness1 is it not something very strange and difficult1 and past the understanding of simple men who are not extraordinarily clever and learned scholars or deep philosophers80 ,to that ,st4 ,paul answers3 ,no4 ,it is not past any man4 ,it is not too deep or too difficult for the simplest1 the most unlearned countryman4 ,for1 says ,st4 ,paul in the text1 we ,apostles have had proof of that2 we have tried it2 we ,apostles preached the mystery of godliness1 and it was believed on in the world4 ,people of the world1 plain working men and women going about their worldly business1 who had no time to be great readers1 or great thinkers1 or to shut themselves up in monasteries to meditate on heavenly things1 but had to live and work in the commonplace1 busy1 workday world--they believed our message4 ,we ,apostles told them that the ,son of ,god had showed ,himself in the likeness of man1 and called on every man to repent1 and to be such a man as ,he was4 ,and worldly people believed us1 and tried1 and found that without giving up their worldly work1 or deserting the station in which ,god had put them1 they could live godlike lives1 and become the sons of ,god without rebuke4 ,they saw that scholarship was not wanted1 leisure was not wanted1 but only the humble heart which hungers and thirsts after righteousness4 ,about their daily work1 by their cottage firesides1 among their poor neighbours1 the ,spirit of ,almighty ,god gave them strength to live as ,jesus their pattern lived2 ,he filled them with all holy1 pure1 noble1 brave1 loving thoughts and feelings1 fit for angels and archangels4 ,he enabled them to rise out of their sins1 to trample their temptations under foot1 to leave their old low brutish sinful way of life behind them1 and become new men1 and persevere in every word1 and thought1 and action1 in virtues such as the greatest heathen sages could not copy2 ay1 even to shed their life-blood freely and boldly in martyrdom1 for the sake of ,god and the truth of ,god4 ,they1 these plain simple people1 living in the world1 could still live the life of ,god1 and die like heroes for the sake of ,god4 ,and this again brings us to the last puzzle of which ,i spoke3 8,but what became of those holy and godlike people when they died8 ,what reward did they receive for all they had done1 and given up1 and suffered8 ,what will become of us after we die8 ,what will the next world be like8 ,what is heaven like8 ,shall ,i be able to enjoy it8 ,shall ,i be a man there1 or only a ghost1 a spirit without a body80 ,to this ,st4 ,paul answers3 ,that ,christ1 the ,son of ,god1 after ,he was manifested in the flesh1 was received up into glory4 ,he does not tell us what heaven is like2 for though he had been caught up into the third heaven1 yet what he saw there1 he says1 was unspeakable4 ,he neither ought to tell1 or could tell1 what he saw4 ,neither does ,st4 ,paul tell us what the next life will be like2 for as far as we can find1 ,god had not told him4 ,all he says is3 ,the man ,christ ,jesus1 who walked this earth like other men1 was received up into glory2 and ,he did not leave ,his man's mind1 ,his man's heart1 even ,his man's body1 behind ,him4 ,he carried up into heaven with ,him ,his whole manhood1 spirit1 soul1 and body1 even to the print of the nails in ,his hands and in ,his most holy feet1 and the wound of the spear in ,his most holy side4 ,and that is enough for us4 ,because the man ,christ ,jesus is in heaven1 we as men may ascend to heaven4 ,where ,he is we shall be4 ,and what ,he is1 in as far as ,he is man1 we shall be4 ,what we shall be we know not2 but this we know1 that we shall be like ,him1 for we shall see ,him as ,he is4 ,and ,he is a man still2 for it is written3 8,there is one ,mediator between ,god and man1 the man ,christ ,jesus40 ,and ,he will be a man at the day of judgment2 for it is written that3 8,god hath ordained a day in which ,he will judge the world by a man whom ,he hath chosen40 ,and ,he will be a man for ever2 for it is written3 8,this man abideth for ever40 ,and ,he ,himself said to ,his disciples3 8,i will not drink of this fruit of the vine1 till ,i drink it new with you in the kingdom of my ,father40 ,and again ,he declared1 even when he was on earth1 that ,he was the ,son of ,man who is in heaven4 ,and in heaven nothing can grow less4 ,but if ,christ were not man for ever as well as ,god1 ,he would become less2 for ,he is now ,god and man also at once2 but if ,he laid down ,his manhood1 and so became not man any more1 but ,god only1 ,he would become less1 which is not to be believed of ,him of whom it is written3 ,that ,jesus ,christ is the same yesterday1 to-day1 and for ever4 ,for1 as the ,athanasian creed teaches us1 ,he is not ,god alone1 nor man alone1 but ,god and man is one ,christ2 and therefore1 when ,st4 ,john declares that ,christ shall reign for ever and ever1 he declares that ,he shall reign not only as ,god1 but as man also4 ,therefore whatever we do not know about the next life1 we know this1 that we shall be men there2 not sinful1 weak1 and mortal1 as we are here1 but holy1 strong1 immortal1 after the likeness of our ,lord1 the firstborn from the dead1 who has ascended up on high and raised our human nature to the heaven of heavens1 and is gone to prepare a place for us1 into which we too shall enter in that day when ,he shall change these mortal and fallen bodies which we now wear1 the bodies of our humiliation1 the bodies by wearing which we are now a little lower than the angels2 them the ,lord will change1 that they may be made like unto ,his glorious body1 according to the mighty working whereby ,he subdueth all things unto ,himself1 that we may see ,him face to face1 and dwell with ,him in the glory of ,god the ,father for ever4 ,oh my friends1 who is sufficient for these things8 ,what shall we say of man8 ,is he not indeed fearfully and wonderfully made8 ,here we are1 weak creatures1 more liable to disease and death than the dumb beasts round us2 full of poverty1 and adversity1 and longings which are never satisfied2 our minds full of mistakes1 our hearts full of false conceit1 full of spite and folly1 struggles1 murmurings1 quarrellings2 our consciences full of the remembrance of sins without number4 ,the greatest of all heathen poets said1 that there was not a more miserable and pitiable animal upon the earth than man4 ,he knew no better4 ,he could not know better4 ,how could he1 when ,god had not yet been manifest in the flesh8 ,how could he dream that the ,lord ,god would condescend to be made flesh1 and dwell among us1 and show man ,his glory1 the glory of the only-begotten of the ,father1 full of grace and truth--how could he dream that8 ,and more than all1 how could he dream that ,god1 instead of throwing away our human nature when ,he rose again1 as if it was too great a degradation for ,him to be a man one moment more1 should condescend to take up ,his human nature1 ,his man's body1 soul1 and spirit1 with ,him into everlasting glory1 that ,he might feed with it for ever the bodies and souls of those who trust in ,him1 so as to make them fit for us at the last day1 to share in ,his everlasting life8 ,the old heathen poet knew as well as you or ,i that there was an everlasting life beyond the grave2 that men's souls were immortal1 and could not die3 but the thought of it was all dark1 and dreary1 and uncertain to him and to all mankind1 till the ,son of ,god brought life and immortality to light1 when ,he was manifest in the flesh4 ,wonderful mystery of godliness6 ,wonderful love of ,god to man6 ,wonderful condescension of ,god to man6 ,still more wonderful patience of ,god to man6 ,oh you who live still in sin1 when the ,son of ,god died and rose again to make you righteous2 you who defile your bodies with sins worse than the brutes1 when the ,son of ,god offers to raise those bodies of yours to be equal with the angels2 how shall you escape if you neglect so great salvation2 if you despise this unspeakable love2 if you trample under foot1 like swine1 the everlasting glory and happiness which ,god offers you freely1 without fee or price1 for the sake of ,his only-begotten ,son1 ,jesus ,christ1 who died to buy them for you8 ,,xliv4 ,,the ,,work ,,of ,,god',s ,,spirit4 ,if ,i go not away1 the comforter will not come unto you2 but if ,i depart1 ,i will send ,him unto you4 ,and when ,he is come1 ,he will reprove the world of sin1 and of righteousness1 and of judgment3 of sin1 because they believe not on me3 of righteousness1 because ,i go to my ,father1 and ye see me no more3 of judgment1 because the prince of this world is judged4--,,john xvi4 #g-aa4 ,i ,,do not pretend to be able to explain to you the whole meaning of this text1 or even more than a very small part of it4 ,for it speaks of ,god2 of ,god the ,holy ,spirit4 ,and ,god is boundless2 and1 therefore1 every text which speaks of ,god is boundless too1 as ,god is4 ,no man can ever see the whole meaning of it1 or do more than understand dimly a little of its truth4 ,but what we can see1 we must think over and make use of4 ,what can we see1 now1 from this text8 ,first1 we may see that the ,holy ,spirit1 the ,holy ,ghost1 the ,comforter1 is a person4 ,not a mere thing1 or a state of our own hearts1 or a feeling in us1 or a power1 like the powers and laws by which the trees and plants grow1 and the sun and moon move in their courses2 but a person1 just as each of us is a person4 ,he1 the ,holy ,spirit1 gives life to trees and plants1 sun and moon3 but ,he is not their life4 ,he gives them their life2 and1 therefore1 that life of theirs is not ,he1 or ,he could not give it2 for you can only give something which is not you4 ,the ,scripture speaks of the ,holy ,spirit1 not as it1 but as ,he2 as a person1 and not as a thing2 as a person who can speak to men's souls1 guide and teach them4 8,when ,he1 the ,spirit of truth1 is come1 ,he will guide you into all truth2 for ,he shall not speak of ,himself40 ,but we may see also that the ,holy ,spirit is neither ,god the ,father1 nor the ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,for the ,lord speaks of ,him1 the ,holy ,spirit1 as a different person either from ,him or from the ,father4 8,the ,spirit10 ,he says1 8shall glorify me2 for ,he shall receive of mine1 and shall show it unto you40 ,but we may see also that there is no difference in will1 or opinion1 or love1 between the ,holy ,spirit and the ,father and the ,son4 ,for the ,spirit does not speak of ,himself2 there is no self-will in ,him4 ,there is not one will of the ,father1 and another of the ,son1 and another of the ,holy ,ghost2 or1 one love of the ,father1 another love of the ,son1 and another of the ,holy ,ghost2 or1 one righteousness of the ,father1 another of the ,son1 another of the ,holy ,ghost3 or1 one mercy and grace of the ,father1 another of the ,son1 another of the ,holy ,ghost4 ,for then there would be three ,gods and three ,lords2 and the substance of ,god would be divided4 ,but they have all one will1 and one love1 and one righteousness1 and one mercy4 ,and such as the ,father is1 such is the ,son1 and such is the ,holy ,ghost4 ,and remember always1 that the ,holy ,spirit is very and indeed ,god4 ,for ,he is the ,spirit of holiness itself1 of righteousness itself1 of goodness itself1 of love itself1 of truth itself2 and1 therefore1 ,he is the ,spirit of ,god1 who is the perfect holiness1 and righteousness1 and truth1 and love4 ,all other holiness1 and righteousness1 and truth1 and love1 are only pictures and patterns of ,god1 just as the sun's reflection in water1 or in a glass1 is a picture and pattern of the sun4 ,as the ,epistle for to-day tells us3 8,every good gift and every perfect is from above1 and cometh down from the ,father of lights40 ,but the ,spirit of ,god must be ,god4 ,for else what do the words mean8 ,is not the spirit of a man1 a man8 ,is not your spirit1 what you call your soul1 you8 ,is not your soul you1 just as much as your body is you2 ay1 a hundred times more8 ,just so1 the ,spirit of ,god is ,god1 ,god ,himself2 and the ,godhead of the ,father1 of the ,son1 of the ,holy ,ghost1 is all one1 the glory equal1 the majesty co-eternal4 ,this1 then1 is the glorious promise made to you1 and to me1 and to all who believe and are baptized into the name of the ,father1 the ,son1 and the ,holy ,spirit2 that that ,spirit will come to us1 and take charge of our spirits1 and work in them1 and teach them4 ,we cannot see ,him with our eyes1 or hear ,him with our ears2 we cannot even feel ,him at work in our hearts and thoughts4 ,for ,he is a ,spirit2 and ,his likeness1 the thing in this world which is a pattern of ,him1 is the wind2 as indeed the name ,spirit means4 ,you cannot see the wind1 you cannot even really feel the wind or hear it3 you only know it by its effects1 by what it does3 by the noise among the branches1 the force against your faces1 the bending boughs1 and flying dust4 ,the ,spirit bloweth where it listeth1 and thou hearest the sound thereof1 but canst not tell whence it cometh1 or whither it goeth2 even so is every one who is born of the ,spirit4 ,on him the ,spirit of ,god will work unseen1 and unfelt1 only to be discovered by the change which ,he makes in the man's heart and thoughts2 and first by the way in which ,he convinces him of sin1 because men believe not on ,jesus ,christ4 ,the ,holy ,spirit shows men that the sins of the world1 the sin of all sins1 the sin which is the root of all other sins1 is not believing on the ,lord ,jesus ,christ2 that it was because they would not believe on the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 that they had been falling into every other sort of sin4 ,but you may say3 8,how could they believe on ,him before ,he came1 and was born in ,juda of the ,virgin ,mary8 ,how could they believe on ,him when ,he was not there80 ,ah6 my friends1 who told you that the ,lord ,jesus ,christ was not there in the world all along8 ,not the ,bible1 certainly4 ,for the ,bible tells us that ,he is the ,light who lights every man who cometh into the world2 that from ,him came1 and have come1 all the right thoughts and feelings which ever arose in the heart of every human being4 ,the ,bible tells us that when ,god created the world1 ,he was daily rejoicing in the habitable parts of the earth1 and ,his delights were with the sons of men4 ,the ,bible tells us that ,he was in the world1 and the world knew ,him not2 that all along1 through the dark times of heathendom1 the ,lord ,jesus ,christ was a light shining in darkness1 which the darkness could not close round1 and hide and quench4 ,not merely to the ,jews1 but to all heathens who hungered and thirsted after righteousness1 did the ,lord ,jesus show something of ,his truth2 as it is written1 ,god is no acceptor of persons2 that is1 no shower of partiality1 or unjust favour3 but in every nation1 he that feareth ,god and worketh righteousness is accepted of ,him4 ,but at the time that the ,lord ,jesus sent down ,his ,holy ,spirit1 men were not working righteousness4 ,there was not one who did good1 no not one4 ,for men had forgotten what righteousness was like1 what a righteous man ought to do and be4 ,men are ready to forget it every day4 ,you and ,i are ready to forget it1 and invent some false righteousness of our own1 not like ,jesus ,christ1 but like what we in our private fancies think is most graceful1 or most agreeable1 or most easy2 or most grand1 and far-fetched1 and difficult4 ,but the ,holy ,spirit came to convince men of righteousness2 to show them what true righteousness was like4 ,and how8 ,in the same way that ,he must convince us of righteousness1 if we are ever to know what righteousness is1 or are ever to be righteous ourselves4 ,he must show us goodness2 or we shall never see it1 or receive it1 or copy it4 ,and where is this righteousness1 this perfect goodness of which the ,holy ,spirit will convince us8 ,where1 but in the ,lord ,jesus ,christ8 ,in the ,lord ,jesus's character1 the ,lord ,jesus's good works2 ,his love1 ,his patience1 ,his perfect obedience1 ,his life1 ,his death4 ,the ,holy ,spirit1 if we give up our hearts to be taught by ,him1 will make us believe1 and be sure1 and feel in our very inmost hearts1 how noble1 how beautiful1 how holy1 how perfectly ,godlike1 was ,he who was born of a poor virgin1 who walked this earth for thirty-three years in toil and sorrow1 who gave ,his back to the smiters1 and ,his cheeks to them that plucked off the hair1 and hid not ,his face from shame and spitting1 who died upon a cross between two thieves4 ,and the ,holy ,spirit will convince us of righteousness1 by making us feel what the ,lord ,jesus's righteousness consisted in2 what was the root of all ,his goodness and holiness1 namely ,his perfect obedience to ,his ,father and our ,father in heaven4 ,that is the righteousness1 which is not our own1 but ,god's2 the righteousness which comes by faith2 not to trust in ourselves1 but in ,god2 not to please ourselves1 but ,god2 not to do our own will1 but ,god's will4 ,that is the righteousness of ,jesus ,christ1 which ,god set ,his seal on and approved1 when ,he exalted ,him far above all principality and powers1 and set ,him at ,his own right hand for a sign to all men1 and angels1 and archangels2 that righteousness means to trust and to obey ,god even to the death4 #c4 ,of judgment1 because the prince of this world is judged4 ,this may seem a puzzling speech at first4 ,we shall understand it best1 ,i think1 by considering who the prince of this world was in our ,lord's time1 and what he was like4 ,a little before our ,lord's time the ,roman emperor had conquered almost the whole world which was then known1 and kept all nations in slavery1 careless about their doing right1 provided they obeyed him and paid him tribute2 nay1 forcing them and tempting them into all brutal and foul sin and ignorance1 that he might keep up his own power over man4 ,but now the ,lord of all the earth1 and the ,prince of men's hearts and thoughts1 was come to visit that poor enslaved and sinful world4 ,he came2 the princes of this world knew ,him not1 and crucified the ,lord of ,glory4 ,they crucified the righteous and the just ,one2 and so they were judged4 ,they judged themselves2 they condemned themselves4 ,for they showed that what they admired and what they wanted was not righteousness and love1 but wealth and power4 ,they showed that no doing of good1 no healing of the sick1 or giving of sight to the blind1 or preaching the gospel to the poor1 no holiness1 no love1 not the perfect likeness of ,god's own goodness1 which shone forth in the spotless ,jesus1 was anything to them2 was any reason why they should not put ,him to death with the most cruel torments1 because they were afraid of ,his taking away their power4 ,he said ,he was a ,king2 and therefore they crucified ,him1 lest ,his kingdom should interfere with theirs2 and for the same reason these same ,roman emperors and their magistrates1 for hundreds of years afterwards1 persecuted the ,christians1 and hunted them down like wild beasts1 and put them to death by all horrible tortures1 for the same reason that ,cain slew ,abel2 became his brother's deeds were righteous1 and his own wicked4 ,so these ,roman emperors1 and their magistrates and generals were judged4 ,they had shown what was in their evil hearts4 ,they had been tried in ,god's balances1 and found wanting4 ,the sentence of the ,lord ,god had gone forth against them4 ,the man ,christ ,jesus1 whom they rejected1 ,god accepted1 and raised to ,his own right hand4 ,they crucified ,him2 but ,god gave ,him all power in heaven and earth3 and the ,lord ,jesus used ,his power2 yea1 and uses it still4 ,he gave ,his saints and martyrs strength to defy those ,roman tyrants1 and to witness to all the earth that the righteous ,son of ,god was the ,king of heaven and earth1 and that the princes of this world1 who wished to break ,his yoke off their necks1 and crush all nations to powder for their own pleasure1 and fatten themselves upon the plunder of all the earth1 would surely come to naught1 as it is written in the second ,psalm3 8,the kings of the earth set themselves1 and the rulers take counsel together1 against the ,lord and ,his ,anointed4 ,yet have ,i set my ,king upon my holy hill of ,zion4 ,thou shalt break them with a rod of iron3 thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel40 ,and they did come to naught4 ,that great ,roman empire rotted away miserably after years of such distress as had never been seen on the earth before2 and the emperors came1 one after another1 to shameful or dreadful deaths4 ,and all the while the gospel spread1 and the ,church grew1 till all the kingdoms of the ,roman empire had become the kingdoms of ,god and of ,his ,christ1 by the power of the ,holy ,spirit working in men's hearts1 and showing them1 as our ,lord said ,he would1 that ,jesus of ,nazareth was both ,lord and ,king4 ,and so was fulfilled the ,lord's words in the gospel for to-day3 8,the ,holy ,spirit shall glorify me1 for ,he shall receive of mine1 and shall show it unto you4 ,all things that the ,father hath are mine2 therefore said ,i that ,he should take of mine1 and show it unto you40 ,oh my friends1 pray for yourselves1 and join me while ,i pray for you1 that the holy and righteous ,spirit of ,god may convince you1 and me1 and all mankind1 more and more1 day by day1 of sin1 of righteousness1 and of judgment4 ,pray to that ,holy ,spirit to convince you of sin day by day1 whensoever you do the least wrong thing4 ,pray to ,him to keep your consciences tender and quick1 that you may feel instantly1 and lament deeply1 every wrong thing you do4 ,pray to ,him to give you1 every time you do wrong1 that godly sorrow which brings peace and health1 that heart-repentance never to be repented of4 ,pray to ,him to convince you more and more1 as you grow older1 that all sin comes from not believing in ,jesus ,christ1 not believing that ,he is near you1 with you1 in you1 putting into your hearts all right thoughts and good desires1 and willing1 if you will1 to help you to put those thoughts and desires into good practice4 ,pray to the ,holy ,spirit to convince you more and more of righteousness2 to make you see what righteousness is2 that it is the very character and likeness of ,god the ,father1 because it is the character and likeness of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 who was the brightness of the ,father's glory1 and the express image of ,his person4 ,pray to ,him to make you see the beauty of holiness3 how fair1 and noble1 and glorious a thing goodness is2 how truly ,solomon says3 8that all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it40 ,pray to the ,holy ,spirit to convince you more and more of judgment1 and to make you sure that the ,lord is ,king1 a righteous ,judge1 of purer eyes than to behold iniquity1 whose fan is in ,his hand1 who thoroughly purges ,his floor1 who comes quickly1 and ,his reward is with ,him1 and who surely casts out of ,his kingdom1 sooner or later1 all things that offend1 and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie4 ,pray to ,him to make you sure by faith1 though you cannot see it1 that the prince of this world is judged2 that evil doing1 oppression1 tyranny1 injustice1 cheating1 neglect of man by man1 cannot and will not prosper upon the face of ,god's earth2 for the everlasting sentence and wrath of ,god is revealed forth every moment against all unrighteousness of men1 which ,he will surely punish1 yea1 and does hourly punish by ,him by whom ,he judges the world1 ,jesus ,christ1 the ,lord1 who is exalted high above all principalities and powers1 and has all power given to ,him in heaven and earth1 which ,he uses1 as ,he used it in ,juda of old1 utterly and always for the good of all mankind1 whom ,he hath redeemed with ,his most precious blood4 ,,xlv4 ,,the ,,gospel4 ,moreover1 brethren1 ,i declare unto you the gospel which ,i preached unto you1 which also ye have received1 and wherein ye stand2 by which also ye are saved1 if ye keep in memory what ,i preached unto you1 unless ye have believed in vain3 for ,i delivered unto you first of all that which ,i also received1 how that ,christ died for our sins according to the scriptures2 and that ,he was buried1 and that ,he rose again the third day according to the scriptures4--#a ,,corinthians xv4 #a-d4 ,,this is ,st4 ,paul's account of the gospel2 the good news which he preached to the sinful and profligate ,corinthians1 when they were sunk lower than the beasts which perish4 ,and because they believed this good news1 he said1 they were saved then and there1 and would be safe only as long as they believed that good news1 and kept it in their memories4 ,now1 from what did this good news save them8 ,from their sins4 ,there was something in ,st4 ,paul's good news which made them hate their sins1 and repent of them1 and throw them away1 and rise up to be new men and women1 living new lives in godliness and purity and justice1 such as they had never lived before4 ,now mind1 it was not bad news which made the ,corinthians repent of their sins2 it was good news4 ,it was not that ,st4 ,paul told them that ,god was going to cast them into endless torment for their sins1 and that therefore they were terrified and afraid1 and so repented4 ,doubtless ,st4 ,paul told them1 as he told other heathens1 that the wrath of ,god was revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness2 that tribulation and anguish was laid up in store for every soul of man who worketh evil4 ,but still1 ,st4 ,paul says plainly here1 that what saved the ,corinthians was not that or any other fearful and terrifying news1 but a gospel--good news4 ,and he says that this good news did not merely1 as some would wish it to do1 make them comfortable in their minds while they went on in their old wicked ways4 ,no4 ,he says that it made them stand4 ,that is1 made them upright1 strong-minded1 righteous1 self-restraining people2 and that they were saved by it from those sins which had been dragging them down1 and keeping them diseased in soul1 weak1 miserable1 the slaves of their own passions and foul pleasures4 ,what wonderful good news was this1 then1 which could work so strange a change in these poor heathens1 and how could it change them8 ,let us see1 first1 what it was4 8,that ,christ died for our sins1 according to the scriptures1 and that ,he was buried1 and that ,he rose again the third day according to the scriptures2 and that ,he was seen of ,peter1 then of the twelve2 after that ,he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once2 of whom the greater part remained unto this day1 but some are fallen asleep4 ,after that ,he was seen of ,james1 then of all the ,apostles4 ,and last of all ,he was seen of me also1 as of one born out of due time40 ,you see here1 that ,st4 ,paul1 for some good reason1 says much more about the ,lord's rising again than even about ,his most precious death and passion on the cross1 while about ,his ascending into heaven he says nothing4 ,and you will find in the ,new ,testament that the ,apostles often did the same4 ,they spoke of the ,lord rising again as if that was the great wonder1 the great glory1 the great good news2 and as if ,his most precious death was not perfect without that4 ,they said that the especial office for which the ,lord had ordained them1 was to be witnesses of ,his resurrection4 ,they said that the ,lord rose again for our justification4 ,they said3 8,if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the ,lord ,jesus1 and shalt believe in thy heart that ,god has raised ,him from the dead1 thou shalt be saved40 ,here again1 just as in the text1 believing in the ,lord's resurrection is made the great article of faith4 ,why is this8 ,because that last verse which ,i quoted may tell us1 if we consider it carefully4 ,what does confessing the ,lord ,jesus with our mouth mean8 ,it means what we ought to mean when we say1 in the ,apostles' ,creed1 ,i believe in ,jesus ,christ1 ,his only ,son1 our ,lord4 ,not merely1 ,i believe that there is an only ,son of ,god3 but ,i believe in a certain man1 with a certain character1 who is that only ,son of ,god4 ,and what1 you will ask1 does that mean8 ,to know that1 ,i fear1 we must go back many many hundred years1 to the times when the old martyrs confessed the ,lord ,jesus ,christ before the heathen4 ,those were times in which it was not enough to say the ,apostles' ,creed in church4 ,men1 ay1 and tender women1 and little children1 had to stand by it through terror and shame1 and to die in torments unspeakable1 because they chose to say3 8,i believe in ,jesus ,christ1 our ,lord40 ,now1 what was it which made the heathen hate and persecute and torture1 and murder them for saying that8 ,what was there in those plain words of the ,apostles' ,creed which made the great heathen emperors of ,rome1 and their officers and judges hunt the ,christians down like wild beasts for #cjj years1 and declare that they were not fit to live8 ,i will tell you4 ,when the ,christians were brought before the emperor's judges for being ,christians1 they did not merely say3 8,i believe that ,jesus ,christ's blood will save my soul after death40 ,they said that3 but they said a great deal more than that4 ,if that had been all that the ,christians said1 the judge would have answered3 8,what care ,i for your souls1 or for your notions about what will happen to them when you are dead8 ,go your way4 ,you may be of what religion you like1 and talk and think about your own souls as much as you like1 provided you do not trouble the ,roman emperor's power40 ,but the heathen judge did not make that answer2 because he knew well enough that what the ,christians believed was not a mere religion about what would happen to their souls after death2 but something which1 if it gained ground1 would utterly destroy the ,roman emperor's power4 ,he used generally to say to the ,christians only this3 8,will you burn those few grains of incense in honour of the emperor of ,rome80 ,and he knew1 and the ,christians knew well enough1 that those words meant3 8,will you confess with your mouth the emperor of ,rome8 ,will you confess that he is the only lord and king of this whole earth1 and of your bodies and souls1 and that there is no power or authority but of him1 for the gods have delivered all things into his hands80 ,and then came out what confessing the ,lord ,jesus really means4 ,for the ,christians used to answer3 8,no4 ,the emperor of ,rome is the lord and master of our bodies1 and we will obey his laws so far as we can without doing wrong3 but we cannot obey them when they are contrary to the laws of our ,lord and ,master ,jesus ,christ4 ,for the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 who was crucified and rose again the third day1 ,he1 and not the emperor of ,rome at all1 is the ,lord and ,king of the whole earth1 and of our bodies and souls2 and we must obey ,him before we obey anyone else4 ,power and authority come not from the emperor of ,rome1 but from the ,lord ,jesus ,christ2 and the emperor is only ,his servant and steward1 and must obey ,him just as much as we1 or the ,lord will punish him as surely and easily as ,he will the meanest slave4 ,for ,god has delivered all things1 and the emperor of ,rome among the rest1 into the hand of ,his ,son ,jesus ,christ1 who sits a ,king over all1 ,god blessed for ever40 ,that was confessing ,christ4 ,and to that the heathen judges used to make but one answer--for there was but one to make4 ,those heathen judges' guilty consciences1 as well as their worldly cunning1 told them plainly enough exactly what ,st4 ,paul told the ,christians2 that those ,christians1 by confessing ,christ1 were not fighting against flesh and blood1 and setting up their selfish interests against other people's selfish interests3 but that the battle they were fighting was a much deeper and more terrible one2 that by saying that ,one who had walked the earth as a poor man1 and yet a perfectly righteous and loving man1 doing nothing but good1 and sacrificing ,himself utterly for poor fallen creatures1 they were fighting against the whole state of things all over the world2 against the government1 and principles1 and religion of that whole unjust and tyrannical ,roman empire1 and all its rulers1 and generals1 and judges2 against principalities1 against powers1 against the world-rulers of the darkness of those times2 against spiritual wickedness in heavenly things4 ,for if ,jesus ,christ's life was the right life1 those rulers must be utterly wrong2 for it was exactly opposite to ,his4 ,if ,jesus ,christ was really the ,governor of the earth1 there was no hope for them2 for their way of governing was exactly opposite to ,his4 ,so as ,i say1 they made but one answer2 because there was but one to make3 8,you say that ,jesus ,christ is ,king of kings and ,lord of lords4 ,i say the emperor of ,rome is4 ,you say you must obey ,christ first1 and the emperor of ,rome afterwards4 ,i say that you must obey the emperor first1 and ,christ afterwards4 ,at all events1 if you do not1 you have no right on this earth of the emperor's2 either the emperor's power must fall1 or your notion about ,jesus ,christ's power must4 ,and we will see whether your heavenly ,king of whom you talk can deliver you out of the emperor's hand40 ,and then came the scourge1 and the red-hot iron1 and the wild beasts1 and the cross1 and all devilish tortures which man's evil will could invent1 brought to bear without shame or mercy upon aged men1 and tender girls1 and even little children1 just to make them say that the earth belonged to the emperor1 and not to ,jesus ,christ4 ,those who died bravely under those tortures without denying ,christ were called martyrs1 which means witnesses--people who bore witness before ,god and man that ,jesus ,christ was ,king and ,lord4 ,those who did not die under the tortures1 but escaped after all1 were called confessors--people who had confessed with their mouths that ,jesus ,christ was ,king and ,lord1 in spite of their terror and agony4 4 4 4 ,that was what confessing ,jesus ,christ meant in the old times4 ,and that was what it ought to mean now1 even though there is no persecution or torture for ,christians in these happier times4 ,and now1 we may see perhaps why ,st4 ,paul spoke so much of our ,lord's rising again as the most important part of the gospel4 ,because he wanted ,christians to believe1 not merely in a ,christ who once died1 but in ,him who died and is alive for evermore2 in a ,christ who rose again1 body1 soul1 and spirit1 and sat at ,god's right hand1 praying for poor creatures when they were tempted1 and persecuted1 and tormented for righteousness' sake4 ,st4 ,paul knew well that such fearful times as those of which ,i have been speaking were coming on the people to whom he wrote4 ,and he knew equally well that the only thought which could save them1 when the heathen judges commanded them to deny the ,lord ,jesus1 was the thought that ,he was really risen4 ,the only thought which could make them bold enough to face all the horrors of death1 was the thought that the ,lord ,jesus had not merely tasted death1 but conquered it1 and risen again from it4 ,and therefore it is that ,st4 ,paul speaks so often of ,christ's resurrection1 and that in the text he takes so much pains to prove that ,christ had really risen1 by telling them how many persons1 well known to him who wrote to them1 had seen the ,lord ,jesus ,christ after ,he rose1 and talked with ,him1 and were sure that ,he was the very same person still1 with the same countenance1 and body1 and soul1 and spirit1 as ,he had when ,he was nailed to the cross1 and laid in the sepulchre4 ,what a thought for a poor creature in the last agony of fear and shame1 expecting presently to be torn in pieces1 or burnt alive3 8,death1 this horrible death1 cannot conquer me1 weak and fearful as ,i am2 for my ,lord and ,master1 for whom ,i am going to suffer1 has conquered death1 and ,he will not let it conquer me4 ,he is stronger than death and hell1 and ,he will not suffer me at my last hour for any pains of death to fall from ,him4 ,he is ,king of heaven and earth1 and ,he will take care of ,his own60 ,what a comfortable thought to be able to say3 8,ay1 ,i am torn from wife and child1 and all which ,i love on earth4 ,but not for ever1 not for ever4 ,for ,christ rose from the dead4 ,and ,i who belong to ,christ1 shall rise as ,he did4 ,this poor flesh of mine may be burnt in flames1 devoured by ravenous beasts4 ,what matter8 ,christ the ,king of men1 has risen from the dead1 and become the first-fruits of them that slept4 ,that same ,spirit of ,his1 which brought back ,his body from the grave and hell1 will bring our bodies also from the grave and hell1 to a nobler1 happier life with ,him in glory unspeakable4 ,christ is risen1 and ,i shall rise with ,him at the last day4 ,christ sits at ,god's right hand1 watching me1 pitying me1 and blessing me1 holding out to me a crown of glory which shall never fade away60 ,that was the thought which gave ,stephen courage to confess the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 amid to die in peace and the murderous blows of the ,jews4 ,for by faith he saw1 as he said1 the heavens opened1 and ,jesus sitting at the right hand of ,god4 ,he knew that his ,lord was risen1 and that ,he would hear his dying cry3 8,lord ,jesus1 receive my spirit40 ,and so with us1 my friends2 we have no martyrdom to go through1 thank ,god2 but it is just as true of us as it was of the blessed martyrs and confessors1 that there is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved but the name of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,saved2 not only from hell1 but from sin1 from giving way to temptation1 from denying ,christ4 ,oh1 pray for faith4 ,pray for faith4 ,pray to be able really to confess with your mouth the ,lord ,jesus4 ,pray to believe with your hearts that ,god has raised ,him from the dead4 ,then when you are tempted to do wrong1 you1 like ,stephen1 will see1 not with your bodily eyes1 but by faith1 the ,lord ,jesus sitting at ,god's right hand1 and be able to say to ,him3 8,lord ,jesus1 who hast conquered all temptation1 help me to conquer this4 ,thine eye is on me2 how can ,i do this great wickedness and sin against ,thee80 ,when you are in terror1 and trouble1 and affliction1 and know not where to turn1 that same blessed thought--8,christ is risen from the dead0--will be a shield and a strength to you which no other thought can give4 8,my ,lord is risen2 ,he is here still--a man1 with ,his man's body1 and ,his man's spirit--,his man's love and tenderness2 ,he has taken them all up to heaven with ,him4 ,he is a man still1 though ,he is very ,god of very ,god4 ,he rose from the dead as a man1 and therefore ,he can understand me1 and feel for me still1 now1 here in ,england in this very year1 #aheb1 just as much as ,he could when ,he was walking upon earth in ,juda of old40 ,ay1 and in the black jaws of death1 when this world is vanishing from our eyes1 and we are going we know not whither1 leaving behind us all we know1 and love1 and understand2 then that thought of all thoughts--8,christ is risen from the dead0--is the only one which will save us from dark sad thoughts1 from fear and despair1 or from stupid carelessness1 and the death of a brute beast1 such as too many die4 8,christ is risen and ,i shall rise4 ,christ has conquered death for ,himself1 and ,he will conquer it for me4 ,christ took ,his man's body and soul with ,him from the tomb to ,god's right hand1 and ,he will raise my man's body and soul at the last day1 that ,i may be with ,him for ever1 and see ,him where ,he is40 ,in life and in death this is the only thing which shall save us from sin1 from terror1 and from the dread of death2 the same good news which ,st4 ,paul preached to the ,corinthians2 the same good news which made ,st4 ,stephen1 and the martyrs and confessors of old brave to endure all misery for the sake of the good and blessed news1 that ,god had raised ,his ,son ,jesus from the dead4 ,,xlvi4 ,,god',s ,,way ,,with ,,man4 ,and ye shall know that ,i am the ,lord1 when ,i have wrought with you for my name's sake1 not according to your wicked ways1 nor according to your corrupt doings1 ,o ye house of ,israel1 saith the ,lord ,god4--,,ezekiel xx4 #dd4 ,,in this chapter the prophet ,ezekiel argues with his sinful and rebellious countrymen1 and puts them in mind of all that ,god has done for them and with them1 from the time when ,he brought them out of ,egypt to that day4 ,and now comes the old question1 ,what has this to do with us6 ,st4 ,paul tells us that all things which happened to the old ,jews happened for our example4 ,what example can we learn from this chapter8 ,this1 ,i think1 we may learn3 ,is not the way in which ,god taught these ,jews the same way in which ,he teaches many a man--perhaps every man8 ,which of us1 when we were young1 has not had his teaching from ,god8 ,the old ,catechism which our mothers taught us1 was not that a word from ,god ,himself to us8 ,the voice of conscience1 which made us happy when we had done right1 and uneasy and ashamed when we had gone wrong2 was not that a word from ,god to us8 ,yes1 my friends1 those child's feelings of ours about right and wrong1 were none other than the voice of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 the ,word of ,god1 the ,light which lightens every man who comes into the world4 ,i tell you1 every right thought and wish1 every longing to be better than you were1 which ever came into any one of your hearts1 came from ,him1 the ,lord ,jesus4 ,it was ,his word1 ,his voice1 ,his ,spirit1 speaking to your spirit1 just as really as ,he spoke to ,his prophet ,ezekiel1 of whom we have been reading4 ,think of that4 ,recollect1 never1 never forget1 that all your good thoughts and feelings are not your own1 not your own at all1 but the ,lord's2 that without ,his light your hearts are nothing but darkness1 blind ignorance1 and blind selfishness1 and blind passions and lusts2 that it is ,he1 he ,himself1 who has been fighting against the darkness in you all your life long4 ,oh think1 then1 what your sin has been in putting aside those good thoughts and longings6 ,you were turning your back1 you were shutting your doors to the ,lord ,god ,himself1 very ,god of very ,god begotten1 by whom all things were made4 ,the ,creator came to visit ,his creature1 and ,his creature shut ,him out4 ,the ,almighty ,god pleaded with mortal man1 and mortal man bade ,god go1 and come back at a more convenient season6 ,a voice in your heart seemed to say3 8,oh1 if ,i could but be a better man6 ,how ,i wish that ,i could but give up these bad habits1 and mend6 ,i hate and despise myself for being so bad40 ,and then you fancied that that voice was your own voice1 that those good thoughts were your own thoughts4 ,if you had really known whose they were2 if you had really known1 as the ,bible tells you1 that they were the ,word of the ,lord1 the only-begotten ,son of the ,father1 speaking to your heart1 ,i hardly think that you would have been so ready to say yourself3 8,well1 then1 ,i will mend2 but not just now3 some day or other2 somehow or other1 ,i hope1 ,i shall be a better man4 ,it will be time enough to make my peace with ,god when ,i am growing old40 ,you would not have dared to thrust away the good thoughts1 and keep them waiting1 while you took your pleasure in a few more years' sin2 if you had guessed whom you were thrusting away2 if you had guessed whom you were keeping waiting4 ,and1 my good friends1 has not ,god been saying to us many a time from our youth up1 as ,he did to the ,jews of old3 8,do not walk in the statutes of your fathers1 nor defile yourselves with their idols80 ,do you ask me how8 ,why1 thus4 ,have you never said to yourself3 8,how ill my father prospered1 because he would do wrong60 ,or1 again3 8,see how evil doing brings its own punishment4 ,there is so and so growing rich1 by his cheating and his covetousness1 and yet1 for all his money1 ,i would not change places with him4 ,god forbid that ,i should have on my mind what he has on his mind60 ,why should ,i make a long story of so simple a matter8 ,which of us has not felt at times that thought8 ,how much misery has come in this very parish from the ill-doing of the generation who are gone to their account1 and from the ill-training which they gave their children8 ,and what was that but the ,word of the ,lord ,himself speaking to our hearts1 and saying to us3 8,do not defile yourselves with their idols2 do not hurt your souls by hunting after the things which they loved better than they loved ,me3 money1 pleasure1 drink1 fighting1 smuggling1 poaching1 wantonness1 and lust2 ,i am the ,lord your ,god80 ,and yet1 young people will not listen to that warning voice of ,god4 ,they see other people1 even their own fathers and mothers1 punished for their sins2 perhaps made poor by their sins1 perhaps made unhealthy by their sins1 perhaps made miserable and ill-tempered by their sins3 and yet they go and fall into1 or rather walk open-eyed into1 the very same sins which made their parents wretched4 ,oh1 how many a young person sees their home made a complete hell on earth by ungodliness1 and the ill-temper and selfishness which come from ungodliness2 and1 then1 as soon as they have a home of their own1 set to work to make their own family as miserable as their father's was before them4 ,but people say often3 8,how could we help it8 ,we had no chance2 we were brought up in bad ways2 we had a bad example set us2 how can you expect us to be better than our fathers and mothers1 and our elder brothers and sisters8 ,if we had had a fair chance1 we might have been different3 but we had none2 and we could not help going the bad way1 for we were set in it the day we were born40 ,well1 my dear friends1 ,god shall judge you1 not ,i4 ,if little is given to a man little is required of him4 ,but not nothing at all2 because more than nothing was given him4 ,a little is given to every man2 and1 therefore1 a little is required of every man4 ,and so1 he who knew not his ,master's will shall be beaten with few stripes4 ,but he will be beaten with some stripes1 because he ought to have known something1 at least of his ,master's will4 ,if you were dumb animals1 which can only follow their own lusts and passions1 and must be what nature has made them1 then your excuse would be good enough2 but your excuse is not good now1 just because you are men and women1 and not dumb beasts1 and1 therefore1 can rise above your natures1 and conquer your lusts and passions1 as they cannot1 and can do what you do not like1 because1 though you dislike it1 you know that it is right4 ,and1 therefore1 ,god does not take that excuse which sinners make1 that they have had no teaching4 ,but what does he do to them8 ,suppose1 now1 that you had a dog which would not be taught1 or broken in1 or cured of biting1 or made useful1 or bearable in any way1 what would you do to that dog8 ,i suppose that you would kill it2 you would say3 8,it is an ill-conditioned animal1 and there is no making it any better2 so the only thing is to put it out of the way1 and not let it eat food which might be better spent40 ,now1 does ,god deal so with sinners8 ,when young people rush headlong into sin1 and become a nuisance to themselves and their neighbours1 does ,god kill them at once1 that better men may step into their place8 ,no4 ,and why8 ,just because they are not dumb animals1 which cannot be made better1 but ,god's children1 who can be made better4 ,if there were really no hope of a sinner repenting and amending1 ,i think ,god would not leave him long alive to cumber the ground4 ,but there is hope for every one2 because ,god the ,father loves all2 the loving heart of the ,lord ,jesus ,christ yearns after all2 the ,holy ,spirit1 which proceeds from the ,father and the ,son1 strives with the hearts of all2 therefore ,god1 in ,his patience and tender mercy1 tries to bring his foolish children to their senses4 ,and how8 ,often in the very same way1 in which ,ezekiel says ,he tried to bring the ,jews to their senses1 by letting them go on in the road of sin1 till they see what an ugly pit that same road ends in4 ,if your child would not believe you when you warned and assured him that the fire would burn him1 would it not be the very best way of bringing him to his senses1 to tell him3 8,very well2 go your own way2 put your hand into the fire1 and see what comes of it2 you will not believe me2 you will believe your own feelings1 when your hand is burnt40 ,so did the ,lord to those rebellious ,jews when they would go after their fathers' sins4 ,he gave them statutes which were not good1 and judgments by which they could not live1 to the end that they might know that ,he was the ,lord4 ,god did not make them commit any sins4 ,god forbid6 ,he only took away ,his ,spirit1 ,his light and teaching1 from them1 and let them go on in the light of their own foolish and bewildered hearts1 till their sin bred misery and shame to them1 and they were filled with the fruit of their own devices4 ,then1 after all their wealth was gone1 and their land was wasted by cruel enemies1 and they themselves were carried away captive into ,babylon1 they began to awake1 and say to themselves3 8,we were wrong after all1 and the ,lord was right4 ,he knew what was really good for us better than we did4 ,we thought that we could do without ,him1 disobey ,him4 ,but ,he is the ,lord after all4 ,he has been too strong for us2 ,he has punished us4 ,if we had listened to ,his warnings years ago1 we might have been saved all this misery40 ,ah1 how many a poor foolish creature1 in misery and shame1 with a guilty conscience and a sad heart1 sits down1 like the prodigal son1 among the swinish bad company into which his sins have brought him1 longing to fill his belly with the husks which the swine eat6 but he cannot4 ,he tries to forget his sorrow by drinking1 by bad company1 by gambling1 by gossiping1 like the fools around him3 but he cannot4 ,he finds no more pleasure in sin4 ,he is sick and tired of it4 ,he has had enough of it and too much4 ,he is miserable1 and he hardly knows why4 ,but miserable he is4 ,there is a longing1 and craving1 and hunger at his heart after something better2 at least after something different4 ,then he begins to remember his heavenly ,father's house4 ,old words which he learnt at his mother's knee1 good old words out of his ,catechism and his ,bible1 start up strangely in his mind4 ,he had forgotten them1 laughed at them1 perhaps1 in his wild days4 ,but now they come up1 he does not know where from1 like beautiful ghosts gliding in4 ,and he is ashamed of them2 they reproach him1 the dear old lessons2 and yet they seem pleasant to him1 though they make him blush4 ,and at last he says to himself3 8,would ,god that ,i were a little child again2 once more an innocent little child at my mother's knee6 ,i thought myself clever and cunning4 ,i thought ,i could go my own way and enjoy myself4 ,but ,i cannot4 ,perhaps ,i have been a fool2 and the old ,sunday books were right after all4 ,at least ,i am miserable4 ,i thought ,i was my own master4 ,but perhaps ,he about whom ,i used to read in the ,sunday books is my ,master after all4 ,at least ,i am not my own master2 ,i am a slave4 ,perhaps ,i have been fighting against ,him1 against the ,lord ,god1 all this time1 and now ,he has shown me that ,he is the stronger of the two4 4 4 4 0 ,and so the poor man learns in trouble and shame to know1 like the ,jews of old1 who is the ,lord4 ,and when the ,lord has drawn a man thus far1 does ,he stop8 ,not so4 ,he does not leave ,his work half done4 ,if the work is half done1 it is that we stop1 not that ,he stops4 ,whosoever comes to ,him1 howsoever confusedly1 or clumsily1 or even lazily they may come1 ,he will in no wise cast out4 ,he may afflict them still more to cure that confusion and laziness2 but ,he is a physician who never sends a willing patient away1 or keeps him waiting for a single hour4 ,how then does the ,lord deal with such a man8 ,does ,he drive him further8 ,not if he will go without being driven4 ,you would call it cruel to drive a beast on with blows1 when it was willing to be led peaceably4 ,and be sure ,god is not more cruel than man4 ,as soon as we are willing to be led1 ,he will take ,his rod off from us1 and lead us tenderly enough4 ,for ,i have known ,god do this to a man1 and a sinful man as ever trod this earth4 ,i have known such a man brought into utter misery and shame of heart1 and heavy affliction in outward matters1 till his spirit was utterly broken1 and he was ready to say3 8,i am a beast and a fool4 ,i am not worth the bread ,i eat4 ,let me lie down and die40 ,and then1 when the ,lord had driven that man so far1 ,i have seen1 ,i who speak to you now1 how the ,lord turned and looked on that man as he turned and looked on ,peter1 and brought his poor soul to life again1 as ,he brought ,peter's1 by a loving smile1 and not an angry frown4 ,i have seen the ,lord heap that man with all manner of unexpected blessings1 and pay him back sevenfold for all his affliction1 and raise him up1 body and soul1 and satisfy him with good things1 so that his youth was renewed like the eagle's4 ,and so the man's conversion to ,god1 though it was begun by ,god's chastisements and afflictions1 was brought to perfection by ,god's mercy and bounty2 and it happened to that man1 as ,ezekiel prophesied that it would happen to the ,jews1 that not fear and dread1 but honour1 gratitude1 and that noble shame of which no man need be ashamed1 brought him home to ,god at last4 8,and you shall remember your ways1 and all your doings wherein ye have been defiled3 and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all the evils which you have committed4 ,and you shall know that ,i am the ,lord1 when ,i have wrought with you for my name's sake1 not according to your wicked ways1 nor according to your corrupt doings1 ,o house of ,israel1 saith the ,lord ,god40 ,you see that ,god's mercy to them would not make them conceited or careless4 ,it would increase their shame and confusion when they found out what sort of a ,lord ,he was against whom they had been rebellious2 long-suffering and of tender mercy1 returning good for evil to ,his disobedient children4 ,that feeling would awake in them more shame and more confusion than ever3 but it would be a noble shame1 a happy confusion1 and tears of joy and gratitude1 not of bitterness4 ,such a shame1 such a confusion1 such tears1 as the blessed ,magdalene's when she knelt at the ,lord's feet1 and found that1 instead of bating her and thrusting her away for all her sins1 ,he told her to go in peace1 pardoned and happy4 ,then she knew the ,lord2 she found out ,his character--,his name2 for she found out that ,his name was love4 ,oh1 my friends1 this is the great secret2 the only knowledge worth living for1 because it is the only knowledge which will enable you to live worthily--to know the ,lord4 ,that knowledge will enable you to live a life which will last1 and grow1 and prosper for ever1 beyond the grave1 and death1 and judgment1 and eternities of eternities4 ,as the ,lord ,himself said1 when ,he was upon earth1 8,this is eternal life1 to know ,thee1 the only true ,god1 and ,jesus ,christ whom thou hast sent40 ,therefore there is no use my warning you against sin1 and telling you1 do not do this1 and do not do that1 unless ,i tell you at the same time who is the ,lord4 ,for till you know that ,the ,good ,god is the ,lord1 you will have no real1 sound1 heartfelt reason for giving up your sins2 and what is more1 you will not be able to give them up4 ,you may alter your sort of sins from fear of this and that2 but the root of sin will be there still2 and if it cannot bear one sort of fruit it will bear another4 ,if you dare not drink or riot1 you may become covetous and griping2 if you dare not give way to young men's sins1 you will take to old men's sins instead2 if you dare not commit open sins you will commit secret ones in your thoughts4 ,sin is much too stout a plant to be kept from bearing some sort of fruit4 ,as long as it is not rooted up the root will breed death in you of some sort or other2 and the only feeling which can root up sin is to know that ,jesus ,christ1 the ,son of ,god1 is your ,lord1 and that your ,lord condescended to die upon the cross for you2 that you must be the ,lord's1 and are not your own1 but bought with the price of ,his most precious blood1 that you may glorify ,god with your body and your soul1 which are ,his4 ,just so1 the blessed ,st4 ,augustine found that he could never conquer his own sins by arguing with himself1 or by any other means1 till he got to know ,god1 and to see that ,god was the ,lord4 ,and when his spirit was utterly broken2 when he saw himself1 in spite of all his wonderful cleverness and learning1 to have been a fool and blind all along1 though people round him were flattering him1 and running after him to hear his learning2 then the old words which he learnt at his mother's knee came up in his mind1 and he knew that ,god was the ,lord after all1 and that ,god had been watching him1 guiding him1 letting him go wrong only to show him the folly of going wrong1 caring for him even when ,he left him to himself and his sins1 and the sad ways of his sins2 bearing with him1 pleading with his conscience1 alluring him back to the only true happiness1 as a loving father with a rebellious and self-willed child4 ,and then1 when ,st4 ,augustine had found out at last that ,god was his ,lord1 who had been taking the charge of him all through his heathen youth1 he became a changed man4 ,he was able to conquer his sins2 for ,god conquered them for him4 ,he was able to give up the profligate life which he had been leading2 not from fear of punishment1 but from the ,spirit of ,god--the spirit of gratitude1 honour1 trust1 and love toward ,god1 which made him abide in ,god1 and ,god abide in him4 ,to that blessed state may ,god of ,his great mercy bring us all4 ,to it ,he will bring us all unless we rebel and set up our foolish and selfish will against ,his loving and wise will4 ,and if ,he does bring us to it1 it is little matter whether ,he brings us to it through joy or through sorrow1 through honour or through shame1 through the garden of ,eden1 or through the valley of the shadow of death4 ,for1 my dear friends1 what matter how bitter the medicine is1 if it does but save our lives8 ,,xlvii4 ,,the ,,marriage ,,at ,,cana4 ,there was a marriage in ,cana of ,galilee2 and the mother of ,jesus was there4 ,and both ,jesus was called1 and ,his disciples1 to the marriage4--,,john ii4 #a1 #b4 ,,it is1 ,i think1 in the first place1 an important1 as well as a pleasant thing1 to know that the ,lord's glory1 as ,st4 ,paul says1 was first shown forth at a wedding1 at a feast4 ,not at a time of sorrow1 but of joy4 ,not about some strange affliction or disease1 such as is the lot of very few1 but about a marriage1 that which happens in the ordinary lot of all mankind4 ,not in any fearful judgment or destruction of sinners1 but in blessing wedlock1 by which1 whether among saints or sinners1 mankind is increased4 ,not by helping some great philosopher to think more deeply1 or some great saint to perform more wonderful acts of holiness1 but in giving the simple pleasure of wine to simple commonplace people1 of whom we neither read that they were rich or righteous4 ,we do not even read whether the master of the feast ever found out that ,jesus had worked a miracle1 or whether any of the company ever believed in ,him1 on the strength of that miracle1 except ,his mother and the disciples1 and the servants1 who were probably the poor slaves of people in a low or middling class of life4 ,but that is the way of the ,lord4 ,he is no respecter of persons4 ,rich and poor are alike in ,his sight2 and the poor need ,him most1 and therefore ,he began his work with the poor in ,cana1 as ,he did in ,st4 ,james's time1 when the poor of this world were rich in faith1 and the rich of this world were oppressors and taskmasters4 ,so ,he does in every age4 ,though no one else cares for the poor1 ,he cares for them4 ,with their hearts ,he begins ,his work1 even as ,he did in ,england sixty years ago1 by the preaching of ,whitfield and ,wesley4 ,do you wish to know if anything is the ,lord's work8 ,see if it is a work among the poor4 ,do you wish to know whether any preaching is the true gospel of the ,lord8 ,see whether it is a gospel1 a good news to the poor4 ,i know no other test than that4 ,by doing that1 by preaching the gospel to the poor1 by working miracles for the poor1 ,he has showed forth ,his glory1 and proved ,himself the true1 and just1 and loving ,lord of all4 ,but again1 the ,lord is a giver1 and not a taskmaster4 ,he does not demand from us3 ,he gives to us4 ,he had been giving from the foundation of the world4 ,corn and wine1 rain and sunshine1 and fruitful seasons had been his sending4 ,and now ,he was come to show it4 ,he was come to show men who it was who had been filling their heart with joy and gladness2 who had been bringing out of the earth and air1 by ,his unseen chemistry1 the wine which maketh glad the heart of man4 ,in every grape that hangs upon the vine1 water is changed into wine1 as the sap ripens into rich juice4 ,he had been doing that all along in every vineyard and orchard2 and that was ,his glory4 ,now ,he was come to prove that2 to draw back the veil of custom and carnal sense1 and manifest ,himself4 ,men had seen the grapes ripen on the tree2 and they were tempted to say1 as every one of us is tempted now3 8,it is the sun and the air1 the nature of the vine1 and the nature of the climate1 which makes the wine40 ,jesus comes and answers3 8,not so4 ,i make the wine2 ,i have been making it all along4 ,the vines1 the sun1 the weather1 are only my tools wherewith ,i worked1 turning rain and sap into wine2 and ,i am greater than they2 ,i made them2 ,i do not depend on them2 ,i can make wine from water without vines or sunshine4 ,behold1 and drink1 and see my glory without the vineyard1 since you had forgotten how to see it in the vineyard6 ,for ,i am now1 even as ,i was in ,paradise1 ,the ,word of the ,lord ,god2 and now1 even as in ,paradise1 ,i walk among the trees of the garden1 and they know me and obey me1 though the world knows me not4 ,i have been all along in the world1 and the world knows me not4 ,know me now1 lest you lose the knowledge of me for ever60 ,those of the ,jews who received that message1 as the disciples did1 found out their ancient ,lord1 and clung to ,him1 and know now1 in the world of spirits1 that ,his message was indeed a true one4 ,those who did not1 lost sight of ,him2 to this day their eyes are blinded2 to this day they have utterly forgotten that they have a ,lord and ,ruler1 who is the ,word and ,son of ,god4 ,their faith is no more like the faith of ,david than their understanding of the ,scriptures is like his4 ,the ,bible is a dead letter to them4 ,the kingdom and government of ,god is forgotten by them4 ,of all ,god-worshipping people in the world1 the ,jews are the least godly1 the most given up to the worship of this world1 and the things which they can see1 and taste1 and handle1 and1 therefore1 to covetousness1 cheating1 lying1 tyranny1 and all the sins which spring from forgetting that this world belongs to the ,lord and that ,he rules and guides it1 that its blessings are ,his gifts1 and we ,his stewards1 to use them for the good of all4 ,may ,god help1 and forgive1 and convert them6 ,doubt not that ,he will do so in ,his good time4 ,but let us beware1 my friends1 lest we fall into the same sin4 ,do not fancy that we are not in just the same danger4 ,it would be a cowardly thing of a preacher to call ,jews1 or heathens1 or any other absent persons hard names1 unless their mistakes and their sins were such as his own people wanted warnings against1 ay1 perhaps1 had the very root of them in their hearts already4 ,and we have the root of the ,jews' sin in our own hearts4 ,why is this one miracle read in our churches to this day1 if we do not stand just as much in need of the lesson as those for whom it was first worked8 ,we1 as well as they1 are in danger of forgetting who it is that sends us corn and wine1 and fruitful seasons1 love and marriage1 and all the blessings of this life4 ,we1 as well as the ,jews1 are continually fancying that these outward earthly things1 as we call them in our shallow carnal conceits1 have nothing to do with ,jesus or ,his kingdom1 but that we may compete1 and scrape1 even cheat and lie to get them1 and when we have them1 misuse them selfishly1 as if they belonged to no one but ourselves1 as if we had no duty to perform about them1 as if we owed ,god no service for them4 ,and again1 we are1 just as much as the ,jews were1 in danger of spiritual pride2 in danger of fancying that because we are religious1 and have1 or fancy we have1 deep experiences and beautiful thoughts about ,god and ,christ and our own souls1 therefore we can afford to despise those who do not know as much as ourselves2 to despise the common pleasures and petty sorrows of poor creatures1 whose souls and bodies are grovelling in the dust1 busied with the cares of this world1 at their wits' end to get their daily bread2 to despise the merriment of young people1 the play of children1 and all those everyday happinesses which1 though we may turn from them with a sneer1 are precious in the sight of ,him who made heaven and earth4 ,all such proud thoughts1 all such contempt of those who do not seem as spiritual as we fancy ourselves1 is evil4 ,it is from the devil1 and not from ,god4 ,it is the same vile spirit which made the ,pharisees of old say3 8,this people--these poor worldly drudging wretches--who know not the law1 are accursed40 ,and mind1 this is not a sin of rich1 and learned1 and highborn men only4 ,they may be more tempted to it than others2 but poor men1 when they become1 by the grace of ,god1 wiser1 more spiritual1 more holy than others1 are tempted1 just as much as the rich1 to despise their poor neighbours to whom ,god has not given the same light as themselves2 and surely in them it shows ugliest of all4 ,a learned and high-born man may be excused for looking down upon the sinful poor1 because he does not understand their temptations1 because he never has been ignorant and struggling as they are4 ,but a poor man who despises the poor--he has no excuse4 ,he ought above all men to feel for them1 for he has been tempted even as they are4 ,he knows their sorrows2 he has been through their dark valley of bad food1 bad lodging1 want of work1 want of teaching1 low cares which drag the soul to earth4 ,surely a poor man who has tasted ,god's love and ,christ's light1 ought1 above all others1 instead of turning his back on his class1 to pity them1 to make common cause with them1 to teach them1 guide them1 comfort them1 in a way no rich man can4 ,yes2 after all1 it is the poor must help the poor2 the poor must comfort the poor2 the poor must teach and convert the poor4 ,see1 in the epistle for this day1 ,st4 ,paul makes no distinction between rich and poor4 ,this epistle is joined with the gospel for the day1 to show us what ought to be the conduct of ,christians1 who believe in the miracle of ,cana2 what men should do who believe that they have a ,lord in heaven1 by whose command suns shine1 fruits ripen1 men enjoy the blessings of harvest1 of marriage1 of the comforts which the heathen and the savage1 as well as the ,christian man1 partake2 what men should do who believe that they have a ,lord in heaven who entered into the common joys and sorrows of lowly men1 who was once ,himself a poor villager1 who ate with publicans and sinners1 who condescended to join in a wedding feast1 and increase the mere animal enjoyment of the guests4 ,and what is ,st4 ,paul's command to poor as well as rich8 ,read the epistle for this day and see4 ,you see at once that this epistle is written in the same spirit as our ,lord's words3 by ,god's ,spirit1 in short2 the ,spirit which brought the ,lord ,jesus so condescendingly to the wedding feast2 the ,spirit which made ,him care so heartily for the common pleasures of those around ,him4 ,my friends1 these are not commands to one class1 but to all4 ,poor as well as rich may show mercy with cheerfulness1 and love without dissimulation4 ,poor as well as rich may minister to others with earnestness1 and condescend to those of low estate4 ,not a word in this whole epistle which does not apply equally to every rank1 and sex1 and age4 ,neither are these commands to each of us by ourselves1 but to all of us together1 as members of a family4 ,if you will look through them they are not things to be done to ourselves1 but to our neighbours2 not experiences to be felt about our own souls3 but rules of conduct to our fellow-men4 ,they are all different branches and flowers from that one root3 8,thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself40 ,do we live thus1 rich or poor8 ,can we look each other in the face this afternoon and say1 each man to his neighbour3 8,i have behaved like a brother to you4 ,i have rejoiced at your good fortune1 and grieved at your sorrow4 ,i have preferred you to myself4 ,i have loved you without dissimulation4 ,i have been earnest in my place and duty in the parish for the sake of the common good of all4 ,i have condescended to those of lower rank than myself4 ,i have--0 ,ah1 my dear friends1 ,i had better not go on with the list4 ,god forgive us all6 ,the less we try to justify ourselves on this score the better4 ,some of us do indeed try to behave like brothers and sisters to their neighbours2 but how few of us2 and those few how little6 ,and yet we are brothers4 ,we are members of one family1 sons of one ,father1 joint-heirs with one ,lord1 the poor ,man who sat eating and drinking at the wedding feast in ,cana of ,galilee1 and mixed freely in the joys and the sorrows of the poorest and meanest4 ,joint-heirs with ,christ2 yet how unlike ,him6 ,my friends1 we need to repent and amend our ways2 we need to confess1 every one of us1 rich and poor1 the pride1 the selfishness1 the carelessness about each other1 which keeps us so much apart1 knowing so little of each other1 feeling so little for each other4 ,oh confess this sin to ,god1 every one of you4 ,those who have behaved most like brothers1 will be most ready to confess how little they have behaved like brothers4 ,confess3 8,father1 ,i have sinned against heaven and before thee1 and am no more worthy to be called thy son1 for ,i have not loved1 cared for1 helped my brothers and sisters round1 who are just as much thy children as ,i am40 ,pray for the spirit of ,jesus1 the spirit of condescension1 love1 fellow-feeling2 that spirit which rejoices simply and heartily with those who are happy1 and feels for another's sorrows as if they were its own4 ,pray for it2 for till it comes1 there will be no peace on earth4 ,pray for it2 for when it comes and takes possession of your hearts1 and you all really love and live like brothers1 children of one ,father1 the kingdom of ,god will be come indeed1 and ,his will be done on earth as it is in heaven4 ,,xlviii4 ,,parable ,,of ,,the ,,lowest ,,place4 ,and ,he put forth a parable to those which were bidden1 when ,he marked how they chose out the chief rooms2 saying unto them1 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 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 ,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 ,for whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased2 and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted4--,,luke xiv4 #g-aa4 ,,we heard in the gospel for to-day how the ,lord ,jesus put forth a parable to those who were invited to a dinner with ,him at the ,pharisee's house4 ,a parable means an example of any rules or laws2 a story about some rule1 by hearing which people may see how the rule works in practice1 and understand it4 ,now1 our ,lord's parables were about the kingdom of ,god4 ,they were examples of the rules and laws by which the kingdom of ,god is governed and carried on4 ,therefore ,he begins many of ,his parables by saying1 ,the kingdom of ,god is like something--something which people see daily1 and understand more or less4 8,the kingdom of ,god is like a field20 8,the kingdom of ,god is like a net20 8,the kingdom of ,god is like a grain of mustard seed20 and so forth4 ,and even where ,he did not begin one of ,his parables by speaking of the kingdom of ,god1 we may be still certain that it has to do with the kingdom of ,god4 ,for the one great reason why the ,lord was made flesh and dwelt among us1 was to preach the kingdom of ,god1 ,his ,father and our ,father1 and to prove to men that ,god was their ,king1 even at the price of his most precious blood4 ,and1 therefore1 everything which ,he ever did1 and everything which ,he ever spoke1 had to do with this one great work of ,his4 ,this parable1 therefore1 which you heard read in the gospel for to-day1 has to do with the kingdom of ,god1 and is an example of the laws of it4 ,now1 what is the kingdom of ,god8 ,it is worth our while to consider4 ,for at baptism we were declared members of the kingdom of ,god2 we were to renounce the world1 and to live according to the kingdom of ,god4 ,the kingdom of ,god is simply the way in which ,god governs men2 and the world is the way in which men try to manage without ,god's help or leave4 ,that is the difference between them2 and a most awful difference it is4 ,men fancy that they can get on well enough without ,god2 that the ways of the world are very reasonable1 and useful1 and profitable1 and quite good enough to live by1 if not to die by4 ,but all the while ,god is ,king1 let them fancy what they like2 and this earth1 and everything on it1 from the king on his throne to the gnat in the sunbeam1 is under ,his government1 and must obey ,his laws or die4 ,we are in ,god's kingdom1 my good friends1 every one of us1 whether we like it or not1 and we shall be there for ever and ever4 ,and our business is1 therefore1 simply to find out what are the laws of that kingdom1 and obey those laws as speedily as possible1 and live for ever thereby1 lest1 if we break them1 and get in their way1 they should grind us to powder4 ,now1 here is one of the laws of ,god's kingdom3 8,whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased2 and whosoever abaseth himself shall be exalted40 ,that is1 whosoever1 in any way whatsoever1 sets himself up1 will be pulled down again3 while he who is contented to keep low1 and think little of himself1 will be raised up and set on high4 ,now the world's rule is the exact opposite of this4 ,the world says1 ,every man for himself4 ,the way of the world is to struggle and strive for the highest place2 to be a pushing man1 and a rising man1 and a man who will stand stiffly by his rights1 and give his enemy as good as he brings1 and beat his neighbour out of the market1 and show off himself to the best advantage1 and try to make the most of whatever wit or money he has to look well in the world1 that people may look up to him and flatter him and obey him2 and so the world has no objection to people's pretending to be better than they are4 ,every man must do the best he can for himself1 the world says1 and never mind his neighbours3 they must take care of themselves2 and if they are foolish enough to be taken in1 so much the worse for them4 ,so the world thinks that there is no harm in a man1 when he has anything to sell1 making it out better than it really is1 and hiding the fault in it as far as he can4 ,when a tradesman or manufacturer sends about 8puffs0 of his goods1 and pretends that they are better and cheaper than other people's1 just to get custom by it1 the world does not call that what it is--boasting and lying4 ,it says3 8,of course a man must do the best he can for himself4 ,if a man does not praise himself1 nobody else will praise him2 he cannot expect his neighbours to take him for better than his own words40 ,so again1 if a man wants a place or situation1 the world thinks it no harm if he gives the most showy character of himself1 and gets his friends to say all the good of him they can1 and a great deal more1 and to say none of the harm--in short1 to make himself out a much better1 or shrewder1 or worthier man than he really is4 ,the world does not call that either what it is--boasting1 and lying1 and thrusting oneself into callings to which ,god has not called us4 ,the world says3 8,of course a man must turn his best side outwards4 ,you cannot expect a man to tell tales on himself40 ,and1 my friends1 the world would be quite right1 and reasonable1 and prudent1 in telling us to push1 and boast1 and lie1 and puff ourselves and our goods1 if it were not for one thing which the foolish blind world is always forgetting1 and that is1 that there is a ,god who judges the earth4 ,if ,god were not our ,king2 if ,he took no care of us men and our doings2 if mankind had it all their own way on earth1 and were forced to shift for themselves without any laws of ,god to guide them1 then the best thing every man could do would be to fight for himself2 to get all he could for himself1 and leave as little as he could for his neighbours2 to make himself out as great1 and wise1 and strong1 as he could1 and try to make his neighbours buy him at his own price4 ,that would be the best plan for every man1 if ,god was not ,king2 and therefore the world says that that is the best plan for every man1 because the world does not believe that ,god is ,king1 and hates the notion that ,god is ,king1 and laughs at and persecutes1 as ,jesus ,christ said it would1 those who preach the kingdom of ,god1 and tell men1 as ,i tell you in ,god's name3 8,you were not made to be selfish2 you were not meant to rise in the world by boasting and pushing down and deceiving your neighbours4 ,for you are subjects of ,god's kingdom2 and to do so is to break his laws1 and to put yourselves under ,his curse2 and however worldly-wise all this selfishness and boasting may seem1 it is sin1 whose wages are death and ruin40 ,for1 my friends1 let the world try to forget ,god as it will1 ,he does not forget the world4 ,let men try to make rules and laws for themselves1 rules about religion1 rules about government1 rules about trade1 rules about morals and what they fancy is just and fair2 let them make as many rules as they like1 they are only wasting their time2 for ,god has made ,his rules already1 and revealed them to us in the ,bible1 and told us that the earth and mankind are governed in ,his way1 and not in ours1 and that ,he will not alter ,his everlasting rules to suit our new ones4 ,as ,david says3 8,let the people be never so unquiet1 still the ,lord is ,king40 ,ah1 my friends1 it is very easy to say all this1 but it is not so easy to believe it4 ,every one1 every respectable person at least1 is ready enough to talk about ,god1 and ,god's will1 and so forth4 ,but when it comes to practice2 when it comes to doing ,god's will1 and not our own2 when it comes to obeying ,his direct and plain commands1 and not the fashions and maxims which men have invented for themselves2 when it comes to giving up what we long for1 because ,he has said that if we try after it in our own way1 and not in ,his1 we shall never have it at all1 then comes the trial2 then comes the time to see whether we believe that ,god is the ,king of the earth or not2 then comes the time to see whether we have renounced the world1 and determined to live as ,god's sons in ,god's kingdom1 or whether our religion is some form of words1 or way of thinking and feeling which we hope may save our souls from hell1 but which has nothing to do with our daily life and conduct1 and leaves us just as worldly as any heathen1 in all our dealings with our fellow-men1 from ,monday morning to ,saturday night4 ,then comes the time to try our faith in ,god4 ,and then1 alas6 it comes out1 in these evil1 and godless1 and hypocritical times in which we live1 that many a man who fancies himself religious1 and respectable1 and blameless1 and what not1 no more really believes that he is living in ,god's kingdom than the heathen do4 ,and if you ask him1 you will find out most probably that he fancies that ,god's kingdom is not on earth now1 but that it will be on earth some day4 ,a cunning delusion of the devil1 that1 my friends6 ,to make us go his way while we fancy that we are going our own way4 ,to make us say to ourselves3 8,ah6 it is very unfortunate that ,god is not ,king of the earth now4 ,of course ,he will be after the resurrection1 in the new heaven and the new earth1 where there will be no sin4 ,but ,he is not ,king now2 this world is given over to sin and the devil1 so fallen and ruined and corrupt that--that--that1 in short1 we cannot be expected to behave like ,god's children in it1 but must just follow the ways of the world1 and live by ambition1 and selfishness1 and cunning1 and boasting1 and competing in this life2 a life of love1 and justice1 and humbleness1 and fellow-help1 and mercy1 and self-sacrifice is impossible in such a world as this2 we cannot live like angels1 till we get to heaven60 ,so say nine people out of ten2 the devil deceiving them1 and their own hearts1 alas6 being but too glad to catch at the excuse for sin which the devil gives them1 when he tells them that this present earth is not ,god's kingdom2 and so they go and act accordingly1 selfish1 grudging1 pushing1 boastful1 every man's hand against his neighbour and for himself1 till they succeed too often in making this earth as fearfully like the devil's kingdom as it is possible for ,god's kingdom to be made4 ,but what1 some may ask1 has all this to do with the text that he who sets himself up shall be brought low1 he who keeps himself low shall be set up8 ,what has it to do with the text8 ,it has everything to do with the text4 ,if people really believed that they were ,god's subjects and children in ,god's kingdom1 they would not need to ask that question long4 ,if ,god is really the ,king of the earth1 there can be no use in anyone setting up himself4 ,if ,god is really the ,king of the earth1 those who set up themselves must be certain to be brought down from their high thoughts and high assumptions sooner or later4 ,for if ,god is really the ,king of the earth1 ,he must be the one to set people up1 and not they themselves4 ,look again at the parable4 ,the man who asks the guests to dine with him has surely a right to place each of them where he likes4 ,the house is his1 the dinner is his4 ,he has a right to invite whom he likes2 and he has a right to settle where they shall sit4 ,if they choose their own places--if any guest takes upon himself to seat himself at the head of the table1 because he thinks it his right1 he offends against all rules of right feeling and propriety toward the man who has invited him4 ,all he has a right to expect is1 that his host will not put him in the wrong place1 that he will settle all places at his table according to people's real rank and deserts1 and as our ,testaments say1 put 8the worthiest man in the highest room40 ,and if people really believed in ,god1 which very few do1 they would surely expect no less of ,god4 ,what gentleman1 farmer1 or labourer is there1 with common sense and good feeling1 who would not show most respect to the most respectable persons who came into his house1 and send his best and trustiest workmen about his most important errands8 ,true1 he might make mistakes1 and worse4 ,being a weak man1 he might be tempted to put the rich sinner in a higher place than the poor saint3 or he might1 from private fancy1 be blinded about his workmen's characters1 and so send a worse man1 because he was his favourite1 to do what another man whom he did not fancy as well might do a great deal better4 ,but you cannot suspect ,god of that4 ,he is no respecter of persons--whether a man be rich or poor1 no matter to ,god3 all which ,he inquires into is--,is he righteous or unrighteous1 wise or foolish1 able to do his work or unable8 ,and ,god can make no mistakes about people's characters4 ,as ,st4 ,paul says of the ,lord ,jesus3 8,the ,word of ,god is sharper than a two-edged sword1 piercing through to the dividing of the very joints and marrow1 so that all things are naked and open in the sight of ,him with whom we have to do40 ,there is no blinding ,god1 no hiding from ,god1 no cheating ,god1 just as there is no flattering ,god4 ,he knows what each and every one of us is fit for4 ,he knows what each and every one of us is worth2 and what is more1 ,he knows what we ought to know1 that each and every one of us is worth nothing without ,him4 ,therefore there is no use pretending to be better than we are4 ,god knows just how good we are1 and will reward us1 even in this life only according as we deserve1 in spite of all our boasting4 ,there is no use pretending to be wiser than we are4 ,for all the wisdom we have comes from ,god2 and if we pretend to have more than we have1 and by that greatest act of folly1 show that we have no wisdom at all1 ,he will take from us even what we have1 and make all our cunning plans come to nothing1 and prove us fools1 just when we fancy ourselves most clever4 ,there is no use being ambitious and pushing1 and trying to scramble up on our neighbours' shoulders4 ,for we were not sent into this world to do what we like1 but what ,god likes2 not to work for ourselves1 but to work for ,god2 and ,god knows exactly how much good each of us can do1 and what is the best place for us to do it in1 and how to teach and enable us to do it2 and if we choose to be taught1 ,he will teach us2 and if we choose to go ,his way1 and do ,his work1 ,he will help us to it4 ,but if we will not have his way1 ,he will not let us have our own way--not at first1 at least4 ,he will bring our plans to nothing1 and let us make fools of ourselves1 and bring in sudden accidents of which we never dreamed1 just to show us that we are not our own masters1 and cannot cut out our own roads through life4 ,and if we take ,his lesson1 and go to ,him to teach and strengthen us--well3 and if not--then perhaps--which is the most awful misery which can happen to any man in earth--,god may give up teaching us during this life1 and let us have our own way1 and be filled with the fruit of our own devices2 from which worst of punishments may ,he in ,his mercy1 save you1 and me1 and all belonging to us1 in this life and in the life to come4 ,but some of you may say3 8,we understand the first half of the text very well1 and like it very well2 we all think it just that those who set themselves up should have a fall1 and we are very glad to see them have a fall3 but we do not see why he who abases himself should have any right to be exalted40 ,ah1 my friends1 it is much easier1 and needs much less knowledge of ,god1 and much less of the likeness of ,christ1 to see what is wrong1 than to see what is right4 ,every man knows when a bone is broken1 but it is not every one who can set it again4 ,nevertheless1 there is a sort of left-handed reason in that argument4 ,for a man has no more right to make himself out worse than he is1 than he has to make himself out better than he is4 ,a man should confess to being just what he is1 neither more nor less4 ,nevertheless1 he who humbles himself shall be exalted4 ,of course ,i do not mean those who1 like some ,i know1 make a fawning humble way of talking a cloak for their own self-conceit2 who call themselves miserable sinners all the time that they are fancying that they are almost the only people in the world who are sure of being saved1 whatever they do2 who1 as some do1 actually pride themselves on their own convictions of sin1 and glory in their own shame1 and despise those who will not slander themselves as they do4 ,they are equally hateful to ,god and to ,god's enemies4 ,if you and ,i are disgusted at such hypocritical self-conceit1 be sure the ,lord ,jesus is far more pained at it than we are2 for as a wise man says3 8,the devil's darling sin is the pride that apes humility40 ,but let a man really be convinced of sin2 let a man really believe in the ,lord ,jesus ,christ's atonement2 let a man really believe in the ,holy ,spirit2 and that man will have little need to ask why he should humble himself more than he deserves1 and little wish to boast of himself1 and push himself forward1 and get praise1 or riches1 or power in the world4 ,for that man would say to himself3 8,i1 sinner as ,i am2 ,i1 who know that ,i do so many wrong things daily2 things so wrong that it required the blood of the ,son of ,god to wash out the guilt of them--who am ,i to set myself up8 ,i cannot be faithful in a little--why should ,i try to be ruler over much8 ,i cannot use properly the blessings and the power which ,god does give me--must ,i not take for granted that1 if ,i had more riches1 more power1 ,i should use them still worse8 ,i know well enough of a thousand sins1 and weaknesses and ignorances in myself which my neighbours never see4 ,i believe1 therefore1 my neighbours have much too good an opinion of me1 and not too bad a one2 and therefore ,i am not going to boast or puff myself to them4 ,i can only thank ,god they do not see the inside of this foolish heart of mine as well as ,he does6 ,in short1 ,i am not going to set myself up1 and try to get a higher place among men than ,i have already1 because ,i am certain that ,i have already a ten times better one than ,i deserve40 ,or again1 if a man really believed in the ,holy ,ghost1 which is much the same as really believing in the kingdom of ,god2 if he really believed that ,god was the ,king and ,master of his heart and soul2 if he really believed that everything good1 and right1 and wise in him came from ,god's ,holy ,spirit1 and that everything wrong and foolish in him came from himself and the devil2 then he would surely say to himself3 8,who am ,i to try to set myself up above my neighbours1 and get power over them2 what have ,i that ,i did not receive8 ,whatever money1 or station1 or cleverness1 or power of mind ,i have1 ,god has given me1 and without ,him ,i should be nothing4 ,therefore1 ,he only gave me these talents to use for ,him1 and if ,i use them for my own ends1 ,i shall be misusing them1 and trying to rob ,god of ,his own4 ,i am ,his child1 ,his subject1 ,his steward2 ,he has put me just in that place in ,his earth which is most fit for me1 and my business is1 not to try to desert my post1 and to wander out of the place here ,he has put me1 but to see that ,i do the duty which lies nearest me1 so that ,i shall be able to give an account to ,him4 ,it is only if ,i am faithful in a few things1 that ,i can expect ,god to make me ruler over many things40 ,ah1 my friends1 if we could but see ourselves1 not as we fancy we are1 nor as others fancy we are1 but just as we really are1 then1 instead of pushing1 and boasting1 and standing stiffly by our rights1 and fancying that ,god and man are unjust to us1 we should be crying out all day long with the prodigal son3 8,father1 ,i have sinned against heaven1 and before thee1 and am no more worthy to be called thy son40 ,we should say with ,st4 ,paul--who1 after all1 remember1 was the wisest1 and most learned1 and noblest-hearted of all the ,apostles--that we are at best the chief of sinners4 ,we should feel like the dear and blessed ,magdalene of old1 the pattern for ever of all true penitents1 that it was quite honour enough to be allowed to wash ,christ's feet with our tears1 while every one round us sneered at us and looked down upon us--as1 after all1 we deserve4 ,and so1 believe me1 we should be exalted4 ,it would pay us1 if payment is what we want4 ,for so we should be in a more right1 more true1 more healthy1 more wise1 more powerful state of mind2 more like ,jesus ,christ1 and therefore more likely to be sent to do ,christ's work1 and share ,christ's reward4 ,for this is the great law of the kingdom of ,god in which we live1 that man is nothing1 and ,god is everything2 and that we are strong and wise1 and something1 only when we find out that we are weak and foolish1 and nothing1 and go to our ,father in heaven for strength1 and wisdom1 and spiritual eternal life4 ,and then we find out how true it is that he who humbles himself1 as he deserves1 will be raised up2 how he who loses his life will save it2 how blessed are the poor in spirit1 those who feel that they have nothing but what ,god chooses to give them2 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven6 ,how blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness2 who feel that they are not doing right1 and yet cannot rest till they do right2 for they shall be filled6 ,how blessed are the meek1 who do not set up themselves1 or try to fight their own battles1 and compete with their neighbours in the great scramble and struggle of this world2 for they--just the last persons whom the world would expect to do it--shall inherit the earth6 ,choose1 my friends1 choose6 ,the world says3 8,push upwards1 praise yourself1 help yourself1 put your best side outwards40 ,the great ,god who made heaven and earth says3 8,know that you are weak1 and foolish1 and sinful in yourself4 ,know that whatever wisdom you have1 ,i the ,lord lent you2 and ,i the ,lord expect the interest of my loan4 ,know that you are my child in my ,kingdom4 ,stay where ,i have put you1 and when ,i want you for something better1 ,i will call you2 and if you try to rise without my calling you1 ,i will only drive you back again40 ,so the only way to be ruler over much1 is first to be faithful in a little4 ,my friends1 which of the two do you think is likely to know best1 man or ,god8 ,,footnotes #bag ,in #ahdh-di4