Chester Cathedral, 1871.
Acts iv. 13, 18-20. "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John,
and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled;
and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. . . .
And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in
the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said unto them,
Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than
unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have
seen and heard."
Last Thursday was St Peter's Day. The congregation on that day was, as
far as I could perceive, no larger than usual; and this is not a matter
of surprise. Since we gave up at the Reformation the superstitious
practice of praying to the saints, saints' days have sunk--and indeed
sunk too much--into neglect. For most men's religion has a touch of
self-interest in it; and therefore when people discovered that they could
get nothing out of St Peter or St John by praying to them, they began to
forget the very memory, many of them, of St Peter, St John, and other
saints and apostles. They forget, too often, still, that though praying
to any saint, or angel, or other created being, is contrary both to
reason and to Scripture; yet it is according to reason and to Scripture
to commemorate them. That is to remember them, to study their
characters, and to thank God for them--both for the virtues which He
bestowed on them, and the example which He has given us in them.
For these old saints lived and died for our example. They are, next of
course to the Lord Himself, the ideals, the patterns, of Christian life--
the primeval heroes of our holy faith. They shew to us of what stuff the
early Christians were made; what sort of stone--to use St Paul's own
figure,--the Lord chose wherewith to build up His Church. They are our
spiritual ancestors, for they spread the Gospel into all lands; and they
spread it, remember always, not only by preaching what they knew, but by
being what they were. Their characters, their personal histories, are as
important to us as their writings; nay, in the case of St Peter, even
more important. For if these two epistles of his had been lost, and
never handed down to us, St Peter himself would have remained, as he is
drawn in the Gospels and the Acts, a grand and colossal human figure,
every line and feature of which is full of meaning and full of teaching
to us.
Now I think that the quality--the grace of God--which St Peter's
character and story specially force on our notice, is, the true courage
which comes by faith. I say, the courage which comes by faith. There is
a courage which does not come by faith. There is brute courage, which
comes from hardness of heart, from stupidity, obstinacy, or anger, which
does not see danger, or does not feel pain. That is the courage of the
brute. One does not blame it, or call it wrong. It is good in its
place, as all natural things are, which God has made. It is good enough
for the brutes, but it is not good enough for man. You cannot trust it
in man. And the more a man is what a man should be, the less he can
trust it. The more mind and understanding a man has, so as to be able to
foresee danger, and measure it, the more chance there is of his brute
courage giving way. The more feeling a man has, the more keenly he feels
pain of body, or pain of mind, such as shame, loneliness, the dislike,
ridicule, and contempt of his fellow men; in a word, the more of a man he
is, and the less of a mere brute, the more chance there is of his brute
courage breaking down, just when he wants it most to keep him up, by
leaving him to play the coward and come to shame. Yes. To go through
with a difficult and dangerous undertaking, a man wants more than brute
courage. He wants spiritual courage--the courage which comes by faith.
He needs to have faith in what he is doing; to be certain that he is
doing his duty, to be certain that he is in the right. Certain that
right will conquer, certain that God will make it conquer, by him or by
some one else; certain that he will either conquer honourably, or fail
honourably, for God is with him. In a word, to have true courage, man
needs faith in God.
To give one example. Look at the class of men who, in all England,
undergo the most fearful dangers; who know not at what hour of any night
they may not be called up to the most serious labour and responsibility,
with the chance of a horrible and torturing death. I mean the firemen of
our great cities, than whom there are no steadier, braver, nobler-hearted
men. Not a week passes without one or more of these firemen, in trying
to save life and property, doing things which are altogether heroic.
What do you fancy keeps them up to their work? High pay? The amusement
and excitement of fires? The vanity of being praised for their courage?
My friends, those would be but paltry weak motives, which would not keep
a man's heart calm and his head clear under such responsibility and
danger as theirs. No. It is the sense of duty,--the knowledge that they
are doing a good and a noble work in saving the lives of human beings and
the wealth of the nation,--the knowledge that they are in God's hands,
and that no real evil can happen to him who is doing right,--that to him
even death at his post is not a loss, but a gain. In short, faith in
God, more or less clear, is what gives those men their strong and quiet
courage. God grant that you and I, if ever we have dangerous work to do,
may get true courage from the same fountain of ghostly strength.
Now, St Peter's history is, I think, a special example of this. He was
naturally, it seems, a daring man,--a man of great brute courage. So far
so good; but he had to be taught, by severe lessons, that his brute
courage was not enough,--that he wanted spiritual courage, the courage
which came by faith, and that if that failed him, the brute courage would
fail too.
He throws himself into the lake, to walk upon the water to Christ; and as
soon as he is afraid he begins to sink. The Lord saves him, and tells
him why he had sank. Because he had doubted, his faith had failed him.
So he found out the weakness of courage without faith. Then, again, he
tells our Lord, "Though all men shall be offended of Thee, yet will I
never be offended. I am ready to go with Thee both into prison, and to
death." And shortly after, his mere animal courage breaks out again, and
does what little it can do, and little enough. He draws sword, single-
handed, on the soldiers in the garden, and cuts down a servant of the
high priest's, and perhaps would have flung his life away, desperately
and uselessly, had not our Lord restrained him. But when the fit of
excitement is past, his animal courage deserts him, and his moral courage
too, and he denies his Lord. So he found out that he was like too many,-
-full of bodily courage, perhaps, but morally weak. He had to undergo a
great change. He had to be converted by the Holy Spirit of God, and
strengthened by that Spirit, to have a boldness which no worldly courage
can give. Then, when he was strong himself, he was able to strengthen
his brethren. Then he was able, ignorant and unlearned man as he was, to
stand up before the high priests and rulers of his nation, and to say,
simply and firmly, without boasting, without defiance, "Whether it be
right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge
ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard."
Yes, my friends, it is the courage which comes by faith which makes truly
brave men,--men like St Peter and St John. He who can say, I am right,
can say likewise, God is on my side, and I will not fear what man can do
to me.
"We will not fear," said the Psalmist, "though the earth be removed, and
though the hills be carried into the midst of the sea." "The just man,
who holds firm to his purpose," says a wise old heathen, "he will not be
shaken from his solid mind by the rage of the mob bidding him do base
things or the frowns of the tyrant who persecutes him. Though the world
were to crumble to pieces round him, its ruins would strike him without
making him tremble." "Whether it be right," said Peter and John to the
great men and judges of the Jews, "to hearken to God more than to you,
judge ye. We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard."
We cannot but speak what we know to be true.
It was that courage which enabled our forefathers,--and not the great men
among them, not the rich, not even the learned, save a few valiant
bishops and clergy, but for the most part poor, unlearned, labouring men
and women,--to throw off the yoke of Popery, and say, "Reason and
Scripture tell us that it is absurd and wrong to worship images and pray
to saints,--tell us that your doctrines are not true. And we will say so
in spite of the Pope and all his power,--in spite of torture and a fiery
death. We cannot palter; we cannot dissemble; we cannot shelter
ourselves under half-truths, and make a covenant with lies. 'Whether it
be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than to God, judge
ye. We cannot but speak the things which we know to be true.'"
So it has been in all ages, and so it will be for ever. Faith, the
certainty that a man is right, will give him a courage which will enable
him to resist, if need be, the rich ones, the strong ones, the learned
ones of the earth. It has made poor unlearned men heroes and deliverers
of their countrymen from slavery and ignorance. It has made weak women
martyrs and saints. It has enabled men who made great discoveries to
face unbelief, ridicule, neglect, poverty; knowing that their worth would
be acknowledged at last, their names honoured at last as benefactors by
the very men who laughed at them and reviled them. It has made men, shut
up in prison for long weary years for doing what was right and saying
what was true, endure manfully for the sake of some good cause, and say,-
-
"Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage;
Minds innocent and quiet take
That for an hermitage.
If I have freedom in my thought,
And in my love am free,
Angels alone, that soar above,
Enjoy such liberty."
Yes; settle it in your hearts, all of you. There is but one thing which
you have to fear in earth or heaven,--being untrue to your better selves,
and therefore untrue to God. If you will not do the thing you know to be
right, and say the thing you know to be true, then indeed you are weak.
You are a coward, and sin against God, and suffer the penalty of your
cowardice. You desert God, and therefore you cannot expect Him to stand
by you.
But if you will do the thing you know to be right, and say the thing you
know to be true, then what can harm you? Who will harm you, asks St
Peter himself, "if you be followers of that which is good? For the eyes
of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open to their
prayers. But if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye; and be
not afraid of those who try to terrify you, neither be troubled, but
sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. Remember that He is just and holy,
and a rewarder of all who diligently seek Him. Worship Him in your
hearts, and all will be well. For says David again, "Lord, who shall
dwell in Thy tabernacle, or who shall rest upon Thy holy hill? Even he
that leadeth an uncorrupt life, and doeth the thing which is right, and
speaketh the truth from his heart. Whoso doeth these things shall never
fall."
Yes, my friends; there is a tabernacle of God in which, even in this
life, He will hide us from the strife of tongues. There is a hill of God
on which, even in the midst of labour and anxiety, we may rest both day
and night. Even Jesus Christ, the Rock of Ages,--He who is the
Righteousness itself, the Truth itself; and whosoever does righteousness
and speaks truth dwells in Christ in this life, as well as in the life to
come; and Christ will strengthen him by His Holy Spirit to stand in the
evil day, if it shall come, and having done all, to stand. My dear
friends, if any of you are minded to be good men and women, pray for the
Holy Spirit of God. First for the spirit of love to give you good
desires; then the spirit of faith, to make you believe deeply in the
living God, who rewards every man according to his work; and then for the
spirit of strength, to enable you to bring these desires to good effect.
Pray for that spirit, I say; for we all need help. There are too many
people in the world--too many, perhaps, among us here--who are not what
they ought to be, and what they really wish to be, because they are weak.
They see what is right, and admire it; but they have not courage or
determination to do it. Most sad and pitiable it is to see how much
weakness of heart there is in the world--how little true moral courage.
I suppose that the reason is, that there is so little faith; that people
do not believe heartily and deeply enough in the absolute necessity of
doing right and being honest. They do not believe heartily and deeply
enough in God to trust Him to defend and reward them, if they will but be
true to Him, and to themselves. And therefore they have no moral
courage. They are weak. They are kind, perhaps, and easy; easily led
right; but, alas! just as easily led wrong. Their good resolutions are
not carried out; their right doctrines not acted up to; and they live
pitiful, confused, useless, inconsistent lives; talking about religion,
and yet denying the power of religion in their daily lives; playing with
holy and noble thoughts and feelings, without giving themselves up to
them in earnest, to be led by the Spirit of God, to do all the good works
which God has prepared for them to walk in. Pray all of you, then, for
the spirit of faith, to believe really in God; and for the spirit of
ghostly strength, to obey God honestly. No man ever asked earnestly for
that spirit but what he gained it at last. And no man ever gained it but
what he found the truth of St Peter's own words, "Who will harm you if ye
be followers of that which is good?"