i. 17. _Learn to do well._
+I. To do well is a thing that requires to be learned.+ 1. _It does
not come to us naturally,_ as breathing and sleeping do. That which
comes to us naturally is to do evil. This is manifest in every child:
it needs no teaching to do evil, but it needs a great deal of
teaching before it will habitually do well. Nor does proficiency in
well-doing come to us even with our new birth. Then come new desires
after righteousness, but the knowledge and practice of righteousness
have to be learned.[1] At our new birth we are _born_ "babes in
Christ:" manhood in Christ is reached only by _growth._[2] 2. _It is
not a thing we acquire unconsciously,_ as infants learn to see and
hear, or as older persons acquire the accent of the country in which
they reside, or as invalids gain health at the seaside. Living in a
religious atmosphere will not of itself make us religious, nor will
mere companionship with good men. Association with artists will not
of itself make a man an artist; and association with Christians will
not of itself make any man a Christian. Judas was in constant
association with Christ himself for more than three years, and at the
end of that period, instead of doing well, he committed he foulest of
all crimes. To do well is an _art,_ and, like every other art, it can
be mastered only by deliberate efforts of the will.[3] This is the
testimony both of _Scripture_ and _experience._ (See preceding
outline.)
+II. To do well is a thing that may be learned.+ Not all persons,
however earnest their desires or persevering their efforts, can
become poets, painters, statesman, orators. But to do well is an art
in which all regenerate persons may become proficient, some with
greater ease than others, but to none is the task impossible. There
is no vice which a regenerate man may not lay aside, no excellence to
which he may not attain.
+III. To do well is a thing that must be learned.+ It is an
imperative demand which God makes upon all His people. We cannot
satisfy it by "ceasing to do evil." It is not enough for the
"branches" of the True Vine not to bring forth "wild grapes;" they
must bear _fruit_--_much_ fruit--to the glory of the Husbandman (John
xv. 8). Not only must Christ's followers be "blameless," they must be
_conspicuous_ for excellence. "Let your _light_ so SHINE before men
that they may _see_ your good works, and glorify your Father which is
in heaven." These truths being settled in our minds, let us ask
ourselves.
+IV. How this noblest of arts may be acquired.+ 1. _By setting before
ourselves, and carefully studying, the noblest models._ Thus do those
who would become proficient in other arts: music, painting,
sculpture, architecture, &c. Now the great Master in the art of
well-doing was our Lord Jesus Christ: we must therefore study Him and
His works. But as it is often a help to the discovery of the secrets
of a great master's excellences to study the works of his disciples,
as thus our attention is sometimes directed to points we might
otherwise overlook, and as by the contrast between him and them, even
when they have done their best, we get a clearer view of his
transcendent power--so it will be helpful to us to study the
character of Christ's noblest disciples,[4]--always, however, coming
back to the study of _His_ character, remembering that we shall
succeed in doing well only in proportion as we become like _Him._
2. _By becoming imbued with the principles by which the great masters
in this art were animated._ Mere mechanical imitation is always a
poor thing, and often a grotesque and pitiable thing; because
circumstances are continually varying. What kind of an English home
would the most exact reproduction of the most beautiful of all
classic villas be? The architect who forgot that the climate of
England is not like that of Rome or Athens would be accounted a fool.
Yet many professed imitators of Christ have fallen into a similar
mistake; they have imitated merely the outward circumstances of His
life, and have forgotten that the essential thing it to have "the
_mind_ that was in Christ." When we have _that,_ all else will follow
as a matter of course. Now the great principle which governed Christ
and His noblest disciples was love--love to God and man: a _docile_
love, which did not seek to please God in _its_ way, but in _His_
way, and evermore searched the Scriptures to discover upon what
things God looks with delight. 3. _By patient and persevering
endeavours to embody in our practice the truths we have thus
discovered._ Only by such endeavours can the mastery in any art be
won. 4. _By fidelity in little things._ The master's ease is reached
only by the student's painstaking--by his careful endeavour to be
_right_ in each individual note, line, shade, stroke, word. It is
_thus,_ and thus only, that the _habit_ of doing well is gained.
+V. Let us remember certain things for our own encouragement.+ 1. _We
are not left to learn this art alone:_ we have the constant help of
the most reasonable, patient, and successful of all teachers. We are
disciples of _Christ._ How much that means! He does not expect us to
become proficients in a few lessons. He remembers that the most
advanced of us are only little children in His great school. If He
sees in us the earnest _desire_ and the resolute _endeavour_ to
learn, He is well satisfied.[5] He will most carefully adapt His
methods of instruction to our individual capacity. He will lead us on
to the goal step by step. Already in countless thousands of instances
He has dealt successfully with most intractable materials: scholars
who seemed hopelessly dull and inapt He has so instructed that they
have passed the great examination that awaits us all at death; and
they are now carrying on their studies in the great university of
heaven. 2. _In no other art does progress bring so much happiness:_
the testimony of a good conscience; consciousness of the approval of
God; a pleasant retrospect, brightening hopes. 3. _In no other art
does proficiency ensure such rich rewards._ Proficiency in any other
art can but win for us the honours and joys of earth; proficiency in
this will secure for us the honours and joys of heaven. It is one
great doctrine of Scripture, that we are _saved_ through our faith:
it is another, that we are _rewarded_ according to our works.