This is what the Holy Ghost gives. Before Pentecost the disciples were
half-hearted, and when temptation and trial came, they fell away and
did not follow their Master. But after the Holy Ghost came down, then
they were of one heart and mind, and their souls were inflamed with
zeal, they cared nothing what became of them, so long as they won the
Kingdom of Heaven. "I count all things as dung," said S. Paul, "if so
be I may win Christ."
III. The Holy Ghost is still in the Church, and still His mission is
to impart zeal. He will come to you, if you pray, and will inflame you
with that fire which will make your hearts burn within you, and give
you no rest till you have set about the work appointed you by God. "I
am come," said Christ, "to send fire on the earth: and what will I, if
it be already kindled?" That fire is the fire of zeal; and it is for
that fire we pray in the Whitsuntide hymn,
"Come Holy Ghost, our souls inspire,
And lighten with celestial fire."
LI.
_GRATITUDE._
14th Sunday after Trinity.
S. Luke xvii. 18.
"There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this
stranger."
INTRODUCTION,--There is nothing that the merciful God desires more from
man than thanks, and there is nothing of which He receives less. In
the Gospel for to-day we have an example. Christ performs a notable
miracle. He heals ten lepers, and only one returns to thank Him. The
disease from which He delivered them was disgusting, and it was one
which cut the sufferers off from association with other men. They
might not approach, under penalty of death, a man who was sound. All
at once they are healed. The disgusting disease is removed, and they
are restored to the society of their fellow-men. Yet nine out of the
ten are ungrateful, they do not take the trouble to give thanks to Him
who had healed them.
SUBJECT.--That story is repeated over and over again. We are
incessantly receiving blessings from God, and nine to one, but we do
not thank Him: we take them as a matter of course. However, God
expects thanks. S. Paul exhorts us, "In everything give thanks: for
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." And again,
"Give thanks always, for all things, unto God and the Father, in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ." And again, "Whatsoever ye do in word
or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and
the Father by Him."
I. When the children of Israel reached the river Jordan, on their way
into the Promised Land, out of the wilderness in which they had
wandered forty years, Joshua bade the priests that bare the ark go down
into the river. And as soon as their feet were dipped in the water,
the river was divided, "The waters which came down from above stood and
rose up upon an heap; and those that came down towards the sea of the
plain failed, and were cut off, and the people passed over right
against Jericho. And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of
the Lord, stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the
Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed
clean over Jordan."
Now when this had taken place, Joshua ordered twelve men, one out of
every tribe, to go down into the river, and each bring up a large stone
out of the bed of the river, from the place where the priests had
stood, and plant them in the earth, on the bank, at the place where
they lodged that night. But this was not all. They were to carry as
huge stones as they could manage down into the bed of the river, and
set them up also there, so big and strong as to stand above the surface
of the stream, and resist the force of the current. This seems a
curious proceeding, does it not? to take twelve stones out of the bed
of the river and plant them on the ground, and roll twelve great stones
off the bank into the river, and set them up there.
What was the purpose of this? Listen to what Joshua says: "This shall
be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time
to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? Then ye shall answer
them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the
covenant of the Lord, when it passed over Jordan; and these stones
shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever." In one
word, they were to be perpetual reminders to the Israelites to be
grateful to God for having brought them into the land promised to their
fathers, the land flowing with milk and honey.
Very well! how many times has God sent you great deliverances, and
brought great blessings upon you: has carried you through great
dangers: has brought you out of the depths of sickness? Over and over
again has He done this. He blesses you every day. Look around--you,
too, have got your tokens set up as a memorial unto you for ever. Look
at your houses, they are memorials to you of what God has brought you
into. Look at your children, every one of them is a little mark-stone
or memorial of God's goodness to you. Look at your health, your good
strong arms. They should be to you memorials for ever of God's loving
protection extended towards you. Look at your conscience, which stings
you when you do wrong, which approves when you do right. What is that
but a mark-stone or memorial that God's Good Spirit has been given you
to be a guide? Look at this church, it is a mark-stone or memorial to
you that God's word sounds in your ears, and God's Sacraments are
celebrated for your benefit. Look at that altar, it is a memorial for
ever that Christ died for you, and gives His Body and Blood for the
strengthening and refreshing of your souls. Verily, you have only to
look into your homes, and look through your lives, and you will find
many and many a memorial set up to remind you of, the love of God, and
also--mark this!--to be thankful.
II. When Jacob was dying, he said to Joseph, "Behold, I die, but God
shall be with you. I have given to thee one portion above thy
brethren." Now, my brethren, there are diversities of gifts, you have
all received of God many gifts, some of one sort, some of another. I
turn to the rich. You have been given wealth, whilst so many are poor.
"God hath given to thee one portion above thy brethren." What use do
you make of it? Are you thankful?
I turn to those with talents. "God hath given to thee one portion
above thy brethren." What use do you make of the talent committed you?
Are you thankful?
I look at you who are so healthy and robust. There are numbers infirm
and ailing. "God hath given to thee one portion above thy brethren."
How do you show your thankfulness?
You, tradesmen! On all sides I see men failing in business, but to you
work comes, as much as you can execute. Well, "God hath given to thee
one portion above thy brethren." Are you grateful?
And you, good house-wife! You have got a steady, affectionate husband,
and, alas! so many have drunken or unthrifty mates, or husbands with
bad tempers. Verily, "God hath given to thee one portion above thy
sisters." Thank Him, thank Him on your knees.
CONCLUSION.--"In everything give thanks," says S. Paul. Remember, Adam
and Eve were in Paradise surrounded by every blessing, but we do not
hear that they thanked God for them, and they lost them. Beware lest a
thankless spirit forfeit those good things which you now enjoy.
"Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits! Who
forgiveth all thy sin: and healeth all thine infirmities: Who saveth
thy life from destruction; and crowneth thee with mercy and
loving-kindness."
LII.
_TRUST IN GOD._
15th Sunday after Trinity.
S. Matt. vi. 31.
"Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness."
INTRODUCTION.--We read in ancient Roman history that a general named
Aemilius Paulus was appointed to the Roman army in a time of war and
great apprehension. He found in the army a sad condition of affairs,
there were more officers than fighting men, and all these officers
wanted to have their advice taken, and the war conducted in accordance
with their several opinions. Then Aemilius Paulus said to them, "Hold
your tongues, and sharpen your swords, and leave the rest to me."
It seems to me that our Lord's advice in this day's Gospel is of
somewhat the same nature. He finds in the army of His Church everyone
clamouring after his worldly affairs, wanting this, and objecting to
that, all seeking their own, and not the things of Jesus Christ. Then
He says, "Hold your tongues, and sharpen your swords, and leave the
rest to Me. Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or what shall
we drink? or wherewithal shall we be clothed? Your heavenly Father
knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the
kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be
added unto you."
SUBJECT.--In our great solicitude after our temporal welfare, we do not
seek first our spiritual welfare, but put that altogether in the
background. In fact, we do not trust God, we trust ourselves chiefly.
We fear if we do not devote our whole attention to our worldly
prosperity, we shall not get on. And so we neither seek the kingdom of
God, nor the righteousness of God; we seek only the world and the
things that are in the world. If we had more trust in God, it would
not be so.
I. The Bible is made up of six classes of books. To the first class
belong the historical books. To the second the book of Psalms. To the
third class belong the books that deal with Wisdom. To the fourth the
Prophets. To the fifth the Gospels, and to the sixth the canonical
Epistles.
Now in all these different classes of books we find the same assurance
made by God, that if we will but attend to our spiritual concerns, He
will see that our temporal affairs do not suffer. In one of the first
historical books we have this promise (Levit. xxvi. 3, 4, 5), "If ye
walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments and do them; then I will
give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and
the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and ye shall eat your
bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely." In the book of
Psalms David says (xxiv. 9), "O fear the Lord, ye that are His saints:
for they that fear Him lack nothing," and again (xlv. 23), "O cast thy
burden upon the Lord, and He will nourish thee." In the books that
deal with Wisdom we have (Proverbs x. 3) "The Lord will not suffer the
soul of the righteous to famish." In the Prophets (Isai i. 19), "If ye
be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land." In the
Gospels (S. Matt. vi. 33), "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." In the
Epistles (Pet. v. 7), "Cast all your care upon Him, for He careth for
you."
We are generally perfectly satisfied when we have an agreement drawn
out between man and man,--one promise on one scrap of paper is enough,
but here we have at least five, and I could produce you plenty of
others, yet, because it is a bond signed by God, you mistrust it, O ye
of little faith. You will take a bond signed by a Jew, but not one
signed by God.
II. "Your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these
things." Is God not our Father? There is no Father like to Him, no
Father loves us as He does. If He loves us, will He not care for us?
What good father will neglect his child, and deny it those things that
are necessary for it? Ask any little boy whom you see in rags, 'My
child, why are you in rags? What will you do to get a new suit? You
have nothing of your own.' Certainly, his natural and proper answer
should be, 'I will ask my father. He will supply me.' When a child is
hungry, whither should it go? To whom should it apply? To its father.
Why then do not we trust our Heavenly Father as any little child will
trust its father on earth? Yet we know that He is our Father, and is,
as S. Paul says, "rich in mercies" Our Lord bids us look at the birds
of the air. Who feeds them? Their Creator. Will He not then care for
us far more, who are His noblest creatures?
III. A great poetical and satirical writer (Horace) says that this was
the popular maxim of his day, "Seek money first, and be good
afterwards." [1] What he had the boldness to say, a great people have
the boldness to do. They leave the kingdom of Heaven to be sought,
after they have spent their lives in seeking the things of this world.
But the things of this world sought without God will not profit.
When Isaac set his sons to bring him venison, that he might bless them
and die, Jacob arrived first with the savoury meat; then Isaac lifted
up his voice and blessed his son; "God give thee of the dew of Heaven,
and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine." Afterwards
Esau came in with venison. And when he saw that his brother had
received the first blessing, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter
cry, and said unto his father, "Bless me, even me also, O my father."
Then Isaac said to him, "Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of
the earth, and of the dew of Heaven from above." Each had the same,
the richness of golden harvests, the abundance of fruit, and the soft
dews and rains in their season. But there was a notable difference,
adapted to the characters of the two brothers. Esau was a profane man,
he disregarded divine things. He was ready to sell his birthright, his
privilege to be the forefather of Messiah, for a mess of pottage. He
cared not for God, neither was God in all his thoughts. It was
otherwise with Jacob, he regarded God, he sought God, he saw God in the
visions of the night, he strove with God in prayer. He had set God
always before him. And thus these several blessings were apportioned
to them. Esau had the fatness of the earth and the dew of Heaven,
Jacob also had the fatness of the earth and the dew of Heaven, but
Isaac said to Jacob alone "_God give thee_ all these things." To Esau
only "Thou shalt get for thyself all these things." God before all to
Jacob, and all these things added unto him. All these things to Esau,
and God nowhere.
CONCLUSION.--And now, my brethren, try to trust God more. Do not give
up all thought to the concerns of this life, but leave them somewhat on
the hands of God, whilst you consider the concerns of your soul. You
will not suffer for it. "If ye be willing and obedient, and seek the
kingdom of Heaven, He will nourish thee."
[1] "Quaerenda pecunia primum, virtus post nummos."
LIII.
_THE CONTEMPLATION OF DEATH._
16th Sunday after Trinity.
S. Luke vii. 12.
"Behold, there was a dead man carried out."
INTRODUCTION.--The name of the village where the miracle was wrought
which is recorded in this day's Gospel, was Nain, and the meaning of
the name is "Pleasant" or "Beautiful." A sweet little village, you can
picture it to yourself where you like, in the East, anywhere in Europe,
here in England, it is all the same, an "Auburn" among villages, with
thatched cottages, and green pastures, and the cows coming home lowing
in the evening, when the curfew tolls the knell of passing day. The
grey church tower peeping above the lime trees, and the rooks cawing
and wheeling above the old trees. The trim gardens blazing with
hollyhocks and large white lilies, and the orchards with the apples
shewing their rosy cheeks to the sun. The bell is slowly
tolling--"Behold, a dead man is carried out." Who is it? To-day a
young man, the only son of his mother, and she a widow. To-morrow the
old squire, who can no more mount his cob and go after the hounds, his
whip and red coat are laid aside, and the bell is going. "Behold, a
dead man is carried out." Again the Sexton is working in the
church-yard, and turning up the fresh smelling earth. The bell is
going. For what? Up the steps and along under the avenue come little
girls about a tiny coffin, over which is cast a white pall, and on
which lies a wreath of white hyacinths. "Behold, a dead child is
carried out, the darling of its father." And now the yellow leaves are
falling, and are heaped about the feet of the limes, and fall through
the warm damp air, that smells of dying vegetation, and the priest
stands in surplice waiting in the path, and the dead leaves drop on the
coffin as it is borne along. Who is this? "Behold a dead woman is
carried out, an aged mother, with her weeping grown up sons and
daughters and grandchildren all in black following."
SUBJECT.--It is not a pleasant thing to think of, and yet it is well
for you to contemplate, that some day the same question will be asked
as the church bell tolls, Who is this? Who is dead? And the same
answer will come, "Behold, a dead man is carried out," and that will be
you. Nothing is more commonplace than to say that we must all die, and
nothing is less realised and taken to heart and acted upon.
I. That procession the Saviour met, was coming out of Nain, the
"Pleasant," the "Beautiful." And so, every dead man is carried out of
what is a Nain to him, a pleasant, beautiful world. It is a pleasant,
beautiful world. We cannot deny it. God made it and pronounced it
very good. It has in it many unpleasantnesses, it has in it much that
is ugly, but there is pleasure and beauty in it still, the traces of
its own loveliness before sin drew furrows in its face and saddened its
heart. A very Nain it is. We are now in Autumn, and the leaves are
turning fast. The dogwood leaves are bright carmine, and the maple
yellow as sulphur, the last flowers are out in the hedges, the pink
cranesbill and the blue oxtongue which will hang on till after
Christmas. The elder which was so white and fragrant in May, is
covered now with purple berries, and the ash is hung with scarlet
beads, so bright, so many, and so beautiful, that the swallows are
hovering round them all day impatient to begin, and improvident of the
future. Nature even in its decay is beautiful, and what was it in
spring? Remember the primroses out on every bank, and the anemones in
the wood, and the blue flush of wild hyacinths in the coppice! Verily,
we are in Nain, a pleasant and beautiful place. Alas! alas! my
brother! my sister! Behold there will be a dead man, a dead woman
carried out from it, to see it no more, and that will be one of us. Is
it sad? Yes, no doubt it is.
II. But though sad, the thought of it must not be put away. S. Paul
says, "We have the sentence of death in ourselves." We carry about in
us ever the doom--we are sentenced men--and the sword will fall on us
some day. The story is told of a Norwegian king that he promised to
give a young nobleman any reward he chose to ask for, because of
something he had done for him. Then the young man boldly asked for the
hand of the princess, the only child and heiress to the kingdom. The
king answered him, "Yes! I have promised. You shall have her hand,
and lose your head, the same day." Then a grand wedding was prepared.
And a stately procession moved to the church, of the bride in white,
and the bridegroom in his most gallant apparel, but as he went along,
he heard a sound of a file from the executioner's room, who was
sharpening his axe. And he stood before the altar with his bride, and
the priest joined their hands,--but all the while the executioner was
sharpening his axe. Then the bells of the city pealed, and the heralds
blew their trumpets, and the people shouted, and girls strewed flowers
in the path, and their way went by the executioner's lodging where he
was still engaged on his axe. Then there was a great feast, and wine
flowed, and the most dainty meats were put on table; it was a hot day,
and the windows were open, and above the din of tongues and laughter,
came the thud of a hammer. In the courtyard of the palace the
executioner was setting up the scaffold. And after the banquet came a
grand ball, and the rooms were lighted up, and the ball-room was hung
with festoons of flowers, and the bride and bridegroom led the dance,
but ever as they danced they turned their heads and looked out of the
window, and saw the scaffold, which was being draped in black. At
length, in the midst of all the merriment, the bell began to toll, and
the door flew open, and before all the dancers stood the executioner
with his axe in hand and a black mask over his face, and he beckoned to
the bridegroom to come. "And behold a living man was carried out--to
die."
My Brethren, it is not so very different with us. We carry about the
sentence of death in ourselves. Whatever we do, wherever we go, the
sentence of death is in us. You do your work. You are ploughing the
field and whistling, and you carry, as you make the furrow, the
sentence of death in yourself. You are busy about your house-work,
good-wife, sweeping, dusting, mending, scouring, cooking,--and all the
while you have the sentence of death in yourself. You have a holiday,
and go on a pic-nic, and laugh, and are merry, and come back under the
evening sky singing and making jokes--but you carry with you to your
pic-nic and back again the sentence of death in yourselves.
III. Now if this be so, how ought we to live? Ought we to thrust the
thought away from us as horrible? Ought it to mar our happiness?
Ought it to disquiet us in our work? Far from it. Nain is a pleasant
and beautiful place, but there is one more pleasant and more beautiful,
where the leaves do not fall, nor the flowers wither, where no sickness
comes, and where no dead men are carried out. Let us look to that, the
new Jerusalem, the Heavenly City, the vision of peace, and that will
banish our sadness, we shall not be downcast at leaving so much that is
pleasant behind, but rejoice that we pass on from things temporal to
things eternal.
No! we shall not be saddened by the contemplation of death, but we
shall be made more earnest to use this world without abusing it, to
make the most of our opportunities, to redeem the time because the days
are evil, to run our race temperately, and not uncertainly, and so to
run that we may obtain the incorruptible crown, that we may attain to
the goal, the prize of our high calling.
LIV.
_HUMILITY._
17th Sunday after Trinity.
S. Luke, xiv. 2.
"Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth
himself shall be exalted."
INTRODUCTION.--Both Isaiah, Ezekiel, and the apostle John saw in vision
the glory of Heaven and the throne of God, and near it four beasts,
"full of eyes, within and without." That is to say the beasts saw all
that was within them as well as all that was outside them. Most of us
here on earth are very different. We are full of eyes without, we see
everything that is going on among our neighbours, and a great deal
which is not there also, but we have no eyes for seeing anything
within, and we know nothing of ourselves, our own faults, and our own
errors.
We see every wrong thing done by a neighbour, we have eyes for this,
but we see no wrong done by ourselves, we have no eyes for that. We
see all the weakness of others, we have eyes for this, but we see none
of our own weakness, we have no eyes for that. We see all the folly of
others, we have eyes for this, but for our own stupid acts and words we
are blind, we have no eyes for that. It would be better if we were
well supplied with eyes within, instead of so many eyes without. It
would be better for our neighbours, and it would be better for
ourselves. In to-day's Gospel we hear of the chief Pharisees watching
Christ. They had eyes for that. They watched Him to find occasion
against Him. But that they were hypocrites and perverters of the law,
they knew not. They had no eyes for this.
SUBJECT.--The first shall be last, and the last first, says our Lord.
That is, those who have eyes without only, for the rest of the world,
who see themselves as perfect, and have no eyes for their own defects,
shall find themselves hereafter at the foot of the ladder, and those
who have eyes within, seeing their own weakness, shortcomings, falls,
who have therefore been humble, and esteemed others more highly than
themselves, these will be exalted to the top of the ladder.
I. Most men value themselves more highly than they have any right, and
value themselves very often for those things which are not their own,
they take the honour paid to their possessions, as though due to
themselves.