children, as the master so his men, as the mistress so her household.
This is not indeed a rule without exceptions, but as a general rule it
holds.
No man liveth and dieth to himself, we are all members one of another,
and we all influence the conduct of others, and determine their
careers, more than we ourselves imagine. It is not, indeed, always
true that good parents have good children, but it is generally the
case. It is not always that bad parents have bad children, but it is
exceptional when it is otherwise. Indeed, the virtues of parents
become in some way inherent in their offspring, and the vices of
parents last in the blood of their children, and even descend to their
children's children. How often is this the case with a tendency to
drink! Although the child may have lost his parent young, and not seen
his bad example, yet he has in him a yearning after stimulants, and
very often becomes a drunkard like his father.
SUBJECT.--Let us, to-day, consider the effect of the example of parents
on their children; and of teachers on their pupils.
I. There is a striking passage in the fifth chapter of S. John which
may not hitherto have attracted your attention. One Sabbath Day our
Blessed Lord went to Bethesda, and there healed a man who had had an
infirmity thirty and eight years. He healed him, and bade him take up
his bed, and walk. The Jews were wroth, and said, "It is the Sabbath
Day, it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed." Then we are told the
Jews did persecute Jesus, and sought to slay Him, because He had done
these things on the Sabbath Day. "But Jesus answered them: My Father
worketh hitherto, and I work." That is to say--My Father worketh on
the Sabbath, He sends His rain, He makes the grass to grow, He feeds
the young ravens, He causes the sun to rise and set, He works good to
all creatures, feeds, and heals, and as I see my Father act, so,
naturally, as a Son, I act also. Whatsoever the Son seeth the Father
do, He doeth likewise. The argument of the Jews avails nothing, that
as the man has lain infirm for thirty-eight years, he may lie another
twelve hours. "My Father worketh hitherto good on the Sabbath, and
therefore I work." It matters nothing what the Law may enjoin, nor how
strict may be the tradition of the Pharisees, "My Father worketh good
on the Sabbath, and therefore I work." Our Lord produces this as an
argument against which there can be no resistance, to which there can
be no reply, an argument commending itself to every man's
understanding--to universal experience--As the father acts, so acts the
son. The example of the father is the law of right and wrong to the
child.
Do you know the fable of the crab and his children? The crab was sore
distressed to see his little ones run crookedly on the sand of the sea
shore, so he said, "My sons, walk straight!" "Yes," answered the
little crabs, "lead thou the way, father, and we will follow thy
footsteps."
Is it a wonder to you, a wonder and a distress, that your sons do not
turn out well, that they go to the public-house too much, and that they
are idle workmen, that they swear and use foul language? If you wish
them to grow up differently, it is of no use saying to them, "My sons,
walk straight!" you must lead the way, that they may follow.
Is it a wonder and grief to a mother that her girls become giddy,
frivolous, and unsteady, and perhaps cause her shame? Do you want them
to be quiet, to stay at home, and be neat, modest, unselfish girls?
then do not be giddy and a gadabout yourself. "Lead thou the way,
mother, and they will follow."
Do you, parents, find that your children ramble about the lanes with
idle companions instead of coming to Church on Sundays, that they do
not love the worship of God, that they do not fear God, and reverence
His sanctuary? Do you want them to be God-fearing, pious, consistent
Christians? Then do you lead the way and they will follow.
Do you want your boys and girls to hold a check on their tongues, and
not to be always wrangling and snapping at one another, scolding, and
finding fault, and quarrelling? Then do you lead the way, that they
may follow. Lead the way by keeping a check on your tongues, by being
gentle and forbearing--you, husband and wife, one with another, not
given to railing, but, contrariwise, to blessing.
II. You may have observed how often in Holy Scripture the expression
recurs, "The God of your Father," or "The God of your Fathers," "The
God of my Father," or "of my Fathers." This is a remarkable
expression. Is God short of Names that He should be thus designated?
Might He not be better termed Almighty, Everlasting, Jehovah? The
expression is of such frequent recurrence that it must have a
meaning--and this is what it means. There is such a thing as an
hereditary religion. As a man regards God, so will his children regard
Him. If a man is reverent and devout, and shows that he honours God,
and regards Him as a just and righteous God, hating iniquity, and
rewarding all those who keep His commandments, then his children will
grow up regarding God as just and righteous; but if a man thinks of God
as indifferent to righteousness, as so ready in His kindness to forgive
everything, and let men do what they like, that He will pardon them for
any and everything they do, then his sons will grow up looking on God
as the great Author of moral disorder among men. If a man regards God
as expecting worship and honour, then the sons will grow up with the
same idea of God, and will worship and honour Him, and if a man has no
God at all, then his sons will also have no God at all.
III. In Exodus God threatens that He will "visit the iniquity of the
fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the
third and to the fourth generations." In like manner He blesses a
whole posterity for the righteousness of their parents. You see now
how and why this is. It is because when a father and mother are
wicked, their children grow up wicked also, and their children's
children, till the whole family dies out through its vicious habits, or
there rises out of it some redeeming element of good.
In the same way good parents have good children, and these good
children marry, and have also good offspring, and so the goodness of
one pious and righteous pair goes on descending and spreading like a
fertilizing river, bearing blessings to all who are near it. What an
encouragement this is to you parents to lead God-fearing lives! What a
warning to those of you who are careless! The belief of the ruler
brought belief to his whole house. The salvation of Zacchaeus brought
salvation to his whole house also. Righteousness may bring a blessing
to your children, and children's children, for many generations.
LIX.
_THE PREACHER AND HIS HEARERS._
22nd Sunday after Trinity.
S. Matthew xviii. 23.
"The kingdom of Heaven is likened unto a certain king, which would take
account of his servants."
INTRODUCTION.--I have been a good deal abroad, over the Continent of
Europe, and whenever I am in a little country inn, I make a point of
going into the room where the men are smoking and drinking wine or
beer, and hearing their opinions on the politics of the day, and of
their country. Now, my experience tells me that in country taverns in
France, and Germany, and Belgium, and Switzerland, and Austria, the
main topic of discussion is--the Parsons. I have not been much about
in this way in England, but I have an idea that it is pretty nearly the
same here. What I have heard often said is this, "Nothing easier than
to preach!" "Ah! they are always preaching at us, it is a pity that
they do not preach to themselves." "Ah! if they would only practice
what they preach, we would listen more readily."
SUBJECT.--To-day I am going to preach to the preacher, to myself, at
least in the first part of my sermon, and you may sit and listen.
After that, I will have a word with you. In to-day's Gospel we hear
that the king will take account of his servants, that is, God will take
account of all those who are His servants, first with those who are His
special Ministers, the Clergy, and preachers of His Word, and secondly,
of those who are the hearers.
I. Now, let me see what God expects of a preacher, and what I ought to
be and to do. S. Paul says: "We preach Christ crucified." That is the
first thing I am bound to do. I must remember to do that. Then, S.
Luke says that Jesus was "mighty in word and deed," and as Christ has
sent us even as He was sent by the Father, so must we preachers be
mighty, as far as we can, both in word and deed, we must speak boldly
and vigorously, and we must act in the same way, we must practice what
we preach. That is a great deal expected of us. If we were only to
preach up to the level of our own lives, it would be easier. But the
preaching goes first; we must preach the highest virtue, and then try
to live up to that. S. John the Baptist was set before us as an
example of a preacher, and "he was a burning and a shining light." We
preachers must give you doctrine which not only shines but also burns,
we must not only enlighten your minds by teaching, but also burn your
consciences. We must instruct the intellect, and warm and fire the
heart. That is requiring a great deal of us. "He maketh his ministers
a burning fire," says David, and S. Paul quotes his words approvingly.
It is a pleasant thing to enlighten, but to burn is not so pleasant.
Yet that is what we preachers are bound to do, we must not speak to you
smooth things, but those things which will sting you and make you arise
and cry out. Not only what you like, but a great deal that you do not
like. That is what is demanded of a preacher.
Then again he must not "use the Word of God deceitfully," twisting it
to enforce what is not God's truth, but his own fancy. We read that at
the trial of Christ there were found two false witnesses who declared
that Christ had said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days will I
build it up." Now when we look at S. John's Gospel we find that He did
say this. How, then, were they false witnesses? They were false
witnesses because they gave His words a meaning He never intended them
to have. He spoke of the temple of His body; they made His words apply
to the temple of Jerusalem.
Moses desired that his preaching might be as the dew. "My doctrine
shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small
rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass" (Deut.
xxxii. 2.) Very pleasant it would be to speak so that one's words came
down like the dew, or even as the small rain on the tender grass. You
would like that, and so would I. You would hold up your heads like the
flowers, and drink the dewy doctrine in. But stay! "As the showers
upon the grass" as well, says Moses. It will not do for the preacher
to speak only gently; his words must come pattering about your heads
like a driving April shower, when you will shrink from the rain and
hide to get out of the way. The preacher must pour out on you a good
strong shower of hard words.
But that is not all. He must use the Word of the Lord as a sword.
"The Word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than a two-edged
sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and of spirit, and
is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." How will the
hearers like that? The preacher must not ask that, he must use the
Word as it is given him, whether his hearers like it or whether they do
not.
There was at one time at Coimbra two famous preachers, and all the town
ran to hear them; but some thought A. was the best preacher, and some
thought that B. was the best. It was discussed among the professors of
the University, and then it was found that they were divided--some
liked A., and others preferred B.; then an old professor spoke, "I will
tell you what I think. I have heard them both, and have formed my
opinion. When I have listened to a sermon by A., I come away highly
pleased with the preacher; when I come away from a sermon by B., I am
heartily disgusted with myself." Then you see which was the true
preacher. A. sought his own glory and to show his talent, B. only
considered the souls of those he was speaking to.
And now I have said what a preacher ought to speak, and also how he
ought to act. I do not think it is so easy a matter, if he be a
faithful preacher.
II. Now then I turn to you, the hearers. Be ye not hearers of the
Word, but doers. The word preached you will not profit unless you take
hold of it.
One day Agilmund, King of the Lombards, was riding past a river. At
that time it was customary for heathen mothers to drown those of their
children whom they did not care to rear. He saw floating down the
rapid stream a number of little crying babes in baskets in which they
had been cast in. The king's heart was touched, and he went to the
edge of the river where there was a pool and an eddy, and he knelt down
and held out his spear to the children; then one of them extended his
little hands and clasped hold of the spear, and clung to it, and the
king very gently and carefully drew the spear to him with the little
fellow holding tight to it. But all the other babes merely cried and
sank into the water. Then he carried home the child in his arms,
adopted him as his son, and made him his heir to the kingdom.
Now all the preacher can do for you, swimming down the great river of
time, threatened with death, is to hold out the Word to you. He cannot
save you. He cannot do more for you than that. You must lay hold and
cling tight to the Word.
But why do I say the preacher? It is Jesus Christ Himself who really
extends the Word to you, and He will save you if you hold fast to it,
and bring you through the waters, and land you in His country, and
exalt you to His kingdom.
LX.
_THE IMAGE OF SELF._
23rd Sunday after Trinity.
S. Matthew xxii., 20.
"Whose is this image?"
INTRODUCTION.--Some people are very fond of contemplating their own
excellencies, of admiring their good qualities, or their success in
life; they will talk to you of what they have done, how they made this
lucky hit, how they outwitted so-and-so, how they escaped such a danger
by their foresight. But they are not fond of considering their
imperfections, of lamenting their faults, of confessing their failures,
their lost opportunities, their neglected duties, their grave
transgressions. No, no! they do not see them, they see only their own
good qualities and none of their blemishes, they extol their successes,
and hold their tongues over their failures.
SUBJECT.--But it would be well for us to contemplate ourselves as we
really are, and see ourselves in the light in which we are seen by God,
for the Apostle says: "If we would judge ourselves, we shall not be
judged," that is, if we would only see ourselves with all our defects,
and repent our faults here, and judge ourselves and go and amend, then
we should escape the judgment hereafter.
I. King David says, in the 51st Psalm, "I acknowledge my faults, and
my sin is ever before me." Now, think of this! If any man had
occasion to boast it was King David. He had been a poor sheep-boy
attending the flocks of his father, a farmer at Bethlehem, and he was
taken from the sheepfolds and exalted to be king. What an exaltation
for him from a humble origin to the highest place! He might well look
back on that with exultation; but no, a shadow steps between and clouds
the view, "My sin is ever before me."
I daresay his palace walls were hung with tapestry, or painted in
colours with pictures representing his deeds. There he was shewn
fighting the bear, there taking the lamb from the lion's mouth, and
smiting him. There he was pictured with his sling going against the
giant Goliath. There he was represented standing over the fallen
Philistine and hewing off his head. Look! another picture! his
marriage with Michal, the daughter of King Saul. "Whose is this
image?" It is that of the conqueror over Amalek. "Whose is this
image?" It is David crowned king of Judah in Hebron. And here is a
goodly picture; of whom is it? This is David anointed King over all
Israel. There is another! David defeating the Philistines in the
battle under the mulberry trees. There is one more! "Whose is this
image?" It is that of David bringing the ark from Kirjath-jearim, and
playing his harp and dancing before it. What a goodly array of
pictures! All--all about the glories and successes of David. David
paces idly through the halls, he sees the tapestries and paintings, but
he regards them not, "My sin is ever before me." He sees only one
picture, which is not upon the wall, which the flattering painter has
omitted, his guilt with Bathsheba.
He goes to war in his armour, and takes the city of Rabbah. He carries
off the crown of the king and puts it on his own head. The spoil of
the city is great. In the turmoil of battle, in the flush of victory,
"My sin is ever before me."
He flees before his enemies, before his rebellious son, and is in
hiding in the wilderness with a few faithful friends, and then there
rises up before him the remembrance of his great transgression, and
weighs down his heart. "My sin is ever before me."
In joy, in sorrow, in prosperity and in distress it is always the same.
"Whose is this image?" It is that of a great king, a mighty warrior, a
sweet poet,--"No, no!" says David, "It is the image of a grievous
sinner. My sin is ever before me. Let no man call me a good king, I
gave over the innocent Uriah to the sword, and took from him his
beloved wife. Let no man call me a just man, I divided the land of
Mephibosheth with his false, lying slave Ziba, because it went against
my pride to go back from what I had said. Let no man call me merciful,
when I tortured the Ammonites cruelly, putting them under saws, and
under harrows and axes of iron, and made them pass through the
brickkiln. Let no man speak of me as a conqueror, when I was miserably
conquered by my wicked passions."
My brethren! I wish that you would see yourselves in the way in which
David did. I wish that instead of turning away your eyes from those
pictures in your life which do you no honour, you would look at them
with shame. I wish that instead of boasting yourselves as the image of
all perfections, you would see yourselves as sinners.
II. There was a painter called Bonamico, who was engaged by Cardinal
Aretino to paint a series of pictures in his chapel. He began with a
beautiful fresco of Jesus Christ. A day or two afterwards, when he
came to his work in the morning, he found his picture smeared all over
with dabs of colour, red, and black, and blue, and yellow, and utterly
defaced and spoiled. The painter was so angry that he refused to go on
with his work till the culprit was found. A watch was set, and then it
was discovered who had done it. When the painter had left the chapel,
a pet ape of Aretino's came in, and having during the day seen the
artist at work, he took up brush and colours, and began, in mischief or
in imitation, to daub over what the painter had executed.
"Whose is this image?" You were made in the image of God, and redeemed
by Christ. Whose is the image? You are expected to grow to the
stature of the fulness of Christ, to be like Christ, but alas! the
Devil, or your evil passions, deface the image, and obliterate the
likeness. Can I see anything like Christ in you? Where are the traces
of the divine image? I know what Christ is. "I am meek and lowly of
heart." Where is your meekness? Some ape has daubed self-conceit over
it, and I see nothing else but his bold colours. "He shall not strive
nor cry, neither shall any man hear his voice in the street." Where is
this quietness and unobtrusiveness in you? Do I not hear angry words
and quarrelling? Some ape has daubed out this feature of the Saviour.
"I am come not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me."
Where is this readiness to submit to the will of God? Do I not see an
eager following of your own wills? Surely also this characteristic of
the Son of God is effaced.
CONCLUSION.--My brethren, one chief reason why we should see ourselves
as we really are is, that we might be able by penitence to wipe out the
ugly smears that deface the divine image, and that we might go on to
perfection, becoming daily more like unto Him who is our pattern, so
that at the Last Day, when we wake up, it will be with the likeness
complete, for "we shall be like Him."
LXI.
_DREAD OF RIDICULE._
24th Sunday after Trinity.
S. Matt. ix. 24.
"And they laughed Him to scorn."
INTRODUCTION.--"All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer
persecution" (2 Tim. iii. 12.) This is what S. Paul says. This is
what everyone of you must make up your mind to, if you intend to live
godly lives, and, moreover, to live in Christ. Do you know what that
meant to the early Christians? It meant that if they were going to be
firm in their faith, live up to their profession, and eschew evil, they
should be dragged before governors, and hung on what was called the
"little horse," and their flesh torn with redhot pincers. It meant
that they should be scourged to death, or that they should be roasted
alive over slow fires, or that they should be gored in the amphitheatre
by a bull, or torn to pieces by a lion, or that they should have their
skin taken off, or that their heads should be struck off, or that they
should be crucified. So when they were baptized and professed the
Creed, and were signed with the cross, they knew that they were
enlisted to suffer persecution if they acted up to their profession,
and were worthy of the cross on their brows.
But this is not the sort of persecution you will be subjected to. The
time of such cruel torture is over. The world has become Christian in
name, but in heart it is pagan still.
"_All_ that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."
S. Paul does not limit this to his day. It is not only all in the
first century, but all in the nineteenth century as well. Only this is
altered--the mode of persecution.
SUBJECT.--The persecution you will be subjected to, if you live godly
in Jesus Christ is--Ridicule. No one will make you suffer in the body.
No pincers and knives will be brought against you,--only Tongues.
I. Noah was ordered by God to build an ark on dry ground. Imagine the
ridicule he met with! How the people would flock out of an evening, to
see how he was getting on. What jibes! How he was tormented with
questions, When was the great boat to be launched? How was he to bring
the sea up to it? Was he with his three sons to put their shoulders to
it, and push it down to the seashore? But Noah did not heed them, he
went on with his building. It was very unpleasant to bear. It made
him very red with shame and annoyance sometimes. But he did not give
up. If he had done so, he would have been drowned. And one day the
flood came. The fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the
windows of heaven opened, and then the water overflowed the land.
Then!--how was it with those men and women who had made fun of Noah?
On whose side was the laugh now?