Sacraments of the Church, do we value them as we ought? Do we
understand the privilege and the blessing of having been baptised into
Christ's Holy Church, and made partakers of the resurrection of Jesus?
Do we appreciate the value of that Holy Sacrament, when we bring our
children to be baptised? Then think of that other Sacrament, the
blessed legacy of our dying Saviour's love, the Holy Food of us
travellers through the wilderness. Why are not all of you who hear me
now Communicants? Why should there be two classes among you; one class
of Church-goers only, the other of Church-goers who are Communicants?
Your Saviour offers you the highest of all blessings in that Sacrament,
He offers you Himself. Are you afraid to look upon God? You _must_
look on Him one day. Are you trying to live without the Precious Food
of the Altar? Man doth not live by bread alone; he _cannot_ live by
bread alone, unless God feeds him there is no life in him. As you turn
away from this Altar, and go to that other altar which you have raised
to some unworthy idol, does there come no reproach to you, no warning
voice--"What hast thou done? Give an account of thy stewardship." And
so with all the means of grace, we must give an account of them. Our
Confirmation, that solemn coming of age, when we were bidden to take
unto us the whole armour of God; have we remembered that, and all its
responsibilities? Our prayers in private, and our public worship in
Church, we must answer to God for them. When you are tempted to hurry
over your prayers, to say words with no heart, perhaps no meaning in
them; or when in Church you are silent and inattentive, instead of
throwing all your heart and mind into the act of worship; remember that
for all these things God will bring you into judgment, and will say,
"Give an account of thy stewardship." Is that your Bible on the shelf,
covered with tell-tale dust? Well, God lent you that good thing, and
He will ask for an account of your use of it, or your neglect.
Then again, God has sent you trials, sorrows, losses, as teachers who
warn you of your state. You must render an account for them. You
stood by the grave of someone stricken very suddenly by death. That
was a message sent to you by God, reminding you that man's time passeth
away like a shadow, and bidding you take heed to your ways. Did you
listen to the warning, my brother, and take heed? Some of you have
lost your money, others your health; some have seen their cherished
plans disappointed, their dearest wishes fail. All these are whispers
from God, warnings from the Unseen. Have you understood them? God
will ask you one day.
Again, God has given you bodies and minds _in trust_. You must give an
account of your use of them. Are you keeping those bodies of yours as
temples of the Holy Ghost, in purity, chastity, temperance? Or have
you defiled those holy temples with drunkenness and lust? "Give an
account of thy stewardship." Man of business, God has given you a
quick brain, a keen eye, an aptitude for you [Transcriber's note:
your?] calling. How are you using these things? Are you in your
business walking honestly, as in the day? Will your accounts bear
looking into by God's Eye? "Give an account of thy stewardship."
Fathers and mothers, God has given you children, souls precious in His
sight. Do you take good care of those souls? You clothe your
children, you feed them, you educate them; yes, but do you take care of
their _souls_? Do you educate them for Heaven? Do you give them that
best of all teaching--a good example? What if our children fall
through our fault, because we have set no good pattern before them!
What if they never get to Heaven because they have never seen _us_
walking in the right way! God grant that these solemn thoughts may
sink deeply into our hearts, and bear fruit of amendment, before the
day when God shall say to me who preach, and you who hearken--"Give an
account of thy stewardship."
SERMON XLV.
THE TEARS OF CHRIST.
(Tenth Sunday after Trinity.)
S. LUKE xix. 41.
"He beheld the city, and wept over it."
The saddest sight, save one, in the history of the world is that
pictured in the text--the Son of God weeping over the city which God
had chosen to put His Name there. Let us, in fancy, to-day look upon
the scene on which our Saviour looked, and recall the history of that
city which had lost sight of the things concerning her peace. No other
city in the world, not even Rome, has such a wonderful story as
Jerusalem. Looking back into the past we see the city as the
stronghold of the heathen Jebusites, perched on her rocky crest, and
holding out when every other fenced city had yielded to the arms of
David. The Jebusites were the last old inhabitants of the land to give
place to the conqueror; they trusted in the marvellous strength of
their position, where "they had made their nest in a rock." They
trusted in "the everlasting gates," which had never been forced by an
invader; and they declared boastfully that the blind and the lame were
strong enough to defend their citadel, and that David should not come
in thither. But, as we know, the day came when David attacked the
city, and declared that the man who first smote the Jebusites should be
chief and captain, and that man was Joab. Still looking back over the
past, we see David solemnly consecrating the once heathen city to the
God of his Fathers. The Ark, the most sacred treasure which Israel
possessed, was brought home with solemn state and loud rejoicing after
its long exile. As the procession of Priests and Levites, with the
king and his chief captains, wound up the steep ascent, there rose the
famous shout which Israel had so often uttered in the wilderness--"Let
God arise, and let His enemies be scattered. Arise, O Lord, into Thy
rest, Thou and the Ark of Thy strength." And as the Ark is borne
nearer to the ancient gates, which once defended the heathen Jebusite
against all foes, a new cry is raised--"Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
and be lift up ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come
in." And so the Ark entered into Jerusalem, henceforth the Holy City,
of which God said, "The Lord had chosen Zion, He hath desired it for
His habitation." Still looking at this Jerusalem of the past, we see
the same David fallen from his high estate, sore punished for his sin,
weeping for the dying child of His shame, fleeing from the city before
the threats of another son whom he had loved "not wisely, but too
well." Then we see the buildings of the temple rising high above
palace and homestead, and mark the glory, and the wisdom, and the
weakness of Solomon. Later we see clouds of sin and sorrow gathering
thick over Zion. Idolatrous kings have set up their heathen altars and
high places. Of nearly every monarch the same dark sentence is
recorded--he did "that which was evil in the sight of the Lord." The
days come when we see the Temple of God closed; no sound of Psalm, no
smoke of incense within its walls. Men burn sacrifices to Baal and
Ashtaroth, and the Valley of Hinnom echoes with the cries of hapless
children offered to Moloch, the hideous idol of the Ammonite. We see
the Ark of God cast out of the holy of holies, the name of Jehovah
removed from every public document, the altars of God overthrown, and
His Priests slain with the sword. Even to-day they point to the
mulberry tree of Isaiah, where one of the greatest of the prophets was
slain in the Valley of Kedron. Still looking back, we see the hand of
the spoiler and the oppressor busy with the city which had forgotten
God--forgotten the things which concerned its peace. The ruined walls,
the desecrated temple, the mournful band of exiles, all these seem to
pass before us like a dream. Then for a time come brighter scenes, as
Israel returns from its exile, and with joyful Psalms sings, "Let them
rejoice whom the Lord hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy, and
gathered them out of all lands."
Such was the Jerusalem of the past, over which the Son of God gazed and
wept. What was the Jerusalem of the present, on which He looked; what
of the future? It was a doomed city, because in spite of all its
chances, its warnings, its opportunities, it repented not. Its Rulers
and Chief Priests refused to hear the Word of God spoken by the
Messiah. What the common people listened to gladly, what the fishermen
of Galilee, and the sick and sorrowing rejoiced to hear, Jerusalem
rejected. And so Jerusalem was doomed. Over gorgeous temple, stately
palace, and quiet home alike was written Ichabod--thy glory is
departed. Already the axe was laid to the root of the tree; already
the sentence had gone forth, "cut it down: why cumbereth it the
ground?" Already the hand of the destroyer was upon the city; the
Roman eagle glittered amid the halls of Zion, and the once glorious
sceptre had departed from Judah. Over such a city Jesus wept. And
what of the future? The end came soon. Quickly the Jews filled up the
measure, of their sins. Little thought they, as they watched with jibe
and insult the agonies of God's Son, that those streets of theirs
should run red with the blood of their best and bravest. That famine,
and pestilence, and treachery, and civil war should all attack them
within, whilst the Roman hosts surrounded them without. Little they
thought that the temple where Jesus had been presented, where He had
talked with the doctors, where He had taught such wondrous lessons,
should be burned by the hand of the enemy; that its altars should drip
with Jewish blood; the abomination of desolation stand in the holy
place, and the golden candlestick grace a victor's triumph in the
streets of Rome. Little thought those cruel men, who crucified the
Lord of Life, that within a while the Romans should crucify their
brethren outside the walls of Jerusalem, till there was no wood left to
make a cross. "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this day,
the things which belong to thy peace! But now they are hid from thine
eyes!"
Brothers, those tears of Jesus should be very precious and very
terrible to us. Precious, because they teach us the sympathy, the
tenderness of Christ; terrible, because they show us the awfulness of
sin. What must sin be like if it made God weep! Are there no cities,
no towns, among us over which Jesus might shed tears? Think of the
crimes of our great busy centres of wealth and commerce; think of the
fraud and falsehood which too often disgrace our trade; think of the
selfish, cruel struggle for wealth, in which the weak are trampled down
and ruined; think of the shameful scenes which night after night make
our streets hideous, and then ask whether or not Jesus weeps. And more
than this, let us bring the matter home to ourselves. Each one of us
is, so to speak, a city, a temple of the living God. We have been
consecrated to Him in Baptism, as was Jerusalem by the coming of the
Ark. God has promised that He will dwell in us. Are we trying to keep
our lives pure and holy, remembering that we are the temples of the
Holy Ghost? Is God dwelling in the holy of holies of our heart, or
have we cast Him out, like Israel of old, to make room for some
unworthy idol? A man's god is that which he loves, admires, and trusts
to most. It may be money, it may be pleasure, or fame, or beauty:
these are all idols.
Brethren, who is your God? Who dwells in the secret place, the holy of
holies of your heart? God's people Israel were commanded to keep the
sacred fire always burning upon the altar of sacrifice. It was never
to go out. It was to be fed daily with wood, and with sacrifices of a
sweet-smelling savour. It is supposed that this sacred fire was kept
burning for a period of eight hundred years, till the reign of the
wicked king Manasseh. From his days, when the fire was suffered to go
out, the nation fell lower and lower into absolute ruin. When we were
baptised, the sacred fire of the Holy Spirit came down upon the altar
of our hearts. Are we keeping that holy flame alight? Are we feeding
it with offerings of self-sacrifice and love; offerings of a
sweet-smelling savour to God? If we have allowed the sacred fire to
die out of our hearts God is no longer there. Our life is like the
desecrated temple of the Jews, silent, abandoned by all, except by foul
things which dwell in desolate places. Oh! that our eyes were open to
see our true state; to see the things concerning our peace, before the
fatal day when they shall be hid for ever from our eyes!
An ancient legend tells us that the Centurion who pierced our Lord's
side at the crucifixion was a soldier named Longinus, and that he was
blind. When the Blood poured from the wounded side of Jesus it was
sprinkled on the blind eyes of the Centurion, and he received his sight
and testified, "Of a truth this was the Son of God."
May that same Precious, Redeeming Blood open our eyes to see our sin,
and to know Jesus as our Saviour. Then we shall ask Him to come into
the temple of our heart, as He went into the Jewish temple of old, and
to cast out all those evil demons of lust, and selfishness, and pride,
and envy which defile the shrine of our body. We shall ask Him to
cleanse and purify the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of His
Holy Spirit. We shall ask Him to break down the idols which we have
set up in His Holy Place, and to overthrow the altars reared to self.
We shall pray that the sacred fire may once more be kindled, and the
sacrifice and oblation of our love once more offered, since "the
sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O
God, shalt Thou not despise."
Brethren, if we have caused Jesus to weep over our lives, to weep over
our wasted chances and neglected opportunities; if He has mourned over
the city of our life, wherein we have crucified Him afresh, let us turn
to Him now. Those tears tell us of His love, His mercy, His great
pitifulness. Let our prayer be now--"O be favourable and gracious unto
Zion; build Thou the walls of Jerusalem. Lord, hear our prayer, and
let our cry come unto Thee."
SERMON XLVI.
THE GRACE OF GOD.
(Eleventh Sunday after Trinity.)
1 COR. xv. 10.
"By the Grace of God I am what I am."
In the Epistle and Gospel of the day we read the words of two
Pharisees, who offer a very striking contrast. The one is S. Paul, the
great Apostle, who humbly declares that he is not fit to be called an
Apostle, because he had persecuted the Church of Christ. The other is
the nameless Pharisee of the parable, who trusted in himself, and
despised others. In the case of S. Paul we see the marks of a true
conversion, of a real repentance. He had been proud; as haughty and
vain of his religion as the Pharisee of the parable; but he had seen
his sin and repented of it, wherefore he abhorred himself. He had been
brought exceeding low, and then it was that he was accepted to be God's
Apostle. When he looked back upon his past life, the picture filled
him with shame, and humility. He recalled the day when they stoned S.
Stephen, and he was consenting to his death. He remembered how he had
seized innocent men and women, and dragged them to prison, merely
because they confessed Christ crucified. He knew that many a happy
family had been broken up; many a child torn from its mother's arms;
many a husband sent to chains and martyrdom, because of the faith of
Christ. And remembering these things, S. Paul forgets the glorious
work which he had since done for Jesus, and declares himself the least
of all Apostles, unworthy of the name. He does not, like that other
Pharisee, boast of his good deeds, but only declares humbly that it is
by the Grace of God that he is what he is. Here, then, we have a test
to try whether our repentance is real or not. When we look back upon
our past sins and failures, does the memory make us sad--make us
humble? If we do not hate our old sins our repentance is not true.
And again, if the recollection of our faults does not make us _humble_,
we have not really repented. Directly we find ourselves trusting in
our own righteousness, and despising others; boasting of what we were,
and what we are; walking through the world with our head lifted up, and
talking with a stiff neck, let us be sure that we are in great danger.
Let us get to our Lord right humbly, crying with the Publican "Lord, be
merciful to me, a sinner." Learn, too, from S. Paul's words, that if
we are trying to lead holy, gentle, pure lives, it is by God's grace
that we are what we are. Not by our own sword and our own right hand
have we gotten the victory. It is God's grace and help which alone
help us to lead a holy life. Let us think, then, how that grace may be
obtained. God's grace comes to us through certain channels ordained by
God Himself, and these are, speaking generally, the Sacraments and
Ordinances of the Church, Prayer, and the study of the Bible.
Let me speak of one special means of grace to-day--Confirmation. It
may be that there are some here who are not confirmed, and are not
willing to offer themselves for that holy rite. The hindrances which
keep people from Confirmation differ with different people. There is
one class of persons which will not be confirmed because it does not
care about God, or desire to lead a holy life. A young man or woman of
this class says, I mean to have my own way; I am not going to be tied
and bound by promises and vows; I shall do what I like, whether it be
right or wrong. Such persons are, I hope and believe, uncommon. Then
there is a second class of people, which is indifferent about
Confirmation, because it does not fully understand the blessings
belonging to it. These people have probably never been taught true
Church doctrine, and so they tell us that Confirmation may be a very
good thing, but they can do very well without it. They tell us that
they know such an one who has never been confirmed, and who is a very
good man. They assure us that they do not "hold with Confirmation;
they do not see the use of it." Precisely, they "do not hold" with it,
because they know nothing about it. Then there are others who form a
third class, who have grown up, grown old, perhaps, without being
confirmed, who tell us that they are too old now; that they have lived
all these years without Confirmation, and are all right, and that
therefore they see no reason why they should come forward.
Now, I will say a few words to each of these classes of people. First,
let me speak to those who refuse to be bound by any vow or promise,
because they do not care to lead a godly life. They imagine that if
they are not confirmed they are free to do as they like. But it is not
so. They are bound by the vows and promises of their Baptism, and they
cannot throw them aside. To such persons I say, you _are_ God's
children, signed with the Cross, pledged to lead a holy life. If you
make up your mind to have your own way, to do what you like, even
though it be wrong, then you commit a deadly sin. You are doing just
what Satan did, rebelling against God, and the wages of such sin is
death. Understand distinctly that, as baptised people, you belong to
God; if you sin, you sin against Jesus Christ; if you repent truly, God
will pardon you for Christ's sake; if you go on sinning, you will be
lost. If you say, I will not be confirmed, because then I shall be
free to do as I like, you will be committing deadly sin, and saying
what is not true also.
Next, I speak to those who are indifferent about Confirmation, because
they do not believe, or probably understand, the benefits belonging to
it. Let me speak very earnestly to them. I take it for granted that
you want to please God; that you want to lead good lives; to be saved,
to go to Heaven. You have been baptised, you bring your children to be
baptised. Well, Confirmation and Baptism are very closely connected.
Baptism _gives us life_; Confirmation strengthens us to _live that
life_. Baptism is only the beginning of life. You know we have two
kinds of life: that of the soul, and that of the body. When we are
born our bodies are alive, but our souls are dead in trespasses and
sins; we are spiritually dead. Now life is the gift of God the Holy
Ghost; in the Creed we speak of the Holy Spirit as "The Lord, and Giver
of life." In Baptism, God the Holy Spirit comes to us, we are born
again of water and the Holy Ghost, we become new creatures. We are no
longer children of sin, but children of God, and heirs of eternal life.
Thus we begin our spiritual existence, and commence to walk in the
narrow way. But not all who are baptised go on leading a holy life.
It does not follow that because we are born again we shall be saved.
We have been made God's children, but we may become prodigals, and
leave our Father's House. We have been made heirs of everlasting
salvation, but we may forfeit our inheritance. What we need is
strength to keep on the right way, to persevere to the end, to resist
the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Now think
specially about Confirmation. All of you will admit that we are very
weak creatures. No one here will dare to say that he is strong enough
by himself to keep on the right way. No one here will deny the truth
of those words, "We are not sufficient of ourselves to think anything
as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God." Well, if we are
naturally weak, we need special strength and help, just as a new-born
babe requires care, food, warmth, to keep it alive. We want strength
to keep our souls, our spiritual nature, alive. Confirmation is one
very important means by which this strength, this grace of God, is
given to us. In Confirmation, God the Holy Ghost, who gave us life,
makes us strong to live such a life here that we may abide with God,
and continually dwell with Him hereafter. Surely there is no one
amongst us unwise enough to say--I do not need this strength, I am
strong enough by myself. But there are some here, perhaps, who will
tell me that they do need strength, that they do want the help of the
Holy Spirit, and that they can obtain that strength without being
confirmed. They will tell me that they do not hold with rites and
ceremonies, and that God can give us His grace without them. Yes, God
_can_, but God will not. God will give us help in His own way, not in
our way. He has ordained certain channels, as I have already told you,
by which His grace comes to us, and by them only. There are some who
say--"I do not see the need of Sacraments." Then why did God ordain
Baptism, and order His disciples to baptise all nations? Why did
Jesus, on the night of His betrayal, ordain the Sacrament of the Lord's
Supper, and command His disciples--"Do this, in remembrance of Me?"
Others, again, will say--I do not see the use of Confirmation, it is
only a ceremony. Why then has the Church, from the earliest ages, from
the days of S. Paul and the other Apostles, used Confirmation? If it
be only a ceremony, what does the Bible mean by saying that when the
Apostles laid their hands upon certain persons they received the Holy
Ghost? And remember that what the Apostles did, the Bishops, as their
descendants, have done ever since. But some men will say--why cannot
God give me grace and strength without these forms? And I answer,
simply because it is not God's pleasure; we are not to teach Him, but
to obey Him. If you read your Bible you will find that God constantly
used earthly means to provide spiritual blessings. When the people
were threatened with the destroying angel in Egypt, they were bidden to
sprinkle the blood of the Paschal Lamb on their door-posts. This was a
rite, or ceremony, but if neglected, death followed. The Israelites,
who were bitten by fiery serpents, were commanded to look on the brazen
serpent, made and lifted up by Moses. That was a ceremony, but to
disregard it meant death. When Naaman wished to be healed of his
leprosy, he was bidden to wash in Jordan seven times. That was a
ceremony, but it was the only means of his cure. There must be a
channel, a communication, between God and man through which His grace
comes. Suppose you were to come to a deep well, but had no pitcher or
other vessel to let down into it, of what use would the water be to
you? You forgot that "the well is deep, and you have nothing to draw
with." You have seen the telegraph instruments in the post office.
Well, there is plenty of electricity there to send your message for
hundreds of miles, but if there is _no wire_ the force of the
electricity is in vain.