men, who say we ought to be cheerful. "We are bid rejoice, why then do
you bid us mourn?" I bid you mourn in order that you may rejoice more
perfectly. "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be
comforted[25]." "They that sow in tears, shall reap in joy." I bid you
take up the cross of Christ, that you may wear His crown. Give your
hearts to Him, and you will for yourselves solve the difficulty, how
Christians can be sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing[26]. You will find that
lightness of heart and cheerfulness are quite consistent with that new
and heavenly character which He gives us, though to gain it in any good
measure, we must for a time be sorrowful, and ever after thoughtful. But
I give you fair warning, you must at first take His word on trust; and if
you do not, there is no help for it. He says, "Come unto Me, . . . and I
will give you rest." You must begin on faith: you cannot see at first
whither He is leading you, and how light will rise out of the darkness.
You must begin by denying yourselves your natural wishes,--a painful
work; by refraining from sin, by rousing from sloth, by preserving your
tongue from insincere words, and your hands from deceitful dealings, and
your eyes from beholding vanity; by watching against the first rising of
anger, pride, impurity, obstinacy, jealousy; by learning to endure the
laugh of irreligious men for Christ's sake; by forcing your minds to
follow seriously the words of prayer, though it be difficult to you, and
by keeping before you the thought of God all through the day. These
things you will be able to do if you do but seek the mighty help of God
the Holy Spirit which is given you; and while you follow after them,
then, in the Prophet's language, "your light shall rise in obscurity, and
your darkness shall be as the noonday. And the Lord shall guide you
continually, and satisfy your soul in drought: and you shall be like a
watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not[27]."
[1] 1 Sam. xxv. 1.
[2] Heb. xi. 36-38.
[3] Matt. xxiii. 35.
[4] Jer. i. 6.
[5] Isa. lviii. 12.
[6] 1 Cor. x. 5.
[7] 2 Tim. iii. 13.
[8] Jer. xviii. 18.
[9] Ibid. xi. 21.
[10] Ibid. xxvi. 16, &c.
[11] Ibid. xx. 2.
[12] Ibid. xxxii. 3.
[13] Ibid. xxxvii. 14.
[14] Ibid. xxxviii. 6, 9.
[15] Jer. xlii. xliii.
[16] Ibid. xxxix. 14.
[17] Ibid. v. 3.
[18] Ibid. v. 30, 31.
[19] Jer. xii. 1-3.
[20] Ibid. xv. 10-18.
[21] Ibid. xvii. 16,17.
[22] Jer. xx. 7-14.
[23] 1 Cor. xvi. 13.
[24] Eccl. xi. 1, 6.
[256] Matt. v. 4.
[26] 2 Cor. vi. 10.
[27] Isa. lviii. 10, 11.
SERMON X.
Endurance of the World's Censure.
"_And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them; neither be afraid of
their words, though briars and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell
among scorpions; be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their
looks, though they be a rebellious house._"--Ezekiel ii. 6.
What is here implied, as the trial of the Prophet Ezekiel, was
fulfilled more or less in the case of all the Prophets. They were not
Teachers merely, but Confessors. They came not merely to unfold the
Law, or to foretell the Gospel, but to warn and rebuke; not to rebuke
only, but to suffer. This world is a scene of conflict between good
and evil. The evil not only avoids, but persecutes the good; the good
cannot conquer, except by suffering. Good men seem to fail; their
cause triumphs, but their own overthrow is the price paid for the
success of their cause. When was it that this conflict, and this
character and issue of it, have not been fulfilled? So it was in the
beginning. Cain, for instance, was envious of his brother Abel, and
slew him. Enoch walked with God, and was a preacher of righteousness,
and God took him. Ishmael mocked at Isaac; Esau was full of wrath with
Jacob, and resolved to kill him. Joseph's brethren were filled with
bitter hatred of him, debated about killing him, cast him into a pit,
and at last sold him into Egypt. Afterwards, in like manner, Korah,
Dathan, and Abiram rose up against Moses. And, later still, Saul
persecuted David; and Ahab and Jezebel, Elijah; and the priests and the
prophets the Prophet Jeremiah. Lastly, not to dwell on other
instances, the chief priests and Pharisees, full of envy, rose up
against our Lord Jesus Christ, and delivered Him to the heathen
governor, Pontius Pilate, to be crucified. So the Apostles, after Him,
and especially St. Paul, were persecuted by their fierce and revengeful
countrymen; and from the way in which St. Paul speaks on the subject we
may infer that it is ever so to be: "All that will live godly in Christ
Jesus shall suffer persecution:" or, as he says, after referring to the
history of Isaac and Ishmael, "As then he that was born after the flesh
persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now:" and
indeed we see this fulfilled in its measure before our eyes even at
this day. Hence our Saviour, to console all who suffer for His sake,
graciously says, "Blessed are they which are persecuted for
righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven[1]."
The case seems to be this:--those who do not serve God with a single
heart, know they ought to do so, and they do not like to be reminded
that they ought. And when they fall in with any one who does live to
God, he serves to remind them of it, and that is unpleasant to them,
and that is the first reason why they are angry with a religious man;
the sight of him disturbs them and makes them uneasy.
And, in the next place, they feel in their hearts that he is in much
better case than they are. They cannot help wishing--though they are
hardly conscious of their own wish--they cannot help wishing that they
were like him; yet they have no intention of imitating him, and this
makes them jealous and envious. Instead of being angry with themselves
they are angry with him.
These are their first feelings: what follows? next they are very much
tempted to deny that he _is_ religious. They wish to get the thought
of him out of their minds. Nothing would so relieve their minds as to
find that there were no religious persons in the world, none better
than themselves. Accordingly, they do all they can to believe that he
is making a pretence of religion, they do their utmost to find out what
looks like inconsistency in him. They call him a hypocrite and other
names. And all this, if the truth must be spoken, because they hate
the things of God, and therefore they hate His servants.
Accordingly, as far as they have power to do it, they persecute him,
either, as the text implies, with cruel untrue words, or with cold, or
fierce, or jealous looks, or in some worse ways. A good man is an
offence to a bad man. The sight of him is a sort of insult, and he is
irritated at him, and does him what harm he can. Thus Christians, in
former times, were put to death by the heathen. As righteous Abel by
Cain, as our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, by the Jews, as St.
Paul too by the heathen; so, many after him were put to death also, and
that by the most cruel torments. It would not be right to describe the
horrible inflictions which the children of God once endured at the
hands of the children of the flesh; but we have some allusion to what
had taken place in an earlier age, in a passage from St. Paul's Epistle
to the Hebrews, from which you may judge of the more cruel trials which
Christians afterwards endured. They "had trial of cruel mockings and
scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned,
they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they
wandered about in sheep-skins and goat-skins; being destitute,
afflicted, tormented, (of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered
in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth[2]."
Praised be God, we live in times when this cannot take place!
Hitherto, at least, He has guarded us in a wonderful way. If any bad
man did any serious harm to a religious man, he knows he would incur
some punishment from the law of the land. Religious persons are
protected in this day from all great persecutions, and they cannot
sufficiently be thankful for it. The utmost they can suffer from the
world is light indeed compared with what men suffered of old time. Yet
St. Paul calls even his and their sufferings "our light affliction;"
and if their suffering was but light, compared with the glory which was
to follow after death, much more is ours light, who cannot undergo
persecution, if we would, and at best can only suffer very slight
inconveniences from serving God faithfully.
And yet, nevertheless, most true is it, that even now, no one can give
his mind to God, and show by his actions that he fears God, but he will
incur the dislike and opposition of the world; and it is important he
should be aware of this, and be prepared for it. He must not mind it,
he must bear it, and in time (if God so will) he will overcome it.
There are a number of lesser ways in which careless ungodly persons may
annoy and inconvenience those who desire to do their duty humbly and
fully. Such, especially, are those, which seem intended in the text,
unkind censure, carping, slander, ridicule, cold looks, rude language,
insult, and, in some cases, oppression and tyranny. Whoever,
therefore, sets about a religious life, must be prepared for
these,--must be thankful if they do not befall him; but must not be put
out, must not think it a strange thing, if they do.
Now, my brethren, observe this; in bidding you endure reproach for
Christ's sake, I am bidding you nothing which, as a minister of Christ,
I do not wish to practise myself. Nay, it is what all ministers of
Christ are obliged to practise; for, in all ages, _who_ do you think it
is that the world will first attack and oppose? Christ's ministers, of
course. Who is there who can possibly so offend this bad world, as
they whose very office is to remind the world of God and heaven? If
all serious persons are disliked by the world, because they bring
before it unpleasant truths, which it would fain forget if it could,
this trial surely applies still more to those whose very profession and
business it is to remind men of the truths of religion. A religious
man does not intend to remind his neighbours; he goes on his own way;
but they see him and cannot help being reminded. They see that he is
well-conducted, and sober-minded, and reverent, and conscientious; that
he never runs into any excess, that he never uses bad language; that he
is regular at his prayers, regular at Church, regular at the most Holy
Sacrament; they see all this, and, whether he will or no, they _are_
reminded of their duty, and, as disliking to be reminded, they dislike
him who reminds them. But if this be so in the case of common men, who
wish to go on in a religious way without making any profession, how do
you think it will fare with us, Christ's ministers, whose very duty it
is to make a profession? Every thing about a clergyman is a warning to
men, or ought to be, of the next world, of death and judgment, heaven
and hell. His very dress is a memento. He does not dress like other
men. His habits are a memento. His mode of speech is graver than that
of others. His duties too are a memento. He is seen in Church reading
prayers, baptizing, preaching; or he is seen teaching children; he is
seen in works of charity; or he is seen studying. His life is given to
objects out of sight. All that he does is intended to remind men that
time is short, death is certain, and eternity long. And, this being
so, do you think that men, being as they mostly are, careless and
irreligious, do you think they like this? No; and still less, when he
goes on to tell men of their errors and faults, and, as far as he can,
to restrain them. And so in all ages you will find that the world has
resisted and done its utmost to get rid of the preachers of repentance
and holiness. It would stone Moses, it cast Daniel into the den of
lions, and the three Children into the fiery furnace: St. Paul it
beheaded, St. Peter it crucified, others it burnt, others it tortured
even to death. And so it went on for many generations. But at last,
as I said just now, religious persons have by degrees been sheltered by
the law of the land from persecution, and Christ's ministers among
them. And the world has got more humane and generous, if not more
religious; and God is sovereign over all. But though the devil cannot
persecute us, he does what he can to oppose us. Surely this is so; for
no one can look into the many publications of the day, without having
proof of it; no one can go into places where persons meet together for
refreshment, or for recreation, without hearing it, no one can travel
on the road, without at times being witness to it. Christ's ministers
are called names, untruths are told of them, they are ridiculed; and
men encourage each other to oppose them, and to deceive them. And why?
for this simple short reason, because they are God's messengers; and
men in general do not like to be told of God. They say that they could
do well enough without ministers of Christ; which really means, that
they wish to do without God in the world.
Such is the portion to which all we, ministers of Christ, are called by
our profession; and therefore, when we bid you prepare for the
opposition of the world, we are calling you to nothing which we do not
bear ourselves. It were well, could we, in all things, do first what
we bid you do. There is no temptation or trial which you have, which
in its kind we may not have to endure, or at least would not wish to
endure, so far as it is lawful to wish it. St. Paul said to certain
heathens, "We also are men of like passions with you[3]." St. Paul,
and the Apostles, and all Christ's ministers after them, are of one
nature with other men. They have to go through what other men go
through. They suffer pain, sorrow, bereavement, anxiety, desolateness,
privations; and they have need, as other men, of patience,
cheerfulness, faith, hope, contentment, resignation, firmness, to bear
all that comes on them well. But even more than other men are they
called on to bear the opposition of the world. They have to bear being
ridiculed, slandered, ill-treated, overreached, disliked. All this is
not pleasant to them naturally, any more than to other people. But
they find it must be so; they cannot alter it; and they learn
resignation and patience. This patience and resignation then I exhort
you to cherish, my brethren, when the world scorns you for your
religion; and withal cheerfulness and meekness, that you may bear your
cross lightly, and not gloomily, or sadly, or complainingly.
For instance, persons may press you to do something which you know to
be wrong--to tell an untruth, or to do what is not quite honest, or to
go to companies whither you should not go; and they may show that they
are vexed at the notion of your not complying. Still you must not
comply. You must not do what you feel to be wrong, though you should
thereby displease even those whom you would most wish to please.
Again: you must not be surprised, should you find that you are called a
hypocrite, and other hard names; you must not mind it.
Again: you may be jeered at and mocked by your acquaintance, for being
strict and religious, for carefully coming to Church, keeping from bad
language, and the like: you must not care for it.
Again, you may, perhaps, discover to your great vexation, that untruths
are told of you by careless persons behind your backs, that what you do
has been misrepresented, and that in consequence a number of evil
things are believed about you by the world at large. Hard though it
be, you must not care for it; remembering that more untruths were told
of our Saviour and His Apostles than can possibly be told of you.
Again: you may find that not only the common run of men believe what is
said against you, but even those with whom you wish to stand well. But
if this happens through your conscientiousness you must not mind it,
but must be cheerful, leaving your case in the hand of God, and knowing
that He will bring it out into the light one day or another, in His own
good time.
Again: persons may try to threaten or frighten you into doing something
wrong, but you must not mind that, you must be firm.
In many, very many ways you may be called upon to bear the ill-usage of
the world, or to withstand its attempts to draw you from God; but you
must be firm, and you must not be surprised that they should be made.
You must consider that it is your very calling to bear and to
withstand. This is what you offer to God as a sort of return for His
great mercies to you. Did not Christ go through much more for you than
you can possibly be called upon to undergo for Him? Did He bear the
bitter cross who was sinless, and do you, who are at best so sinful,
scruple to bear such poor trials and petty inconveniences?
In conclusion, I will but call your attention to two points, to which
what I have said leads me.
First; Do not be too eager to suppose you are ill-treated for your
religion's sake. Make as light of matters as you can. And beware of
being severe on those who lead careless lives, or whom you think or
know to be ill-treating you. Do not dwell on such matters. Turn your
mind away from them. Avoid all gloominess. Be kind and gentle to
those who are perverse, and you will very often, please God, gain them
over. You should pray for those who lead careless lives, and
especially if they are unkind to you. Who knows but God may hear your
prayers, and turn their hearts, and bring them over to you? Do every
thing for them but imitate them and yield to them. This is the true
Christian spirit, to be meek and gentle under ill-usage, cheerful under
slander, forgiving towards enemies, and silent in the midst of angry
tongues.
Secondly, I would say, recollect you cannot do any one thing of all the
duties I have been speaking of, without God's help. Any one who
attempts to resist the world, or to do other good things by his own
strength, will be sure to fall. We _can_ do good things, but it is
when God gives us power to do them. Therefore we must pray to Him for
the power. When we are brought into temptation of any kind, we should
lift up our hearts to God. We should say to Him, "Good Lord, deliver
us." Our Lord, when He was going away, promised to His disciples a
Comforter instead of Himself; that was God the Holy Ghost, who is still
among us (though we see Him not), as Christ was with the Apostles. He
has come in order to enlighten us, to guide us in the right way, and in
the end to bring us to Christ in heaven. And He came down, as His name
"Comforter" shows, especially to stand by, and comfort, and strengthen
those who are in any trouble, particularly trouble from irreligious
men. The disciples, when Christ went, had to go through much trouble,
and therefore He comforted them by the coming of the Holy and Eternal
Spirit, the Third Person in the Blessed Trinity. "These things I have
spoken unto you," He says, "that in Me ye might have peace; in the
world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome
the world[4]." When, then, religious persons are in low spirits, or
are any way grieved at the difficulties which the world puts in their
way, when they earnestly desire to do their duty, yet feel how weak
they are, let them recollect that they are "not their own," but "bought
with a price," and the dwelling-places and temples of the All-gracious
Spirit.
Lastly, I am quite sure that none of us, even the best, have resisted
the world as we ought to have done. Our faces have not been like
flints; we have been afraid of men's words, and dismayed at their
looks, and we have yielded to them at times against our better
judgment. We have fancied, forsooth, the world could do us some harm
while we kept to the commandments of God. Let us search our
consciences; let us look back on our past lives. Let us try to purify
and cleanse our hearts in God's sight. Let us try to live more like
Christians, more like children of God. Let us earnestly beg of God to
teach us more simply and clearly what our duty is. Let us beg of Him
to give us the heart to love Him, and true repentance for what is past.
Let us beg Him to teach us _how_ to confess Him before men; lest if we
deny Him now. He may deny us before the Angels of God hereafter.
[1] 2 Tim. iii. 12. Gal. iv. 29. Matt. v. 10.
[2] Heb. xi. 36-38.
[3] Acts xiv. 15.
[4] John xvi. 33.
SERMON XI.
Doing Glory to God in Pursuits of the World.
"_Whether, therefore, ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to
the glory of God._"--1 Cor. x. 31.
When persons are convinced that life is short, that it is unequal to
any great purpose, that it does not display adequately, or bring to
perfection the true Christian, when they feel that the next life is all
in all, and that eternity is the only subject that really can claim or
can fill their thoughts, then they are apt to undervalue this life
altogether, and to forget its real importance. They are apt to wish to
spend the time of their sojourning here in a positive separation from
active and social duties: yet it should be recollected that the
employments of this world, though not themselves heavenly, are, after
all, the way to heaven--though not the fruit, are the seed of
immortality--and are valuable, though not in themselves, yet for that
to which they lead: but it is difficult to realize this. It is
difficult to realize both truths at once, and to connect both truths
together; steadily to contemplate the life to come, yet to act in this.
Those who meditate, are likely to neglect those active duties which
are, in fact, incumbent on them, and to dwell upon the thought of God's
glory, till they forget to act to His glory. This state of mind is
chided in figure in the words of the holy Angels to the Apostles, when
they say, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven[1]?"
In various ways does the thought of the next world lead men to neglect
their duty in this, and whenever it does so we may be sure that there
is something wrong and unchristian, not in their thinking of the next
world, but in their manner of thinking of it. For though the
contemplation of God's glory may in certain times and persons allowably
interfere with the active employments of life, as in the case of the
Apostles when our Saviour ascended, and though such contemplation is
even freely allowed or commanded us at certain times of each day; yet
that is not a real and true meditation on Christ, but some counterfeit,
which makes us dream away our time, or become habitually indolent, or
which withdraws us from our existing duties, or unsettles us.
Yet the thought of the world unseen is apt to do so in various ways,
and the worst way of all is when we have taken up a notion that it
_ought_ to do so. And indeed this is a temptation to which persons who
desire to be religious are exposed in one shape or another in every
age, and in this age as well as in times past. Men come to fancy that
to lose taste and patience for the businesses of this life is
renouncing the world and becoming spiritually-minded. We will say a
person has been thoughtless and irreligious; perhaps openly so; or at
least careless about religion, and though innocent of any flagrant sin,
yet a follower of his own will and fancy, and unpractised in any
regular and consistent course of religion. He has, perhaps, been
outwardly respectful to sacred things and persons, but has had no
serious thoughts about the next world. He has taken good and
evil--religion and the world--as they came, first one and then the
other, without much consideration. He has been fond of gaiety and
amusements, or he has been deeply interested in some pursuit or other
of time and sense,--whether it be his own trade or profession, or some
of the studies and employments now popular. He has fallen in with the
ways of the company in which he has found himself; has been profane
with the profane; then, again, has had for a season religious
impressions, which in turn have worn away. Thus he has lived, and
something has then occurred really to rouse him and give him what is
called a serious turn. Such a person, man or woman, young or old,
certainly does need to take a serious turn, does require a change; and
no one but must be very glad to hear that a change has taken place,
though at the same time there may be changes not much better than the
change which happened to him, whose soul, in our Lord's language, was
but "swept and garnished;" not really changed in a heavenly way, and
having but the semblance of faith and holiness upon it.