O for the full perception and realisation of this truth; that we are in the hands of a watching, proving, waiting, judging, visitingGod. It would be hard then to do or propose anything, without immediately adding, “If theLordwill.”
Two concluding thoughts suggest themselves.
First, that life is of such different duration in different cases, because we have individual capabilities and responsibilities, and some by many trials and length of days are proved, others quickly and easily made perfect, or wholly hardened; and because a discerning, rulingGodis ever at hand to close the trial at the fit moment.
Secondly, that we are individually kept uncertain of the duration of our life, to counteract the sad proneness which belongs to us, of putting off eternal interests, and following our own ways to the uttermost; to give to every moment, and every act of life, such vital importance, that we may fear to squander or pervert it; to keep us ever mindful of our latter end, and always intent upon doing theLord’swork, and preparing ourselves for heaven; that theGodat hand may never be slighted, and the world be always so loosely held,that we may easily and readily let go of it whenever theLordwill.
“Go to now, ye that say, To-day or to-morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If theLordwill, we shall live, and do this, or that.”
Acts,xvii., 22, 23.Ye men of Athens,I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.For as I passed by,and beheld your devotions,I found an altar with this inscription,To the Unknown God.Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship,Him declare I unto you.
Acts,xvii., 22, 23.
Ye men of Athens,I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.For as I passed by,and beheld your devotions,I found an altar with this inscription,To the Unknown God.Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship,Him declare I unto you.
Thecity of Athens was wholly given to idolatry. It was crowded with altars, dedicated to the supposed superior deities, to deified men, to abstract virtues, Love, Truth, Mercy, and the like. Whatever new god was described and recommended to them was immediately recognised, and thenceforth worshipped; and, besides, the Athenians’ love of something new, led them to search out for and invent gods for themselves. Hence it came to pass, that there were more idols in that one city than in all the rest of Greece: so that Satirist did not much exaggerate when he said that in Athens you might moreeasily find a god than a man. It belongs not to our present purpose to consider how this arose; to contemplate the strange coexistence of so much superstition and so much cultivation of intellect, or to strive to enter into the feelings which animated Paul, when his spirit was stirred within him at the sight of the city wholly given to idolatry. We pass on to the time when the Apostle stood on Mars’s hill, in sight of many heathen altars, surrounded by Epicureans and Stoics and disciples of many other schools of philosophy, some striving to silence him, others intent upon hearing something new from him—to meet the contentious gainsayings of the one, to enlist the curiosity of the other; to make use of their various dispositions, of all that he saw and heard, in promoting the glory ofGod, and, if it might be, in leading them to salvation.
It must be borne in mind that some of these news-seeking Athenians inconsistently enough contended with him, because he taught what was novel; while others, on that very account, were favourable to him, hoping that he would set forth some strange gods—some additional objects of worship to whom they might erect altars. “Ye men of Athens,” he said, “I perceive from actual observation that you, more than other people,have great regard for religion.” This is the right meaning of the words translated: “In all things ye are too superstitious.” It is not likely that the Apostle would have commenced a speech intended to conciliate and enlighten them, with words that would at once affront them, and make them deaf to all else he had to say. Besides, it is clear from what follows, that he is not directly calling upon them to abandon what was false, but to understand and accept rightly a truth which they held in ignorance. “I say nothing to you now upon the many gods whom you worshipby name, but, pointing to an altar inscribed to the UnknownGod(it was probably in sight) I answer those who contend with me for speaking about the unknown, and gratify those who want to hear something new, by taking that altar as my text, and preaching to you about ‘the UnknownGod’—about no new god, for He is already the object of your worship; but still about one of whom much that is new to you may be said. Give ear to me, ye that are so full of reverence for the gods, while I describe to you an object indeed of your present reverence, but one of whose nature and operations and demands upon you, you know nothing.”
Respecting the existence of such an altar, weare told that the Athenians through the very excess of their idolatry (which led them to look for gods in every place and circumstance, and to ascribe every event, good or ill, to the influence of some deity) had on more than one occasion, when an unusually severe pestilence had visited them, which they could not connect with any of their known gods, conjectured that it must be the doing of some god whom they did not propitiate with sacrifices, and, failing to find out who it was, and yet fearing to neglect his worship, had caused altarswithout namesto be erected, and offerings to be made to the nameless being; and that in course of time these altars came to be described, and to bear a corresponding inscription, as severally the altars of an “unknown god.” There is no reason to suppose that they meant to exalt that god above the others, that they had any clearly defined ideas of the general operations of one unknown Being, much less that they meant under that title to worship theGodof the Jews; but with a kind of natural instinct, a very vague feeling that something beyond and above what they knew, existed, they had stumbled, as it were, in the dark, upon a real truth, which was now to be revealed to them. “Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship—Whom you are right in worshipping,but of Whose proper worship you know nothing, Him declare I, and reveal unto you.” You know how St. Paul went on, meeting without mentioning the errors of the various sects of philosophers, that there was indeed aGodwho made the world, and all things therein; that He was not a mere idol of wood and stone (“dwelling not in temples made with hands”), that He had no such passions, and no such needs as they ascribed to Jove and Mars and their deified men (“Neither is worshipped with men’s hands as though He needed anything”), that He was not a sentiment—an ideal thing—a being bound by fate—an indifferent spectator of men’s ways. “He giveth to all life and breath and all things.” “In Him we live and move and have our being.” “He hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom He hath chosen;” to whom He has borne such signal testimony in raising Him from the dead; in whose name, and at whose command, I come to tell you of the resurrection from the dead, and to call you out of the ignorance whichGodwill no longer wink at, and to urge upon you repentance and preparation for judgment. So he spoke of the unknownGod. Some mocked, and refused to understand; some were in doubtand difficulty, and wished to hear more; others began to know Him who had hitherto been unknown, and clave unto the Apostle, and believed. And shortly after Paul departed from Athens, never, as far as we know, to visit again!
It would be interesting to consider the strange rise and spread of ignorance which in course of time made theGod, Who had been seen and heard and walked with in Eden, and had never left Himself without witness, wholly unknown to the creatures of His hand, and the objects of His providential care; to contemplate the idolatry of ignorant heathen man, not seeingGodin all His works, not able to find Him even when looking for Him and desiring to worship Him, believing in every god but the true One, sometimes even offering sacrifices to devils; to discuss, too, how it is the world by wisdom knows not, and never has knownGod, that intellect cannot search Him out, that intellect has even blinded many to whom the unknownGodwas plainly exhibited; to ask how much of this is natural, how much unnatural, how much judicial—the punishment of pride, the reward of loving darkness rather than light, because of evil deeds. But interesting as would be the consideration of “Godunknown in the world,” there is a more important theme suggestedby the text for us to dwell on, namely, “Godunknown in the Church.” “There standeth one among you Whom ye know not.” Let me speak to you on this, brethren.
Whatever may be the state and disposition of the people whom the clergyman has to deal with in his various daily ministrations and his intercourse with the world, once a week, at least, he addresses an assembly in some sense given to religion. As he stands in the pulpit on the Lord’s Day he may adopt almost the words of St. Paul on the Areopagus: “I perceive that you (and such as you) are more than the rest of mankindGod-fearing, taking an interest in religion, listening to its teaching, partaking of its ordinances, supplicating, praising, servingGod.”
It may, indeed, occasionally be that some present themselves to see if there is anything in the church for them to object to, or ridicule; that others have come in conformity to the fashion, to hear something new, to see and be seen; to make a show of respectability, to wile away an idle time; and that many others, though proposing to themselves the observance of a religious duty, are so formal, so listless, so unreal, that it cannot be said of them that they are “given to religion.” Nevertheless, I repeat that the clergyman, as hestands in the pulpit, has before him the best,i.e., the most religious of mankind; not mockers, and revilers, and persecutors; not gainsayers, and despisers, and forgetters; but real worshippers—more or less reverential and earnest, more or less enlightened—of the trueGod. But has he not in these same persons (as St. Paul had in the Athenians) many worshippers of an unknownGod? May he not venture to say to almost all, “Whom ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you.” Christian worshippers, my brethren, often have many idols, who share almost equally withGodtheir interest and affections and service. They have, many of them, their “ism,” their Paul, their Cephas, or Apollos, their favourite dogma, their preferences and prejudices for some particular rites, and ceremonies, and modes of worship. In church, and out of church, their religion consists largely in giving heed to these things:Godis in their thoughts, but not in all their thoughts, or not the chief, the engrossing object of their thoughts; He is one of many objects. You find this out if you listen to their remarks after service. “Such a chant went well or badly; the preacher’s manner was pleasing, or the contrary; his language very ornate, or very bald; the theme one they like, or one they do not like;the rubric strictly observed, or strangely disregarded;” and so on. Of course, as all these things are means to an end, and as the end is gained, or not gained, by their suitableness, or the opposite, it is lawful and right to give them some consideration: but I put it to you, brethren, whether they are not too often regarded as themselves the end; as though, provided they were satisfactory, there was nothing more wanting; as though they were rightly as much the objects of interest as theGodin Whose service they are used, or, rather, as though regarding them were regardingGod!
O brethren, we are too attentive to the system—too regardless of the Centre! We want to know—(to feel, I mean, for the Christian’s knowledge is of the heart)—thatGodis above all—that where other objects have anything like an equal share of attention, where they hide Him from us in His pure essence and direct influence, there He is ignorantly worshipped—that He is a Spirit, not a chant, a voice, a figure of speech, a rubric, a turning east or west. Through these we may reach Him; many of them are steps and accessories to worship; but if in these we rest, then we set them up as idols, side by side with Him, and prove that to us He is but as the unknown god of the Athenians.
See, dear brethren, I beseech you, if aught of this old error clings to you, and prayGodto clear you from it, and resolve henceforth to strive to keep clear. Treat means as means—value them; be glad that they are becomingly afforded you, and rejoice if they help you; but do not let the best of them beguile you, nor the worst of them hinder you, from finding and worshippingGodHimself; from going away filled with thoughts of Him. “I prayed toGod; I praised Him; I held communion with Him; I heard the things ofGodfrom His messenger, and have now to go and live by what I have done, and received, and heard.” These are the thoughts to take away from church with you, and to prove to you that you wisely worship the knownGod.
I have dwelt much on this part of the subject, because of the general forgetfulness of it; a forgetfulness which prevents many from rendering acceptable service toGod, and from obtaining the full help and comfort which religion affords to all who rightly use it.
But there are many other kinds of ignorant worship. It is possible to cast down all idols, and worshipGodalone, and yet err. The so-called spiritualist does this: the man who supposes that addressing himself directly toGod, issufficient, without the use of appointed forms and ordinances; who attaches no importance to baptism and holy communion; who thinks that no grace accompanies their use, or that he can have the grace without the sign; who says that praying at home is a good substitute for congregational worship; who boasts that he can read a sermon for himself, and a better one than he can hear in church; or that the Bible is sufficiently clear to him without an interpreter.
Such an one ignorantly worships an unknownGod. He dictates, instead of obeying; he chooses, instead of submitting to what is appointed for him; he puts reason in the place of faith; he refuses to walk inGod’sway of salvation; he disputes the Divine wisdom in requiring him to be baptised, and to partake of the Cup and Bread of Blessing; in warning not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together; in asking, “How shall they hear without a preacher?” in appointing a standing ministry; he rebels againstGod, when he disregards these ordinances; he makesGoda liar when he presumes to deem them unnecessary. Oh, he has great need that theGodwhom he ignorantly worships, should be plainly declared unto him!
Again, that man ignorantly worshipsGod, whosubstitutes the forms for the life of religion; who supposes that a sanctuary service atones for all want of service elsewhere; who prays in church, but not in his closet; who hears the Bible read or expounded, but does not search it diligently for himself; who receives sacraments, but does not foster, and use, and develop the sacramental grace, which is entrusted to him as an awful talent to be increased and accounted for; who balances the religion of Sunday against the worldliness of the whole week; who every seventh day eases his conscience of its sin, by sighing out the general confession, and forthwith takes to himself the comfort of the declaration of forgiveness, and then goes back to his old transgressions and omissions, till the holy day comes round again. Of course whoever does this, or any part of it deliberately, is grossly, culpably ignorant of theGodwhom he professes to worship; but it is not of such that I speak now. I have in mind professing Christians, persons who busy themselves about religion, who are regular in their attendance on means of grace, who never wilfully desecrate theLord’sday, who knowing that unpardoned sin separates fromGod, and that without grace, life is unblessed, are anxious for pardon and grace, and frequently seek them inGod’sappointed ways; but yet, forget,are not impressed with the danger of a relapse, and the sin of non-improvement, and so somehow or other, fall into a routine of formal religion on Sunday, which is not in their thoughts, except as a matter that belongs to next Sunday all through the week. This is to worship ignorantly an unknownGod—aGodWho does not accept intermittent worship, Who bestows pardon only on repentance and amendment of life, Who gives grace for use, Whose sacraments are meals to sustain life and strengthen for service, Whose Sabbath is a holy rest to refresh for holy work, in Whom we live, and move, and have our being, Whose glory is to be our constant aim, His presence our perpetual joy. But these, and many other ignorances—such as the disregard of particular attributes, the picturing for oneself whatGodought to be like, and so varying the picture according to the fancy of him who draws it, instead of searching how, and what manner ofGodHe has declared Himself to be, and what worship is appointed, and therefore acceptable—these, I say, are the faults of individuals, or of certain classes only. Let me now speak of an ignorance, a respect in whichGodis more or less unknown, which concerns us all. And here, dear brethren, my object is not to censure, to blame you forwhat you have not, but pointing out to you theGodwhom Scripture reveals, to help you to correct what is amiss, to fill up what is wanting in your conceptions ofGod, and so to attain to the blessedness of knowing Him fully, and to discharge the duty of worshipping Him in spirit and in truth.
Observe St. Paul, while acknowledging the religious reverence of the Athenians, evidently deals with them as men who understood not the truths, the objects, the blessings of religion; as those who when they had built their altars, and celebrated their holy days, and offered their sacrifices, thought they had fulfilled all that religion required of them, and who expected to get nothing by their religion, but exemption from certain grievous pestilences, or help perhaps in war—mere occasional miraculous manifestations of dreadful power—who had no conceptions of sanctifying influence, of moral responsibility, of rewards of righteousness. To them he declaresGodto be, One not far from them, One whom they might find, in Whom they then lived and moved, and had their being, Who henceforth would not wink at any ignorance, Who was at present treating them, and regarding them with a view to a coming judgment. Now we are better (thankGod, whomaketh us to differ!) than these Athenians; but still we want somewhat of the heart-knowledge which Paul would have impressed on them. We want to be more fully convinced that religion is not a pastime, but a business; that not only duty, but interest, momentous interest, is involved in it, especially that it is not a mere concern and preparation and provision for the future, but a present substantial reality; thatGodis not the object of distant worship; that His wrath and His mercy are, not rarely, but constantly, being exercised here; that He is not a departedLord, Who has set us to do His work against His return, and will take no account of us till some far off day; that He has not left us unrewarded, unpunished, unhelped in the present, not caring what we are, what we do, what we suffer, so as when He comes back, we have either done what He appointed, or have assumed the position of penitents for offence, and supplicants of compassion.
Is it not matter of experience that we are not sufficiently influenced by the hopes and fears of religion, that we do not adequately reverenceGod, or seek Him, and rest on Him, because we suppose that He is afar off, and that all that we have to expect from Him, will only begin to be realised in the next world?God, as a presentGod, is too much unknown to us. We do not feel that He is now about us; that His eye is watching us, and His arm upraised over each of us at every moment of our lives; that He is a guest actually in us, to be honoured and waited on now. We do not know of His present closeness, of His immediate rewards and punishments, His pleasure or displeasure, His instant succour, or instant withdrawal from us, according to what He sees in us. We do all, and bear all in distant expectation, and therefore we do negligently, and bear feebly and impatiently. Could we realise the perpetual working, the instant retribution, the very touching ofGodnow, it would be easy to regard and serve Him, it would be all but impossible to neglect Him. No man could prefer dross to gold, misery to bliss, death to life, if they were both offered him at the same moment. No one could hesitate whom to obey, whom to trust, whom to fear, whom to love, ifGodwere seen on the one side, and fellow man on the other. It is becauseGod, and the things ofGod, are supposed to be far off, that we first prefer the other, and then practically regard it as that which alone has real existence.
Well, then, this is what we have to mend. I have been urging the mending on these Sundaysin Advent, in striving to show you that there is aGodpresent to superintend, and provide, and care for you in this life, and in every event and moment of this life; that there is an actual and immediate judgment of every deed, good and evil, and that there is a present business of religion, and a direct service ofGodto be now attended to. It is not head-knowledge that you want, but heart-perception, and realisation. You want to feel what you must know (because the Bible has told you thatGodis aGodat hand, and not aGodafar off); that godliness has the promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come; that the irreligious is condemned already. No expectation, no delay, no vision. All fulfilled, immediate, and substantially real. You fancy, perhaps, that it cannot be so. You urge that it is contrary to your experience; you have servedGod, and not been rewarded; you have trusted in Him, and not been supported; you have sinned against Him, and not been punished. Brethren, believe me, you have not. “Experience” means that which has been ascertained by trial. Make trial, and all will be proved. Devote yourselves now toGod, follow Him, give up for Him to-day, and you shall be rewarded to-day. Sin against Him to-day, and you shall be punished to-day.Invoke His aid to-day, and you shall surely have it. Do not prescribe your own mode of visitation. Be sure that He will use His, and watch for it, and seek to know it, and then you will have an experience to quote. I only repeat to you what He has said. When you know Him, you will find that He is true. Then wait on Him, acquaint yourselves with Him, serve Him in the present, and look for Him in the present, and you will find Him in the present.
St. John,xx., 29.Thomas,because thou hast seen me,thou hast believed:blessed are they that have not seen,and yet have believed.
St. John,xx., 29.
Thomas,because thou hast seen me,thou hast believed:blessed are they that have not seen,and yet have believed.
DoesourLordmean to say that there was no blessedness in the sight which he then presented?—that it was not a precious privilege actually to see Him, to hear Him, to be perceptibly with Him? Would He, too, withdraw and reverse the blessing He had formerly pronounced—“Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see”? Would He tell us that the kings and prophets, who saw the promises only afar off, who fancied and conjectured, and died in hope, were more blessed than the hearers of the Sermon of the Mount, the spectators of the Transfiguration, the companions of that three years’ ministry, the guests at Emmaus, the disciple that reclined on His bosom? No, surely!The blessedness of the Apostles, in certainly seeing, and being withChristin the flesh, is, in its peace and joy, a blessedness which stands pre-eminent and alone, and must do till again He is seen in Heaven. But peace and joy are not the greatest blessings. That which calms, that which gladdens, is nothing in comparison with that which sanctifies and elevates; and there is a blessedness which does this; and which, therefore, is greater. It is the blessedness which faith produces. “Blessed (i.e., more blessed) are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” Belief, faith—what is it? It may be described as the assent of the understanding, to that which is not proved to any of our senses, but which appears credible because of the testimony given to it. We all have this faith, in human affairs. We all of us accept as true—are convinced of their truth, and act upon the conviction—things which are not proved to us, but are supported by reliable statement. If you serve for wages, or sell goods on credit, or become surety for another, or go out to seek a new home in a distant land, you do it in faith. You cannot see into the heart, and be sure of the honesty of your employer, your customer, your friend; but what appears, from what you are told by others of him, you rely on him. And soagain, you do not actually know that there is such a land as you propose to seek, but you believe it, because of all that travellers have said of it, of the goods you have seen, the letters you have read, which are stated to have come from it. Of course, as the testimony varies in its credibility, this faith is of different degrees. You have such faith in your well-tried friend, in his integrity and his wisdom, that you know, you say, that he will not deceive you, and that he cannot be deceived himself. Others, of whom you know less, you believe more slowly. Some, you think, are not qualified to give testimony; they have the thing second-hand, or they were not competent to judge of what they saw, and heard, and felt; or they are not truthful, and may wilfully misrepresent: and even, in the best cases, faith is sometimes misplaced. Therefore, your faith in human things, has always, perhaps (and should have) a trace of doubt in it—sometimes is weak, sometimes fails altogether. It would be wrong and injurious to have equal faith in all; but, on the other hand, to be always doubting, to refuse to believe without seeing, would be misery, and folly, and mockery of self. Divine faith is different: the accepting (that is) of what is recommended to us by the testimony ofGod, bywell-proved miracles, by prophecies since fulfilled, by any other ofGod’switnesses. This is perfect. It admits of no doubts and qualifications. It is as sure of what it believes, as if it handled, and heard, and saw it: yea, surer, for its own judgment might be deceived; butGodknows all things and judges rightly, andGodcannot deceive. Therefore, whenGodreveals, we may not question the plausibility of what is shown; we have no room for doubt as to His opportunities of knowing, His truthfulness in communicating what is narrated. All we may do, is to ask—HasGodspoken, are these things His testimony? And this we ought to do; for there is no blessing pronounced by the text on the credulous, who take everything as fromGod, without examination. Thomas surely would have erred, if, simply because some one told him ofChrist’sresurrection, he had straightway believed it. We are exhorted not to believe every spirit, but to try the spirits whether they be ofGod. We have to examine miracles, to see whether they are real or pretended, and prophecies, to see that they were not written after the professed fulfilments, and all revelations, lest they should be spurious. Failing to do this, we might have followed Theudas, who came to nought, or Joan of Arc: we might become Mohammedansor Mormonites. We have to guard against this; not to be credulous; to be sure that it isGodthat speaks: but then, being sure, whatever He describes, however incomprehensible or improbable, whatever He commands, no matter how apparently unreasonable, whatever He promises, against experience, against opinion, against hope, to accept all, and rely on all, and lead the life of reliance. Yes, brethren, this is the believing which alone is blessed; the believing which leads to doing. Faith is the evidence by which we see things naturally unseen; it is the substance, the very handled reality, of things naturally only hoped for; and which, by its revelations of beauty and bliss, by its sanctions and persuasions, and by all that it shows us of the present, and promises or threatens in the future, makes us fly toGod, and cling to Him, and depend on Him, and live for Him, and look for Him. Less than this—mere assent of the understanding, without heart-embracing, and life-demonstrating, and exercising—is not the belief that is blessed. Faith without works is dead, being alone. If then, brethren, you would be partakers of the blessedness promised in the text, you must have fully received, and be acting upon the form of religion whichGodhas given you. You must have implicittrust in Him for help and support and peace and blessing. You must know that whatever He has described is real, whatever He has promised or threatened will surely be fulfilled, on the conditions He has laid down; and you must testify and act upon your knowledge by a corresponding life. I do not say that all this is demanded of you in perfection; that the hope of blessing is gone, if you fail of aught of it: but I do say that, if in anything you distrustGod, if you question or demand further proof of, or are indifferent to anything He has revealed, and deliberately do not live by it, then you cannot claim the benediction of the text.
But it occurs to you to ask, perhaps, how it is thatGodselects believing, rather than seeing, on any other way of reception for special blessing.
Now, it is not necessary thatGodshould account to us for what He does or wills. Creatures of His hand, we are made for Him; dependents on His bounty, we must thankfully receive it in any way and form of bestowal. But still there are reasons which may be briefly suggested for the selection of faith.
First, then, faith embodies the entire trustful devotion toGod, which, above any assent to what is proved, any following of what is seen orheard, magnifies the honour ofGod, and so sets forth His glory. It owns His truth, His providence, His love, and prompts to a free-will, spiritual, glorifying service of Him. Secondly, unless there are to be perpetual miracles, faith alone can be permanently and universally influential. If we are to be guided by sight, or hearing, or touching, then the revelations to one generation would have to be repeated to each following generation, and those of one country performed again in every other. ThusChristwould have had to continue on earth, to have visited every land, and been crucified and raised from the dead in every land, or to have gathered all nations into Judea to witness what was done; and this would have had to be repeated over and over again to our fathers, to us, to our children, or else some would have been without the necessary influence to serve, and love, and depend on Him. And more than this, since the sights we see and the sounds we hear, are soon over, and leave but a faint remembrance behind, we should be imperfectly influenced by them, whenChristceased to speak; or when He passed into another place we should be without our object of worship, our instructor or hope. And even if these objections can be met, still the perpetuity ofChrist’svisible presence, the beholding of His miracles, and hearing of His words, would necessarily put a stop to all worldly occupations; would make probation little more than a name; would constrain men by natural influences to a carnal or slavish adherence to Him, or would drive them into reckless rebellion, and instant and irrevocable condemnation.
But again, faith is more blessed because it has greater privileges—because it reveals more clearly, brings nearer, than any sense could do. If you only hear a loved one, do you not desire to see him? If you see him, are you not unblessed unless you embrace him? And then, is there not an influence, a way of communicating, that surpasses this—a purer, a more spiritual influence, one which brings you together, and keeps you together, and makes you one—love, which surpasses, which is independent of, or only uses as accessories, the bodily senses? We are too apt, brethren, to talk of seeing as believing; to count sense above feeling; to exalt what belongs to the body, above what belongs to the mind or spirit. Doubtless, the error arises from the way in which we speak of faith giving way to sight in heaven, as though the eyes of the body only, and not the mind and spirit, were to beholdChristthen; as thoughmental and spiritual perception were not better than bodily; as though there were no assurance that faith is an abiding gift, and that, therefore, while in heaven there will be much to gratify the eye of the body, there will still be much more which faith alone can realise. My brethren, the greatest eternal blessedness will be vouchsafed to faith, and the greatest blessedness of this state belongs to faith, because it is the exercise of man’s noblest and best, and most reliable faculties, far superior in excellence, far more certain in ascertaining the truth, than ears, or eyes, or hands.
Once more, faith is blessed above seeing, because it grasps a set of truths, and enjoys a class of pleasures which are different from those of the senses, and which the senses cannot touch.Godthe Father invisible for ever,Godthe Holy Ghost, blowing like the wind where it listeth, so that you cannot see whence it cometh and whither it goes, ministering angels, spiritual influences, and consolations, and helps—what can ear, or eye, or hand know of these? But faith knows them, hears them, sees them, handles them, and joys in them. And this, brethren, exhibits the nature of faith’s blessedness; that to it is revealed the whole spiritual world; that the evidence which itneeds, the object of its worship, its Saviour, itsLord, its hopes and fears, and encouragements and promises are never absent, and never missed, (but by its own dimness or voluntary blindness) whatever may become of the outward signs and boding presences. Picture to yourselves, brethren, the scene of that chamber where the raisedChriststood manifest, in the posture of blessing, before His adoring disciples. Imagine what Thomas had before felt, and what he now felt. Then hearChristsay—“The bliss of this moment might have been yours before, if you had sought to attain it by faith, and not by sight; and what you now see may be yours for ever, for in spirit I shall ever be with you, and by faith you may ever behold Me! Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed”; and that blessing, brethren, was for us, if we will have it. If we believe, then we are thus blessed. If we are not blessed, we may be. O let us lay hold on this truth, let us cultivate faith, let us pray toGodfor an increase of it, and let us perpetually exercise it in beholding Him Who is ever with us, to pardon our faithless sins, to restore us to His company, to breathe upon us peace and blessing.
Revelation,xiv., 5.They are without fault before the throne ofGod.
Revelation,xiv., 5.
They are without fault before the throne ofGod.
Jobdeclares thatGodputs no trust in His saints; that He charges His angels with folly; that in His sight the very heavens are not clean. This language is, of course, figurative, and not to be taken literally; but it well describes to us the transcendent holiness ofGod, and His utter abhorrence of all evil. In comparison of Him, heaven itself is not pure, and angels, endued with wisdom, swift and constant to obey, delighting in His will, even these are not perfect—fall far short of perfection before Him. Job would show us the distance betweenGodand man. St. John, however, in the chapter of my text, would exhibit another truth, not contradictory, but rather supplementary to Job’s, namely, the nearness, through grace, of man toGod. The Apostleis describing, for the comfort and encouragement of the tried and persecuted, a vision which he had seen of some of those who have passed away from this world, and, as a kind of first-fruits, are already withGodand the Lamb; and he says, that “in their mouth is found no guile; for they are without fault before the throne ofGod.”
“Without fault,” means here, without spot or blemish; not only free from actual transgression, but wholly untainted by corruption of sin—not wanting in anything that belongs to the perfect character of the approved ofGod.
That man in his natural state is altogether faulty, that even in his redeemed, and spiritualised, and sanctified state, while here on earth, he has still many faults, are truths so plainly taught, so proved to our reason and experience, that it would be idle to enforce them. How, then, can he ever stand faultless before the throne ofGod? Now some would answer, that forChrist’ssakeGodoverlooks, thatChrist, by His merits, hides man’s faults; and so that the redeemed in heaven are not really faultless, but that forChrist’ssake faultlessness is reckoned, imputed to them. This is what may be called the popular answer to our question. But, brethren, how utterly wrong it is seen to be, when we considerthat, in order to exaltGod’smercy and His wisdom in contriving justification, it sacrifices His truth and His holiness.Godcannot call the faulty faultless. He Who is Truth cannot enter with His Holy Son (Who is also Truth) into a plan of deceit, by which, to Himself, to them, to angels, to the whole universe, sin shall be presented as holiness.Godmay agree not to reckon with men for their sins, to forget the past, on certain conditions to deal with the faulty as if they were actually faultless; but He cannot—I say it advisedly, it is beyond the limits of His power, as regulated by His truth—He cannot call evil good. And, brethren, besides, even if it were possible that by some strange agreement with the Son, sinful man should be passed off as holy, still his sin, while it remained, hide it, disguise it, call it by what name you will, must separate fromGod. Charity might forbear to punish it, or to make mention of it. Charity might even gild it over; but Holiness deals not with the name, but with the reality; and holiness must shrink from sin and thrust it away. This ought to be the most readily perceived and admitted of all Scripture truths, thatGodcannot tolerate near iniquity; that—if I may venture reverently to use such words—even ifGodwerewilling to receive to Himself an unchanged sinner, the actual reception would be morally impossible; the same heaven could not contain holiness and sin! No, brethren, if the sinner is to enter heaven, it must be, not because his name is changed, but his nature; he must be actually without fault beforeGod. We see this to have been the case with those described in the text: for it is expressly said, “In their mouth was found no guile.” Observe, it is not,Godmercifully overlooked their guile for the sake of His dear Son, the Guileless One; He charitably called them guileless; but “in their mouth was found (the testimony of truth to the searching of holiness) no guile: yea, for they are altogether blameless, without spot or blemish.” It is an actual, not an imputed faultlessness that is thus described. Now, how is it to be attained by sinful men? And here comes in a second answer of popular theology. At or after death,Christmeets the departed, and by His resurrection-power quickens that which was dead, purifies that which was corrupt, spiritualises, sanctifies, and, as by a miracle, converts the sinner into a perfect saint. This is an answer only second in popularity to the one we have been considering. Those who urge it, believe that man is naturally depraved,that, under grace, he retains much, almost all, his old nature, that he is very faulty in deed, in will and affections. They know that he must be faultless to gain accession to heaven and dwell withGodand the Lamb, and this faultlessness they hope for and pray for; but there is no effort to acquire it; there is no concern for the absence, the continued absence of it; it is regarded as altogether a thing of the future; the free and perfect gift—perfect at once—to the released soul and the raised body. Men who hold this view, are often better than their creed requires them to be. In love ofGodand devotion to Him, they strive to abandon sin and cultivate holiness; but they have no definite object in view of becoming faultless here, in order to be faultless in heaven. They seem to believe that they cannot get any nearer to faultlessness whatever they do, and that those who have made no efforts, ay, have even led ungodly lives, and, but for a few last sighs and ejaculations, would have died ungodly deaths, are just as qualified, just as fit in many cases, just as sure recipients of instantly converting and perfecting grace in the next world!
But if this is so, why have we such solemn warnings, to the effect that as the tree falls, so shall it lie? “He that is righteous, then, shall berighteous still. He that is filthy then, shall be filthy still.” Why is it that in the representations which we have of the Judgment, men are always dealt with according to what they were in life, “Inasmuch as ye did it,” “Inasmuch as ye did it not”? Why is the pound taken away from him that did not seek to increase it, and given to him who had gained ten pounds, and the commentary subjoined, “Unto every one which hath shall be given, and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him”? Why is the boaster of his privileges—“In Thy name have I cast out devils”—instantly dismissed with the words, “Depart from me, I never knew you”? Why are they reproved who calledChrist Lord,Lord, but did not the things which He said? What did St. Peter mean when he exhorted “Save yourselves;” and Paul, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;” “Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall;” andChristHimself, “Behold, I come quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every man according as his work shall be;” “Blessed are they that do His commandments that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city”? Surely all this, as with a voice from heaven,calls on us to put away the delusion, that mortal life is not a probation, that man has not a fitness to acquire in this life, in order that he may be faultless in heaven. The answer of truth, brethren, to the question, “How can man be faultless in heaven?” is, briefly, By praying, and striving, through the blessing ofGod, the grace of the Spirit ofChrist, and his own self-denial, and diligence, and cultivated holiness, to become less and less faulty here. After all, he will never, on this side of the grave, be without spot or blemish, and perfect in holiness. WhateverChristmay do for him here, he will still have much to be purged away, much to be quickened, much to be glorified. But, be sure, there must be a seed-time here and a growing here, if there is to be a harvest hereafter. There must be a service, if there is to be a reward; we must be faithful in a little, before we are made rulers over much; there must be a fitness, a partial, a main fitness acquired here, or no admission there to the inheritance of the Saints in light.Christ’swork in us hereafter is not a transforming, but a completing, a finishing, a perfecting work. “To him that hath”—that is, that has made use of and improved what he hath—“to him more shall be given,” and he shall abound. He who has tracedin his soul and life the outline of the features of the blessedJesus, shall have the likeness filled up and finished by the Divine artist, and be wholly conformed to His image. He who has kept down the flesh, shall have the power of the flesh destroyed in him. He who has sought after holiness, shall be made perfect. A great change; much taken away, much added, but not a transformation. A great work, which can only be done then, and only byChrist; but which will fail to be done then if materials are not provided for it now; if the foundation has not been laid, and the walls have not been raised, and all made ready for the roof ofGod’sadding, and the capping of the tower of glory. Yes; this is the qualification, without which you cannot be received, but, having it, cannot be refused. Labour and pray to be faultless here, andChristshall at the end perfect your faultlessness, and shall present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. But the text seems to speak not of those who had washed away defilements, had secured pardon of offences, had repaired faults and made up deficiencies, in short, had been sinners, but, under the operation of the spirit ofChrist, were become saints; but of those who never had been faulty, spotted, or blemished“These are they which were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.” Of course, there must have been the spot and blemish of original sin; but, apart from this—whichChrist’sapplied purifying power and all-sufficient merits would entirely remove—there seems to have been in the lives of these persons no actual sin, no omission of righteousness. Now, as there is no man that liveth and sinneth not, it has been conjectured that the vision here exhibits those who were taken away toGodin their infancy, before they had the power or the will to do good or evil, and who, therefore, as far as actual deeds and feelings are concerned, not by work, or grace, or conviction, but absolutely and from the first were faultless: and probably the selection of the description as the Gospel for this day, the festival of the Holy Innocents, has gone far to confirm this conjecture. But, brethren, this surely is not the meaning, at least the full meaning, of the words. They describe freedom from defilement and following of the Lamb as things that might have been otherwise. They hold up for the example and encouragement of those who were tempted to lust, and to depart from following the livingLord, the praise andhappiness of those who are without fault in these respects; and therefore they suggest to us, I think, as the most profitable and foremost thought, the blessedness, the superior blessedness of those who never have contracted sin, nor failed in holiness.
Men sometimes seem to fancy that the most glorious character in heaven, the object ofGod’sfondest love, will be the once deep-stained and wholly defiled, that have been washed inChrist’sblood till they are become whiter than snow, the reckless, and rebellious, and blaspheming, who have been subdued and converted; and that in comparison of these, the mainly regular righteous life will almost pass unnoticed. It is easy to account for the supposition. We read, without due consideration, of her that sinned much, and was forgiven much, and therefore loved much; of the returned prodigal rejoiced over more than the son who had remained at home; of the joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance; of publicans and harlots going into the kingdom of heaven before priests and scribes. We forget that these things were said to men who were not really righteous, but self-sufficient; that they were an accommodation to their own kind of reasoning; that they were the justificationof special works and feelings, and peculiar demonstrations. Surely we are not to understand by them anything more than that sinners wereat timesmore inChrist’sthoughts than saints; that on the recovery of one lost sheep, the joy over that one caused the rest for the moment to be put out of remembrance. Surely we are not to understand thatGodhas less love for, and shows less favour to those who have uniformly served and honoured Him, than to those whose life has been one of contempt and rebellion, who have refused to accept Him till they had made trial of all else; thatGod’spower and glory are more magnified in the ultimate conversion of such a sinner, than in the steady control and improvement of a life-long saint; that in themselves the reformed drunkards and defiled are better than those who were always sober and pure; that their memories are more blissful, and their themes of praise more satisfactory; that they are even equal in favour, in bliss, in manifested honour to those who were undefiled and consistently obedient, whom Holy Scripture distinguishes on this very account, of whom it relates, that they sing a song which no other can learn, signifying that they have a peculiar privilege and a peculiar joy! Brethren, be sure it is not so.Godis abundantlygracious to all who call upon Him, late as well as early. No one, whatever his past life, shall be refused who comes to Him throughChrist. In his late righteousness all his former sins shall be forgiven and forgotten; they shall not once be mentioned unto him. He shall have too, the joy of the righteous, and shall dwell withGodin heaven; but still He Who makes one star to differ from another in glory, Who bestows different measures of reward upon different capacities, and different attainments, has a special interest and a superior blessedness for those who have never been stained, who have always stayed in their father’s house, and have obeyed His will and loved His voice. In themselves they are dearer to Him, as more likeJesus; and for them, He has seats closer to the throne ofChrist, and offices of honour near His person.
If this is so, if “faultlessness,” in the sense of never blotted, never imperfect, is the state that is most blessed, then, brethren, we might perhaps be tempted to envy the fate of those whom we commemorate to-day, who suffered so early forChrist’ssake, and as soon almost as they were born, were put to death. We might judge, too, that the little ones whomGodso frequently takes away so soon after lending them, are summonedto a higher blessedness than we can ever know; and therefore that not only would it have been gain to die in infancy, but that it is positive loss to live to years of discretion and responsibility. Let us not err herein. We believe that the dear innocents, whose first consciousness is of bliss in heaven, whose reason begins to develop, and their will to exercise itself, only when sin is impossible, are not only unspeakably blessed, but thatGodspecially loves them, and folds them to His bosom (as we did here), because of that innocence: no guile, no defilement—all simplicity and trust. Thankful then in their sober moments are all bereaved parents who are assured of their departed little ones’ eternal safety, and are spared the fears and anxieties, the heartrending realisation of self-will developed, and the world’s evil example followed, and the devil triumphant. TheLordgave, and theLordhath taken away; and, in that He has taken away, from the evil to come, Oh! blessed be the name of theLord.
But, brethren, it is only because we fear for the future, that we thankfully accept such a present. Could we be sure that our little ones would remain faultless, that they would not abuse the world, nor fall into great error or misery, that they would grow in grace, and in thefear of theLord, and at length surely attain to glory; then, not from selfishness, but for their sakes, we should covet length of days for them. And rightly, for there is a better faultlessness, and a correspondingly higher blessedness than that of infants, who were allowed no opportunity (and possessed no power) to contract fault: it is the faultlessness of those who shrink from the allowed opportunity, who restrain the possessed power, and overcome the persuading will, who pass through the fire without the smell of it being left on their garments, who make manifest by a life of self-denials, and resistances to temptations, and patience and perseverance in well-doing, their intelligent deliberate love ofGod, and hatred of evil. These are the tried, the eagerly accepted, the specially loved. These do theLord’swork, and set forth theLord’sglory. These shall indeed be welcomed with a “Well-done good and faithful servant,” for them shall be reserved the best seats on the right hand ofGod; and they shall joy inGod, andGodin them, with a peculiar joy, for they are likest untoChrist, Whose spotlessness was preserved among so many defilements, Who with heart, and mind, and life, consistently, unceasingly servedGod, and Who therefore is highly exalted, and has a name which is above all other names.
Oh it is no mean privilege, brethren, which you forego, when you leave the ranks of the faultless, when you shrink from duty, or yield to sinful pleasure, or contract any stain of ungodliness. Say not, “It is only for once.” It will surely be for more than once; but if it were not, still from being faultless thatoncemakes you blotted and blemished. Say not, “I can repent by and by, andGodof His mercy will accept me, and I shall be myself again.” You may not live to repent. Sin may disincline, the Spirit provoked may leave you; but even if you do repent—thoughGodwill undoubtedly forgive, and in a sense restore you—remember, you can never be as you were before. You may be cleansed, but not as at first clean; admitted to heaven, but not to the band of the one hundred and forty-four thousand of undefiled; joined to the glorious choir of the redeemed, but not allowed, not able to sing the peculiar song of the faultless.
“But what,” some would say, “is the use of this preaching? We are all already faulty; we can none of us have a place among these choice first fruits ofGod’sharvest.” Brethren, faultlessness, pure faultlessness, is no longer ours; but comparative faultlessness (and Bible faultlessness, after all, is only comparative freedom from wilfulsin) may, and, I trust, does pertain to many of us; and for each degree of nearness to faultlessness, if I understand the Bible aright, there is its peculiar reward. I would put you on your guard against losing that reward, by sinking to a lower level. I would urge you to hold fast what you have, to subdue yourselves, to resist the world and the devil, to be ever on the watch against danger, and to flee speedily from temptation, if it is too strong to fight against, to seek strength and sanctification in means of grace, to pray constantly (and strive constantly to make good your prayer), thatChristwould keep you from falling, and finally present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.
Genesis,xxxii., 10.I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies,and of all the truth,which thou hast showed unto Thy servant;for with my staff I passed over this Jordan;and now I am become two bands.
Genesis,xxxii., 10.
I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies,and of all the truth,which thou hast showed unto Thy servant;for with my staff I passed over this Jordan;and now I am become two bands.
Theseare Jacob’s words. They form part of the prayer which he offered toGod, when, on his return from Haran, he found that Esau was coming out against him with four hundred men.
Mingled feelings must have possessed Jacob at this time; strange remembrances must have been his! Twenty years ago he had passed over that Jordan—near which he now stood—in flight from an enraged brother, meditating and preparing vengeance for an act of fraudulent injury. What a weary pilgrimage he had since followed; whatsorrows, what desolations had possessed his aching heart; how he had toiled and suffered wrong; even now was fleeing from it! Yet, those twenty years gone, he was coming back, not to the prospect of peace and happiness, not to the hope that his brother had forgotten his vengeance, or that he would easily be reconciled to him; but to face a mindful, aggravated avenger, strengthened by four hundred followers. Surely he had fled and been in exile to no purpose! Surely, by deferring it, he had increased his trouble! It must have been that Jacob now acutely remembered the cause of Esau’s anger; that he meditated on the mean advantage that he had taken, the base fraud to which he had been a party, the lying, the profanity of his lips, the evil deeds which led to evil consequences. Ah! now he felt that man cannot sin with impunity, that transgression and punishment are bound together as cause and effect, that vengeance, though it tarry, though it slumber, though we run from it, and hide from it many, many days, will yet accomplish its purpose, will surely repay! Yes; and did he not feel that vengeance had even followed him; that he had been its victim all those twenty years; that the frauds of Laban, from first to last, and the strifes and dissensions of his own householdwere the fruits of his deceit; thatGodhad allowed them, that in a way He had caused them in retaliation, in punishment of his sin! What an experience to him, what a proof to us, my brethren, that sin will surely find us out!
But Jacob must have had other and different thoughts—thoughts which preponderated. As he called to mind his first passage over Jordan, did not he remember the wonderful vision that was vouchsafed him of angels descending to earth, ascending to heaven, in token of Divine providence, of the intercourse between man andGod? Did he not remember the Voice which promised to be with him, to keep him in all places whither he went, to bring him again to this land, to give it to him and to his seed after him? Did he not look along those twenty years, and remember thatGodhad been with him, and that, by His command, he was now coming back; and did he not hope, yes, even against hope, thatGodwould be with him in the coming struggle, that He would crown His mercy and goodness with a present success, and with the establishment of himself and his seed in the promised land? And one other remembrance surely he had. He remembered the vow which in the fresh reverence ofGod’spresence, in glad and grateful acceptance of Hispromises, he had solemnly made, “TheLordshall be myGod;” and he must have remembered how often he had forgotten that vow, how generally he had slightly regarded it. These I suppose to have been the feelings and remembrances which filled the breast of Jacob, when he uttered the prayer in which our text occurs. Observe how that prayer exhibits the right ordering of these feelings, making prominent, putting uppermost thoughts and acknowledgments ofGod’sgoodness; and, in the moment of greatest peril, pausing to review mercies, and to give thanks! There is no bitter lamentation of his hard lot throughout those years of promised blessing; there is no pleading withGod, that if he had sinned he had surely been punished enough; there is no mention of the merits of his contrite heart and amended life; there is no angry feeling against Esau, no supplication thatGodwould smite and confound him. It is a godly, a model prayer. Betaking himself toGodin the hour of danger, as his only confidence and help, he humbly urges no personal claim, but—that he is in the place ofGod’scommanding. “‘ThouLordthat saidst unto me Return unto thy country and unto thy kindred,’ I did not recklessly run into danger, I did not voluntarilygratify the natural yearning of my poor heart. Thou broughtest me here, OLordprotect me here;” and then having put forth himself, though but such a little way, and coming to considerGod, Who had shown him such wondrous goodness, Who had fulfilled for him so truthfully all His promises, he exclaims, “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth which thou hast showed unto Thy servant: for with my staff—as a solitary, poor individual—I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands. Deliver me, I pray thee.”
This seems to me, brethren, a fit theme for a sermon on New Year’s Eve. Jacob, come back from Haran to Jordan, where he had made a covenant withGod, may well typify our return to-night to the sanctuary ofGod, whence we went forth refreshed and pledged last New Year’s Eve. Jacob’s reflections—he is the pattern of a mediator—may well provoke us to ask of the days that are past, to remember all the way which theLordourGodhas led us. Jacob’s prayer shows us how to speak toGod, what we should feel in His presence on such an occasion as this, how to propitiate Him, and to secure His defence and blessing in what lies before us.
I will not attempt, brethren, to picture thecircumstances through which you have passed in the year which is now all but ended; many of them I could only guess at, many of them, to me, would be unimaginable. Recall them for yourselves and meditate on them. They will teach you much, and influence you much. I will address you simply as those who have made a halt in the journey of life, and who want nowGod’sblessing in the known and unknown dangers, anxieties, sufferings, and labours that lie before you in the coming year.
Well: let your requests be made known untoGodwith prayer; above all—yes! I mean it—above all, with thanksgiving.
But, first, before you approachGod, to speak to Him, to ask of Him, to thank Him, be sure that you can say to Him, “I am in the way of Thy commandments.” If at this moment you are contentedly different from what you know He would have you to be; if you indulge, or do not resolutely renounce any besetting sin; if you deliberately neglect any positive duty; if in will and affections, and aims, you are worldly and selfish, and do not seek to be otherwise; if you are planning anything, or hoping for anything whichGoddoes not approve; if you are shrinking from, desiring to avoid, what He appoints; ifyou have not made up your minds to try to be holy, to walk in the way of righteousness; then, brethren, you are disqualified to pray toGod. He hears not such. He has made no promises to them: they are not His. Go fashion yourselves (He will mercifully give you grace to do it) into the character that He loves; get you into the paths that He has marked out; turn your face towards the Holy Land, and then come to tell Him of your felt unworthiness, to speak His praise, to intreat Him to be with you, to defend and prosper you; and be sure you shall be welcomed and blessed.
But, supposing you not disqualified to come, supposing you bent on coming, consider now your right posture and deportment beforeGod. Ask nothing of right, ask all out of felt unworthiness, and that, not simply the unworthiness of the stranger, and alien, who want mercies which they have never known, and speak to aGodthat has not hitherto been theirGod, as the publican cried, “Godbe merciful to me a sinner;” but such an unworthiness as belonged to the prodigal, such as he felt and groaned under, when, reflecting on all the love and blessedness which he had experienced in his father’s house, and had despised, and sinned against, and seeing the Fathercoming towards him, ready to pardon, ready to embrace, ready to lead him home again, he was humbled to the very dust before Him, on account of his goodness, and declared himself unworthy to be called His son. Oh, my brethren, if you do not feel unworthy, when you approach the all-good and all-holyGod, and if the feeling is not one enlightened by, and full of the remembrances of blessings already received, you are unfit to ask for further blessings. Not to have usedGod’sblessings is great indignity; not to be thankful for them is base ingratitude; but not to feel, that whether used or not used, appreciated or not appreciated, they are many and undeserved—this is to deny that you ever received them, or, claiming them as a right, to defyGodto withhold them! Cultivate then, I pray you, this feeling of unworthiness; and, that you may do so the more readily, review the mercies, the promises made true which you have received; and tell out their number, their kind, and their magnitude to theGodWho gave them, and would have them acknowledged. “With my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands.” Now the argument of these words is, “I do not come to Thee, professing that I am a fit person to be helped, but I claim Thee as aGodwho are wont to help such as Iam. I am not worthy of the least of Thy mercies: but yet Thou hast shown me marvellous mercies. I possess now the evidences and pledges of Thy goodness. Therefore I pray for, I humbly count on further blessing, not because I am a holy man, but because Thou art a goodGod, and My goodGod.” It is an argument which prevails withGod. He is pleased to see that we recognise His former gifts, that we makethem—and not ourselves, our love of Him, our obedience, our prayers, and fastings, and study of His Word, and use of His grace—the ground of application. He likes that His consistent faithfulness should be invoked; that since He has made a beginning, just on that very account, He should be looked to (so as it be humbly), to continue His work, and to accomplish it. When you go toGodto ask for fresh blessings, you cannot take with you better and more effectual words than those which make mention of, which exhibit as promises and pledges, what you have already received.
But these words are not simply an argument for further help; they are, besides, a free acknowledgment, a pure praise of what has been given. They may be the plea of a beseeching heart, but they are besides the tribute of a grateful heart;and it is in this sense, brethren, that I specially wish you to adopt them to-night, and to make them a thanksgiving toGodfor past mercies reviewed. “With my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands.” Jacob might have found mercies enough to enlist his gratitude in any one year, or circumstance of his exile and pilgrimage, and doubtless he reviewed each and all particularly; but in his speech he comprehended all in a general mention of them, and summed them up, and demonstrated them by pointing to their effect. “Now I am become two bands.” Review your past mercies, consider howGodhas been with you at all times, and has ever been doing you good. Call to mind what progress you have been able to make spiritual or temporal; what success has attended you; what friends have been given you; what dangers you have narrowly escaped; what sicknesses recovered from; what wounds been healed, what troubles overcome, what tears staunched. Have they not caused you, like Jacob, to increase from the solitariness and poverty of that passing over Jordan, to the riches and prosperity of the two bands? Perhaps you say, you cannot trace such progress; you are much the same outwardly and inwardly, as you have been from the time that you can firstremember. Then, brethren, you can furnish your own testimony, thatGodhas dealt better with you than He did with Jacob, that your first state, your continued state has been all like his last. O discern and blessGodfor those least heeded but greatest mercies, the mercies which come to us at the beginning, and follow us all the days of our life—the continued prosperity of our family, the continued harmony and love, the bread always sure, the right understanding early implanted, the fear of theLordfrom our youth. There is a way of travelling in our days which is so smooth, that often we cannot tell that we are moving; and there is a manner of blessing, so uninterrupted, so uniform, so without roughnesses and stoppages and ups and downs, that if we be not on the lookout, we may fancy that we are not blessed at all. Let not this be your case. Do not refuse to be grateful, because all goes well with you, because there is nothing that needs to be supplied, because nothing is taken away from you. Rather, let the measure of your blessedness be also the measure of your praise and the strength of your resolution. “Surely goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of theLordfor ever.”