St. Matthew,viii., 26.And He saith unto them,Why are ye fearful,O ye of little faith?Then He arose,and rebuked the winds and the sea;and there was a great calm.
St. Matthew,viii., 26.
And He saith unto them,Why are ye fearful,O ye of little faith?Then He arose,and rebuked the winds and the sea;and there was a great calm.
Itwas after a day of laborious teaching, that ourLordto escape for a time from the crowds that thronged Him, to obtain rest and quiet, perhaps to exercise His ministry in other places, commanded the disciples to steer the ship, in which He had been teaching, across the sea of Galilee, and to convey Him to the other side. Immediately, it would appear, that they set out, He laid Himself down and fell asleep. Partaking of human nature in its infirmity, though not in its sin, He was worn out with labour, and absolutely required, yea, hastened to rest. He sunk into a deep sleep, then, as soon as He assumed the posture of repose. But anon, a storm arose. One of those squalls (which so often come down upon lakes surroundedby mountains) suddenly filled the air with boisterous wind, and so upraised and agitated the waves, that they dashed over the ship, and threatened it with destruction. The disciples, many of whom were fishermen, and others accustomed to occupy their business upon or beside the water, must have been too familiar with storms to be easily frightened. The darkening clouds, the howling wind, the troubled water, would, of course, arouse them to energy, warning them that they were in danger, and requiring them to watch and labour to save themselves; and so we can well imagine them running hither and thither, with anxious looks, loosing or furling the sails, as might be necessary; avoiding quicksands, and rocks, and shallow places; lightening the ship of dangerous burthens; directing their course by the safest way, to the haven where they would be. But either they must have been sorry sailors, with coward hearts, which we are not willing to believe, or their courage must have been overcome by very unusual and imminent danger, ere they would have rushed to their Master, and cried to Him, in terror, “Lord, save us, we perish!” or, in rash reproach, “Carest thou not, that we perish?” Yes! I say, there must have been unusual and imminent danger,and even something more—some supernatural portent—thus to strike with terror, thus to fill with despair.
However this may be, they cried unto theLord, and theLordheard them. He had slept calmly through the roar of the wind—yea, even while the waves washed over Him; but the cry of distress entered quickly into His ear, and He awoke to answer it. “Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?” were His awakening words. This is not a rebuke for coming to Him; they had done right therein. He would presently prove it by the miracle He would work for them. Neither is it an assertion that there was no real danger, that they had been too easily alarmed: for an inspired Evangelist, St. Luke, writing long afterwards, in the light of whatChristnow said and did, expressly states that the vessel was filled with water, and that they were in danger. No; it is an acknowledgment of the danger, but it is also a pledge that it should be averted, and it is a tender reproach for not being confident of deliverance. “Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?” Am not I with you? Do not I know your wants? Have I not power and will to relieve them? Where is your faith, in the prophecies of what I have yet to do, that you supposeI am now to perish? Where is the confidence which becomes my followers?—which others, with less knowledge and encouragement, less ground of hope, have so fully shown. “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.” Yea, though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him! Thus He reproves, and calms, and assures them in their trouble, and then He proceeds to deliver them out of it. “He arose”—we read—“and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.” It was a wondrous manifestation of His Majesty. It was a gracious condescension to infirmity. It was a proof, too palpable to be resisted, too marvellous to be forgotten, that He is able to keep, and that He will keep, in safety and in peace, those whose minds are staid on Him, who commit themselves to His keeping. Well may the disciples, in the awful stillness of that calm, have been filled as much with reverential fear as with admiration. “They feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” They had witnessed several of His epiphanies: they had tasted of the water made wine; they had seen the leper cleansed; and had, at least, heard on reliable testimony, thatthe centurion’s servant was restored—yea, in the early evening of this very day, just before they left the shore,Jesushad been casting out evil spirits, with His word, and had healed all the sick that were brought to Him: but in their eyes (whether they were right or wrong concerns us not now) this was a greater miracle, greater in extent, greater in power, greater in the suddenness, the certainty (felt by themselves, remember, as no other had been) and the peace and joy of its effect. Much must it have informed their worship, much must it have increased their faith. Power did it give them to proclaim hereafter that they knew in whom they had believed, patience to endure for His sake, in His strength; peace in persecution, comfort in sorrow, hope amidst otherwise confounding terrors and dismay, that they had actually experiencedChrist’ssalvation from destruction; that the experience had been vouchsafed them as a pledge of His constant care; that they had been told, on its account, to trust—never henceforth to be fearful, and of little faith!
Of great importance, then, was that miracle of the Stilling of the Storm, if it meant no more, and accomplished no more than this: if it only showed, that on a large, as on a small scale, overelements, as well as over diseases, on the sea no less than on the land,Jesuswas “mighty to save”; if it only furnished the eye-witnesses of His ministry with a great instance of His gracious power; if it only prepared them for their life of storms and difficulties, and supported them in their dangers and distresses, and kept them faithful and joyful.
But, surely, it has more meaning, and more worth, than this.
First, it reveals to us, if I mistake not, a contention between spiritual powers (the Son ofGodon the one side, the Devil on the other), followed by a victory of the good, and a conspicuous defeat of the evil. That was no accidental raging of wind and waves, that was no operation of theGodof providence using the elements to accomplish good purposes which was rebuked by the voice of the Son ofGod. Rebuke would be meaningless addressed to mere wind and wave: it would be blasphemous addressed toGod. It is only when speaking to the Devil, to fevers and distempers, the effects of demoniacal possession, to Peter or others, prompted by Satan, speaking his words, doing his work, thatChristuses rebuke. Here then, surely, Satan was at work, and here he was confounded! The enemy ofsouls had never ceased to watch and seek to destroy the Saviour. He had stirred up Herod against Him in His infancy. He had personally assailed Him in the wilderness. He was now using the elements, over which much power is often allowed him, as we see in Job’s case, as his agents of evil. But with all his wisdom and perception, he knew not what was inJesus. He thought once that he could as easily have made Him sceptical as he did Eve, “hathGodsaid,” “If Thou be the Son of Man.” He thought now that while the Son of Man slept he was unconscious and powerless. And so in his folly he sought to wreck the vessel, and overwhelm Him whom it carried in the depths of the sea. Attempting this, he did but give occasion for an additional manifestation ofChrist’smission and power to destroy him and his works. On the shore, before He started,Christhad cast out devils. On the shore for which He was making He would again cast them out. On the sea He now meets them, and confounds them. O what a mighty, what a galling conquest! Satan had let loose all the powers of the winds, he had lashed the waves into utmost fury, the disciples were dismayed, the Saviour was asleep, the ship was sinking. “Only a few moments,” doubtless, heexultingly thought, “and there shall be a second destruction of man, the kingdom shall surely become mine, for there will be none to dispute it”—when, lo! theLordarose, and, with a word, made him undo the work he had done. “Peace be still;” and the wind ceased, and there was a great calm! O signal defeat! O earnest of the promise that the head of the serpent shall be bruised, that Satan himself shall be bound and trodden under foot, and cast into the lake of fire, and shall deceive and vex no more. Surely, this is one of the chief scenes, one of the most mysterious and important events, one of the most glorious manifestations ofChrist’slife on earth.
But this is not all its significance. The miracles of ourLordwere acted parables—types of spiritual things—rather outward signs, not themselves to be given up, but thereafter to be accompanied by inward grace.
The ship on the sea of Galilee represents the Christian Church, or the individual member of it. The sea is the world; the storm, with its adverse wind and difficult waves, figures the trials, the buffetings, the persecutions, the fears of this mortal life; the disciples are the types of weak yet willing human nature—both our warnings and our examples; andChristis Himself, yet, so tospeak, but a figure of the true, dwelling in His Church in each faithful member, often apparently unheeding, unconscious, yet always our sure defence and deliverer, prompt to hear when called upon, able to comfort, mighty to save.
That entry into the ship, and sailing forth into the sea, represents our first journey, and each renewed journey toChrist, in Baptism, in Confirmation, in Holy Communion, in every fresh repentance, every vow, every act of worship. Forth we go with Him. All is calm and hopeful. We seem to have to journey over quiet waters. The shore of Heaven is straight before us, and we are making for it. But, as soon as we set out, our envious, deadly enemy, hating ourLord, and hating us, plots our destruction, and assays its accomplishment. Soon trouble takes the place of peace, winds of adversity toss and try us, hope begins to pale, terror to dismay, the waters go even over our soul, and He who should calm us, and sustain and cheer us, seems to have fallen asleep, to help us not, to take no notice of us. It is the hour ofGod’strial, of the Devil’s temptation! What shall we do? If we are wise sailors, like as I have supposed the disciples to have done, we shall meet the occasion with well-directed energy; we shall keep the vessel awayfrom the quicksands of pleasure, the shallows of pride, the rocks of offence, and the whirlpools of sin. We shall cast out the weight that drags us down, sloth, indifference, besetting sin. We shall bear up against the boisterous winds of adversity. We shall resolutely and perseveringly pursue the straight course through the waters, making for, looking for the shore. Unless we do all this, we have no right to hope. But we must take care, lest in, ay, even by doing it, we lose our hope. Satan destroys many because they make no effort to save themselves; but he destroys quite as many because they rely on their own efforts. It is a fact that we can do nothing by ourselves; that human wisdom, self-reliant, is sure to be confounded, and human effort, independent, to be paralysed. But even if for the time we see what is right, and are successful in doing it, he will enshroud us in such horrible darkness, he will fill our ears with such dismal sounds, he will so toss and bewilder and overwhelm us, that presently weariness, perplexity, and despair will cause us to give up, to consent to our own destruction. The disciples in that storm-tossed ship seem to have been bringing themselves well nigh into this ruin, first to have relied on themselves, and then to have despaired of themselves, all the while forgettingWho was with them, Who should have been their guide, Who was their sure protector, when, all at once, before it was too late, they remembered and aroused Him, and called Him to their aid. It was their bliss to find that “the saint’s extremity isGod’sopportunity;” that it is never too late, before destruction, to call upon Him and be saved; but they were not allowed to enjoy this bliss unmixed with reproach for self-confidence and for want of confidence in Him. In all the storms and dangers which beset us on the sea of life, let us take example from the disciples to call upon Him who can save us, and let us also take warning from them, not to forget His company, or to suppose that He forgets us.
Such seems to be a sketch of the interpretation of the meaning and instruction for us of this acted parable.
And now, brethren, having learnt the general truth, let us pick out and dwell upon some of its particulars.
And first, in setting out withChrist, expect storms and dangers. We are too apt to suppose that the war of life is to be waged only with men, that the storms of life are only encountered in temporal things. We can well understand that it was otherwise, that it must have been otherwise,with the first founders of the Church, with confessors in the face of unbelieving Jews and heathen Romans, with the Reformers, with missionaries now: but in our own case we calculate on a smooth and safe journey over the sea of time to the shore of eternity, ay, and after many days, experience, we say, confirms our calculation. No sore temptations try us; no conflict of good and evil principles tosses and tears us; no despair threatens to drown us. We have trouble enough in the world, in earning our daily bread, in claiming and maintaining our own, in becoming rich, or powerful, or famous, in ruling those who rebel against our just authority, who would gainsay our words, and frustrate our efforts. But in spiritual things this is not the case. We find it easy (I speak that which the manifest lives and apparent feelings of what are called respectable men justify my speaking) to follow the course which we would in religion—we worship in church, we read the Bible and pray at home without opposition. It costs us no trouble to keep the letter ofGod’schief commandments. We know nothing of spiritual wrestling, spiritual fear, spiritual despondency. Why should we? Our ways are mainly upright; our consciences not afraid, our duty plain and simple; and inChrist, therefore, ourhope sure. I know that men think this (at least they do not think otherwise), and in their lives they act it, even if they dare not shape it into words. But, brethren, if it is so with you, look to it, for the calm is more deadly than the storm. The Devil is the inveterate enemy and the untiring assailant ofChristand Christians. His whole being and energy are concentrated in the aim and effort to bury the ark ofChristin the sea of eternal destruction. If, then, you pass over that sea, and are enshrouded by no darkness, beaten by no winds, tossed by no billows, be sure that it is becauseChristis not in your company. That Church has had its candlestick removed, which dwells in security, peaceful and prosperous; and that individual has notChristfor the tenant of his heart who experiences not what the storm-tossed vessel typified. Satan is intent upon destroying every one that isChrist’s. If he attempts not your destruction, it is because he does not consider youChrist’s—and, remember, though he is not all-wise, he is as an angel, and an archangel in perception—because your vessel bears notChrist; because you are on no journey withChristto cast out evil spirits and drive them over steep places into the sea. O, my brethren, it is an awful sign, a death-boding distinction,when Satan lets us alone in this sea of life, and deems it unnecessary to keep us by violent efforts from reaching heaven. It is the expression of his informed and deliberate judgment that we are not going thither! O ye who dwell at ease and glide smoothly along the journey of life, put back, takeChriston board, and joy when you find in yourselves the signs of His presence, the assaults of Satan, the warring within you of good and evil, the stirrings of conscience, the flutterings of spiritual fear. I do not mean become morbid, and delight in what is mournful and terrible; but suspect and refuse the peace which Satan offers without contest, and determine to have only that which inChrist’sstrength you win and maintain.
Next, consider the meaning ofChrist’slying asleep in the storm, and interfering not to control it, till so earnestly called up.
In providence and in graceGoddelights, so to speak, to hide Himself, though He exhibits the results of His works. He is the Author of every gift, and the Ruler and Promoter of its use; but He puts it into our hands as His agents, and bids us with it accomplish His will. As the heart is the fountain of the blood which flows through our members, as it is bone and muscle that givestrength to the arm, so isGodthe Source of grace to the soul, and the prevailing Power of our efforts. Still, it is not Himself prominently and foremost that does the work in the world, but we from and by Him. The explanation of this economy seems to be, first, that He would have us walk by faith—remembering Him, relying on Him, working for Him—rather than by right, constrained, whether we will or not, without feeling or desire, or dependence, to see, and admit, and feel His power. And, secondly, that He would give us an individuality, a certain dependent independence, which shall make us feel personal responsibility, and allow us to deserve (in a sense) the recompense of personal effort. Thus, He leaves the fool to say, There is noGod, and rewards the faithful by revealing Himself to belief. Thus, while there is aGod, while He is not far from us, while in Him we live and move and have our being, we are required and stimulated to seek Him, to feel after Him, and find Him. Besides, or more properlytherefore, we have to call upon Him before He answers. Even when He had determined, and declared His determination, to bless the Israelites, He made the condition, “Nevertheless, for these things I will be inquired of.” He would have us live by spiritualdependence. He would have us communicate to Him our wants. He would have us draw down by prayer the supply. And this He effects by making it a law, that He will know nothing of us, at least know nothing so as to heed for our good, but what we tell Him, and will give us nothing but what we ask. I have so lately enlarged upon this subject that I will add nothing upon it now, but to bid you remember the necessity and the power of prayer.
Lastly, consider what is taught by that remonstrance, spoken in the interval between awaking and acting, “Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?” I have already said thatChristdid not disapprove the prayer, but only the fear which had preceded it, the poverty of the faith which accompanied it. Neither did He demand of the disciples the impossibility of being undisturbed in the midst of such perturbation. It is natural—natural even to the Christian full of grace, to be affected by the circumstances which attend him.Christwas so affected Himself, as His prayers, and shrinkings, and watchings, and open teaching assure us. He, who wept at human misery, though He was just going to put it to flight; He, who shrank from the trial which He had deliberately and of choice encountered, has sanctioned and recommended (shall Isay enforced?) by His example the same feelings in His disciples. He does not forbid us to be human, but only requires us to leaven humanity with godliness. Trials we are to have, and trials we ought to feel. To be stolid and callous is to be unchristian, for none ever felt trials asChristdid. But in our trials, while we feel, and weep, and shrink, we are not to be faint-hearted. We are to know in Whom we have believed. We are, therefore, to bear them, and submit to them; but we are not to be overpowered by them. We are not to allow them to exercise such an influence as to make us forget that there is One greater than the storm, Who rules it even in its wildest raging, Who will cause it to cease when it is fitting, Who will not allow it to overwhelm us if we are dependent on Him in its continuance, if we hope in Him to stay it. Terrible is the darkness of the sky, powerful is the violence of the wind, drenching are the waves, but the ship shall not sink, forChristis in it. Whatever, then, the terrors and the trouble of the present, we have hope, we have confidence in the future. “Why art thou so cast down O my soul, and why art thou so disquieted within me? Hope inGodfor I shall yet praise Him, Who is the health of my countenance and myGod.”
Such is the teaching ofChrist’sremonstrance. And the time of its utterance, the delay to assuage the storm, teaches this further lesson, that in this lifeChristwill give us comfort in trouble, but not necessarily deliverance out of trouble. By and by He will indeed deliver us. But the best blessing here is not immunity, but trust and support. There is a peace in war, a joy in sorrow, a strength in weakness, with which the world and the Devil cannot intermeddle. Seek we this, and be sure we are wanting in whatChristdelights to afford, if we have it not. But having it, bear we patiently, thankfully, all outward commotion, faithfully expecting the time, when openly, as already inwardly,Christshall arise and command “Peace be still,” and there shall be a great and abiding calm.
Ephesians,iv., 1, 2, 3.I,therefore,the prisoner of theLord,beseech you that ye walk worthy of the calling wherewith ye are called,With all lowliness and meekness,with longsuffering,forbearing one another in love;Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Ephesians,iv., 1, 2, 3.
I,therefore,the prisoner of theLord,beseech you that ye walk worthy of the calling wherewith ye are called,With all lowliness and meekness,with longsuffering,forbearing one another in love;Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Itwas the prayer of our BlessedLord—what an earnest prayer it was, delivered in what solemn and affecting circumstances—that all His disciples might be one, even as He and the Father were one. He had laboured to secure this oneness, by teaching them that there was the same truth for all to receive, and the same work for all to do. Individual fancies and theories were not to be indulged, where the whole teaching was ofGod; pride was not to exercise itself where everything was received, and nothing earned; ambition was checked, by being told that, by seeking, itshould lose, that he who would be first should be last. All were equal in position, all equal in privileges. In serving one another, in preferring one another—by this alone could they pleaseGod; in this way only could they reach unto eminence. Devoted to a commonLord, directed by a common revelation, enabled by a common grace, exercised in a common work, cheered by a common hope, surrounded with common trials and difficulties—what could there be within, without, past, present, or future, which should prevent them from all thinking the same thoughts and doing the same works, sinking the individual in the company, clinging to one another, labouring together, knit together in a holy bond—“OneLord, one faith, one baptism, oneGodand Father of all, Who is above all, and through all, and in all.” To think for oneself, what was it but to rejectGod’struth; to act independently, but to forsake their appointed work; not to serve and love the brethren, not to serve and love theLord; to separate from the Christian company, to go away fromChrist?
Even if the Spirit had not been given to effect this unity, if the Gospel had not enforced it by the plainest denunciation of heresies and schisms—crimes classed by it with the worst and lowest,and most certain to exclude from heaven; even ifChristhad never prayed for their union, nor taught them that they were to be united, still, if the disciples of religion were like the followers of any other cause, it might have been expected—it would have seemed morally impossible that it should be otherwise—that the remembrance and love of their Master, the cause which they had taken up, the knowledge of the way in which alone it could be furthered, their common relationship, and interests, and aims, and hopes, would have kept them in one body, would have bound them fast to each other in the bonds of peace. And, doubtless, it would have been so, but for the influence and machinations of the evil one. There could have been no other fruit from such seed, but that the enemy sowed tares in the same field. InChrist, self had been denied and destroyed. His Church was to be the embodiment and propagator of self-denial, self-submission, self-devotion. Such a Church threatened antichrist with certain destruction: for antichrist is the spirit of self—and selfishness destroyed, where would be sin? Therefore, the Devil sought to break up or mar and impair the Church; and, to accomplish his object, infused into as many of its members as he could, the very spirit of self,which it was commissioned to destroy. Alas! he was too successful in his fell work. Soon self began to ask, “Why should I not choose what to believe—what to do? Why should I not make to myself a name, and claim for myself authority, and power, and reverence? Why should I not have private views, and seek private ends? Why should I suffer, and forbear, and seek another’s good, rather than my own?” The selfish question was father to the selfish determination; and so, even in the Apostles’ time, the faith was mutilated here and denied there—there were heresies, and schisms, and strifes, and boastings of spiritual gifts, and withholding of temporal substance fromGod, and indulgence of lusts, and hatings, and revengings, and backbitings, and fightings, and denying of one another, among those who were all called with one calling, enlightened and sanctified by one Spirit, appointed to “keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” And so it has continued to the present time. There is no such reasoning, and questioning, and quibbling, and deciding for oneself what to believe, about any other subject, as about the truth, whichGodhas plainly taught and has clearly defined. There are no other divisions so numerous, so lamentable, so strife-begotten, and strife-engendering,as in the one body ofChrist. Pride, and ambition, and self-seeking, in all its worst forms; evil suspicions, revilings, hatred, persecutions, have abounded, and do abound, and boldly manifest themselves in that very community whence self was to be expelled! Many antichrists are in the world, but as many in the Church. The very heathen repel our attempts to convert them, by bidding us first agree what to believe ourselves. The worst of men say they have a right to despise us for our bitter jealousies and disliking of one another; and the taunt is common, and has been in some measure provoked, that religion is only a mask, a cloak to hide men’s basest passions and worst deeds.
It may be urged—it ought to be urged—that this is not altogether the fault of Christians. It was the will ofGodthat the goats should be allowed to mingle with the sheep, that the tares should not be rooted out from among the wheat, that the net should contain small as well as great, worthless as well as good fishes. Hence they are “not all Israel, who are of Israel.” And so the bad feelings and deeds, the things which are an offence and a reproach in Christendom, are to be charged not altogether toChrist’strue followers, but to those who only in name areChristians—to the world, in fact, intruding into, and mixing itself up with, the Church.
Yes; this is so. The world has sought and found scope in the Church for the wild exercise of its reason, for profane speculations, and whimsical fancies; for self-indulgence, too, in all its forms; for lusts, and strifes, and false accusations, and enmities, and wickedness, of every hue and measure. The worst heretics and schismatics, the fiercest persecutors, the bitterest accusers of the brethren, are evidently not true followers, even in intention, ofChrist; they are not rebels and traitors, “they are not of us,” they belong to the enemy, and have stolen into our camp; and are now mixing themselves with us, and confounding, and harassing, and misguiding us, as part of the subtle warfare which is being waged by Satan against us. But still, alas! we are not clear. Too many who deserve to be called something better than nominal Christians, too many—ay, even of the best of us—make no endeavour—that is worthy of the name—to keep the unity of the Spirit; or, if they strive for unity, forget the bond of peace.
It is very common to find a man who has been at much pains to find out for himself the doctrines and requirements of Christianity, who heartilyaccepts every article of the creed, who is scrupulously exact in keeping all the ordinances, who would think himself guilty of no ordinary sin, if he frequented the place of worship of another sect, or contributed of his substance to their cause, who is yet all the while utterly indifferent to the fact that almost every article of his creed, and every ordinance of his Church, is ignored, and even denounced by some one or other of the many bodies of men calling themselves Christian communities. He thinks it no business of his to defend the faith, or to vindicate the ordinances. Let every man look to himself, is his maxim, and leave others alone; or, perhaps, if he is momentarily interested in the matter, if a wish springs up that it were otherwise, he soothes himself, and spares himself further anxiety and labour, by suggesting that Christian charity would not interfere with another’s liberty. “These others,” he reasons, “have a religion, and follow it. It is not altogether the same as mine, but it is in many respects like it, perhaps in all essentials. At any rate, it is better than none; it would be presumptuous to suppose that they may not be saved by it. Therefore, if I must help in proselytizing any, it shall not be these mainly right, but the godless, the followers of no religion!”
Now, brethren, such a man is utterly in fault: he is incurring the Apostle’s reproach of being carnal, in allowing divisions; he is offending against the very Christian charity which he thinks he is exercising; he is unconcerned about the due honour ofGod; he is disobeying the injunction to endeavour “to keep the unity of the Spirit.” The question is not, whether a man can be saved in heresy or schism, but whether any Christian, who honoursGodand loves the brethren, ought to wink at heresy or schism? And the answer is plain—he ought not! IsGodhonoured, is He pleased, when the creature, to whom He reveals Himself, says, in effect, Thus much of the Divine account I will accept; the rest I do not like, cannot reconcile with my private pre-conceived notions, cannot see to be reasonable, therefore, I reject it? IsGodobeyed, when His servant, instead of fulfilling His whole will, sets aside capriciously, or for some selfish reason, certain positive precepts of that will? Is any Christian in a certainly accepted and safe state, or in the way to it, who does not use, who ignores the need of, prescribed means of cleansing and sanctifying? And if he is not, how far is it charitable, to let him remain as he is, without concern? My brethren, we all recognise it as theduty of every Christian to promote the knowledge and acceptance of the truth. Can we be said to discharge this duty, if we care not about the mutilation or distortion of the truth? We all acknowledge that we ought to love one another, to have fervent charity among ourselves. Is it charitable—is it not culpably selfish—to have, as we believe, the best, if not the only, right faith—and not to be concerned that others have it not? Is it not, too, strangely perverse to admit, that those in separation are brethren, fellow-pilgrims, fellow-heirs, to hope to meet them in heaven, and to think, and feel, and live in perfect harmony with them for ever; and yet here not to be concerned that we never can give them the right hand of fellowship—cannot journey with them, and help, and make for the inheritance together—can never even meet them in prayer and communion—must let them be as utter strangers? In earthly matters none of this would be tolerated, could possibly be. Why, then, can it be—why is it in religion? Because we are not jealous enough for the honour ofGod, because we do not truly love the brethren, because we do not endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit!
But it is possible to err—there are many who do err—on the other side; who, in their zeal forthe faith, insist that all shall think and do precisely as they do, or shall forego the name of brethren: who have been at no pains to search out the ground of their own faith, and see how much of it is derived fromGod, and how much from man; who make no distinction between important and unimportant misconceptions; who class together the wilful teacher of error and the misguided learner, the originators of schism and the inheritors of it; who blame for their faults those whom they should rather pity for their misfortune; who would make the path of orthodoxy as narrow as possible, and excommunicate all whom they could detect treading on its borders; who not only see nothing right beyond their own Church, but are impatient of much that is within it; who split the Church up into parties, and bring about the worst of schisms—divisions, misgivings, and oppositions, among members of the same household, continuing in the same house; who would have undue prominence given to certain doctrines; who fight for or against certain ceremonies and vestments, and certain kinds of music; who are ever looking for something to protest against, to blame, or to pity, in their fellow-worshippers or their ministers. These men think that they doGodservice (for I speaknot now of the wilful); they are intent upon serving Him; but it is like Saul before his conversion, with an ignorant and persecuting zeal. They want to establish and keep, what they think, the unity of the Spirit, but they care not for the bond of peace. If a member of their own communion does not think as they do, they quarrel with him, they bid him go, they would thrust him out: while, as for members of other Christian bodies, they think worse of them, they speak worse of them, they shun them more than they would an infidel or a reprobate! Let not this be thought exaggeration; not always, nor very often, let us hope, do they come to this growth; but of this kind, alas! too nearly of this measure there are not a few among both High Churchmen and Low Churchmen; and in this direction works all zeal that is not fully enlightened byGod, that is not warmed with love forChrist, and love for those whomChristdied to save and win. Zeal is good, earnest contention for the faith is imperatively required of every Christian, but so is right knowledge and love. Right knowledge, I venture to say, while condemning actual heresy and schism, would often be content with creeds in general terms, and would make much easier, than many strict religionists conceive, the terms of communion,so as to include as many as were really desirous of being included; and love, Christian love, would sigh and sorrow over differences, and yearn after separatists; and would labour, and persuade, and spend, and be spent, and wrestle in prayer, to cement, to convert, to bring in. O it isselfthat is so stern and strict in defining what is correct theology; it is antichrist in his worst mood, that would thrust out or cut off a brother sinner!
My brethren, understand clearly that you are most solemnly bound to accept yourselves, and to urge upon others, the whole teaching ofGod, nothing less and nothing more; to render yourselves, to persuade others to render, precise and perfect obedience. You may not be indifferent about others, but you must not be overbearing. You are keepers and helpers of the brethren, but you are not judges and avengers. It is your duty to honourGod, and to maintain His honour; it is your mission to persuade others to honour Him also.Godis honoured in unity, in agreement, in faith, in union, in practice, and service, and worship. You have then to promote this unity; but, as a pre-qualification, you must have so entered into the mind of the Spirit, as to know—specially forGod’smissionary work—whatliberty is allowed, and to feel, after your poor measure, whatChristfeels of love for each individual soul. In the prosecution of your work, the text directs you—You are called with one calling, the Gentile is included with the Jew; the aim is union, not separation, that all may be saved. By all means, save whom you can. Be lowly, let not self intrude, whereChristshould be put forward; be meek, let not self recoil whereChristwould suffer; be patient, enduring, long-suffering, slow to take offence, determined not to give offence, bent upon returning good for evil, forbearing one another in love, making every allowance for wrong training, for natural prejudices, for individual infirmities—ay, and even perversities. Be very zealous for the unity of the Spirit; but be sure that you are breaking, not promoting, that unity, wherever you sever or endanger the bond of peace. Follow this advice—and I do not say you will root out heresy, and heal divisions, but you will do much towards it. Argument, and censure, and ridicule, and remonstrance, and denunciation, and persecution, have been trying, ever since the Christian era, to establish the unity of the Spirit, and have rather destroyed it. Try you, whether he was not enlightened and sanctified by the Spirit, who said,and acted upon it, “that one ounce of love could do more than many pounds of controversy.” Men may be repelled from you, by your orthodoxy, your zeal, your reasoning, your stout remonstrance. They will be subdued by your forbearance, and will come after you for your love!
To the best of you, I say, there is some indifference which you ought to shake off. To the best of you, I say, get farther from bigotry and the spirit of self.
St. Luke,x., 25.What shall I do to inherit eternal life?
St. Luke,x., 25.
What shall I do to inherit eternal life?
Wehave here the question of a Jewish lawyer, who is said, in propounding it, to have tempted ourLord. This does not necessarily, or even probably, mean, that his object was simply to ensnare and entangleJesusin his speech: but rather that he was putting Him to the test, that he might judge of the qualifications and orthodoxy of the New Teacher. But, besides this, he seems, from the commendation presently passed on him, to have had a better motive; to have been like the scribe who was not far from the kingdom of heaven, to have felt personal anxiety about salvation, and to have sought from ourLord, in an honest, though somewhat professional and self-sufficient manner, the resolution of a real doubt.“What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He had listened to the words in whichJesusreminded His hearers, that they had greater privileges than those who lived before them (“Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them, and to hear those things which ye hear and have not heard them”), and rightly concluding that they were an announcement of the arrival of Gospel times, and the setting forth of their speaker as the Great Gospel Teacher, he asked, what was therenewfor him to hear and learn, and what consequently remained for him to do, that he might inherit eternal life. The reply of ourLordis remarkable. “What is written in the law? how readest thou?” There is nothing new, nothing taken away, nothing added or altered. I come, to fulfil the ceremonial law, to enforce the moral law, what does that bind upon thee? And he answering said, with much wisdom—much spiritual discernment, “Thou shalt love theLordthyGodwith all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind: and thy neighbour as thyself. AndJesussaid unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live:”i.e., shalt haveeternal life. Observe, throughout this lawyer’s speech, how correct is his theology. “What shall I do toinheriteternal life?” not to gain, to purchase, to earn it, but to inherit it. “I do not claim it as a profitable servant, I am not so foolish as to suppose that I can procure it by any surrender, or exchange, or labour. It comes (to those to whom it comes at all) as an inheritance, to the children of the covenant, the heirs of faithful Abraham. And this heirship is not a natural, but a spiritual one. I am a Jew outwardly, but I do not therefore claim to be certainly a Jew inwardly. They are not all Israel who are of Israel. Abraham’s child according to the flesh, I would also be, what I am not necessarily, what indeed I am not at all of mere natural birthright, Abraham’s child according to the promise.” And next observe, how he seeks to secure the inheritance. “What shall Ido?” Eternal life is not the reward of service, it is not the fruit of labour, it is the privilege of a spiritual relationship; but still it cannot be enjoyed by those who are indifferent about it, or by those who only desire it. It must be laid hold on by real active efforts; it must be maintained by a particular course of conduct; salvation must be worked out. “What must I do” to secure it? Truly he is anenlightened scribe! He knows that eternal life is the free gift of aGod, Who is no respecter of persons; Who recognises no birthright, no personal merits; Who will have mercy on Whom He will have mercy: but that yet grace does not fall, as the rain from heaven, alike upon the barren and the fertile, the thankless and the thankful, the careless and the anxious, the indolent and the active; but is ever guided by a discerning and distinguishing hand, is ever bestowed upon righteousness. And so he asks, What is the righteousness that inherits grace: knowing well what was the prescribed righteousness of the law, how men were to be saved in times past; but expecting that under the Gospel, an additional, perhaps a different course was to be followed.
We have already seen thatChristreferred him back to the law, as revealing and enacting all that was necessary. “What is written in the law? How readest thou?” It is in his answer to this question that we see chiefly the perfection of his religious theory and his great intellectual superiority to the scribes generally. For, observe, he does not reply “We must be circumcised; we must be sprinkled with the blood of goats and heifers; we must keep the Passover; we must wait on the temple-services; we must give tithesof all that we possess.” Nor, again, does he say, “We must observe all moral precepts; we must refrain from all idolatry; we must do justice and love mercy; obeying implicitly the commandments of the two tables.” No! in theory he is wiser than that: he has no reliance on external rights and ceremonies: he is sure thatGoddemands something better than a servile conformity with certain precepts and restrictions.God, he knows, looks to the heart, requires the spirit rather than,i.e., beyond the letter. The law has taught him this: Moses gave him from heaven ceremonies to perform, and moral commandments to keep; but Moses told him, that mere outward conformity with these things was not righteousness; that the law was spiritual; that the acts done and refrained from under it were only exhibitions of a principle which must reign within: “Thou shalt love theLordthyGodwith all thy heart and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbour as thyself.” Even so, “Thou hast answered right,” saidChrist. “Thou hast learnt under the law, all that the Gospel would teach. To exhibit this is the bent of My life on earth, to enforce it will be the mission of My Church. Love is the fulfilling of the law. This do, and thou shalt live.”
It appears to me, brethren, that in this conversation, carefully considered, we may find a clue to the satisfactory interpretation of those perplexing sayings about the differences between the law and the Gospel: “The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” “Ye are not under the law,” “the ministration of condemnation;” “The covenant that was confirmed before ofGodinChrist, the law which was 430 years after cannot disannul.” “The Law and the Prophets were until John.” “I am not come to destroy the law.” “This do and thou shalt live.”
It is a common notion that there is an essential difference, amounting even to a contradiction between the law and the Gospel.Godis supposed—as if He were an imperfect Being changing His ways capriciously—to have suspended the Covenant of Grace which He had made with Abraham, from the time of Moses to that ofChrist, and to have given the Jews in its stead a Covenant of Works, which He well knew they could not keep, and under which, therefore, they were sure to be destroyed: or, if He accepted any of them under the law, then, it is said, that inasmuch as their obedience was of course imperfect, He must have been content with less than He had required, and have disregarded His owndecree, “The soul that sinneth it shall die.” Nay, more than this: that He dispensed for a time with the merits ofChrist’satonement and the finding of salvation through Him, and dealt with man on his own merits, and rewarded him for an imperfect obedience. But now, it is urged, all this is once more changed. The law, having served its purpose of showing men that they could not obeyGodin the letter, having concluded them all under sin by disallowing the things they were prone to, and requiring what they could not do, having disappointed and balked them in their efforts to obtain salvation by it, and so caused them to abandon its observance in despair, and to inquire for another way of salvation—thus being a schoolmaster to lead them toChrist—has now been wholly repealed; so that we have nothing more to do with it, being brought out of bondage into liberty, and what we find forbidden or required by it, is not forbidden or required by usbecause it is in the law, but may be done or left undone, notwithstanding what the law says, unless some eternally moral principle, independent of Jewish sanctions and restrictions, would be thereby violated! I have put this in plainer and stronger words than any of yourselves probably would use, or are accustomed to hear: but I have not exaggeratedthe matter. In proof, let me ask, Are there not many who think the rehearsal of the Decalogue out of place in the Communion service? who object to moral preaching as savouring of the obsolete law? who talk about the “filthy rags” of their own righteousness, as if they were something wrong in keeping in the law? who believe thatChristis glorified most when they do least? who boast of a liberty to use or use not ordinances and means of grace? who reproach others with being, for instance, Sabbatarians? who speak of theGodof the New Testament almost as if theGodof the Old Testament were another Being, of different attributes, enacting different laws? And even among those who have not distinctly set the law and the Gospel in opposition, is there not a vague notion that somehow the Old Testament does not concern us Christians, and that our way of salvation is different from that of the Jews, and much easier to follow? O how do such persons reconcile with their notionsChrist’steaching of the lawyer, whom He not only told to look for the way of salvation in the law, but commended for finding it there, and enjoined to keep it as the condition of salvation: “This do, and thou shalt live.”
The fact is, the way of salvation has alwaysbeen the same, since man became a sinner. Eternal life has always been a free gift inChrist. Not for their merits or deservings doesGodlove men; not by their own inventions or labours do they procure acceptance. The precious blood ofChristshed (in effect) before the foundation of the world, has ever been the fountain for sin; the intercession ofChristhas ever been the means of reconciliation; the grace ofChrist’ssanctified human nature applied by the Holy Spirit has ever been the leaven of regeneration, of conversion, of perfection in holiness and fitness for the inheritance of the saints in light. ButGodhas never been indifferent to the way in which men receive His free gifts. He at first created man for His own glory, and He has redeemed, and would sanctify him for His glory. He made man to love Him, to depend on Him, to render Him the grateful homage of a free-will service, to reflect His own glorious attributes of holiness and love. The sin of Adam and Eve was not that they ate of a particular fruit reserved from them, but that they frustrated the end for which they were created; that they found not their delight in the way ofGod’swill; that they chose for themselves out of Him; that they doubted His truth, gave themselves over to the influence and dominionof another lord. They would have sinned as greatly, as hatefully, had they scrupulously refrained from the deed of sin, but in their hearts longed after it, and in their hearts murmured against the restriction, and disputed the importance or the justice of it. And so the holiness of pardoned man does not consist in the mere mechanical, servile, or selfish rendering of outward obedience, in the number of enjoined things which he does, and the number of forbidden things which he avoids; but in the inward love and gratitude which he feels towardsGod, in his filial reverence of his Heavenly Father, in his delight to carry outGod’sknown will, and his anxiety to learn more, that he may do more of it, in his heart’s beating, so to speak, in unison withGod’sheart, and his life’s reflectingGod’slight and love.
To bring men to this state, that He may delight in them, that they may glorify Him in all things, is the purpose and aim ofGod’sgreat scheme of salvation; and, to forward that scheme, is, and has been, the object of all His dealings with men of all times (when they have not been judgments of wrath, because mercy was refused), whether they have been encouragements or remonstrances, pleadings or rebukes, blessings or chastisements, the promulgations of moral laws, the laying on ortaking off of positive or ceremonial commandments. None of these things could in themselves have made men whatGodwilled them to be, loving children of a loving Father; yet they had, or were designed to have, their effect in bringing them back little by little to a right mind, and a right life. But being used by a wise and discerningGod, though their object was always uniform, the use of them has varied, one being employed in this case, another in that, according to the state of those on whom they were to operate. Thus Adam, fresh from the hand ofGod, full of knowledge and intelligence, and holiness and love, was left, it would appear—but with one commandment, the test of his integrity—to worship and glorifyGodas his own heart and mind dictated; while the Jews, coming out of Egypt, sunk in ignorance, given to idolatry, perverse in will and affections, were dealt with as babes, albut without mind and without heart. To them it was necessary to declare, that there was but oneGod, to command them to worship Him, to prescribe every particular of the worship, to bid them not blaspheme Him, to hedge them in by numerous restrictions, to write down every item of their duty, to encourage their obedience by immediate rewards, to check their transgressions by instantpunishments! They were treated, in fact, just as wise and fond parents treat little children: their minds taught by pictures—brazen serpents, pillars of light and fire, gorgeous tabernacles, sacrifices of bulls, and goats, and lambs, burnings of incense, and the like—and their hearts and lives trained by a course of discipline suited to their comprehension, and a system of rewards and punishments which they could appreciate. These things were means to an end. They impressed upon the Jews, that reverence and obedience were due toGod. They taught them to look to Him for reward and punishment, to love and fear Him. But like the arbitrary discipline we use with children, and the toys which we give or take away from them according to their conduct, they were to be set aside (as far as they were childish) so soon as more intelligent and better influences could be employed, and the children be taught to use their minds and hearts, in exercising reverence, and love, and fear, not in little observances and restrictions, not in mere literal compliance with some particular expressed laws, but according to the principle of love which would devote itself entirely, and which uses all its powers to find out what is devotion, and to practice it.
Thus, I say, the Jews were dealt with fromMoses toChrist, and then men were bidden to put away childish things—the Spirit being given to raise them above childishness—and henceforth to render enlarged, enlightened, loving service toGod. They were not released from reverence and submission: very few commandments hitherto observed were repealed, save those that were typical and ceremonial, and which, of course, gave way to the antitype and to the new ritual of Christianity; but henceforth, they were told,Godwould not be pleased with mere literal obedience: Do what you did before, but do it in the spirit, and carry it farther, and search about to see whether your own hearts and minds cannot regulate your lives in things not prescribed.
Indeed, all this had been told them before, as the quotation of the lawyer from Deuteronomy alone would suffice to show; but it was not so strictly required of them as it is of us, because allowance was made for their childish want of spiritual comprehension, and because the perfection of obedience was postponed till the full strength was given to render it, as well as the enlightened mind to understand it.
In Gospel times the law is spiritualised, the observance of the commandments is extended beyond the outward life, to the very thoughts anddesires. To covet is to steal, to lust is to commit adultery, to hate is to murder! Hence, while in one sense, our obedience is easier, because we render it under the influence of enlightened minds and kindled feelings, of love and gratitude—whereas, the Jew was perpetually crossing and driving himself to keep a law which had no other recommendation to him than that its observance preserved him from immediate chastisement—in other respects, our obedience is not only more imperatively necessary, because our privileges and responsibilities are greater, but it must be more precise, because any wilful deviation from it—in us who are of a mature and enlightened age—will surely indicate an unloving heart; and he that has no love has no spiritual life!
This, after all, is the distinction between the good works of the Jew and those of the Christian; not that the former sought salvation on account of them, while the latter makes them but the tribute of praise and love for salvation—for the Jew believed that he was saved by ordinances, not by works—but that the Jew’s was the enforced obedience of slavish fear, while the Christian’s is the spontaneous expression of filial love. If the Christian were perfect in moral perception, he would be a law to himself, and would need butlittle of a written law; but not being thus perfect, he finds his greatest help to glorifyGod, in the studying and following of the Mosaic laws, which are samples and specimens furnished byGod, of acceptable works, and which, moreover, are a standard whereby he may measure, not so much how near, as how far he is, from doing the whole will ofGod.
This purpose, then, the law serves to Christians: it points out the ways in which love should exercise itself; and so, by confronting the negligent or transgressing, proves to them the absence or the imperfection of their love. The Christian is not free from the observance of one jot or one tittle of it, though he is no longer under the law, but under grace; but even if he has kept it all, he is not necessarily accepted: he has not rendered service pleasing toGod, if his will is not better than his power, his heart larger than his deeds! This the lawyer knew theoretically; and yet, against his knowledge, he sinned. When asked what the law required him to do, he answered rightly, that the law required, above and beyond particular deeds, an impelling principle of love forGod, and, for His sake, for man also. But then, when his answer was commended, we are told that he, willing to justify himself (whichmeans, either to excuse himself for past imperfection, or to attain presently unto the condition of the just, without becoming all that was required of him) demanded, “And who is my neighbour?” showing thereby, how much his heart was behind his mind; betraying the fact, that while he professed entire devotion toGod, he was really trying to find out with how stinted and formal an obedience, he could win and keep his favour.
In review of this history, let me suggest to you, in very few words, some important truths.
“What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” is a momentous question for each of you to ask ofGod, through His revealed word. For the inheritance never shall be yours, unless you observe the conditions upon which it was promised; and one of those conditions (a most important one), is, that you should pursue constantly a course of righteousness, both to glorifyGodby prescribed service, and to acquire by spiritual exercise the necessary character for heaven, without which none can enter it.
To do righteousness—not simply to feel, or think, or speak righteously—is what is plainly enjoined upon you. Still, you must remember that you are not to propose to yourselves, as the approved course, the observance only of particularlaws, the confining of religion to special times, and places, and objects, and deeds; the mere walking in a clearly marked out path, as though hands, and feet, and ears, and lips, without heart or mind, could work out salvation; as though, too, it were not practicable or desirable, that you should offer untoGodany free-will service, something besides what He has asked you to do! Above all, having come to understand, that while the fruit of religion is in the life, the germ of it is in the heart; that without faith, and hope, and love, it is impossible to pleaseGod; that the law to you is spiritualised; that you are brought out of the bondage of servants into the glorious liberty of sons; that not the mere letter of the law, but the spirit of it is to be your guide; that outward deeds are not of themselves acceptable toGod, but only as signs of enlightened hearty feeling—things done in faith and love; that worship in the temple is nothing, unless you worship out of the temple likewise; that bowing the knee, and praising with the lips, are an abomination, unless the spirit, too, is bowed and the soul upraised; that bodily sacrifice alone is no sacrifice, that it needs the broken and contrite heart, and the devoted spirit—while understanding, I say, all this, and rejoicing in thereasonable, heart-sprung, spiritual service of the Christian, beware lest you separate whatGodhas joined, or substitute free-will for commanded service, using your liberty otherwise than as servants ofGod; carrying out, as you suppose, the spirit of the law wholly in your own way, instead of keeping, while you spiritualise the letter of the law. “The time is come when, neither in Jerusalem nor in this mountain, shall ye worship the Father,” does not mean that appointed places of worship shall not be resorted to, but that, besides,Godshall be worshipped everywhere. A yearly celebration of the Passover is no longer necessary; but a continual feast is substituted for it.Godseeks now to be worshipped in spirit and truth—that is, not without the body, but in addition to the body, with the spirit. The letter by itself killeth, because it is formal, and leaves the noblest powers and feelings of man unengaged forGod; but the letter, as the carrying out of the Spirit, is still so imperative, so vital, that he who does not observe it foregoes the promise, “This do, and thou shalt live!”