II.Corinthians,vi., 2.Behold,now is the day of salvation.
II.Corinthians,vi., 2.
Behold,now is the day of salvation.
St. Paul, having just quoted a prophecy of Isaiah, which relates to an accepted time and a day of salvation, in the text declares the fulfilment of that prophecy: “Now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation.” That which was then promised, is now performed; that which was formerly but anticipated, and only embraced by faith, while yet afar off, is now realised and brought near. But the prophecy itself was mentioned by the Apostle, to enforce an entreaty, “We then as workers together with Him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace ofGodin vain. For He saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee.” It is evident, then, thatSt. Paul would impress upon the Corinthians that men are in danger of receiving the grace ofGodin vain, of not benefitting by all the merciful and bountiful provision made throughChristfor their redemption, and justification, and sanctification, by not recognising that this is the day of salvation, and so, not looking and preparing for, and receiving a present salvation.
Salvation is, as you know, the result—possible in all cases; certain, wherever the conditions are observed—of redemption byChrist. In its perfection, it is absolute freedom from the guilt, the taint, and the power of sin, and complete, effectual, and abiding holiness of heart and life. It belongs not to our proposed subject to consider at any length the destruction from which this is a salvation, nor the manner in which it was wrought out for lost sinners byChrist, nor the blessedness of its perfect possession and fruition, which can only be had in heaven. We have rather to do with what is present, than with the past and the future. We inquire not now, What hasChristdone, or, What shall we reach by and by, but, What ought we to do now? What have we, or may we have now? In what respects, to what extent, is salvation a thing of the present?
First, then, it is present in the offer to bestowit, and the exhortations and influences to lay hold on it. WhenChristrose victorious from the tomb, having paid the ransom for all the prisoners of the law, and purchased the right and power of being their Saviour, He did not immediately make all the men of His time actual partakers of the privileges, nor did He provide that all who should thereafter be born, should from their birth inherit the blessing, as from Adam they had inherited the curse. No man might say, “Christhas died and risen again, therefore, I am certainly saved, without any reserve or delay on His part, without any effort, almost without any desire, on my part.” Salvation was then provided; rather, the fountain was then opened, and began to flow; but each man in his turn, at the call ofGod, and in the way ofGod’sappointment, was, so to speak, to help himself to salvation. In other words, whatChristdid, was not to take all who were then living into an ark, and to cause all that sprung from them to be born and brought up in that ark; but simply to build an ark, and leave it open for all ages, and to offer helps to reach it, and to urge an entrance into it upon all men, by the entreaties and promises of His love, and the threats of His wrath.
We want to be impressed with this. We aretoo apt to look upon salvation as an accomplished fact, belonging to the past; to speak of the blessedness of being born after the atonement has been made; to take for granted that we are actually saved, rather than that we have a present offer of salvation; and even to regard the ordinances of religion, as Baptism and Holy Communion, more as ceremonies of thankful faith, acknowledgments of obligation for past favours, than as means of laying hold on a now offered, and, as yet, unattained blessing.
Think a moment, brethren: look into your ways and thoughts about religion, and you will, perhaps, find that it is so with you; that, whatever may be your theory, your practice does not assent to the truth, that “Now is the day of salvation”; that you have now to be saved, yet to be washed from sin, to have its power destroyed in you, to be qualified for salvation, to lay hold on it, to work it out with fear and trembling, as that which, though commenced, is not certain to be completed—which, even when got, may again be lost. It may occur to you, as an objection to this statement, that you use means of grace, and somewhat diligently; that you exercise yourselves in prayer, and by Christian discipline; that you depend continually upon the ever-present grace ofGod; that you count not yourselves to have attained; that you seek to go on unto perfection. All this may be true, and yet—I beseech you ask yourselves whether it is not so with you—the latent feeling may be, that salvation is a thing inherited, already, in a measure, attained; and that what religion requires of you, and what you render, is gratitude to the Giver, and a due appreciation of the gift, sought to be testified and developed by a becoming life, and an enlarging of the spiritual faculties, which by and by will have so much more to exercise themselves upon.
But, secondly, is not this, it may be urged, a right view and feeling? Is not this what the ministers of religion should labour to impress upon the baptized: that they have received salvation—the grace ofGod, which bringeth salvation? Are we not taught by the Church, and by the Bible, that in baptism we were born again, that we then became children ofGod—and if children, then heirs, joint heirs withChrist; that we are, therefore, from that new birth as actually the inheritors of a blessing, as naturally we were inheritors of a curse; and that, thenceforth, it is proper for us to say, “I heartily thank my Heavenly Father that he hath called me to this state of salvation throughJesus Christ”? It is evenso, brethren. “Now is the day of salvation,” may mean to us Christians, “now wehavesalvation,” rather than “now it is only offered to us.” It may be intended to stir us up to a consideration of our high calling, to an appreciation of the great gift already bestowed, to a remembrance of whatGodhas already done for us, to a sense of His abiding presence. There is no doubt—whether this text teaches it or no is another question—that the disciples ofChristhave a present possession, as well as a present offer of salvation; and what I meant in the first part, was not to hide this truth, but to guard against the error, to correct whatever amount you might have of the feeling, that we have already a final gift, so complete that nothing can be added to it, so altogether of the past, that we can do nothing in the present, but acknowledge the goodness ofGodin bestowing it, and wait on Him patiently and holily till He is pleased to reveal to us the full excellencies of the gift, and to enable us to enjoy them in the eternal heaven. Above all, I meant to protest against, to awaken from the fearful delusion, thatChristhas conferred absolutely on mankind, or upon any chosen number—the elect—the salvation which, by His precious merits, He procured; that it is ours independentlyof means of grace, without closing with present offers of it, and making present exertions, and showing present appreciation of it; that it can be ours at all, without earnest seeking and praying for it, and strivings, and workings, and self-denials, and crucifyings of evil, and growth in grace, and perseverance unto the end. “By grace are ye saved, and that not of yourselves: it is the gift ofGod.” Work out your own salvation, each individual of you; make that your own which was once procured for all that would have it; work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Your salvation (I speak to the baptized) isbegun, you havepresentsalvation—i.e., you are in the way which leads to salvation. You have guaranteed to you, on conditions, the helps necessary to attain perfect salvation. You may derive, and should be deriving, present benefits from your salvation, and you should experience present joy in it.
You have, I say, present salvation. You have been made members of that One Body, which was sanctified, and which is able to sanctify all other bodies that are joined to it: you are branches of that glorious tree, whose sap, pervading every healthy branch, gives it present strength and develops its beautiful growth, and by and by willproduce the fruit of everlasting life. You have the life ofChristkindled in your souls. Your bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost. Now is the day of salvation, andpresentsalvation, too; not merely past salvation applied, not that you are washed in a lake whose watersonceflowed from a glorious Fountain; not that you partake of a store of sanctification, long ago laid up; but that now each individual of you is operated upon by a present influence, deriving directly from the source, the water of life, having sanctification produced in you by the now-working and influencing Spirit. Creatures of the present, there is a present salvation for you; and that does not mean merely that you have for yourselves to seek and lay hold of a ready salvation, but that a merciful and grace-givingGod, a loving Saviour, an indwelling Spirit, are present with you, and personally operating upon you for your salvation.
Dear brethren, try to understand and feel this. Do not suppose thatGod’sgifts are in any way separated from the Giver by time or by distance. Once for all, He resolved to give, but severally as each needs and rightly seeks, He gives; and when He gives, it is not by messengers, through long mediums,but out of His own hand. The bread which we break and the cup which we bless,are the communion of the Body and Blood ofChrist. The bread is not the Body, nor the wine the Blood, nor is the reception of them the way of applying to us any stored up blessings; but when we keep the ordinance whichChristhas appointed, then He fulfils His promise of blessing us, and, with the sign, Himself the reality enters into our souls.
There present in the heart,Not in the hands, th’ eternal PriestWill His true self impart.
There present in the heart,Not in the hands, th’ eternal PriestWill His true self impart.
And so of all other ordinances. They are nothing, and give nothing of themselves. Their whole value—but what an unspeakable value it is—consists in their being appointed ways of bringing us into direct communication with a presentGod, our Father, our Saviour, our Sanctifier!
But there is another view to take of present salvation—namely, that from its very nature, it cannot be received at any one time in perfection, in such a state as to need no care to preserve it, no sustentation and renewal, no constant direction and blessing from the Author, and Regulator, and Finisher of it. It is spiritual life. Who does not know to what hazards life may be exposed, and how, from its very nature, it requires to be fed with proper food, and kept in health, and exercised,and developed? It is a spiritual sap. And what a mockery of life and support to the branch, would be one single, separated, unrenewed imparting from the vine, of the sap, which indeed ceases to be sap when the flow from the trunk is interrupted! The work of salvation isGod’swork, begun by Him, continued by Him, and to be completed by Him—therefore, it must have His continued personal superintendence. He must work in us to will and to do of His good pleasure.
Thus is salvationpresentas distinguished from thepast.
But in another sense it is now the day of salvation. We have not to expect it as a thing wholly future, we must not delay to close with it as though there were a better time and way of doing that to be afforded hereafter. Salvation is present in its rewards and effects.
This, again, is a truth we need to be impressed with. We are wont to look too much to the future, tohopeto be withGodhereafter, tolongfor salvation, to sigh for the season of sanctification. By and by we shall be comforted. By and by we shall be strengthened. By and by we shall be holy and happy! Thus it is that we only expect salvation, that we persuade ourselves thatwe are not to receive anything here by way of real spiritual joy and blessing, and that we are not required to reach any high degree of spiritual excellence here! But, brethren, how unreasonable is this persuasion. To believe thatGodis present with us and operating upon us, and pouring out His benefits upon us all our lives, and yet that we are none the better, that we do not derive any blessedness from Him: or, again, to believe thatGodhas given us spiritual life, that He imparts to us, and constantly superintends, the grace which justifies and sanctifies; and yet that we can, or at least need make no use of this grace, not grow in it, not become purer, and holier, that it is ineffectual, that we may consent to its being ineffectual till life is over—O is not such a persuasion unreasonable, are we not ashamed of it? Imagine a mother not feeding or taking care of her infant, and yet counting on its thriving! or, fondly and diligently tending, taking care of her infant, and continuing to do so year after year, yet perfectly satisfied though it gained no strength, did not grow, nor walk, nor speak, nor show the slightest sign of getting out of babyhood! Imagine, I say, satisfaction with such a state, and hope all the while, yea, conviction, that presently, when the usual number of years wereover the child would somehow be a man! Or, imagine the husbandman expecting a harvest without sowing, or ploughing; or planting his field diligently, and rejoicing in refreshing rains, and ripening suns, yet not disappointed if the ear did not ripen, or even if the blade did not spring up; not concerned about it, not expecting it, sure of harvest at the usual time, even if that usual time should be next week, and there were yet no sign of a crop! Imagine this! you say. Such imagination is idle; it is a mockery of common sense to suppose such a thing possible. Well, then, my brethren, what is to be said of the spiritual nurses of the new life ofGodin the soul, of the spiritual husbandman of the seed of grace in the heart, who do nothing towards, or who expect nothing of present salvation? Brethren,NOWis the day of salvation, the day in which salvation is offered, in which it is actually conferred, in which it should be working and growing, yea, and bestowing its joy and peace. If in aught of this it fails, be sure there is some fault in yourselves—it is not that grace is of itself unreal, or unproductive, but that you receive it in vain, that you do not sufficiently heed and reverence it, that you do not sufficiently guard it, and sustain and refresh it, that you do not sufficiently use it.
There ought to be in every baptized Christian, a gradual, steady, and even perceptible Christian progress. Our salvation ought to be ever nearer and nearer than when we believed, not only in the expectation of our complete adoption and removal to glory, but in our fitness for glory, and desire and hope of it. If we have the same evil tendencies, are as easily overcome by the same temptations, have the same dislike or imperfect taste for spiritual occupations, the same poor appreciation of religious privileges and hopes as we had a year, a month, a week ago, then assuredly our salvation stagnates, we are not using whatGodhas given us, we are not yielding to, we are resisting His living influence! Grace, my brethren, is an useless gift, if it is to effect nothing: a time of probation is an idle space, if there is no trial. Faith is little entitled to be called “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,” if it produces no spiritual conviction: and as for hope—what kind of anchor is it to the soul, if it is ever shifting, if it grasps nothing?
If any man is inChrist, he is a new creature, that is, he is becoming a new creature, with new life, and powers, and energies, and tastes, and aims, and hopes. He will grow in grace if hehas rightly received it, and in the knowledge and love ofChrist. He will manifestly (at least to himself manifestly) be putting off the old man with his affections and lusts, and putting on the new man, which afterGodis created in righteousness and true holiness. He will endure trials more and more patiently, as seeing more clearly Him who is invisible. He will resist temptations more easily, and do good more consistently and gladly, and be more pained and more penitent after every sin. He will have a growing love of searchingGod’sword, and speaking to Him in prayer and praise, and receiving Him in Holy Communion. He will gradually be raised above the world, and will soar higher in imagination and affection and hope towards heaven. Each day will have witnessed some advance—or some more than recovery if there has been a relapse. And when the night cometh, the end of the day of attaining salvation, he will want but little to complete his resemblance toChrist, his pattern, and to perfect his salvation.
If, then, brethren, you would obtain an answer to the momentous question, Whether you shall be saved, whether there is a good hope that you are in the way of salvation, I would bid you not so much look back to your Baptism and Confirmation,and count the number of your attendances on Holy Communion, of the sermons you have heard, the prayers and praises you have offered—though these are all great things—but rather, I would say, ascertain whether you have present salvation, for the future depends on the present; and to ascertain this, examine well whether you are putting off the old man and putting on the new, as I have just described. As another test—and a very great help in godliness, to which there is no equal in feelings and exercises—inquire into your hope of future salvation (by which I do not mean only your expectation, but also your eager desire), and into your joy for present salvation.
If religion is a reality, it is a great reality. Its immediate blessings are so precious, and its prospects so transcendently glorious, that the man who is not filled with joy and desire on their account, has no part or lot in them, or is strangely culpably ignorant of his privileges and his hopes. No wonder that he easily yields to sin, that he finds spiritual employments wearisome, that he makes no progress in salvation. IfGodtouches him and he feels not, if heaven has come down to him and he knows it not, if glory is revealed to him, and he does not burn for it, ifChristhas put him in the ark and he is not comforted by theimmediate deliverance and counting on the perfect salvation—then, surely, he has received the grace ofGodto little sanctifying, and so to little saving purpose!
O let him beseechGodearnestly and perseveringly to give him spiritual sight and feeling, to fill him with joy and peace in believing, to make him rejoice, not only for what he has, but for what he expects of salvation; working, like St. Paul, in view of the crown laid up, confident that, whether absent or present, he is accepted byGod, knowing that to depart is to be withChrist.
But, lastly, let him guard and pray against mistakingpresentfor perfect salvation, the road and discipline and growth for heaven, for heaven itself. The possession which he has, precious as it is, is not a perfect one; and, moreover, he may lose it. Remember Paul’s care, lest he should be a castaway, his caution to take heed lest we fall, his fearful sayings about forfeited grace. O brethren, seek as the best immediate blessing and the best stimulus to godliness, an assurance of hope in perfect salvation. But be sure that it is founded upon the reception and right use and evident growth of grace, upon present salvation; and, withal, be not high-minded, but fear. You know your own frailties, the influences of theworld, the subtlety and tremendous power of Satan’s temptations. Any of these is sufficient to make you wander out of the right way, or stand still, or turn back, or to cause you to faint in your spiritual course, and even to threaten the destruction of your spiritual life. You are sure ofGod, of His favour, of His upholding, of His preserving you unto the day of perfect redemption; but you are not sure of your observance of the conditions on which only you may count on Him. And if you disregard these conditions, then are you plainly taught, by precept and example, that a neglectedGodwill not abide with you, and a resisted Spirit will not strive with you, and that grace received in vain will be taken away. Remember this, let it keep you from presumption, make you watchful against temptation, always clothed in the armour ofGod, and wielding the sword of the Spirit, and abounding in the work of theLord; praying, too, always, that the present may be an earnest of the future, that the Spirit will sustain, and sanctify, and perfect you, and thatGod, Who has begun a good work in you, will perform it until the day ofJesus Christ.
St. Mark,v., 30.AndJesus,immediately knowing in Himself that virtue had gone out of Him,turned Him about in the press,and said,Who touched my clothes?
St. Mark,v., 30.
AndJesus,immediately knowing in Himself that virtue had gone out of Him,turned Him about in the press,and said,Who touched my clothes?
Acrowdalways waited on ourLordwhen He taught or walked openly. In this case, there was an unusually great crowd following and thronging Him, because it had become known that He was on His way to work the miracle of raising up a child from the point of death. It is not hard to guess what were the elements of this crowd. First, there were the idle, curious multitude ever to be found where novelty or excitement is promised. Then there were those who knew not why they were come together, who were there because others were, who had no mind or interest in the matter. (There are alwaysmany of these in every crowd.) Then there were the scribes and lawyers, always talking about, listening to, or disputing religious truths—never coming, or caring to come, to the knowledge and practice of the truth. Then there were the seekers after loaves and fishes, who hoped to get something by coming. Then there were the entrappers and enemies of ourLord, seeking for witness against Him, hoping to see some work done, to hear some word said which might form the ground of accusation against Him. And, lastly, there were some—a few only—whom faith impelled to seek from Him the healing of their diseases, the relief of their burthens; and whom love drew after Him, to see Him, to serve Him, to dwell upon the gracious words that proceeded out of His mouth. Of the last class was a woman who had been afflicted with a grievous malady for twelve years, who had tried all earthly means of relief, and had grown worse under them, who was despised and shut out from the company of mankind by reason of her visitation, who had become destitute in seeking cure. All things were against her. Her misfortunes were what many would describe as more than could be borne. Her case was hopeless. Nothing seemed left to her but to succumb to helpless misery, and wait in groansand tears for death—when, lo! a sudden gleam of brightest hope burst upon her, there was a Physician Who could cure all diseases, and His remedy was to be had without price! It does not appear whether the fame ofJesushad reached her in some remote place, whence she had dragged her poor afflicted body, sighing and groaning, wandering many days, searching in many places; or whether, being “accidentally,” as men say, near where the crowd passed, she had now heard, for the first time, of the new Prophet; and, gathering from the passers-by that He was going to restore a dying damsel, concluded that the possessor of such power, so graciously exercised, could and would heal her too. Be that as it may, she had full faith in His ability: “If I may but touch his clothes I shall be whole.” And, having such faith, she resolved to act upon it, making her way through the crowd, and doing that, through which her faith suggested the power would be transmitted. How she came to propose to herself, or who proposed to her, such a course, how much of ignorance and superstition there was in it, is beside our present consideration. Her faith, her perseverance, her humility, are rather the things to be noted. Her faith, which was so strongly convinced of the existence inJesus, and thecertainty of being able to obtain from Him the grace of healing. Her perseverance, poor, feeble, tottering woman! which was not overawed by the greatness of the crowd, and did not give up when she was dragged hither and thither, hard pressed here, shut out there—perhaps even thrown down and trampled on more than once. Her humility, which—eager as she was for cure, bent, too, as she was upon having it—made her fear the eyes of the crowd, though she cared nothing for their thrusts and hard usage, which dared not face her Healer; which caused her to shrink back from the first touch, and seek to hide herself, and steal away with the blessing.
Pausing here for a moment, brethren, to consider that this woman, in her malady, is a type of all who are affected with the disease of sin; that in the fruitless issue of her recourse to earthly physicians, she allegorises the vanity, the mockery, of all human expedients to restore or ameliorate moral distempers; showing that such “remedies” do but cause to suffer more, and make worse—pausing, I say, to consider this, and to reflect that herein we have a representation of ourselves as sinners, of our helplessness but forChrist, of our greater suffering and sure deterioration, through our very efforts to become better withoutChrist; reflecting on this, realising it, and feeling it, are we able to go on and see in her discovering of the right Healer, in her efforts to be healed by Him, in her faith, and perseverance, and humility, what we have discovered, what we believe, and what we do, and what we feel? O what a pitiable sufferer is that, who hears with indifference or with lukewarm inactive belief, that there is a Physician that can make well; who knows that He is ready, that restoration is to be had, and yet does not seek it; who even pleads infirmity as a reason for not striving to be cured; who is deterred by the sight of a crowd that must be got through; who is discouraged by the first obstacle, and gets up and goes back after the first fall! And how blinded are the senses, and how dead the feelings of the sinner, who does not feel the degradation of his state, but makes open display of himself before the crowd, and with a bold front and unshrinking touch, comes to the All-pure and All-holy to be healed! Learn, fellow sinners, from this poor woman, what your sin is, how defiling, how miserable, how sure to grow worse under human treatment. Learn, too, by Whom alone it can be healed, and with what efforts, and what feelings, you must seek the healing. For, consider how the All-seeing eye and the Allsympathising heart beheld and loved that woman, for her deeds and feelings.Beforeshe touched Him, the virtue, the power of healing, was made ready to flow; and, as soon as she had touched, she was called forth, and commended, and owned, and further blessed: “Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.”
Partly, no doubt, for the sake of others, this manifestation and speech were made.Jesusgenerally hid His wondrous works from the gaze of the masses, and forbade that they should even hear of them by the hearing of the ear: just as He concealed the meaning of His speech by veiling it in parables, hard to be understood, that mere curiosity might not be indulged, that faith might have some privilege over want of faith, that needless provocation of His enemies might be avoided, and witness against Him withheld, that those who He knew would see and hear in vain, might be spared the greater condemnation of beholding and despising. Sometimes, however, an exception was made, andJesusspoke and acted openly; that those present might see, and those absent might hear of Him, and so come unto Him and be saved. This may have been the case here. Or, more probably, the manifestation was not somuch for the multitude, it was for the inner circle; for Jairus, whose faith needed to be prepared, for the shock of the coming announcement—“Thy daughter is dead, why troublest thou the Master any more?” or for better heeding of the injunction, “Be not afraid, only believe;” for the disciples, too, whom He would thus confirm in the faith, and prepare for their mission and sufferings, whom He would thus enable to record for our instruction and comfort, the things whichJesushas done, which He is ever ready to do again. But, specially, it was for the woman herself; that she might not suppose that she had obtainedunknownpossession of a blessing, or that it was the mere touch which cured her, and not the All-knowing Healer, pleased by her faith and so making effectual an otherwise useless act; that she might become acquainted with Him, and so learn to love Him, and gratefully remember Him, and by and by, when she came to know his will, might delight to do it; that she might have something more than she sought—this is ever the rule ofChrist’sgiving—the “Go in peace,” as well as the “Be whole of thy plague;” that she might be taught, and we, through her, that Divine mercy is ever to be acknowledged, and open glory to be given toGod.
The history is replete with profitable suggestions—lessons of faith and practice. Let us select three for present consideration.
First, let us observe, that we may throng and pressJesus, and yet not touch Him. “Thou seest the multitude thronging Thee, and sayest Thou who touched me?” Even so! The idle, curious, controversial, captious thronging is nothing accounted of: it is the touch of eager desire and humble faith which alone is noticed. At first, brethren, we are tempted to think, that the most strangely indifferent, the most unblessed of men, are those who do not join the throng, and press about theLord Jesus. That He is in the sanctuary, and men do not enter into His presence there; that He is teaching the way of life, and men will not hear sermons nor read the Bible; that He may be conversed with, and yet men will not pray; that He may be touched, and yet sacraments are not received: this, we think, is as strange as it is sad. And so, indeed, it is. But it is stranger and sadder, that any should come into the Sanctuary, and not perceiveChrist’spresence; that they should hear and read without learning; that they should use words of prayer and yet not be heard; that they should press and throngJesusin ordinances, and never touch Him;deriving no benefit from Him, because they seek it not aright; being beneath His eye, and yet unnoticed; crowding around Him, and upon Him, and yet unfelt! But assuredly, as of old it was, so it is now. If mere idleness brings men to the Sanctuary, mere observance of a decent fashion, if they come only to hear and see something new, to wile away the time which hangs wearily upon them, to gain themselves a good name as respectable and pious, if they are watching to see, what may be criticised, what may be talked about and condemned, if they are rendering merely a formal obedience, and offering only an outward service—then, I was going to say,Christtakes no more notice of them than if they were not present; but I should rather say, He is wrathful against them for being present. He blinds their eyes, and turns away His own. He is dumb to them; they deaf to Him. He yields nothing to them, though they seem like Moses to have cleft the rock. He feels them not, though they squeeze and press! My brethren, it may be that some of you have long been in the company ofChrist, have missed very few opportunities of public worship, have become very familiar with the Scriptures, have often repeated prayers and psalms, have been frequent communicants, and yet are none thebetter in feeling and desire, have experienced no spiritual relief, have no more love or perception of the truth, than if you had been utter strangers toChrist, and never been near Him nor heard of Him. Hence it may be that religion is to you but a name: it profits you not, it affords you no delight, it exercises no influence upon you. Would you know why? Because you have been but thronging and pressing, because you have had no real sense of your misery, have entertained no real desire to be relieved and blessed, and so have made no well-directed, persevering effort to touchChrist! You are, as you feel, no better, no wiser, than if there were noChrist, or you had never been near Him! And you will never be wiser and better, however much you press and throng, till you realise your want, and are convinced thatChristalone can relieve it, and come to Him faithfully, resolutely, humbly, to touch the hem of His garment, and be healed of your plague. First, then, strive to know what you want, and to be convinced thatChristcan and will grant it; and, then, feeling the desire of it, being sure from Whom alone it can be had, and how it must be sought, draw near—with the feeling of necessity, with the perseverance of desire, with the consciousness of unworthiness—and effect thetouch of faith. You shall not, in that case, remain unblessed; your plague shall be stayed, your faith shall be commended, your effort crowned, your humility exalted; you shall have more than you sought; enlarge your desire as you will, it shall be more than satisfied: and He whom you would but touch, and then shrink away, shall call you forth, and own, and bless you, and give you everlasting peace and perfect salvation.
Next, let us observe, that nothing can keep back and nothing hide fromChrist. We are sometimes tempted, in the deep sense of our unworthiness, in review of the distance between us and the Healer, of the many obstacles which intervene, to give up in despair, and say to ourselves, “It is of no use trying, I am not fit for such a blessing, and if I were, I cannot reach it.” Now, consider, who could be more unfit, and who more unable to approachChristthan this poor woman. There was a positive law which forbade her coming; her touch was pollution: yetChristreproached her not with disregarding that law, nor refused her because of it; and when she touched He did not recoil, but encouraged her. Forusthere is no excommunicating law. From usChristis pledged not to recoil. “Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden,” is aninvitation, a positive command. “Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out,” is a most solemn pledge. Why, then, should we shrink? What shall we fear? And as for difficulties and hindrances, our own infirmities, the opposition of the world or the Devil, the sneers of despisers, the distance, the crowd, the hurrying on, can aught compare with what threatened this woman, and what she overcame? O are we not ashamed to forego salvation, to keep away fromChrist, to desist from determination to reach Him, by any plea of personal infirmity, or of difficulty in the way? What in ourselves is worse than the twelve years’ growing, enfeebling, overwhelming malady of this woman? What in aught around us is more impenetrable than the great crowd? and whenever wasChristas distant from us as He was from her? And then as to the discouragement which Satan would suggest to us, that in our age we cannot, like this poor woman, get anything fromChristby stealth; that the power to heal flows not unconsciously; that He must see, and approve, and stay for us, and even anticipate us; and that by reason of our insignificance and the wide extent of His dominion, it is not reasonable to suppose that we shall be observed—brethren, are we not assured, by thefact thatshewas discerned, and watched for, and singled out from the great multitude, that the gaze which is comprehensive enough to include all is particular enough to distinguish each; that there is nothing beneath His notice; that He can get through, and will get through, all that stands between us and Him: that He who keeps vast globes in their orbits, takes thought even for sparrows; that He counts the hairs of each individual’s head; that He hears each sigh, and feels each sorrow; that the roar of the universe is not louder in His ear than the feeblest cry of distress from the lowest of His creatures? O it is a blessed assurance, and one for which we should be heartily thankful, that it was always when there was most to distract, thatChristwas most closely attentive; that it was in the most dazzling glare that He saw most clearly; that it was when He seemed most absorbed in other aims, that His notice and help were most readily secured; that in the way to raise the daughter of Jairus, He was so easily stopped to heal and bless the woman with the issue of blood! No sight too insignificant to escape His eye; no sound too faint to reach His ear; no crowd so great as to hide the individual; no object so engrossing as to exclude from notice, or to hurry on from concern for the least, the unworthiest of other objects!
Lastly, let us observe that power to heal was ready to flow wherever there was a channel made for it. We are not, of course, to understand thatChristhealed unconsciously; that any mere formal touch secured, as it were, without the violation of His will, the grace which He was anointed to bestow; but we are to understand, that such is the law of grace, that where there is a demand there is a supply; that like as the thirsty sand surely drinks in the rising wave, like as a sponge absorbs the water into which it is plunged, so the sensibly void heart, the yearning desire, the faithful effort, the moral fitness, is sure of what it wants and seeks, if it is found in the place where what it wants exists. It is one of the most wonderful, most mysterious, and at the same time most sure effects ofChrist’sincarnation that human nature, needing and desiring, put into communion with Him, possessing, overflowing, shall have by the necessary operation of an invariable law, the thing which it wants, and which He has to bestow. There is no chance, no mere probability in the case:Christis the ever-flowing fountain; if you stand beneath, the water must come over you. He is the root full of sap, if you are one of the branches joined to Him, the sap shall flow into and permeate you.
It is this which makes ordinances effectual signs of grace; means, not by which grace mayperhapsbe bestowed, but by which it issureto be bestowed, if they are rightly used. The woman, whose history we have been considering, might have been disappointed in her hope: forChristhad not taught her, nor made her any promise, nor prescribed to her any course; but He has so enlightenedusin the mystery of His Incarnation; He has so pledged to us His grace; He has so shown us how to obtain it, that we may most confidently say, “If I may but touch, I shall be whole.” Grace, the manifold grace ofChrist’sglorified body—the source of sanctification and every blessing, is ready to flow, and will flow as soon as He is touched. Of course, as we have seen, this touch must be directed by right feeling; but still, observe, there must be a touch. “Thy faith hath saved thee.” Not because it kept thee still, sighing for, talking of, waiting for Me, but because it roused thee, and made thee encounter so much, and do so much to come and touch Me. Faith gives quality to the touch, but, after all, the touch secures the blessing. So it ever is. The touch necessary, and the touch effectual. “He that believethand is baptizedshall be saved.” “Except ye eat the flesh of theSon of man and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.” The water of Baptism is the laver of regeneration. The bread which we break, and the cup which we bless, are the Communion of the Body and Blood ofChrist. Using the outward part rightly, you do certainly receive the inward grace: for as soon asChristis rightly touched, and these are appointed ways of touching, immediately—as it were, spontaneously—virtue to heal goes out of Him.
Let it not, however, be supposed, that this view of the way of healing and sanctifying makesChrista servant of grace instead of theLordof grace; that it directs us to a mere storehouse to help ourselves, instead of sending us to a living, loving, discerning Saviour, of Whom we are to crave the help and blessing which are His to give as He will. No, brethren, it exalts ordinances, but only because they areChrist’sordinances, the clothes in which He is clad, as He walks among us, the garments through which power to heal is transmitted from Him to us. The use of these things without a sense of unworthiness, without humility and faith, is like the thronging ofChristby the crowd, not only unprofitable, but rude and profane; and this sense of unworthiness, this humility and faith, togetherwith the power and perseverance to act upon them, are all the gifts ofChrist, seed sown, increase given by Him according to His will. Look, then, to the Physician, as well as to the remedy, to the Giver of grace as well as to the Channel of grace; and, knowing that without Him you can do nothing, and except from Him receive nothing, beseech Him to enable you to seek grace rightly, and then to bestow it freely, not for any worthiness, for any feeling, for any deed; but simply because of your necessity, out of His boundless love.
Ezekiel,xx., 49.AhLord God!they say of me,Doth he not speak parables?
Ezekiel,xx., 49.
AhLord God!they say of me,Doth he not speak parables?
Ezekielhad been commissioned with the utterance of a warning, in figurative but very intelligible language, thatGodwas about to bring a great calamity upon Jerusalem and all Judah; that young and old, good and bad, should be affected by it—“I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree and every dry tree”; that the judgment should be irresistible “the flaming flame shall not be quenched,” and the destruction universal; “all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.” According to some expositors, as soon as he received this commission, concluding from his past experience that the Jews would profess not to understand his message, or would say, that it was anexaggeration, or that it did not apply to them, and so disregard it, he entreated ofGod, in the words of the text, that such an excuse might be taken away by the delivery instead of a plain and unmistakeable warning: “OLord, not a parable. Thy people will not heed parables.” WhereuponGod, in gracious condescension to His prophet, in determination to be heard and understood by the people, substituted for this first message, not indeed wholly unfigurative language, but a simpler parable, which carried with it to all its own interpretation. But it is better, I think, to suppose, that Ezekiel does not here anticipate the people’s perversity, and so persuadeGodat once to withdraw His words; but that he narrates and grieves over the actual reception which the message, faithfully delivered, had encountered. The people would not hear it. They said it was obscure: a parable, an enigma, a poetical exaggeration.Goddid not speak to them by it; or, if He did, they could not tell what He said. “Ah!Lord God—alas! it is the old tale—I told them Thy words, but they would not hear; they turned away from me, saying, Surely we cannot understand him.”
Whichever was the case, whether Ezekiel only expected, or actually experienced this treatment,we are sure that it was not wholly on account of special obscurities which veiled the matters he had to declare, nor on account of any special deafness and hardness of heart which belonged to that people. For every Christian teacher has had reason to anticipate, has actually endured the like from Christian congregations.
Often and often in preparing for the pulpit, is the preacher tempted to set aside some important theme, to withhold some wonderful truth, to forbear even to suggest some glorious consolation, because he believes that in uttering it, he will not have the ears, or, if he has the ears, he will not have the minds of his hearers; that they will not understand his saying; and so, of course, will not receive it. Often and often, too, when having used the full liberty of a Christian prophet and whatever abilityGodhas given him, of simplifying to the utmost, and recommending with all his energy, the Gospel message, he is constrained to feel, he is made, perhaps, by men’s open speech to know, that he is regarded as the setter-forth of unmeaning, extravagant, or inapplicable words. Of course, this charge is not always unfounded. We are not inspired: we often speak our own words; our minds may not have rightly conceived the subject we would discuss, or we may be wantingin ability to express clearly what we understand. Under various influences we do, too, at times speak more or less extravagantly, and our knowledge and discretion are not so complete, that we invariably select what is precisely suited to our hearers. In such cases, we ought to expect, we have no right to complain of, the rejection, the disregard, or the fruitlessness of our preaching. But, brethren, when we are sure that the fault lies not in the preacher, when he has taken pains to enter into and reveal the mind of the Spirit, to teach what he knowsGodwould have you understand and believe, to urge what he knowsGodwould have you do, to describe and recommend what he knowsGodwould have you love and seek—when he has done this, and you receive not his words, excusing yourselves by saying that he is obscure, or over-strict, or fanciful, or enthusiastic, or anything else—oh! then has he not a right to complain toGod? yea; and is it not his duty to remonstrate with you? Brethren, we charge not such as you who are here assembled with the wilfulness of Ezekiel’s hearers. In you we do not suppose there is any actual unbelief, or deliberate dislike of the truth. It is not forced in your case upon unwilling ears: for you come to hear it. It is not rejected becauseyou hate it. Nevertheless, we have somewhat against many of you of Ezekiel’s complaint, respecting your treatment of the read or preached Word ofGod.
We have to complain, brethren, that many of you are under the mistaken notion that you have almost a right to select the preacher’s theme, at least to dictate its mode of treatment; and that if your right is disregarded, then you are justified in excusing yourselves for not profiting or heeding. Bear with me, beloved. Is it not the case, that you sometimes find fault with the subject of the sermon? You do not want to hear so much about man’s depravity: you do not like the preacher to make such a point of observing religious ordinances: what a high standard of morality he sets up; how strict is the holiness he describes; why will he discourse of the horrors of hell? So, again, of the manner of treatment. You do not care for argument; you cannot enter upon theories; you are weary of quotations of historical illustrations; the style is too florid, or too bald: it is poetical; or it is commonplace; or somehow it is not what you like; and therefore—I would not say you turn away from it, but you do not try, as much as you ought, to heed it; and you excuse yourselves for not improving under it by blaming the preacher.
The fact is, there is too often a great forgetfulness of the fact, that when the preacher speaks to you it is your part to be as listeners and learners ofGod. It is not for you to choose the subjects, nor to dictate the method of teaching. It is true, perhaps, that your taste and aptitude are greater for some subjects than others: it is true that you are more easily enlightened, and impressed, and influenced in some ways than in others. It is natural, and I would not say it is wrong, for you to prefer those subjects and ways; but be sure nevertheless, that it is the very contrary of wisdom and humility, of reverence forGod, of regard for duty and interest, not to give the most earnest heed to whateverGodsays to you through His servant, to dare to treat it lightly, because either of the topic or the way of handling it. When a message comes to you fromGod, surely it is no reason for not receiving it, that you would prefer a message about something else! And if the diction in which that message is clothed is hard or distasteful to you, while you may lament it, may ask for an explanation, may solicit consideration for your taste, or help in overcoming your distaste, you may not on any account disregard what has been said. The word gone forth shall not return. Where the seed has been sown, increaseshall be expected. The day is coming, when all your opportunities and means of knowingGod’swill, and all your incentives to serve Him, shall be taken account of by Him Who has afforded them, and then shall the worst preacher, the most apparently obscure and inapplicable sermon you ever heard be a witness for or against you, to testify what regard you had forGod’smessage, what humility, what teachableness, what readiness to receive and to do what was clear, what anxious diligence and pains to understand what was obscure.
Brethren, you may choose what subjects you will hear discussed in the secular lecture-hall, and if you do not like the entertainment you may refuse to be entertained by it, and resolve to hear no more of it, to dismiss it altogether from your thoughts. But you do not come to church to be entertained; you have no option there of selecting or rejecting. It is your misfortune (though it may be his fault) if the preacher does not interest you, or the sermon immediately commend itself to your mind, and to your heart; but, being there, you must hear whatever is said, and however it is said; and having heard, be sure you must give account toGodof the hearing! Settle this in your minds, impress yourselves with the solemnauthority of the preacher, and with the importance and responsibility of heeding him, and it will be very seldom that you will object even in thought, “Doth he not speak parables?”
But there are particular complaints, about which I would say a few words specially.
First, there is a complaint against the preaching of mysterious and profound truths. If the preacher dwells upon such a subject as the Incarnation ofChrist, the nature ofChrist’spresence with His Church, of the Spirit’s indwelling, or the rationale of the efficacy of the means of grace; or if he attempts to explain any difficult text, no matter what pains he may take to simplify the subject, how he may labour to show its importance and to recommend its consideration, he is met at once with the objection that he speaks parables, and so with a tacit refusal to heed. “Why puzzle one’s brains,” it is urged, “with such matters, when there are so many simple themes and easy lessons in the Gospel. I cannot understand such things. They are too profound. The preaching of them may be clever, but it is thrown away upon me. I do not want to work and task my mind, but to warm my feelings.” Such is the reward the preacher often gets for taking unusual pains to edify his hearers! Such is the wilful,the determined ignorance of many ofGod’speople respecting those truths, the understanding of which most concerns them, and honours Him. It ought to be sufficient to correct these unwise and unwilling, to remind them that whateverGodhas revealed He requires to be accepted, and that as there can be no acceptance of that which is not understood, it is a foremost duty of the Christian preacher and the Christian learner to employ themselves in the solution of Scripture difficulties, and the comprehension of revealed mysteries. Such objectors do not intend it, but they grievously slightGodwhen they refuse to heed so much of His teaching, yea, they even cast a slur upon His wisdom in striving to teach what, according to them, cannot be learnt. And are they not unjust to themselves? Have they really such narrow and shallow understandings, so impossible to widen and deepen? Would they confess to such incapacity if they were listening to a scientific lecture? would they complain if the lecturer introduced them to new facts, showed them fresh experiments, suggested to them explanatory theories, sought to make them wiser than they were? Would they shut their ears at the sound of the first new term: would they shrink back at the first invitation to tread upon unfamiliar ground;would they protect themselves against being enlightened, by claiming to be hopelessly ignorant? Would they not rather make the most of the opportunity, opening ear and stretching mind to catch all they could, finding pleasure in being carried beyond and above themselves, resenting indignantly a hint that the thing was out of their reach, professing, somewhat ostentatiously pretending a greater delight and fuller understanding than they really had? O why is it the fashion to claim to be so wise in secular matters, to boast of ignorance in religion? It is well, indeed, that men should not sham to be wise inGod’spresence, but it is ill, very ill, that they sham to be ignorant, or that they should be content to be ignorant when they might be wise, ignoring and disowning the powers whichGodhas given them!
Take these remarks, dear brethren, into your serious consideration. Remember thatGodhas given you intelligent minds, in order that you might think of and serve Him with understanding. Much, indeed, about Him is absolutely incomprehensible; much has He designedly withheld; before many mysteries, has He put up the warning, “Draw not nigh hither;” but much has He told you plainly, and much has He propounded in sufficiently obscure or difficult terms, to taskand exercise your minds in their necessary unravelling. With respect to these things, as it is only by much resistance that you can withstand the temptations to which you are exposed; as it is only by great efforts that you can acquire the holiness without which no man shall see theLord, so is it, only by real and often hard study, that you can attain unto the knowledge of whichGodhas made you capable, and in which He bids you grow. The elementary, the vitally necessary truths of the Gospel are, it may be, within the immediate comprehension of the simplest and most uncultivated understanding; but shall it, therefore, be said to you, shall you be allowed to say of yourselves, that you need not be concerned about anything beyond? Would you be satisfied if you had only so much secular education as would enable you to spell out sign-post directions? Would it be no reproach to you, having so many faculties and opportunities, only to be able to read and count? Would you miss nothing of duty, of interest, of pleasure, if your intellect were uncultivated, if you were wholly unacquainted and totally unable to appreciate arts and sciences, poetry, music, literature, or any facts or theories not connected with your worldly calling, not necessary to procure your daily bread? Wouldnot life be irksome and intolerable, if held only on such terms? Would you not be ashamed of attempting to hold it on these terms? Would you not consider that you were robbing yourselves of all that was worth having? Would you not admit that you had missed and ignored your high calling, your power to be enlightened and wise beings, and had sunk shamelessly and guiltily to the level, below the level—for he answers the end of his creation—of the irrational brute? And shall you who feel such shame for worldly ignorance, shall you who make such efforts to gain secular knowledge, who are ever widening your minds, and storing up in them as much as they will hold, who delight in growing wiser and more learned, who will study unwearily, and exercise all your intellect, and consume I know not what time, in unravelling the worthless mystery of some enigmatical line in a poem of fiction—shall you contentedly pass over the difficulties, and remain ignorant of the mysteries which meet you in nearly every verse of the Word ofGod? Shall you be otherwise than glad and attentive when the preacher draws your attention to them? Shall you even unfairly and ungratefully charge him withspeakingparables, when he is reallyexplainingparables?
Dear brethren, it is rarely that the public preacher, who has to take thought for the simpler ones of the flock, can enlarge upon profound truths. When he does, take care that you make the most of the rare occurrence, and compensate for the forbidden frequency, by diligent private study, by ready use of that individual aid which the clergyman is as rejoiced, as he is bound, to afford you. Acquaint yourselves now, as far as may be, withGod, and the things ofGod. Furnish yourselves with the answer, the want of which was such a reproach to Nicodemus, to the question—“How can these things be?” Show, at least, as much interest in salvation, in sanctification, in heaven, in eternal bliss, as will lead you to inquire what they are, and require, and promise. Get now the germ of that knowledge, which is to expand hereafter albut to an infinite grasp, and is to revel in spiritual science. Cast away the reproach of knowing not; provide against the doom which awaits him that improves not the talents entrusted him: “From him that hath not, shall be taken away even that he seemeth to have.”
There is another class of objectors—to another kind of preaching. Those, namely, who resist the force of plain exhortations to repentance, self-denial,submission, obedience, holiness, and the like; by persuading themselves that the preacher urges these severely and unduly. Doth he not speak parables, they say, exaggerating—describing ideal duties? Surely, what he urges is not the thing really required of us; surely, if we escape not with impunity, yet some allowance will be made for our want of it. Would he bring in all guilty? Would he cross every delight and desire of our life? Would he expect us so to subdue the spirit, so to overcome natural impatience, as never to resent, to shrink, to murmur? Must obedience be so uncompromising, so constant, so perfect, to be obedience at all? Is holiness so imperatively necessary? Surely the preacher is unreasonable, he is extravagant, he speaks parables. These objectors are easily answered. In this matter no teaching of our own can be more explicit, more exacting, more positive, and more unsparing, than that of the New Testament. When we enforce these things, we are backed by an authority which cannot be questioned; and are able to prove that our words are those of soberness and truth. “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” “Whosoever dothnot this, cannot be my disciple.” “Whosoever loveth me, keepeth my commandments.” “If any man love not theLord Jesus, let him be anathema maranatha.” “Without holiness no man shall see theLord.” Are these words parables, are they untrue, figurative, extravagant? And if not, what that we say, or can say, on this head, may be resisted or slighted, under the plea, that is a parable?
Once more. When we discourse from the pulpit, on a living and near Saviour, an indwelling Sanctifier, a surrounding spiritual tempter, on heaven or hell, on enduring as seeing Him who is invisible, on having our conversation in heaven, on the evidence of things unseen, on the feeling and grasping, so to speak, as though they were substantial and at hand, of things hoped for—oh! then, how many there are who hear us as though we were dreamers or narrators of fables, speakers who should be allowed some poetic license; who, to make their speech attractive, or perhaps from the spontaneous dictation of their enthusiasm, use figures of rhetoric and speak parables! I do not mean that these persons wilfully take up this position, that they are intentionally, or in desire, gainsayers of the truth, but merely that they donot enter into its conception, and cannot rise to its height. They lag behind, they are earthy, they see only the visible, feel only the tangible to bodily senses. The temporal to them is real; the spiritual, not through unbelief, nor obstinacy, nor moral blindness, but from infirmity, and earthly-mindedness, and unspirituality, is regarded too nearly as unreal; and, therefore, when it is discoursed upon, they seem to be listening to empty dreams, and the preacher to be displaying flights of fancy.
Dear brethren—I speak to such—I know that many of you wish it were otherwise; you would that your mind could conceive, and that your heart could feel, these truths. In your best moments, you more than suspect that the preacher is right after all, and you are wrong; thatyouare dreaming, and not he; that his words are a parable only to those who will not see and hear. It is not in man to afford you much help, in coming to a right state. If I refer you to the Bible, which we do but echo from the pulpit, you will still say, Ah! but does not this, too, speak parables? If I bid you go and exercise your reason, or consult others who have done so, it is more than possible that you will come away from the consultation—alas! many do—more convincedthan before that wedospeak parables, that each one is aGodto himself, that there is no other devil than a man’s own evil passions, that there is no hell but in a remorseful conscience, that eternity does not mean “for ever!” No; there is no help for you in man, in yourselves, or in others. You must, indeed, purify and elevate your affections, so that they may wish for better things; you must bring down your reason from the high seat where it sits, and speculates, and dictates; you must try to accept the truth that the natural man cannot receive nor judge of spiritual things; but, then, you must go toGodHimself, and humbly, teachably, earnestly ask for that spiritual discernment which alone can see, and feel, and love the things ofGod. Do this, not once, but often; not negligently or hastily, but earnestly and perseveringly; and presently, if not all at once, yet gradually, most surely, your spiritual eyes shall be opened, you shall seeGod, you shall loveChrist, you shall perceive the motions of the Holy Spirit. The invisible world shall be unveiled, and shall be found to contain all the beauties, all the horrors, and to hold out all the hopes and fears, to be as real, as near, as sure to be ours, for weal or woe, according as we are, or are not, Christians, as the preacher or theBible, of which he is the expounder, asserts. Thenceforth you will not complain of spiritual teaching that it is parabolic, of strong assertions of the obligation of Christian graces, that they are immoderate, too exacting, too severe. No! heart and mind will testify, and life will approve, “Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb.” Yes; and knowing somewhat ofGod, and your relation to Him, and desiring to know more, whenever in your private reading of the Bible a difficulty meets you, or whenever the preacher discourses, as it seems, in parables, you will give the most earnest and interested heed, to see if you cannot divine the mystery; and failing that, instead of remaining in willing ignorance, you will use all the means placed within your reach, the comparing of parallel places, your commentaries, and the private instructions of your clergyman, pleading all the while withChrist, and urgently beseeching of Him, “Lord, thou knowest all things, declare unto me this parable.”
Thus doing, you will soon find that to you it is given to know the mysteries of religion; and the knowledge, sanctified by the Spirit, will assuredly work in you a greater love ofGod, a more consistent and more successful pursuit of holiness, agrowing taste and eagerness for that better state, whence ignorance, in all its degrees, shall be banished for ever, and where we shall know even as now we are known.