References St. Matthew References. I. R. Stier, The Words of the Angels, p. 37. I. 1. Archbishop Alexander, Leading Ideas of the Gospels, p. 1. J. Farquhar, The Schools and Schoolmasters of Christ, p. 15. I. 1-16. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 1. I. 5. J. M. Neale, Sermons on the Blessed Sacrament, p. 159. I. 18. Archbishop Alexander, Verbum Crucis, p. 1. J. Farquhar, The Schools and Schoolmasters of Christ, p. 28. I. 18-25. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 6. R. F. Horton, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxvi. 1904, p. 393. ** Jesus the Saviour ( for Christmas Day ) Matthew 1:21 ** Christmas comes to us with both light and shade. There is the glorious light of the Christ, the long-looked-for Messiah, the Morning Star of prophecy, the Dayspring from on high. But the very fact that Jesus comes as Saviour also speaks to us of sin. There was need for Him to come, and that is the shadow athwart the glory of this day. It is true we need not look so much at the shading as at the glorious colours of the picture, 'the glory as of the only-begotten'. His name is Jesus, Saviour. Consider two points. I. What we mean by sin. II. In what sense it can be said that Christ our Lord is a Saviour from sin. I. What is Sin? It has a twofold meaning, (1) inherent conniption, and (2) actual transgression. 1. From the full penalty, consequences, and inbeing of sin we are not delivered whilst in the body of our humiliation. But we are saved in anticipation, and all that baptism signifies is secured for us in Christ Jesus. As regards the second meaning, St. John tells us, 'Sin is the transgression of the law'. Look at it in various aspects. 2. a. Sin is trespass breaking bounds. 'Forgive us our trespasses.' b. Sin is shortcoming. Not full-measure not coming up to standard. The former aspect (1) is doing the things we ought not to have done; the latter (2) leaving undone what we ought to have done. c. Sin is iniquity, inequitableness not plumb not straight, not equal. Failure of equilibrium, lack of balance implied. d. Sin is defilement, uncleanness, disease, leprosy. 'There is no health in us.' But dropping these metaphors, we must look upon sin as actual rebellion against God, 'I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me'. 'All day long have I stretched out My hands to a wicked and rebellious people. Sin is trespass upon God's rights, shortcoming in regard to His standard, iniquity opposed to His law of equity, defilement against His purity. 'Against Thee, Thee only have I sinned,' said David when confessing a sin which was a deep wrong done towards his neighbour. Yet the sin was only against God.. II. How does Christ Save? And Whom? He saves 'His people' from their sins. The people of Israel first then all the world, 'To the Jew first,' etc. a. From their sins. Their special sins. The sin of each, the easily besetting ('well-circumstanced') sin. Experience and history prove that the Christ Whose coming is Today celebrated can save the greatest of sinners from their sins the drunkard from drink, the debauchee from uncleanness, the Sabbath-breaker from robbing God, and the thief from robbing man. He can also save the worldling from his worldliness, the proud from his pride, the unbelieving from his doubts. He saves from the sins themselves, not from the penalty merely. b. He saves from, the love of sin. Sin is not only to be avoided but to be abhorred. Like Lot's wife, some bewail the idols they are called upon to leave, but such have not realized the meaning of Christ's salvation. c. 'He it is' who thus saves (R.V.). Not self in any form, not any other, not formal services or rites, although these may have their uses if they are transparencies to reveal the Christ and not thick curtains to hide Him. The personality of the Christ is the central Christmas doctrine, Immanuel, God with us. He is the Rock the Light, the Life, His salvation the tree of life. As represented by Noel Paton's great picture 'Lux in Tenebris,' death itself through Him bursts into Light. d. The name of the child Jesus works miracles of grace. Illustration: Norfolk Island beautiful in itself, healthy, charming. Made a convict settlement for worst class of criminals, became a hell on earth, and the establishment had to be broken up. Succeeded by another body of men, brought up in a secluded island of their own in the love and fear of God, they made it a paradise. The name of Jesus, as it is our joy and inspiration in life, will be our solace and strength in the hour of death. Jesus Saviour Matthew 1:21 I. The Saviour from Sins. I ask your careful attention to this expressed purpose and intention of Christ. I may call it His regnant and supreme purpose to save His people from their sins. He teaches men that He may save from sin; heals and serves men; asks for their obedience and love; suffers Himself to be put to death on the cross, that He may save from sin. The greatest thing a man can do in this world is not making a fortune or a reputation, or carrying out some great work of genius at which the world may wonder. It is not even feeding the hungry or clothing the naked, though these may be parts of it. It is to master sin in himself and others. And as it is the greatest, so also it is the most difficult. It is such a complicated business. Sins of the past reach forward to the present, and those of the present to the future. II. There is another element in the case, the saddest and strangest of all, which is that people do not want to be saved from their sins. You know that the very last thing that people want to hear about is their sins. It was precisely this difficulty that met our Lord. Men wanted everything else but this, and were willing to take everything else save this from His hands. And it is perfectly clear to any candid and careful reader of the New Testament that it was this very purpose of our Lord, persisted in, that led to His death. We all want to be saved from the disagreeable consequences of sins; but as for the sins themselves we will defend them and excuse them and do anything rather than acknowledge and hate them, and turn from them. III. And there are people who doubt the possibility of being saved from, their sins. There is a refreshing dogmatism about the prophecy, 'He shall save His people'. His own people who follow Him. It is the thing that He can do. He is not called Saviour as a mere courtesy title, but because He saves from the dominion of the lusts of the flesh and of the mind, from the grip and fascination of evil. He is able to save to the uttermost all them that come unto God by Him. It will not be done by our struggles, but by the union of our lives with Him. C. Brown, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxii. 1907, p. 406. Matthew 1:21 The cardinal question is that of sin. The question of immanence or of dualism is secondary. The Trinity, life to come, paradise and hell, may cease to be dogmas and spiritual realities, the form and the letter may vanish away the question of humanity remains: What is it that saves? Amiel. Why a Young Man Should Be a Christian (Because Christ Saves His People from Their Sins) Matthew 1:21 Let us open this sermon with a quotation. 'The cardinal question,' says Amiel, 'is sin.' The question of humanity remains. What is it which saves? How can man be led to be truly man? 'The cardinal question,' I repeat the words, 'is sin,' and the writer who lays down this truth with such solemnity, who was he? He was not a clergyman and I am not sure that he would have called himself a Christian. Certainly he was not a member of the Christian Church, and did not hold the Christian creed. He was a man of letters and a profound thinker, who corresponded at Geneva to what Green of Balliol was in Oxford. He stood on the bank, and looked upon the stream; he thought at large and was free from all bonds. He had no traditions, he kept no conventions, he lived at equal distance from the rant of shallow unbelief and the cant of unreal religion; and this man, with one of the calmest, most penetrating minds of last century, said, 'The cardinal question is sin'. Contrast this profound statement of Amiel with Renan's light-hearted reply: 'Sin. I believe that I have abolished it.' Which of the two, both very brilliant and very attractive men, came nearer to fact? Wherever it came from, or whatever it is, there is something called sin, working in our life and damaging our souls; and it is a big, hard, masterful, undeniable fact. I. Well, over against that fact which we have all discovered, let us put another fact which we may also all verify. There have been a number of religious teachers of the first order in the world who not only have had multitudes of disciples, but have founded schools. Confucius, for instance, whose influence for good in China is felt to this day; Buddha, who set so fine an example of sacrifice; Mohammed, who has raised savage tribes several degrees in civilization; and Socrates, who taught men the eternal glory of the mind. But only one Teacher faced the fact of sin, and dealt with it in a thoroughgoing fashion. Jesus had many tasks. He proposed to teach men about His Father, to show them their duty in the world, to lift them above the bondage of the senses, and to give them the hope of immortality. But He also proposed to deliver them from their sins, and He set himself, by His life and death, by His word and Spirit, to save men from their worst and most degrading enemy. II. You may place yourself with confidence in our Master's hands for two reasons. 1. The first is that He is too wise a Physician to use the old-fashioned treatment, which was to expel the evil by violent medicines. Before Christ began, if I may so say, to practise in this sad hospital of humanity, the only way of curing a man was to forbid and to threaten.. No doubt there is a function for such means. It is well that a man should be reminded of the consequences of sin; that, whatsoever he soweth, that shall he also reap; that, if he ruins his constitution in his youth, he will have a bad time in his manhood. It is well also to have the commandments written on the memory and on the conscience, to have them before one's eyes, and to use them as a light for the path. But forbidding has not prevented men sinning, and threatening has not delivered them from their sins. Moses is the great practitioner in this system, and we have cause to be grateful to him, but no one has ever yet confounded a lawgiver and a Saviour. 2. This is the second reason why you may trust Jesus as your Saviour, because He uses the one perfect treatment, which is not to forbid anything, but to command good things, not to threaten any one with punishment, but to promise to every one blessing. Consider this difference between Moses and Christ Christ did not say to men: 'You must not kill'; 'you must not steal'; 'you must not lie'; 'you must not live uncleanly'. One may say roundly, He never forbade His disciples to do anything. He took the Ten Commandments and rewrote them, and handed them back. This is how they read when they come from Jesus' hands, 'Love God and love your neighbour'. But is there nothing which I am forbidden to do against God? Nothing. Do anything you please towards God, provided first you love Him. Is there nothing against my neighbour forbidden? Nothing. Do anything you please to your neighbour if first you love him. Christ gave His commandments, and they are contained in the Sermon on the Mount; but they are not called commandments, they are called beatitudes. He undertook to save men from being sinners by making them in a true and manly sense saints; by possessing them with good thoughts, pure feelings, kindly intentions, high endeavours. He proposed to keep them so busy with goodness that they would have neither time nor tendency to sin; to keep them in so high a state of health that, though like other men they were subject to infection, the microbes settling upon them could find no home. This is the positive system of treatment, and this is the way in which Jesus conducts His spiritual practice, and does His saving work. John Watson, Respectable Sins, p. 168. References. I. 21. J. Monro Gibson, A Strong City, p. 103. W. J. Butler, Sermons for Working Men, The Oxford Sermon Library, vol. ii. p. 26. George Macdonald, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xli. 1892, p. 385. Lyman Abbott, ibid. vol. lvi. 1899, p. 186. C. Perren, Revival Sermons in Outline, p. 290. J. Farquhar, The Schools and Schoolmasters of Christ, p. 2. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew i.-viii. p. 12. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxiv. No. 1434. Ahaz's Rejection of God's Mercies, and What It Pictures to Us Matthew 1:22-23 I. In His immense pity, the God of love not only promised His people this wonderful sign of Christ's coming in the flesh, which they were to look on to in faith, but He confirmed it also, as to other times, by something which was shortly to happen before their eyes. In the course of ten years, a shorter time than would be required for a young child to grow up so as to know right from wrong, 'to refuse the evil and choose the good,' the land which Ahaz abhorred, which he was so grievously wronging and ill-using, as if he could not do it too much harm, that land should be forsaken of both her kings. And so indeed it came to pass, for the King of Syria and the King of Israel both of them fell by the sword, and the land had rest. II. Great was this indulgence and merciful care of God for His people at this time; and, like all His tender mercies, it was to be taken by them and by us as a pledge and sample of infinitely more to come, even of all that is meant by the blessed name Emmanuel. That name means, not only that He is present with us and in us as our Preserver and Watcher, to keep us in the life and being in which He at first created us. He is now 'God in us,' because He is really Incarnate, very man, man indeed; perfect God and perfect man. He became our Second Adam, the Fountain of life and grace to all who are grafted into Him. He would have a soul and body like ours that He might fulfil His love by dying for us, dying the death which we had deserved Excepting only that there was not in Him the least spot or taint, or slightest beginning of sin, He was made Himself like unto us in all things, all the infirmities of the body, all the anxieties and feelings of the soul. And so He became our Intercessor, offering up our prayers and other unworthy services, and pleading for us continually, in such a feeling of our infirmities as none but He can have. For as God He knoweth them all, and as man He is touched with all. J. Keble, The Contemporary Pulpit (2nd Series), vol. Iv. 1890, p. 363. Matthew 1:22-23 'Christmas Day,' says Alexander Smith in Dreamthorp, 'holds time together. Isaiah, standing on the peaks of prophecy, looked across ruined empires and the desolation of many centuries, and saw on the horizon the new star arise, and was glad.' References. I. 22, 23. H. P. Liddon, Christmastide in St. Paul's, p. 89; see also Expository Sermons on the New Testament, p. 1. W. C. E. Newbolt, Church Times, vol. xxxiii. 1895, p. 20. The Interpreter Matthew 1:23 I. We need the interpreter. We shall always need him. The great reader will always have his day, come and go who may. We want men who can turn foreign words, difficult languages, into our mother tongue; then how simple they are and how beautiful, and that which was a difficulty before becomes a gate opening upon a wide liberty. We need a man who can interpret to us the meaning of confused and confusing and bewildering events; some man with a key from heaven, some man with Divine insight, the vision that sees the poetry and the reality of things, and a man with a clear, simple, strong, penetrating voice who will tell us that all this confusion will one day be shaped into order, and all this uproar will fall into the cadences of a celestial and endless music. II. In life there is a great place for the interpreter; in all life there is a sanctuary in which such a man can exercise his ghostly ministry. This house called Nature needs an interpreter. The grass is more than grass, herbage is more than herbage; it is beauty, it is fruit, it has a mission to man and beast, and nature needs a man who can understand her mutable appearances, her ever-changing voices, her silent but progressive and inevitable processions, so that she never halts long at one place, but is continually moving on to the old age of completion and the youth of a new beginning. We want some men who can read Nature to us religiously, who can find tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones, good in everything a wondrous parable interwrought with all that is visible and mutable and measurable. III. The interpreter is the sent of God. Interpretation is not a universal gift. Nearly every man can go to the dictionary for the meaning of words, but the dictionary is always poorest when we want it most. The dictionary cannot explain any word right into the heart It can give you equivalent words, or words that grade into one another, or words that help one another to some higher definition than themselves; but interpretation is a Divine gift: it is genius, it is a Divine trust. Few men can read. All men within the compass of practical civilization can read words, but that is not reading in the true and deep sense. We must read the soul out of the words, and read the soul into our souls, and catch the higher meanings and be struck dumb with rapture and with ecstasy. IV. When the interpreter abuses his gift he loses it. That is the law of God, that is the law of righteousness. When does the interpreter abuse his gift? When he becomes offensive in his interpretations, when he ceases to be philosophical and becomes fantastical, and wants to find meanings where there are none, and turn that which is inanimate into that which is only galvanically vital; then the man has begun to fritter away his gift, and God will soon see that he loses it altogether. When does the interpreter abuse his gift? When he turns it to self-seeking purposes, when he would make a livelihood by it, when he would keep the secret of God to himself and sell it to some Simon Magus; then God will see that His gift is soon lost, and lost for ever. Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. l p. 40. God with Us Matthew 1:23 This glorious statement is made on the basis of a glorious prophecy which Isaiah uttered at an important era in Jewish history (Isaiah 7:14 ). But this glorious prophecy had a far more important and magnificent fulfilment in relation to the Incarnation. The name of Jesus was exceedingly wonderful 'Emmanuel'. As St. Matthew uses it, it means a double nature that of God and that of Man. I. Jesus is God with us in Human Form. This is a mystery which no created mind can explain; yet it is no myth soever: it is a fact as sublime as it is mysterious. 'Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh.' And there was absolute necessity for this. Man is 'a religious animal,' and hence naturally craves for a God. In Emmanuel, however, there is all that man yearns for (Exodus 33:18 ; John 14:8-9 ). Thus the infinite Jehovah has subjected Himself to finite laws for this essential purpose; and he who believingly looks at Jesus as 'the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person,' will feel that he is put in possession of all that his heart can possibly desire. 'This is life eternal, to know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom Thou, hast sent.' II. Jesus is God with us in Divine Sympathy. And sympathy is that which man needs next to God Himself. This also is to be found in Jesus; indeed, this was one prime reason why He became Incarnate (Hebrews 2:16-18 ). His path in life was accordingly made as rough as ours; His foes were as many as ours; His temptations were as fierce as ours; and for three-and-thirty years His cup of sorrow was as full and bitter as ours. All this became Him (Hebrews 2:10-13 ). Wherefore He showed His Divine sympathy with all manner of human suffering; and in all instances He demonstrated that He was truly 'Emmanuel, God with us'. III. Jesus is God with us in Redeeming Love. All men are sinners, and no man can redeem his own soul. God must provide Himself a lamb for a burnt-offering; and He did this by sending Jesus, and Jesus was willing to do His Father's will. What led the Divine Father and the Divine Son to unite in this greatest of all great works? Love love as amazing as it was undeserved! IV. Jesus will be God with us in Heavenly Glory. His own words, spoken to His disciples during the last days of the Incarnation, overflow with consolation and hope: 'In My Father's house are many mansions'. And then there are those other golden words which He spoke in prayer to His Father: 'Father, I will that they also, whom Thou, hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me: for Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world '. Whatever He is in person, and whatever in, bliss, His redeemed will share with Him. References. I. 23. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year, vol. i. p. 57. G. W. Herbert, Notes of Sermons, p. 12. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Sunday Sermonettes for a Year, p. 15. J. F. Kitto, Religion in Common Life, p. 9. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxi. No. 1270. I. 24. 'Plain Sermons' by contributors to the Tracts for the Times, vol. viii. p. 285. Jesus and Joshua Matthew 1:25 He called His name Jesus Joshua the Lord our Saviour. Two men above all others in old time bore the name, and bearing it were permitted by God to present some traits of the Saviour of the world. One appears at the beginning and the other at the close of the Divine history of the earthly Canaan. We first read of Joshua, the son of Nun, the great captain; and then of Joshua, the son of Josedech, the great high priest. I. 'And Moses called Oshea, the son of Nun, Jehoshua.' Such are the pregnant words with which the sacred historian closes the first notice of the future leader of Israel the Jesus of the Exodus. Faithful among the faithless, Joshua saw the terrible sons of Anak in the promised land without dismay; and when the people wept he said, Fear them not, the Lord is with us. In the strength of that faith he led their sons across Jordan. A noble repose closed a course of valiant action. The land rested from war; and the people said unto Joshua, The Lord our God will we serve, and His voice will we obey. The great captain won peace by conflict, and confirmed faith by deeds of might. And is not all this an image of the work of Jesus, the Captain of our Salvation? He too is leading a great host, in which we all have been solemnly enrolled, to a heavenly country. Giant passions and ancient prejudices, foes without and weaknesses within, threaten our progress; but in all our trouble and terror, when we approach a task which we have no adequate forces to fulfil, when we face an enemy by whom we have been foiled before, He still says, Fear not: the Lord is with you. He has seen the land towards which we are struggling. In token that we should not shrink before our adversary or faint in the hour of battle, His name was called Jesus the Lord our Saviour. II. This is one picture: Jesus the great Captain. But there is another: Jesus the great High Priest. I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked... and, behold, the angel showed me Joshua the High Priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. But this new Joshua, the Jesus of the Return, was no champion of a youthful nation marshalled for active strife. He was the representative and mediator of a nation burdened with long guilt and suffering. This is the second picture: and so we also have Jesus, as a great High Priest at the right hand of God, ever ready to make intercession. At the outset of life we think, perhaps, that we need guidance only and mercy. With us as with the Jewish nation the fashion of our contest changes with advancing years. As we look backward we see the gathered sins of the past rising like a mountain to overwhelm us. We are alone, desolate, conscious of sin, strangers in our former homes. Alone and yet not alone, for Christ is with us; desolate, but not forsaken; conscious of sin, and yet children of a Redeemer; strangers on earth, and yet heirs of a glorious kingdom. For in token that we should not sink beneath the burden of past guilt or despair in the dark valley, His name was called Jesus the Lord our Saviour. Bishop B. F. Westcott, Village Sermons, p. 59. References. II. R. Stier, The Words of the Angels, p. 61. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlii. No. 2497. Matthew 2:1 See, on the earlier part of this chapter, Mrs. Browning's striking poem, 'Christmas Gifts'. Savonarola, after quoting verses 1 and 2 in one of his sermons, proceeds to harangue the Florentines as follows: 'Mark the words and observe the mysteries. Behold then that He by whom all things were made is this day born upon earth. Behold He that is above all things begins by having a native land; He begins as the compatriot of men, the companion of men, the brother of men, and the son of man! Behold the wise men; behold the Chaldeans; behold those who were not born among Christians; behold those that were not baptized; behold those who were not instructed in the law of the Gospel; behold those that did not receive the numerous sacraments of the Church; behold those who heard not the voice of preachers. Behold the wise men from the East, from the midst of a perverse and evil nation, from distant and remote regions, shrinking from no expense, from no weariness, from no danger. They came. And when was it they came? When Christ was a babe, when He lay upon straw, when He showed nought but weakness, when He had as yet done no miracles.' And so on. Professor Villari adds that 'this description of the wise men coming from distant lands and through many perils to seek the infant Jesus, while Christians remain indifferent to Christ the Man, even when He has risen to the splendour of His glory, and opens His arms invitingly to them, was undoubtedly one of the appeals that acted most magically upon the people.' ** The Star of the Wise Men ( epiphany ) Matthew 2:1-2 The lessons which we may learn from these wise men: I. The Way in which They were Brought to Seek for Christ. ** This is pointed out in the Collect, 'O God, Who by the leading of a star didst manifest Thy only begotten Son to the Gentiles'. It was through their own common and proper occupation of watching and studying the stars that God led them in the right way to behold His Son. This is an example of the way in which He always works. We are very apt to think that any occupation rather than our own is the best and easiest for serving God. This is the greatest delusion. The one great truth which we must hold fast at starting and never let go is that God is really Himself our leader and our teacher wherever we are, and whatever we may be doing. II. Consider the Gifts which the Wise Men Brought. They were offerings of love and worship, signs of the devotion within their hearts rather than presents intended for His use: for, whatever may be thought of gold, one sees not what He could do with frankincense and myrrh. And, secondly, they were just the things, the most precious things, found in their own country. Here surely is a lesson to ourselves of the kind of sacrifices with which God is well pleased. III. These Wise Men are to us an Example of Faith. They are presented to us as such in the Collect, which says, 'we, who know Thee now by faith'. It needed much faith first to care for a King of the Jews at all, then to leave their own home and take a long journey to see Him, and then more than all not to be staggered when they found Him: through faith they were not dazzled by the earthly greatness of Herod or withheld from worship by the low estate of Him Whom they found lying in the manger. It is the same when God would fain lead us to His Son and to Himself. We must learn to love goodness for its own sake, and to recognize it even when it is naked and seemingly weak, and to trust in its undying strength. Every day almost may show us how easily without faith we may come to reject that which has the mark of God upon it, and is strong with His everlasting strength, because we deceive ourselves with outward appearances. IV. But the Collect points out a higher goal which may be reached in this way, and in no other: 'Mercifully grant that we which know Thee now by faith may after this life have the fruition, that is, the enjoyment, of Thy glorious Godhead'. The wise men sought and found the King of the Jews because they believed in a King of heaven. F. J. A. Hort, Village Sermons (2nd Series), p. 48. The Wise Men From the East Matthew 2:1-2 The visit of the wise men furnishes us with the following topics for consideration: I. An Insight into the Method of Divine Revelation. 'We, being in the East, have seen His star.' God adapts His method to the mental capacity and ordinary circumstances of men. To the Jews prophecies were given. To shepherds, accustomed to stories about angelic visitors, an angel was sent. To astrologers a meteor appeared. II. A Recognition of Christ's Royal Dignity. 'Where is He that is born King of the Jews?' 'We are come to worship Him;' i.e. pay Him homage. III. An Indication of the Extent of Christ's Kingdom. In His infancy He received the adoration of Gentiles (Isaiah 60:3-6 ). IV. The Reward of Persevering Faith. A long weary journey was repaid with the sight of Christ. F. J. Austin, Seeds and Saplings, p. 12. References. II. 1. S. A. Tipple, The Admiring Guest, p. 60. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Sunday Sermonettes for a Year, p. 22. II. 1, 2. H. P. Liddon, Christmastide in St. Paul's, p. 348. F. C. Blyth, Plain Preachings for a Year, vol. i. p. 103. H. C. Beeching, Sermons for the People (2nd Series), vol. ii. p. 1. H. Scott Holland, Church Times, vol. li. 1904, p. 80; see also Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxv. 1904, p. 24. H. Hensley Henson, ibid. vol. lxxi. 1907, p. 33. Trench, The Star of the Wise Men (commentary on the second chapter of Matthew). F. W. Robertson, Sermons (2nd Series), No. 2. Cecil's Sermons, p. 123. Cox, Expository Essays, p. 264. Parker, Inner Life of Christ, vol. i. p. 30. Christian World Pulpit, vol. ii. p. 401; vol. iii. p. 36; vol. iv. p. 97; vol. xviii. p. 392; vol. xxvi. p. 159. Homiletic Quarterly, vol. i. pp. 52, 381, 557. Kitto's Daily Bible Illustrations, vol. vii. pp. 91, 110, 118, 133. Fairbairn, Expositor (1st Series), vol. vii. p. 161, and Gibson, Expositor (2nd Series), vol. iii. p. 116. Biblical Things not Generally Known, pars. 2, 354, 798. Hall's Contemplations. Matheson, Moments on the Mount, p. 125. A. Whyte, Contemporary Pulpit, vol. i. p. 339, and vol. vi. p. 28. II. 1-3. H. Scott Holland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lvii. 1900, p. 33. P. H. Hall, The Brotherhood of Man, p. 52. II. 1-4. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxix. No. 2325. II. 1, 2, 11. H. C. Beeching, Faith, p. 12. II. 1, 2, 9, 10. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxix. No. 1698. II. 1-12. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 19. The Witness of the Children (Holy Innocents' Day) Matthew 2:2 I. The Lambs Sacrificed for the Sake of the Lamb of God. The Holy Innocents were martyrs in deed but not in will, spotless lambs who were fit to be folded in the fold of God, spotless and innocent flowers fit to be planted in the gardens of Paradise. The festival of the Holy Innocents was observed by the Church from very early times, though at first it would seem to have been joined to the Feast of the Nativity, which was also combined with the Epiphany. II. The Story of the Holy Innocents. As the gallows which Haman had erected for Mordecai became his own place of execution, so the sword which Herod sent forth against the Innocents slew his own child and touched not the Child Jesus. These little ones of Bethlehem died as silent witnesses to Him Who, like them, was born in Bethlehem. Thus early in His earthly life Jesus called little children unto Him, as though He said already, 'Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God'. He had come to set up the kingdom of God, and the very first to be called to it were the children; the Holy Innocents were the first flowers transplanted to the Paradise which the Lord had come to open to all believers. III. Christ's Dwelling-place. ' Where is He that is born King of the Jews?' In the hearts of little children. In the pure shrine of an innocent child's soul. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Notes of Sermons for the Year, pp. 47-50, part i. Worshipping Christ (For Christmas) Matthew 2:2 Jesus Christ Himself did not often use the word worship, but He did once use it with striking and continual effect 'The Father seeketh such to worship Him.' What is the meaning of 'such' in that relation? It indicates people who worship God in spirit and in truth, people whose hearts are altars, whose lives are tabernacles which the Lord hath chosen as His abiding places. They offer acceptable worship, whatever it be, how poor soever, who really mean it. I. We know what it is to worship. Let us for the moment drop the word worship, regarding it as having become too narrowly a church word that has upon it a kind of religious symbol. The spirit of worship is in us all. It may not be directed to the right end, but the spirit or instinct of worship is in us, though, mayhap, we may be atheists. Instead of saying 'worship' let us say * homage. * We advance a step, and come to the idea of deliverance, redemption, answered expectancy. We live in expectation. There are those who would not use the word prayerful hope, and yet they are living in expectation of a coming Christmas, they have a Messiah of their own; they say, The right man has not yet come, but he is coming, and he will come; for we have seen his star, and we have heard voices of silence, the sublimest eloquence, the spiritual grandeur of speech. All men live in expectation of their own Christmas. They may cast out the dear Son of God, the Babe of Bethlehem, they may deride Him, but they have a cradle of their own, a Bethlehem Ephrata out of which is to come the delivering soul, the mighty man whose garments are red as with the blood of victory. It is a political messiah or a commercial or some kind of intellectual messiah, it is a great Humanity or a splendid ideal. What talk is that? It is Christian speech, turned from the directly Christian line, yet full unknowingly of Christian meaning. Man must have a Christmas, a born Christ, a Babe, a Root, a Branch, a germ out of which will come the whole kingdom of reconciliation and righteousness and final peace. II. We find our Christ in Bethlehem. We believe that He will make the whole world right. He claims time in which to carry out His great ministry. He comes in the flesh; He vanishes from the body that He may send the true Paraclete, the abiding Spirit, the true inward Personality the personality that is a Trinity in itself. He will convict the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment to come that other trinity that rules from a throne unseen. III. We have come to worship the Son of God. Worship is not a mere sentiment; worship is a great practical force. Do not be afraid of the word sentiment; it is a softening, healing, comforting word. Without sentiment much energy would be simply lost. We are indebted to the sentiment of the dew for the richness of the literal flower. Only Christ can make things go right, and He is very slow about it, as we count slowness. Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. v. p. 2. The Visit of the Magi Matthew 2:2 Today we commemorate the visit of the wise men to the infant Jesus. These wise men offered to the Lord Jesus Christ the very best they possibly could; they gave Him the homage of their hearts. They were sincere in worshipping Him, and they also offered gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. I would ask you all to do as the wise men did, and accept Jesus as your own personal Saviour, not merely by assenting to the general religious doctrine that Christ is the Saviour of the world, but by offering yourselves to Him. I. True Wisdom. We know next to nothing about these wise men. A good many people think they were kings, and it seems certain they were men of substance. The only thing I would ask you to note is this, that they were wise men, and the way in which they showed their wisdom was in going, at great trouble and expense, and perhaps peril, in order to give the homage of their hearts to Christ. They had the wisest wisdom, the spirit of the Holy Ghost, to guide them by means of the star to where Christ, the newborn King, was to be found. We do not know from what kingdom they came: they might have come from Persia, or some of those ancient cities in the East, or possibly from where Israel was carried away captive. They must have heard something of the coming of the Christ, the Jewish Messiah, of the King of Kings, of the Lord of Lords, Who was to appear in Judaea, for these Eastern countries were not left without warning as to the truth of God. We have the striking prophecy uttered by Balaam, and there were other prophecies that had been uttered, not only in the Jewish language, but in the Chaldean, one of the common languages of the East. II. Little Knowledge. The wise men had very little to help them, but they made the best use of what they had. When the extraordinary star appeared, which was always connected with the coming of a new king, they felt confident that the time had come, and they set forth upon that difficult and dangerous journey in order to go and worship Christ They had no gospel, and in this respect they put us to shame. Here we are, with our complete Bible, and Church services and meetings, and yet some of us have not even yet given our hearts to Christ Jesus is not very far from us; we have not a long journey to take; we have no difficulties to contend with; we have nothing to do but to go to Jesus, and we know He invites us again and again: think of His loving words, 'Come unto Me... and I will give you rest,' and yet we have closed the door against Him. III. Much Faith. These wise men triumphed over the difficulties which stood in their way. They had so little to guide them from the world's point of view. They went in speculation, as it were; they might have been disappointed, and have had all their trouble in vain; but they were not to be deterred by any consideration of that kind. When they got to Jerusalem there came a very great difficulty and a disappointment. They were told there was no new king there, they were told that Herod was king; and, added to this very great disappointment, their guiding star had disappeared. We do not read that in Jerusalem the star was shining over any particular portion of the city. They might have considered that they had made a mistake, and have turned back. But no, they were thoroughly in earnest. We want to be in earnest; we want not only to think of these things in church, but to do them day by day, and labour in all earnestness. If you will put Christ in the forefront of your life He will give you help. Even when the wise men saw the star again that did not finish their disappointment. The star went on to Bethlehem, and took them to an inn. But there was no Christ in the inn. And at length the star stood over a very humble building a mere shed, a stable. Then surely they might have given up the search altogether, but faith enabled them to triumph over every difficulty. When they got inside they did not even see a costly fur on which the infant Christ lay; there was only straw, and there were oxen lying close behind, and there was a manger and in it lay the newborn King. IV. Wholehearted Adoration. At once these men fell down before Him, and they laid at His feet not only their hearts, but also the most expensive things they had brought with them. The best things they gave were their hearts. Matthew 2:2 These men, for their own part, came I beg you very earnestly again to note this not to see, nor talk but to do reverence. They are neither curious nor talkative, but submissive. Ruskin, Fors Clavigera, xii. Follow you the star that lights a desert pathway, yours or mine, Forward, till you see the highest Human Nature is Divine. Tennyson. Human learning well improved makes us capable of Divine. God would never have bestowed any gift that should lead us away from Himself. Bishop Hall. Matthew 2:2 Claudius Buchanan, as Dr. Eugene Stock tells us, took this text for his great missionary sermon at Bristol on 26 February, 1809, which, said a paper of the day 'kept the minds of a large auditory in a state of most lively sensation for an hour and twenty-five minutes'. He said: 'While we are disputing here whether the faith of Christ can save the heathen, the Gospel hath gone forth for the healing of the nations. A congregation of Hindus will assemble on the morning of the Sabbath under the shade of a banyan-tree, not one of whom, perhaps, ever heard of Great Britain by name. There the Holy Bible is opened, the word of Christ is preached with eloquence and zeal; the voice of prayer and praise is lifted up; and He who hath promised His presence when two or three are gathered together in His name, is there in the midst of them to bless them, according to His word. Those scenes I myself have witnessed, and it is in this sense in particular I can say, "We have seen His star in the East".' In his Postilla, Melanchthon quotes the opinion of Chrysostom that the star was an angel, and adds that this view does not displease him, although it might have been a real star which an angel guided or led. There may have been 'both an angel and a star'. References. II. 2. A. G. Brown, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlix. 1896, p. 40. Lyman Abbott, ibid. vol. lviii. 1900, p. 392. H. Scott Holland, ibid. vol. lxiii. 1903, p. 33. A. H. Moncur Sime, ibid. vol. lxxii. 1907, p. 381. J. A. Alexander, The Gospel of Jesus Christ, p. 21. B. Wilberforce, The Hope that is in Me, p. 62. 'Plain Sermons' by contributors to the Tracts for the Times, vol. vi. p. 15. Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxiv. 1908, p. 403. G. Tyrrell, Oil and Wine, p. 76. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvi. No. 967. Matthew 2:5-6 Jesus entered into the world with all the circumstances of poverty. He had a star to illustrate His birth: but a stable for His bedchamber and a manger for His cradle. The angels sang hymns when He was born; but He was cold, and cried, uneasy and unprovided. Jeremy Taylor. Matthew 2:9 I see no man either of the city or the court to accompany them. Whether distrust or fear hindered them, I inquire not; but, of so many thousand Jews, no one stirs his foot to see that King of theirs which strangers came so far to visit. Yet were not these resolute sages discouraged with this solitariness and small respect, nor drawn to repent of their journey, as thinking, 'What, do we come so far to honour a King whom no man will acknowledge? What mean we to travel so many hundred miles to see that which the inhabitants will not look out to behold?' but cheerfully renew their journey. And now, behold God encourages their holy forwardness from heaver, by sending them their first guide; as if He had said, 'What need ye care for the neglect of men, when ye see heaven honours the King whom ye seek?' Bishop Hall. References. II. 9. A. Young, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lii. 1897, p. 302. G. Matheson, Moments on the Mount, Phi 3 and 125. J. C. Jones, Studies in St. Matthew, p. 26. Parker, Hidden Springs, p. 306. Liddon, Sermons Selected from the Penny Pulpit, vol. i. 'Plain Sermons' by contributors to Tracts for the Times, vol. ii. p. 292; vol. vi. p. 15. Parker, Inner Life of Christ, vol. i. pp. 29, 40, 50. F. W. Robertson, Sermons (2nd Series), p. 17. J. Vaughan, Sermons to Children (3rd Series), p. 98. H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 1634. Bishop Barry, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xvii. p. 17. Bishop Boyd Carpenter, ibid. vol. iii. p. 36. Stars That Lead to Christ (For Epiphany) Matthew 2:10 The festival of the Epiphany has a great deal of teaching to bring to us, and this account of the visit of the wise men to Bethlehem is one of the incidents of which it puts us in mind. They saw His star in the East A great many theories have been advanced to account for the appearance of this star, but what God tells us in the Bible is all that we need to know. I. The Leading of the Star. The star led them to Jesus Christ, and so, too, may we be led to Him in some such way. Astronomy is a very fascinating study in itself, and it can hardly fail to make us realize something of the vastness of God, the Maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible. The distances from our earth to some of these stars are known to be inconceivably great. The light from the nearest star outside the system of our own sun and the planets is known to take some four years to reach our earth, and light can travel a distance of eight times round the world in a second. Surely facts like these may do something to lead us to know God's infinite greatness and our own insignificance, humbly to cry to Him for mercy and for grace, and to remember that to please Him is really the only aim in life that is worth our attention. II. Stars as Types. The star was the sign that led the wise men to seek Jesus, and we may think too of the stars as types of some of those lights, as it were, in the darkness that may guide us if we will to His feet. Christian friendship shining like a beacon light in the darkness is often the star that has led to Christ. We may imagine how the wise men on their journey were a comfort one to another. They may not have said much about the object of their journey, but each one wanted to find Christ, each one had gifts to offer to Him, and so they cheered each other on their way. So, too, in our own life there are many of us who can think of some to whose quiet influence we owe very much. A quiet, steady, gentle light shone from them as if from a star that told of powers hidden away that were the strength and force of their character. They may not have said much to us; their lives were to us an open Bible that told us of God's laws. They may not have been at first sight the most attractive people, but soon we learned that the meek and quiet spirit that adorned them was far more beautiful than anything else. They were those whom we really loved and trusted. Let us then be careful in choosing which spirit is to guide us, who is to be our most intimate friend. While we must be careful not to wound the feelings of the sensitive, we must be careful that our friendships are a means to help us and our friends nearer to our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us take care also that our own star is shining, that by God's grace our lamps are alight to show others the way to God. III. Other Stars that Lead to Christ. And the circumstances of life may be stars that lead us to the Lord Jesus Christ. The wise men left their country and their homes, all that was dear to them. There were dangers and hardships on the road for them to bear, but when they saw the star they rejoiced with an exceeding great joy. There were many disappointments for them. When they found Christ Himself all was so different from what they expected. They found the child cradled in a manger stall, but they had faith enough to see God's plans through it all. They worshipped Christ and they offered Him their gold, incense, and myrrh, as to their King and their God, and to Him Who would conquer by the sufferings of the Cross. And others besides the wise men have been led by hardship and disappointment to find joy and peace in Christ At the beginning of a new year we may perhaps feel how uncertain is the future that lies before us. Let us try to welcome whatever God may see fit to send. Hardship and disappointment are perhaps more likely to be the stars that lead to Christ than anything else. Let us look for the stars that will lead us to Christ, let us follow whither they lead. We give the incense of prayer, the gold of loyal obedience, and the myrrh of thanksgiving. There is still in our Saviour Christ a welcome now and for ever for all who truly turn to Him. The Guiding Star (Epiphany) Matthew 2:10 St. Augustine tells us in one of his sermons the reason for observing Epiphany as a separate feast 'On this day we celebrate the mystery of God's manifesting Himself by His miracles in human nature; either because on this day the star in heaven gave notice of His birth; or because He turned water into wine at the marriage feast at Cana in Galilee; or because He consecrated water for the reparation of mankind by His baptism in the River Jordan; or because with five loaves He fed five thousand men. For each of these contains the mysteries and joys of our salvation.' The reverence for Epiphany grew and increased in the Church as time went on; on the vigil it was the custom for sermons to be preached, the Holy Eucharist was celebrated, and slaves had a holiday. The feast itself was known as the Day of Lights, and on it was consecrated the water to be used in baptism during the year. I. Our Guiding Stars the Church. In early times, before the mariner's compass was discovered, sailors steered their course by the stars. We all have our Epiphany stars if we would but see this, and they all guide us to our Lord, teaching us how to steer our course over the waves of this troublesome world. First among them, I place the Church. It was the custom in the early days to mark the Feast of Epiphany or day of lights, with many glowing lamps and tapers in church. It is still the custom in some churches to have a lamp burning perpetually before the altar, and in some Sanctuaries the lamp has not been extinguished for hundreds of years. These things are an allegory, the light of the Church never goes out; the Guiding Star of Epiphany never sets, but stands over against the place where the Holy Child is. II. Our Guiding Stars the Conscience. God not only gives us a guiding light in His Church, but He places a light within us. 'The Lord shall light my candle.' As long as we follow the light, walk in the light as children of the light, all is well. When the light shines through the church windows we know that God's service is taking place inside. When no light appears, the church is cold and forsaken. We are only serving God and keeping spiritually alive as long as the light of conscience shines like a star, and guides us to Jesus. In a certain old castle of former days, a beacon fire was always kindled at night, and when men saw its light shining forth, they knew that all was well with the castle. One night no beacon fire shone from the tower, and all men knew that ruin and disaster had fallen on the garrison. III. Our Guiding Stars the Bible. In the darkness of the night ships at sea signal by means of lights. We, in this world, are all 'as ships that pass in the night,' our course is often a dark and dangerous one, and we need a guiding light to point us to the haven where we would be, and that home where Jesus awaits our coming. The Bible gives us such a guide. 'Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.' If we steer by this light, we are safe. So many people lose their way in the fogs and darkness of men's devising, because they will not look for the light of God's Word. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Notes of Sermons for the Tear, pp. 56-61. References. II. 10. W. J. Butler, Sermons for Working Men, The Oxford Sermon Library, vol. ii. p. 62. II. 11. G. H. Morrison, The Unlighted Lustre, p. 257. Morgan Dix, Sermons Doctrinal and Practical, p. 54. W. J. Dawson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xl. 1891, p. 403. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year (2nd Series), vol. i. p. 58. G. W. Herbert, Notes on Sermons, p. 29. G. Tugwell, Church Times, vol. xliii. 1900, p. 105. A. G. Mortimer, One Hundred Miniature Sermons, vol. i. p. 89. W. Howell-Evans. Sermons for the Church's Year, p. 31. R. C. Trench, The Star of the Wise Men, etc. Dr. Arnold, Sermons (3rd Series), No. xvii. F. W. Robertson (2nd Series), Sermon 2. Liddon, Three Hundred Outlines on New Testament, p. 3. Homiletic Quarterly, vol. i. pp. 381, 511, 537. 'Intellect, Power, Wealth, etc., Offering Itself to Christ,' Homiletic Quarterly, vol. i. p. 52. Hall, Contemplations, vol. iii. Dr. Whyte, Contemporary Pulpit, vol. i. p. 339. Bishop of Ripon, 'The Lesson of the Epiphany,' Christian World Pulpit, vol. iii. p. 36. Ibid. p. 97. Bishop Barry, Epiphany Offerings, vol. xvii. p. 17. Parker, The Inner Life of Christ, vol. i. pp. 30, 40, and see his Homiletic Analysis. Pulpit Analyst, vol. i. p. 30; vol. iii. p. 699. Cox, Expository Essays and Discourses, p. 264. E. White, 'Gospel of the Infancy,' etc., Mystery of Growth, etc., p. 66. Kitto, Daily Bible Illustrations, vol. vii. pp. 110 and 118. Biblical Things, etc., paragraphs 2,354, and 798. R. C. Trench, Poet's Bible, p. 49. II. 13. C. Silvester Home, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lvii. 1900, p. 74. II. 13-15. A. G. Mortimer, The Church's Lessons for the Christian Year, part i. p. 132. II. 13-23. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 28. II. 14, 15. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxviii: No. 1675. II. 16. J. B. Brown, The Soul's Exodus and Pilgrimage, p. 28. G. Trevor, Types and the Antitype, p. 155. Innocent's Day Matthew 2:16 The Festival of the Innocents dates as far back as the third century. Its celebration has been universally observed from the first. Dying so early, these little ones are called Innocentes, or Innocui harmless babes, incapable not only of doing the least wrong to any person, but of defending themselves from their cruel persecutors. They were slain for Christ's sake; hence we keep this holy day. I. The Disappointment Experienced by Herod. Herod, surnamed the Great, was reigning as king over Judaea when Christ was born in Bethlehem; but he had often to struggle hard, both by craft and sword, to keep his throne; so that when he heard of the Magi from the Orient inquiring in Jerusalem for the new King of the Jews, the sceptre seemed already to have fallen from his aged hands. Warned of Gad in a dream, the Magi went back to their own country without revisiting Jerusalem; and when Herod heard they had done so, his wrath burned like fire, and he felt more determined and vengeful than ever. II. The Merciless Edict Issued by Herod. As he could not dispose of the young King as he intended, the plan of a general massacre suggested itself to him. So he issued his fiat. Strange that he could find anyone to execute it, for it was a barbarous piece of work; but his soldiers were Romans, who hated the Jews. Inhuman monsters these men! but he was the greatest of them all who was their chief. So all the centuries have regarded him. He was verily the incarnation of cruelty, and blood was his delight! But he was foiled a second time. Jesus was then in Egypt, safe and happy, and they who would touch the Lord's Anointed must first strike through the Lord's omnipotence! III. The Bitter Sorrow Caused by Herod. This is forcibly expressed by three touching words 'lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning' which had original fulfilment when Nebuzaradan, after destroying Jerusalem, brought all the prisoners to Rama, and there disposed of them for the sword or captivity (Jeremiah 40:1 ); then the lamentation in Rama was so voiceful that it was heard in Bethlehem, where Rachel was buried, the two cities being not far from each other. But the prophecy had its complete fulfilment in connexion with the slaughter of the Innocents; the lamentation, however, in this latter case was not borne from Rama to Bethlehem, but from Bethlehem to Rama. References. II. 16. 'Plain Sermons' by contributors to the Tracts for the Times, vol. ii. p. 292. A. G. Mortimer, One Hundred Miniature Sermons, vol. i. p. 74. II. 16-18. J. Clifford, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlviii. 1895, p. 385. Matthew 2:17-18 It is indeed true that peace has its moral perils and temptations for degenerate man, as has every other blessing, without exception, that he can receive from the hand of God. It is, moreover, not less true that, amidst the clash of arms, the noblest form of character may be reared, and the highest acts of duty done; that these great and precious results may be due to war as their cause; and that one high form of sentiment in particular, the love of country, receives a powerful and general stimulus from the bloody strife. But this is as the furious cruelty of Pharaoh made place for the benign virtue of his daughter; as the butchering sentence of Herod raised without doubt many a mother's love into heroic sublimity; as plague, as famine, as fire, as flood, as every curse and every scourge that is wielded by an angry Providence for the chastisement of man, is an appointed instrument for tempering human souls in the seven-times heated furnace of affliction, up to the standard of angelic and archangelic virtue. W. E. Gladstone. In his Levana and our Ladies of Sorrows, De Quincey describes the eldest of these three as 'Our Lady of Tears. She it is that night and day raves and moans, calling for vanished faces. She stood in Rama, where a voice was heard of lamentation Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted. She it was that stood in Bethlehem on the night when Herod's sword swept its nurseries of Innocents, and the little feet were stiffened for ever, which, heard at times as they tottered along floors overhead, woke pulses of love in household hearts that were not unmarked in heaven.' References. II. 18. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for Saints' Days, p. 47. II. 23. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxvii. No. 1632. III. Ibid. vol. xli. No. 2409; vol. xlvi. No. 2704. The Preaching of the Baptist Matthew 3:1 And what did he preach? This chapter in St. Matthew's Gospel tells us pretty plainly what was the burden of his message. I. He Spoke Plainly About Sin. He taught the absolute necessity of 'repentance' before anyone can be saved; he preached that repentance must be proved by its 'fruits'; he warned men not to rest on outward privileges, or outward union with the Church. This is just the teaching that we all need. II. He Spoke Plainly About our Lord Jesus Christ. He taught people that One 'mightier than himself' was coming among them. He was nothing more than a servant: the Coming One was the King. He himself could only 'baptize with water'; the Coming One could 'baptize with the Holy Ghost,' take away sins, and would one day judge the world. This, again, is the very teaching that human nature requires. We need to be sent direct to Christ. We need to be told the absolute necessity of union with Christ Himself by faith: He is the appointed fountain of mercy, grace, life, and peace; we must each have personal dealings with Him about our souls. III. He Spoke Plainly About the Holy Ghost He preached that there was such a thing as the baptism of the Holy Ghost. He taught that it was the special office of the Lord Jesus to give this baptism to men. This, again, is a teaching which we greatly require. We need to be told that forgiveness of sin is not the only thing necessary to salvation. There is another thing yet, and that is the baptizing of our hearts by the Holy Ghost. There must not only be the work of Christ for us, but the work of the Holy Ghost in us; there must not only be a title to heaven purchased for us by the blood of Christ, but a preparedness for heaven wrought in us by the Spirit of Christ. Let us never rest till we know something by experience of the baptism of the Spirit. IV. He Spoke Plainly About the Awful Danger of the Impenitent and Unbelieving. He told his hearers that there was a 'wrath to come'; he preached of an 'unquenchable fire,' in which the 'chaff' would one day be burned. This, again, is a teaching which is deeply important. We need to be straitly warned that it is no light matter whether we repent or not. We are fearfully apt to forget this; we talk of the love and mercy of God, and we do not remember sufficiently His justice and holiness. V. He Spoke Plainly About the Safety of True Believers. He taught that there was 'a garner' for all who are Christ's 'wheat,' and that they would be gathered together there in the day of His appearing. This, again, is a teaching which human nature greatly requires. The best of believers need much encouragement: they are yet in the body; they live in a wicked world; they are often tempted by the devil. They ought to be often reminded that Jesus will never leave them nor forsake them: He will guide them safely through this life, and at length give them eternal glory. References. III. 1. H. Jones, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliv. 1893, p. 405. G. Jackson, ibid. vol. lxvii. 1905, p. 171. III. 1, 2. J. E. C. Welldon, The Spiritual Life, p. 69. J. H. Thom, Spiritual Faith, p. 245. III. 1-3. H. Scott Holland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliii. 1893, p. 56. III. 1-12. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlix. No. 2818. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 37. III. 2. C. Gore, The Permanent Creed and the Christian Idea of Sin, p. 27; see also The New Theology and the Old Religion, p. 231. H. Jones, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliii. 1893, p. 124. G. A. Chadwick, ibid. vol. liv. 1898, p. 357. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year, vol. i. p. 85. III. 3. W. Llewelyn Williams, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxvi. 1904, p. 74. G. W. Herbert, Notes of Sermons, p. 230. III. 4. F. C. Blyth, Plain Preaching to Poor People (7th Series), p. 5. III. 5, 6. H. Ward Beecher, Sermons (1st Series), p. 44. Matthew 3:7 As his raiment was rough, so was his tongue; and if his food was wild honey, his speech was stinging locusts. Thus must the way be made for Christ in every heart. Plausibility is no fit preface to regeneration. Bishop Hall. Reference. III. 7. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlvi. No. 2704. Matthew 3:10 'Such as I am', said Ruskin in 1875, 'to my own amazement, I stand so far as I can discern alone in conviction, in hope, and in resolution, in the wilderness of this modern world. Bred in luxury, which I perceive to have been unjust to others, and destructive to myself; vacillating, foolish, and miserably failing in all my own conduct in life and blown about hopelessly by storms of passion I, a man clothed in soft raiment; I, a reed shaken with the wind; have yet this message to all men again entrusted to me. Behold, the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Whatsoever tree bringeth not forth good fruit shall be hewn down and cast into the fire.' 'I have a great regard,' said Dr. John Duncan once, 'for the Humorists, for they are generally men of a tender heart. Both Charles Lamb and Thomas Hood were great men, especially the author of 'The Song of the Shirt'. He had a good head and a fine heart. That song of his is better than many a sermon I've heard. Punch, too, is an acute censor, generally right in his castigations; a censor, but not censorious. When those who should lay the axe to the root of the tree won't do it, Providence raises up a buffoon, who preaches many a most rememberable sermon.' Reference. III. 10. C. Houghton, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliv. 1893, p. 36. The Final Baptism Matthew 3:11 'He that cometh after me.' Christianity has always some further man or truth or vision or poem in reserve. You never hear God's final word. This is the very secret, as it is also the joy and the security of eternity. The point of this text is the One coming after: always coming, always come; a great fact and a great prophecy is the Christian idea or the Messianic prediction and forecast. My Lord is always coming: What I say unto one I say unto all, Watch. He came this morning, He came at noonday, He will be here with the evening star, or we may be called out to see Him under other conditions, but the kingdom of God is unseen but ever-coming, invisible but ever-descending; and where the kingdom comes the King is never absent. I. Now let us illustrate this text upon levels with which we are all familiar. 'He that cometh after,' the fuller teacher, richer, riper, gentler, the teacher who we know must come. There is a prophecy in the very soul of man. No man was ever yet contented with the spring as sufficient and final; when he saw the green blade he was right glad in his heart; he said, I have been waiting for this, here is the promise of God realized up to this visible and calculable degree. Will not that green blade satisfy you? No. What want you? The fruit, the full corn in the ear. Are you sure it will come? Certainly! Why so sure? Because the blade has come, and God never sends the beginning without also sending the end, He never sends the promise, without sending the fulfilment of the promise; inasmuch as He has given one little violet this February day or one snowdrop, He means to give a whole summerful of flowers, and He will not fail of His word. And so it is throughout all life. The teacher we have Today will give place to a larger teacher tomorrow. II. 'He that cometh after Me.' That is what Jesus Christ Himself said. Jesus Christ did not remain long; who would remain long under these grey skies if he could honourably get away? Jesus Christ was not long here; He was always young and always old, He was always the child and always the Everlasting Father. He returned to the Father, not that He might enjoy immunity from suffering, but that He might help us on a larger and surer scale. Christ comes by the Spirit; Christ returns in the power of the Holy Ghost. III. Nothing has been finally settled until we receive the baptism of fire. Under the power of the Holy Ghost we shall not need any new teachers. The Holy Ghost will give us new vision, new perception, new capacity, new sensitiveness; not some original speaker, but some clearer realization of the Holy Ghost is the security, the assurance, and the completion of our progress. Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. 1. p. 94. The Baptism of Fire Matthew 3:11 Water and fire! Our two great cleansing ministrants! Which is the more searching, the more powerful agent, water or fire? Fire is our most effective purifying minister. A powerful and relentless enemy of disease. I. When the 'Word became Flesh,' piety became transfused with passion; water was changed into fire. 'I baptize you with water,' says the Prophet John. The revelation which I have proclaimed has made you penitent, humble, and obedient, and this, indeed, has helped to cleanse and save you. But my baptism has only been the cleansing of water. The Christ who comes will reveal God in Himself, in His own person; and the revelation which He will make will be so full of unspeakable glory as to create in men a cleansing energy like fire, for their hearts shall become inflamed with an enthusiastic love. II. Passionate religious enthusiasm attaches itself to a person; and the more near and real our intercourse with the person, the more beautiful will be our holiness, and the more fiery-hearted will be our service and devotion. Just think for a moment what magnificent import this revelation in the person of Jesus had for those Jews who became His disciples. The religion of the Jews had become an obedience to precept and laws. Christ lifted God out of abstraction, out of dead regulations and traditions, and presented the image of the eternal glory in His own person. God was no longer a burdensome law, but a great, near, and loving personality. And what happened to those disciples who received the revelation? Cold obedience to law was changed into enthusiastic obedience to a person. Cold and lukewarm water was changed into hot and cleansing fire. III. Is this in any way significant of the need of the Church Today? Has she put on her beautiful garments, the garments of a holy and sanctified life? By cold obedience the Church can never be holy. If the Church would be pure the Church must be passionate. Why, the very heart of the word 'pure' is suggestive of fire. It is significant of an end which has been reached through the ministry of flame. You cannot have purity without burning; you cannot have holiness without the baptism of fire. When devotion burns low, and personal piety smoulders down into a cold spiritual obedience, the 'beauty of holiness' becomes an impossible attainment. But when devotion is fiery, when religion is enthusiastic, when piety is passionate, then you have the very fire from the altar of God, in which all uncleannesses are purged away. IV. But this is not all. An enthusiastic religious life is not merely the only saving religious life, it is the only religious life that is safe. The defensive energy of character is born out of its own heat. Lukewarmness is never safe. A man's defences are gone when he loses his zeal. A chilling and benumbing worldliness steals in upon the Church when she loses her vesture of fire. The only safety for you and for me and for all men is that we be baptized with fire. V. How is this baptism of fire to be attained? How is this spiritual enthusiasm to be kindled; and, when kindled, how is it to be kept burning? We shall have to make time to contemplate God. The spirit of meditation must be re-introduced into our fruitless feverishness and our passion for things transformed into a thirst for God. The Church must give herself time to kindle and time to pray. We must give ourselves time for visions, if we would worthily accomplish our task. Let us muse upon the King in His beauty, let us commune more with His loveliness, let us dwell more in the secret place, and the unspeakable glory of His countenance shall create within us that enthusiastic passion which shall be to us our baptism of fire, a fire in which everything unchristian shall be utterly consumed away. J. H. Jowett, Apostolic Optimism, p. 209. References. III. 11. A. Martin, Winning the Soul, p. 81. J. H. Jowett, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlix. 1896, p. 181. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 48. III. 11, 12. T. Chalmers, Sermons Preached in the Tron Church, Glasgow, p. 75. III. 12. J. Clarke, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lx. 1901, p. 349. F. D. Maurice, Lincoln's Inn Sermons, vol. iii. p. 231. T. M'Crie, Sermons, p. 382. III. 13-17. A. Morris Stewart, The Temptation of Jesus, p. 2. J. Bannerman, Sermons, p. 84. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 64. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlv. No. 2613. Christ's Advents (An Advent Sermon) Matthew 3:14 Our thoughts turn at this season of the year to our Lord's second coming to judge the quick and the dead. There are two aspects of the second advent: the one relates to the whole human race for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; the other relates to each one of us separately for every one of us shall give an account of himself to God. I. Christ's Advent to Judgment. It is an awful thought all the thousands, all the millions of our race who have lived since time began, to be assembled on that great day to receive their eternal doom. And it is a still more awful thought that we shall each one of us have a separate place in that great scene. We sing together in the Te Deum, 'we believe that Thou shalt come to be our judge'. Let us then, in this Advent season and in our private prayers ask, 'Comest Thou to me?' Let us picture ourselves as placed before His bar, the record of our deeds proclaimed to ourselves and the assembled universe, out of the books of God's remembrance; our hidden works of darkness made manifest, our thoughts and deeds no less than our words and actions all made visible to ourselves and others, and each of us in our separate identity alone by himself, waiting to hear the awful sentence in which is our everlasting happiness or everlasting, never-ending misery and punishment. II. Christ's Invisible Advent. There is the invisible advent of Jesus Christ, which is probably nearer to us than these. His invisible advent or coming at the hour of our death. It is appointed unto men to die and after that the judgement. We all acknowledge death to be a universal necessity, but how few of us regard it as a personal necessity. We think that everyone must die except ourselves. One after another our companions, our friends in life who are nearest and dearest to us, are summoned from our side, and laid in the cold grave. We see in the failing strength and whitening hair of one and another of our friends and neighbours that their time of departing hence is not far distant, and as, sooner or later, we gather round their dying beds we tell them that the Master has come and calleth for them. But although His approaching footsteps may be just as plain to ourselves, we promise to ourselves many years to come and lay our plans for the future as if our life had a long time to run. Would it not be far wiser and better to think and meditate on our death, and its possible speedy approach, and say to our Lord, 'Comest Thou to me?' Is not this the way to follow and obey our Blessed Lord's oft-repeated warning: 'Be ye therefore ready, for at such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh'. III. Christ's Present Advent. Lastly, there is yet another advent of Christ. Our Lord said of old that the day should come when we should desire to see the days of the Son of Man, and should not see them. This day is, for all of us, a day of the Son of Man. By His Cross, by His Spirit, by His Holy Sacraments, by the reading and the preaching of the Word, by the dispensation of His providence, He comes amongst us and visits us. May He never have cause to say over any of those mournful words He sighed over Jerusalem of old, 'thou knewest not the day of thy visitation'. References. III. 15. Hugh Black, University Sermons, p. 233. III. 16. G. Matheson, Voices of the Spirit, p. 91. S. A. Tipple, The Admiring Guest, p. 60. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 66. III. 16, 17. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvi. No. 909. The Messianic Consciousness of Jesus Matthew 3:17 There are many ways of approaching the life of Jesus. No other theme has produced so many books, and the steady stream flows on. The knowledge of Jesus is indeed the most excellent of the sciences. And yet no one has written an exhaustive or comprehensive discussion of Christ. It has always been so. No one of the Gospels gives a complete picture of the Master, nor do all four Gospels tell us all that we should like to know, nor, in fact, all that was once known of Jesus. Herein lies a strong argument for the deity of Christ, His inexhaustibleness. 'The riches of Christ' are 'unsearchable' and past finding out I. The Problem of Jesus. He is a constant challenge to men, to the greatest of men. It was so at the first and is true Today. Men have grappled with the universe under the spell of a great theory of development. Orderly development has been found in the various spheres of human knowledge. But what about Jesus of Nazareth? Is He the product of the narrow ceremonialism and ecclesiastical bigotry of Palestinian Pharisaism? No connexion can be traced between Christ and Plato, Socrates, Buddha, or any of the great thinkers outside of Judaism. Here is universal and absolute truth that sprang out of an atmosphere of intense racial pride and hate. Here is the man who laid most stress on the spiritual and moral aspects of religion in the midst of teachers who tithed mint, anise, and cumin. But this is not all. Here is One who led a sinless life in the face of malignant enemies, whose character is the unapproachable ideal of all men who have ever read His story. Here is One who made the greatest claims for Himself, who put Himself on a par with the living God, according to the testimony of the Gospels which bring us the story of His career. Here is One who asserts His right to the allegiance of all men, who offers to rescue all that come to Him from sin and its effects. His perfect life and His lofty teachings give a serious aspect to what would otherwise be absurd claims. II. The First Glimpse of Jesus. When the boy Jesus comes to Jerusalem at twelve years of age, He knows that He is the Son of God in a sense not true of other men. 'Wist ye not that I must be in My Father's house?' His parents were astonished at the ease and powers He showed in such a place of dignity, teaching and amazing the doctors of divinity in the rabbinical theological seminary. But none the less is He astonished at their ignorance of the fact that this is the place of all the world for Him. Who can tell a boy's golden dreams of the future till some day the sun bursts out in full glory? The boy has gone for ever with the revelation of the man, and the manly purpose has come to fill the heart and life. The word 'must' throws a long light back into the boy's quiet years at Nazareth. Modern theologians speculate learnedly on the time when Jesus first became conscious of the fact that He was God's Son and had a Messianic mission to perform. That is idle speculation. We only know that at twelve years of ago Jesus is aware that God has laid His hand upon Him. He is at home in the Father's house and rejoices to discuss high and holy themes. The whole problem of the person of Jesus is brought before us by this incident. By the side of this early Messianic consciousness lies the other fact that He grew in wisdom and in stature. He was a real boy for all the Divine element in Him, and an obedient one, too, for He was subject to His parents gladly after this event The one boy that really knew more than His father and mother was a model of obedience. III. The Father's Sanction of the Son. The news came to Jesus in Nazareth that strange things were going on down by Jordan River. He was a man now, the man Jesus, and the news had a fascination for Him. It was not the call of the wilderness, but the call of His Father that He heard, though He must go to the desert. Clearly the baptism of Jesus had a wonderful personal significance. It has been variously interpreted. Some imagine that now for the first time Jesus became aware of the fact that He was the Messiah, the Son of God, but that interpretation is not justified by the facts. His protest to John just before the baptism was no disclaimer of the Messiahship. His whole bearing with John was that of one who had faced His; destiny and had settled it Some of the Corinthian Gnostics imagined that Christ as an Aeon or Emanation of God came down on Jesus at His baptism like a dove, and that it was this Aeon Christ that was Divine, while Jesus was Himself a mere man. His baptism was, however, the beginning of the public Messianic work. Jesus was now stepping out into the open. He had crossed the Rubicon and there was no turning back. He had put His hand to this plough and He must follow it to the end and sink the plough in deep. It was the coming of the Holy Spirit that constituted the anointing of Jesus, and not the baptism. A. T. Robertson, Epochs in the Life of Jesus, p. 1. References. III. 17. J. Wright, The Guarded Gate, p. 133. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xli. No. 2409. The Temptation of Jesus Matthew 4 Whether the devil appeared objectively to Christ or not, it was in the realm of spirit that the temptation took place. Mark even says that Jesus was led of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. This is at first a hard saying, but probably it only means that God wished His Son to meet the tempter at once and have it out once for all. Not that the devil would not try again, but the line for future conflict would be clearly defined. I. The devil has an evident allusion to the approval of the Father at Christ's baptism when he said 'if Thou art a son of God,' as God had said. Not that the devil denies that this is so; in fact, the form of the condition implies that it is true, and he says 'a son of God,' not 'the Son of God,' as God had said. But he suggests to Jesus that it would be just as well for Him to test what God had said. That would do no harm. He would then have personal experience to sustain him. He was very hungry, and, if He was God's Son, surely He could do creative work as God did. It was a subtle appeal. Jesus would work miracles for others. Why not begin by working one for Himself? In a word, shall Jesus be a selfish Messiah? But the temptation would have been no temptation put in that form. That is the peril with a temptation, that its real character is at first concealed and difficult to see. There was here concealed distrust of God. The Jews expected the Messiah to come with a great spectacular display. They will often ask Jesus to do a sign, not merely work miracles, but some great portent in the heavens, for instance. The devil suggests that Jesus accommodate Himself to the popular expectation and let them see Him come sailing down from the pinnacle of the temple, right out of heaven. They would hail Him with acclaim. But Jesus was to be no mere performer of tricks, no balloon or parachute aeronaut The devil grows pious and quotes Scripture, not misquotes it as some good people do, but he misapplies it. In that also the devil has no monopoly. But Jesus saw that He would be presumptuous and not trustful if He dared such a feat. Besides, He might as well settle now as later whether He was to be the kind of a Messiah that the people wished or the one that the Father had planned. Every preacher in a humbler way has to meet a similar problem. It is so easy to fall in with the drift of things, so easy as to fall over a great height when nervous and afraid. II. But the devil was not done. He appealed to the ambition of Jesus. He would help Him to be king of the world. The devil was an old hand at it. He would not exactly abdicate; he and Jesus could run it together. That would be better than open war. He offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. It was a fascinating picture as it passed before the mind of Jesus. He only asked in return that Jesus bow down before him up there on the mountain. Nobody else was there, and it would be merely a recognition of the facts of the case. The devil did have the kingdoms of the world in his power, the great Roman Empire, for instance. Was it not better to make peace and be friends than to fight it out? He could turn this great Roman Empire against Jesus, who had no disciples as yet, and, if He should win some, he could use this empire against the kingdom of Jesus. This was the heart of the temptation. Jesus wanted the world. In fact, He had come to win the world, but He was to win the world from the devil, not take the world on the devil's terms and with the devil as dictator. Christ was not confused by the issue. He knew what His decision meant. But he loved the world too well to betray it in that fashion. He would not have a mixture of the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of the world. He would die for the world. Strange to say, the devil did fight Jesus with the Roman Empire, and did graft much of the world on the Church of the Middle Ages. But Jesus brushed aside all compromise and surrender and ordered Satan to go hence. He did go, cowed for the moment, but he will bide his time and wait for another chance. Death then faces Jesus at the very beginning. He must be willing to die for men before He can save men. So Jesus chose the high and stony path that led to Calvary, a lonely way and a weary one. His decision meant eternal conflict with Satan till He has conquered and the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ. A. T. Robertson, Epochs in the Life of Jesus, p. 1. Temptation Matthew 4:1 In temptation there are three factors: God, the power of evil, and the tempted man himself. I. The first of these is God. I suppose that looking at temptation in the abstract this is easily acknowledged. It is indeed asserted in many passages of God's Word. And yet in the concrete experience, in the very grip and breath of the temptation itself, this is the hardest thing of all to believe. We are rushed and blinded. The heart feels left to itself and cruelly forsaken. Universal as temptation is, we go into it as we go into death, each of us for himself and absolutely alone. A besetting sin, a strong passion will suck the reality out of all else: out of love and truth and honour and God. Like our Lord we draw into the wilderness. The grass and the flowers cease, comradeship and sympathy are gone. God Himself seems gone, and we are 'alone with wild beasts'. 1. The first rally, which it is possible to sound to our hearts under this awful loneliness of temptation, is that which is also the first to be sounded under those other solitudes, which await us all, of pain and death that they are universal and pails of the appointed order of things. Temptation, too, is part of the destiny of man. Suddenly though the assault surge upon him, it is no accident. Solitary as he feels in his battle, he does not in fact fight alone. He is one of an innumerable army of warriors. 2. See how all this general belief is heightened and enforced upon us by the sight of Jesus Himself in our battle. That even He did not escape the strife, how infinitely more sacred must it make our own position there. We take temptation not as the curse of our individual wills, too worthless for a higher fate, but as the debt and obligation of our manhood glorified in Him. II. Though led by the Spirit into the wilderness Jesus was led up to be tempted of the * devil. * To Jesus evil was a force and an intention outside of man, though it had its allies within him. In the earthly life of our Lord there are no moments so intense as those in which He felt the attempts of evil upon Himself. And it was out of this horror, that, in spite of all His illustrations of the necessity and Divine uses of temptation, He bade His disciples pray not to be led into it. Temptation however much employed in the Divine Providence is not only from God; not only an examination set by the Great Master to His pupils: a problem and exercise in morals. It is a real encounter with a real foe. III. There is a third agent: the tempted man himself. I do not mean that there are three personages in the drama; of whom God and the devil set the problem, and man has got to solve it. But I mean that all three have the setting of the problem: that man himself has, in his own degree, the determining of his temptations; that, to what may be deliberately called an awful extent, each of us is his own tempter. For temptations, broadly speaking, are of two kinds. They may be little short of penal; pursuing us from our past, the results of old indulgences, and never coming upon us but with that added force to them, and weakness to us, which springs from the recollection of our former defeats of them. Or like Christ's they may be not punishments but discoveries, opportunities, and tests: the vision to us of our greatness, that two worlds are in contest for our souls; the proof that we are trusted and called of God; the obligation to some higher task; the signals of a growing and a destined nature. George Adam Smith, The Forgiveness of Sins, p. 51. The Interruptions of Life (Lent) Matthew 4:1 The Son of Man Who 'came eating and drinking' why did He make this break in His life? Why did He forsake its innocent gaieties, the companionship in which He delighted for the dreary solitudes of the Dead Sea? Our only answer can be that He felt the need of an interruption to His ordinary life. It was the greatest and longest, the most impressive and solemn of all those breaks in His ordinary life which from time to time He was making. He felt the need of these interruptions, of these temporary surrenderings of things lawful in themselves, of the sacrifice of the good for the better, of the losing of the life that He might find it more abundantly. I. And it is just this that Lent comes to remind us of the perils which may be in things lawful and good in themselves; and the danger is all the greater because it is so much less obvious and more subtle than many more dangers which face us. There is a peril to the fibre of character. And this may be true either of a nation or of an individual. A nation with trade advancing by leaps and bounds, with wealth increasing, with the standards of life rising, may be a nation gradually but surely becoming more and more incapable of heroism and self-sacrifice. And it is for that reason that moralists have sometimes defended war. I would contend that what war sometimes does for a nation, interrupting its even, ordinary pursuits, shaming its quiet selfishness, stirring it up to see the sterner and more heroic sides of life which calm prosperity may hide or obscure, this is what such a period as Lent does or may do for the individual. It calls upon us to have something of the soldier's spirit of self-denial, of freedom and detachment from those things which may interfere with the supreme end of life, to be more daring, more venturesome, more unworldly, than we are apt to be in our everyday career. II. What are likely to be its benefits: 1. We shall learn to depend less on things which, though harmless or excellent in themselves, are not necessary to a true life. 2. By going into the wilderness readily and voluntarily we may be, as it were, ourselves anticipating the inevitable work which the swiftly passing years are doing and must do for all of us. For may we not say that every year we live the Spirit seems to be driving us into the wilderness? driving us out of the things which we have most loved and cared for and enjoyed, forcing us, as it were, to surrender them, and to go, as it was said to St. Peter, 'whither we would not'? H. R. Gamble, The Ten Virgins p. 91. ** The Temptation in the Wilderness ( a Lenten Sermon ) Matthew 4:1 ** Recurring anniversaries add a pathos and a nobility to life. There are days when all must be sacred. Birth and death, some sacred blessing or some great sorrow, as the day may come, what matter it? The heart sings with joy or it becomes still with sorrow, as the case may be. It is not strange, then, that Christian people should mark the recurring season of Lent; it is an anniversary which is limited to no nation, no people, no age. It marks an epoch for the great human family for all time. I. The Challenge. 'Led up of the Spirit to be tempted of the devil.' It is the history of mankind. It was the challenge of the Spirit of God to the spirit of evil; it was the struggle which was bound to take place for the supremacy of the world. It is vain to speculate upon the form or character of the spirit of evil, for whatever theory we may have as to its origin or form, whether it be a permeating essence or a person, nothing alters the universal result of all experience that it is a fact. Man has been too often driven from Eden by the selfsame spirit of evil to have any doubt as to its reality. And it is just as vain for man to speculate upon its nature as to mistake what that nature is. Poverty, obscurity, disappointment, care these things are often deemed evil by the world, and yet they are not evils in themselves. They are often the stepping-stones to kingdoms where men may reign. Many a man afflicted with poverty becomes servile and mean; and it is just as true that men of wealth may become hard, cynical, and selfish. There is no evil in these things in themselves. Many of them have proved the greatest of blessings with which God has endowed the human family; but it is the material which goes into the crucible that shows in the result. If mean spirits go in, it is mean spirits that come out; if nobility goes in, it is nobility refined and purified that comes forth. II. The Struggle. The Lord Jesus Christ, Who looked into the very eyes of the tempter, never made light of evil, and it is well for us to remember that men who succeed in this great battle, only succeed after a struggle, a struggle with a really terrible enemy. We read in the history of days gone by in the land of slaves, how that they were tracked by blood-hounds, but no blood-hound ever tracked its victim as the spirit of evil tracks the footsteps of its slaves. The trouble is that men are so often their own tempters. Bad as he is, the devil is often falsely charged and falsely accused; when men are to be blamed alone they cast on him the sins that are their own. It is not only that man is his own tempter, but man is his own penalty. The evil of disease is one of the scourges with which the spirit of evil rends those who fail in the great conflict. The pitiful thing is that so many of us go through the world, and see its evil, and forget that, sooner or later, evil comes home to them that give it an abiding place within them. III. The Discipline. In Lent it is well that we should withdraw ourselves from the world, that we should gather together, and see the evil within us, that we should face the penalties that go with the evil and cry aloud for penitence and for pardon. Those who have known the struggle will welcome this season as a means of grace, and for those who have been amongst the fallen, there will be the pleasing remembrance that Lent is not only the recruiting ground for the good, but it is a fresh start-ing-place for those who have done wrong. It may mean to them that God will use it as a means of instruction; that He will help them to reckon rightly, to estimate accurately the blessings and the evils that are around them; and when men do that there is little doubt that, however busy they may be with their work, however engrossed with their pleasures, they will at least find some time in which to remember the petition of the Litany, 'That it may please Thee to give us true repentance, to forgive us all our sins, negligences, and ignorances, and to endue us with the grace of Thy Holy Spirit, to amend our lives according to Thy Holy Word'. IV. The Victory. The threefold temptations of our Lord show us that body, soul, and spirit of man each the abiding temple of the Holy Ghost may be assaulted in its turn. 'Command that these stones be made bread 'was the voice of the tempter to the body of the hungering Saviour. 'All these things will I give Thee' is the appeal to the desires of the soul. 'Cast Thyself down' this was the temptation of pride to the intellect. Body, soul, and spirit were all assaulted, and these, each in its turn, are the universal temptations Today. And so Jesus Christ has given us as He gave to His disciples that short pattern prayer on which men have moulded their petition to God from that time to this: 'Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil'. References. IV. 1. M. Dods, Christ and Man, p. 13. H. Montagu Butler, Harrow School Sermons, p. 1. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year (2nd Series), vol. i. p. 143. J. Fraser, Parochial and Other Sermons, p. 30. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Sunday Lessons for Daily Life, p. 229. R. W. Hiley, A Year's Sermons, vol. i. p. 114. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. lii. No. 2997. Henry Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons, vol. i. p. 137. Henry Wace, Some Central Points of Our Lord's Ministry, p. 59. A. Morris Stewart, The Temptation of Jesus, p. 16. W. P. Balfern, Glimpses of Jesus, p. 62. F. Temple, Church Times, vol. xlvii. 1902, p. 236. R. H. McKim, The Gospel in the Christian Year, p. 175. F. D. Maurice, Christmas Day and Other Sermons, p. 131. F. R. H. H. Noyes, Plain Preaching for a Year, vol. i. p. 250. S. D. McConnell, A Year's Sermons, p. 252. Bishop J. Percival, The Great Choice or the Great Refusal, p. 3. W. C. Magee, The Gospel and the Age, p. 57. R. Duckworth, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliii. 1893, p. 129. F. Temple, ibid. vol. liii. 1898, p. 129. H. Scott Holland, ibid. vol. lxix. 1906, p. 24. M. G. Glazebrook, Prospice, p. 29. H. E. Manning, Sin and Its Consequences, p. 159. J. M. Neale, Sermons Preached in Sackville College Chapel, vol. i. p. 146; see also Readings for the Aged (4th Series), p. 34. G. Body, The Life of Temptation, p. 1. J. Vaughan, Sermons (11th Series), p. 61. S.A.Brooke, Sermons, p. 251. W. G. Blaikie, Glimpses of the Inner Life of Our Lord, p. 74. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, The Life of Duty, vol. i. p. 140. Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 51. E. M. Goulburn, Thoughts on Personal Religion, p. 200. C. A. Fowler, Parochial Sermons, p. 61. W. Landels, Christian World Pulpit, vol. iii. p. 344. H. Wonnacott, ibid. vol. xiv. p. 59. Clergyman's Magazine, vol. xiv. p. 91. J. C. Jones, Studies in St. Matthew, p. 70. E. G. Charlesworth, Church Sermons, vol. i. p. 46. G. Matheson, Moments on the Mount, p. 20. H. M. Butler, Harrow Sermons. IV. 1, 2. R. W. Church, Village Sermons (2nd Series), p. 175. H. Bushnell, Christ and his Salvation, p. 77. IV. 1-11. George Macdonald, Unspoken Sermons, p. 126. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 76. F. W. Macdonald, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxiv. 1908, p. 88. A. B. Davidson, Waiting Upon God, p. 109. T. Champness, New Coins From Old Gold, p. 55. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlv. No. 2613; vol. lii. No. 2997. IV. 2. A. Morris Stewart, The Temptation of Jesus, p. 30. IV. 2, 3. Ibid. p. 54. A. G. Mortimer, One Hundred Miniature Sermons, vol. i. p. 168. IV. 2-4. A. Morris Stewart, The Temptation of Jesus, p. 74. H. Montagu Butler, Harrow School Sermons, p. 13. IV. 3. H. Scott Holland, Church Times, vol. lv. 1906, p. 54. W. H. Brookfield, Sermons, p. 252. F. D. Maurice, Christmas Day and Other Sermons, p. 142. R. Winterbotham, Sermons Preached in Holy Trinity Church, Edinburgh, p. 128. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlv. No. 2613. IV. 3-4. A. Morris Stewart, The Temptation of Jesus, p. 91. The Office of Religion Matthew 4:4 Religion rests upon the facts of human nature. What are those facts? 1. Its sinfulness. 2. Its sorrowfulness. 3. Its shortness. I. They suggest three questions: (1) What is the motive for resisting sin? (2) What is the meaning of sorrow? (3) Does the life of each of us end at his death? 1. What is the revelation of Jesus Christ about human sin? Whatever the faults of Christian men and women, and whatever the merits of those who are not Christians, it is ridiculous to tell me that in the conduct of life, in the hours when temptation is strong and sin can be wrought with but little fear of detection or degradation, he who looks only to himself and his fellow-men for his standard of duty possesses the same powerful motive to morality as he who believes that his life, in its meanest actions no less than its highest, is passed under the searching eye of an omnipotent God. 2. What is the revelation of Jesus Christ about life's sorrow? He does not ignore it. He does not deny it. He weeps for it as He draws near to the grave of Lazarus. But Christ teaches that sorrow is itself a benediction. The world lends no sanction to the theory that 'whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth'. But the revelation of Christ makes it plain. 3. What is it that Christ reveals about life's shortness. Standing beside the open grave, He says, as of old, 'I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth, and believeth in me, shall never die'. Whoever claims to control our spirits must be prepared to furnish some elucidation or justification of life's sinfulness, its sorrowfulness, and its shortness. Jesus Christ explains these mysteries by referring them to a superhuman law. II. It remains, then, to ask, What are the substitutes proposed for religion? 1. It is said that humanity may support itself, and, I suppose, enjoy itself, in the contemplation of material progress. Still, granting the salient fact of material progress, there are two thoughts which may well occur to us: (1) that concurrently with this progress there have arisen certain causes which militate against its beneficent operation; (2) that, however wide its operation may be, it satisfies a part only, and not the whole, of man's nature. 2. But it is sometimes said that although man will not find his satisfaction in an era of commercial prosperity, he will find it in the cultivated pleasure which attends the development of science or art. In other words, as religion decays, scientific discovery and artistic taste will fill the void. The love of knowledge and the love of beauty are not less natural to man than the love of God. But they are not, and cannot be, substitutes for the love of God. They cannot fill the place of religion. 3. It is sometimes argued that the law of duty in itself is potent to command the hearts and minds of men. Christianity, in referring actions to God, recognizes man's natural love of approbation. The problem of life is to accommodate the self-regarding and the self-forgetting impulses of human nature. They are accommodated, I think, only in a system which teaches that it is the duty of man to sacrifice himself, if the need be, for the salvation of other men yes, to sacrifice himself even to the death and yet teaches that his self-sacrifice will issue in a complete reward behind the veil of time. III. Not in material progress then, nor in art and science, nor in the stoicism of absolute duty, is the law of human nature found to lie. We fall back upon the immemorial truth 'man shall not live,' says the Saviour, 'by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God'. Human nature can find its satisfaction only in Him Who is not human but Divine. Bishop Welldon, The Spiritual Life, p. 140. References. IV. 4. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xx. No. 1208. R. E. Hutton, The Crown of Christ, vol. ii. p. 487. Brooke Foss Westcott, Village Sermons, p. 353. Henry Wace, Some Central Points of Our Lord's Ministry, p. 79. F. W. Farrar, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lviii. 1900, p. 406. M. R. Vincent, God and Bread, p. 3. Henry Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons, vol. i. p. 152. IV. 5. C. Jerdan, Pastures of Tender Grass, p. 83. Matthew 4:5-6 In the eleventh chapter of Martin Chuzzlewit, Jonas upbraids his old father for living to such an age. 'Where's his religion, I should like to know, when he goes flying in the face of the Bible like that! Three-score-and-ten's the mark; and no man with a conscience and a proper sense of what's expected of him has any business to live longer.' Is anyone surprised at Mr. Jonas making such a reference to such a book for such a purpose? Does anyone doubt the old saw, that the devil (being a layman) quotes Scripture for his own ends? If he will take the trouble to look about him, he may find a greater number of confirmations of the fact, in the occurrences of any single day, than the steam-gun can discharge balls in a minute. References. IV. 5-7. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xii. No. 689. J. Wordsworth, University Sermons on Gospel Subjects, p. 102. H. Montagu Butler, Harrow School Sermons, p. 25. A. Morris Stewart, The Temptation of Jesus, p. 110. IV. 6. R. W. Hiley, A Year's Sermons, vol. iii. p. 136. W. Hardy Harwood, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlv. 1894, p. 84. T. B. Dover, Some Quiet Lenten Thoughts, p. 31. IV. 7. Henry Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons, vol. i. p. 168. Henry Wace, Some Central Points of Our Lord's Ministry, p. 97. IV. 7, 10. R. E. Hutton, The Crown of Christ, p. 319. Matthew 4:8-9 Compare Ruskin's application, in the fifth volume of Modern Painters: 'High on the desert mountain, full descried, sits throned the tempter, with his old promise the kingdoms of this world and the glory of them. He still calls you to your labour, as Christ to your rest; labour and sorrow, base desire, and cruel hope. So far as you desire to possess, rather than to give; so far as you look for power to command, instead of to bless; so far as your own prosperity seems to you to issue out of contest or rivalry, of any kind, with other men, or other nations; so long as the hope before you is supremacy instead of love; and your desire is to be greatest instead of least; first, instead of last; so long are you serving the Lord of all that is last and least.' References. IV. 8, 9. C. F. Aked, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliv. 1893, p. 100. A. Morris Stewart, The Temptation of Jesus, p. 142. IV. 8-11. J. Wordsworth, University Sermons on Gospel Subjects, p. 119. IV. 9, 10. A. Morris Stewart, The Temptation of Jesus, p. 178. IV. 10. Henry Wace, Some Central Points of Our Lord's Ministry, p. 115. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, The School of Christ, p. 80. Harry Jones, Christian World Pulpit, 1896, p. 151. Henry Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons, vol. i. p. 184. IV. 11. Ibid. vol. i. p. 201. A. Morris Stewart, The Temptation of Jesus, p. 194. E. Fowle, Plain Preaching to Poor People (7th Series), p. 80. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxix. No. 2326. IV. 12. W. Brooke, Sermons, p. 2. IV. 12-16. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 86. IV. 12-24. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlv. No. 2646. IV. 13-17. Fuller Gooch, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxvii. 1895, p. 346. IV. 15, 16. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvii. No. 1010. Matthew 4:16 The first Creature of God, in the Workes of the Dayes, was the Light of the Sense; the Last, was the Light of Reason; and his Sabbath Worke, ever since, is the Illumination of his Spirit. First He breathed Light, upon the Face of the Matter or Chaos; Then He breathed Light into the Face of Man; and still He breatheth and inspireth Light into the Face of his Chosen. Bacon. A friend who was with Robertson of Brighton 'at the English Lakes, said to him one day with some sharpness, pointing to the top of Skiddaw, which was unseen the while for mist, "I would not have my head, like the peak of that mountain, involved, as we see it now, in cloud, for all that you could offer me". "I would," rejoined Robertson quickly, "for, by and by, the cloud and mist will roll away, and the sun will come down upon it in all his glory."' Reference. IV. 16. S. D. McConnell, A Year's Sermons, p. 82. Matthew 4:17 The appropriate lesson of the hour might be thought to be one of passive watchfulness; to lie in wait for the hoped-for redemption.... Instead of this, however, the great Prophet of the hour draws the opposite inference; and utters the exhortation short and sharp, 'Repent!' Personal repentance, the transference of the life from conventionalism to conviction, must precede and usher in the reign of God upon the earth. Martineau. References. IV. 17. J. Parker, Studies in Texts, vol. i. p. 161. G. W. Herbert, Notes of Sermons, p. 1. H. Jones, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliii. 1893, p. 124. J. Martineau, Endeavours After the Christian Life, p. 44. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. vi. No. 329. IV. 17-25. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 89. The Call of St. Andrew Matthew 4:18 The festival in honour of the memory of St. Andrew is one of the earliest recorded in Church history. Its institution took place about the middle of the fourth century; and it appropriately opens the series of the festivals, inasmuch as St. Andrew was the first disciple of Jesus Christ. St. Andrew was a native of Bethsaida of Galilee, and was a son of Jonas, and a brother of Simon Peter, but whether older or younger has never been satisfactorily ascertained. He was the first of all the Apostolic band to begin the work of evangelization. 'He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messiah, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.' But his call to the work of an Apostle did not take place for a year after his first introduction to Christ. During that time he occupied himself in his ordinary pursuit of fishing, as is evident from the text that it was from the net and the boat that he and his brother Simon were finally called to be 'fishers of men'. In the narrative of the Gospel, St. Andrew is spoken of in connexion with the call of the first disciples (Matthew 4:19-22 ). Then on the occasion when Jesus sat upon the Mount of Olives, over against the temple, and predicted the fall of the Holy City (Mark 13:3-4 ). He is also said to have been present at the feeding of the five thousand, for he was the disciple who felt so anxious for the comfort of the famishing multitude (John 6:8-9 ); and in the Holy Week, when certain Greeks 'would see Jesus,' Andrew was the first to tell Jesus of their desire (John 12:21-22 ). These are most, if not all, of the instances in which St. Andrew is noted in the Gospels. Ecclesiastical history states concerning him that when the division of the world was made among the Apostles, St. Andrew undertook Scythia and the adjacent countries as his sphere of labour. Like St. Paul, he was 'in labours more abundant'. Ægeas, the proconsul of Achaia, because of St. Andrew's wonderful success in his Master's work, condemned him to be scourged and afterwards crucified. And, in order that his death might be as painful and protracted as possible, he had this noble martyr fastened with cords not nailed, as was usual to the cross, which was of the peculiar kind called decussate, in the form of an X, and known afterwards by the name of St. Andrew. When his executioners were conducting him to this cross, and he was within sight of it, it is said that he apostrophized it thus: 'Hail, precious cross! thou hast been consecrated by the Body of my Lord, and adorned with His limbs as with rich jewels. I come to thee exulting and glad; receive me with joy into thine arms. O good cross! since thou hast received beauty from my Lord's Limbs, I have ardently loved thee. Long have I desired and sought thee; now thou art found by me, and art made ready for my longing soul. Take me from among men, and present me to my Master, that He Who redeemed me on thee may receive me by thee.' In this brave and sublime manner St. Andrew died. From the conduct of Andrew we may learn that it is the nature of true religion to desire that others may possess it. It does not lead us to monopolize it, nor to hide its light under a bushel; but it seeks that others also may be brought to Jesus. It does not wait for them to come to Him, but it goes for them; it seeks them out, and leads them directly to Him. References. IV. 18. C. S. Robinson, Simon Peter, p. 30. IV. 18, 19. J. Halsey, The Spirit of Truth, p. 108. A. F. Winnington Ingram, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxi. 1902, p. 84. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xii. No. 702. IV. 18, 19, 20. Thomas Spurgeon, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliv. 1883, p. 65. IV. 18-22. A. G. Mortimer, The Church's Lessons for the Christian Year, part i. p. 159. N. Adams, Christ a Friend, p. 183. J. H. Rigg, Scenes and Studies in the Ministry of Our Lord, p. 43. The Call to Service Matthew 4:19 The references to this incident in different Gospels are so various that it seems impossible to determine with certainty that St Peter and St. Andrew, St. James and St. John were called to follow Christ with a view to being made of further service immediately after the occasion of the miraculous draught of fishes or on a subsequent occasion. It does not matter much whether the incident took place on the same day as the miraculous draught of fishes or on the following day. We know that these men were called, and the exact words of their calling are given. Christ came to these men and said: 'Follow Me'. Some one has said that God never calls an idle man; so we see that Jesus Christ was looking for disciples who were following professions, as in the case of these four men. He saw them at work; He saw that they were industrious. They were doing well in their earthly position; therefore they were the men Christ needed to do well in a higher calling. Christ's religion commands us to serve Him and work for Him. It does not consist of merely singing and praising and praying. Service, and not status, distinguishes one disciple from another, though a good many members of the Christian Church do not recognize this fact, and very often status is thought to be better than service. I. The Career of a Christian is to be one of Ministry; to undertake the task of helping our fellow-men. To follow the Lord Jesus Christ and accept the Christian faith means renunciation. We are called upon to give up something in this world if we want to become true Christians something which is incompatible with our new life and new service for Christ and to believe in Jesus Christ and to follow Him as a true disciple, to practise His teaching, and to love Him. This means, perhaps, the renunciation of many things, not merely what wo understand as the renunciation of the devil and all his works, the pomp and vainglory of this wicked world, and all the carnal lusts of the flesh; but even more than that, for it may mean giving up some worldly occupation in which we cannot carry out Christ's principles and His life. Do we recognize this renunciation when we take up the Christian religion? When we are called in Christ, He says: 'Come, follow Me'. It is not a call to slavery; it is a call to blessed companionship with Him, the remaking of us as better men and women, if we can only realize what it means when we go to Him. Do we realize that we are called to follow Christ, that Christ is with us, that Christ takes His place in our hearts when He says 'Follow Me'? Why Christ wanted these men to follow Him was that He might impress His spirit upon them. We shall never be the fishers of other men until the spirit of Christ is in us, until it gives us the greater force of character. II. This Command to these Poor Fishermen has a very Beautiful and Peculiar Charm . a. It was an absolutely direct call from Person to person. Christ comes to them, and looks them in the face and says: 'Follow Me'. Christ is a personal being; He knows us by name, and speaks to us Himself; and I often wonder if we all realize that He is calling each one of us to be a disciple of His, and serve Him in love for ever and ever. b. The swiftness of the answer. They immediately left their nets and followed Him. Oh! if you would only respond to the call of God at once, and not put it away from you when He calls you from sin and from the world! Will we respond to this voice? Will the beautiful and peculiar charm of His presence hasten our footsteps to Him? c. Notice the thoroughness with which these fishermen entered into the duty of serving Christ. Of course, we hear of certain human weaknesses in the characters of the disciples; for instance, the want of confidence of St. Peter, the weak Apostle who followed Christ afar off; though, on the other hand, we read of the faithful devotion of St. Andrew, who followed close on his Master. If we follow Him closely, we must follow Him with mind and conscience and spirit in this way. III. His Presence is With Us. There was a great general who said to his troops: 'I cannot now explain the worst to you, but I can lie on the hard ground with you'. And that is but a faint idea of the love and work of Jesus Christ. He cannot explain everything to us in the present, but if we have the mind to follow Christ and to rest upon His power, we shall find Christ is side by side with us in the hardships of life, and we shall know there is a Friend Who will help us at all times. Our minds can rest in Him. Follow Me! Matthew 4:19 I. Whom? Not simply a human teacher; but Jesus, Who qualified Himself by His earthly life, with its temptation, toil, and suffering, to be the only Leader of men. II. How? We cannot follow His person, as the disciples did when He was upon earth; but we may 1. Obey His precepts. 2. Copy His example. III. Why? 3. We cannot direct our own course. 4. There is no leader equal to Christ. 5. If we follow Him we shall be in good company. 6. Only thus can we escape spiritual danger and eternal death. IV. Whither? 7. To God. 'I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by Me.' 8. To heaven. 'In My Father's house are many mansions.... I go to prepare a place for you.' V. When? 9. Now. 'Now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation.' 10. Always. F. J. Austin, Seeds and Saplings, p. 90. References. IV. 19. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxii. No. 1906. E. S. Talbot, Some Aspects of Christian Truth, p. 147. Reuen Thomas, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xl. 1891, p. 141. H. A. Thomas, ibid. vol. lv. 1899, p. 182. J. H. Jowett, ibid. vol. lxv. 1904, p. 257. H. P. Liddon, Clerical Life and Work, p. 93. George Tyrrell, Oil and Wine, p. 73. IV. 20. C. S. Robinson, Simon Peter, p. 137. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for Saints' Days, p. 9. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlv. No. 2618. IV. 21. 'Plain Sermons' by contributors to the Tracts for the Times, vol. iii. p. 157. Walter C. Smith, Sermons, p. 197. IV. 21, 22. ' Plain Sermons 'by contributors to the Tracts for the Times, vol. vi. p. 142. IV. 23 (R.V.) A. Rowland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlviii. 1895, p. 195. IV. 23-25. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. vi. No. 333. Matthew 4:24 Let no man who wants to do anything for the soul of a man lose the chance of doing something for his body. Of many a soul Jesus laid hold by healing the suffering the body brought on it. No one but Himself can tell how much the nucleus of the Church was composed of and by those who had received health from His hands, loving-kindness from His mouth. Geo. Macdonald, A Seaboard Parish, p. 238. 'In the shape of converts,' said James Gilmour of Mongolia, 'I have seen no result. I have not, as far as I am aware, seen any one who even wanted to be a Christian; but by healing their diseases I have had opportunity to tell many of Jesus, the Great Physician.' References. IV. 24. W. P. Balfern, Glimpses of Jesus, p. 74. J. Oswald Dykes, The Manifesto of the King, p. 3. IV. 25. Henry Wace, Some Central Points of Our Lord's Ministry, p. 173. The Beatitudes Illustrated By Events in the Passion Matthew 5 1. Christ condemned. Pilate washes his hands and declares Christ innocent. 'Blessed are the pure in heart.' 2. Christ takes up the cross. 'Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake.' 3. Christ falls under the weight of the cross. 'Blessed are they that mourn.' 4. Christ meekly allows another to share His cross. 'Blessed are the meek.' 5. Christ comforts the women. 'Blessed are the merciful.' 6. Christ stripped of His garments. 'Blessed are the poor in Spirit.' 7. Christ nailed to the cross. Prays for His murderers to His Father. 'Blessed are the peacemakers.' 8. Christ dead upon the cross. His hunger and thirst after the perfect fulfilment of His Father's will satisfied. 'Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness.' F. A. G. Eichbaum, Subjects for Courses of Sermons, p. 104. References. V. C. Gore, Church Times, vol. xxxiii. 1895. p. 475. R. F. Horton, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liv. 1898, p. 81. J. Brett, The Blessed Life, p. 74. V. 1. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year, vol. ii. (Sermon-Sketches), p. 9. A. B. Bruce, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxviii. 1890, p. 344. J. Stafford Northcote, ibid. vol. xl. 1891, p. 317. C. Brown, ibid. vol. lxxiv. 1908, p. 137. A Message to the Church Matthew 5:1-2 I. The Sermon on the Mount was spoken to the Disciples, to the Church. It has been so truly said, the Sermon on the Mount was spoken in the ear of the Church but was overheard by the world. The Sermon on the Mount was not, then, primarily spoken to the world at all. Again and again it is true that the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is beyond those who belong to the kingdom of this world. Our Lord's teaching with regard to forgiveness or resisting evil, or with regard to the simplicity of faith, all these things are confessedly beyond those who belong to the kingdom of the world. But these things are spoken to those who are members of the Body of Christ, in grace, living and walking in the Spirit. When you are dealing with the world at large, then again it may be necessary to make concessions as Moses had to do. It becomes difficult when you speak not only of the State but of the Christian State; the State cannot require the same standard from its members that the Church can and does require from its members. The Sermon on the Mount, let us remember, was spoken to the Church. It was not so impracticable as it seems, because we work not on the scale of time, but on the scale of eternity. No doubt it is true that if the few and evil years of this life were all that you and I had to reckon upon, it would be frankly absurd to set before us such a standard as that in the Sermon on the Mount. Do you not feel and understand how that the Sermon on the Mount does correspond with your own immortality? It is not only here that we progress and grow; there is a Paradise, a heaven beyond, and depend upon it Paradise will be a busy place indeed; there they rest from their labours, but there there will be work, if we may say so, without toil and weariness; surely it is unthinkable that it is only here, where we are so sorely let and hindered, that spiritual growth and progress are possible. It is the very exaltation of the standard of the Sermon on the Mount that speaks to us of our own immortality. II. Let us also Remember that we are not left to Ourselves. When you are aiming at holiness you are working in accordance with the will of God; 'this is the will of God, even your sanctification '; and surely it is true that when you are working in accordance with the will of God ultimate failure is unthinkable. Depend upon it, God is not an austere man, an unfair man, gathering where He has not strewed and reaping where He has not sowed. The first thing a preacher has to do is to attack that lie in men's hearts that God deals with us unfairly, to speak to men of the love of God manifest in the way of the world and in life, but above all manifest in Jesus Christ. To preach the love of God, that is how men are brought to repentance. It is the goodness of God that brings men to repentance. The punishment of sin is not an article of Christian faith; we do not say in the Creed, 'I believe in the punishment of sin '; we do say that wonderful thing, 'I believe in the forgiveness of sin'. But why do we not say, 'I believe in the punishment of sin'? Because it is a fact of experience; you do not make that an article of faith which is an act of experience. It is the goodness of God that brings men to repentance. III. And then there is Power. We have to preach that which St. Paul was expressing when he said, 'I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation'. The Gospel is not only good advice and a message of pardon for the past, but it is the coming into men's lives of a real power, so that they are able to be what in their best moments they desire, what yesterday seemed beyond all hope and imagination. That is what happens that is what one has seen for years happening in men's lives again and again. And so I say the Sermon on the Mount is not so impracticable as it seems, because we are not left to ourselves. 'This is the will of God, even your sanctification.' IV. What Kind of Perfection is it to which we are Called? 'Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect,' or as St. Luke-gives it in the parallel passage, 'Be ye therefore merciful, even as your Father in heaven is merciful'. And so we are not all to be perfect in wisdom or to be perfect in power; that no doubt is beyond us limitation in such respects is of the very essence of our nature; but we are called to be merciful even as God is merciful; to be easy to be entreated, to be compassionate; that ought not surely to be beyond us. True it is, indeed, that we have not yet attained; nothing is more strange in this strange and perplexing world than the hard measure which again and again we sinners deal out to one another. But in proportion as you draw near to Jesus Christ, Who was the Friend of sinners, so will you be merciful. It is not to be perfect in wisdom or in power that is indeed beyond us; but you are called to be compassionate, to be easy to be entreated, to be merciful as God Himself is merciful. Let us remember that it is not as impossible as it seems because we work not on the scale of time but on the scale of eternity; not so impossible as it seems because when we aim at it we are working in accordance with the will of God, and when you are doing that ultimate failure is unthinkable. Matthew 5:1-2 In a letter to the Westminster Gazette (7 June, 1904), an Old Liberal declares that he can reproduce with absolute fidelity the purport and spirit of some words in a great speech of John Bright at the unveiling of Cobden's statue in the Bradford Exchange. 'I remember,' said the orator, 'on the morning of my dear friend's funeral, I was standing beside his coffin, looking at that which contained all that was mortal of the man I had known so long. His daughter, who was in the room with me, said, "My dear father was always very fond of the Sermon on the Mount".' And then Bright's voice swelled and grew in depth and volume as it was wont to do when he was deeply moved, and he went on, 'And I think that my friend's whole life was a sermon upon that highest and holiest of all texts'. He repeated, as only he could have done, the blessings uttered by the Divine lips upon the poor, the mourners, the meek, the hungerers after righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, and the peacemakers; and then, in his own severely simple words, summed up the labours of Cobden and his associates in a single phrase, 'We tried to put Holy Writ to an Act of Parliament'. References. V. 1, 2. G. Jackson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lv. 1899, p. 245. J. R. Cohu, The Sermon on the Mount, p. 1. V. 1-3. C. J. Ridgeway, The Mountain of Blessedness, p. 1. A. G. Mortimer, One Hundred Miniature Sermons, vol. ii. p. 280. T. K. Cheyne, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliv. 1893, p. 376. C. A. Thomson, ibid. vol. lv. 1899, p. 202. V. 1-12. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xliii. No. 2508. V. 1-13. Henry Wace, Some Central Points of Our Lord's Ministry, p. 193. Matthew 5:2 There are no real pleasures without real needs. Voltaire. No list of circumstances will ever make a paradise. George Eliot. In the ninth chapter of the second book of Sartor Resartus, Carlyle distinguishes happiness and blessedness as follows: 'I asked myself: What is this that, ever since earliest years, thou hast been fretting and fuming, and lamenting and self-tormenting, on account of? Say it in a word: Is it not because thou art not happy? Because the thou (sweet gentleman) is not sufficiently honoured, nourished, soft-bedded, and lovingly cared for? Foolish soul! what Act of Legislature was there that thou shouldst be Happy?... There is in man a higher than Love of Happiness: he can do without Happiness, and instead thereof find Blessedness! Was it not to preach forth this same higher that sages and martyrs, the Poet and the Priest, in all times, have spoken and suffered; bearing testimony, through life and through death, of the Godlike that is in Man, and how in the Godlike only he has Strength and Freedom? Which God-inspired Doctrine art thou also honoured to be taught; O Heavens! and broken with manifold merciful Afflictions, even till thou become contrite and learn it!' References. V. 2, 3. E. M. Goulburn, Three Counsels of the Divine Master, vol. i. p. 104. F. H. Dudden, Church Times, vol. lvi. 1906, p. 571. V. 2-4. E. H. Rogers, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xl. 1891, p. 332. V. 2, 3, 5. George Macdonald, ibid. vol. xlii. 1892, p. 36. V. 2-9. A. J. Parry, Phases of Christian Truth, p. 209. The First Beatitude Matthew 5:3 I. The Old Testament is full of descriptions of the spirit of the world, the spirit of selfish wealth with its attendant cruelty: and by contrast to this are descriptions of the oppressed poor who are the friends of God. Our Lord took up all this language upon His own lips when, as St. Luke records, He turned to His disciples and said, 'Blessed are ye poor... woe unto you that are rich'. But all the actually poor are not the disciples of Christ. So our Lord has, as recorded by St. Matthew, gone beneath the surface and based His kingdom, the character of His citizens, not upon actual poverty, but upon detachment The world says, 'Get all you can, and keep it'. Christ says, 'Blessed are those who at least in heart and will have nothing'. II. Christ was detached. The Incarnation was a self-emptying. Then when He had been born a man He set the example of clinging to nothing external. He abandoned ease, popularity, the favour of the great, even the sympathy of His friends, even, last and greatest of all, on the cross, the consolation of the Divine presence. He became utterly naked, poorer than the poorest; therefore in a supreme sense 'His was the kingdom of heaven'. So we, like Him, are to be ready to surrender, ready to give up; and in proportion to this detachment, in proportion as we do really in will adore the sovereignty of God, and are ready to receive and to give up according to His will, in that proportion are all the hindrances removed by which the royalty of His kingdom is prevented from entering into our hearts and lives. III. The splendid promise attached to this beatitude brings it into contrast with an old Jewish saying which has many parallels: 'Ever be more and more lowly in spirit, for the prospect of man is to become the food of worms'. The motive to humility which our Lord suggests is very different. Bishop Gore, The Sermon on the Mount, p. 23. Poverty of Spirit the Other Side of Greatness Matthew 5:3 I. It seems to me that this foundation beatitude, on which all the other beatitudes are built up, sets forth a universal law of human life, that it describes the attitude of mind characteristic of the wisest, strongest, best of the human family. The greater a man is in any walk of life the wider his vision, and the keener his insight the greater is his poverty of spirit in the presence of the perfection he has seen. 1. The thesis may be worked out in detail. Take the man of science in the presence of the majesty of nature. Look at the same thing from the point of view of art. 2. The presence of poverty of spirit is still more manifest in the moral sphere. Here, too, the contrast between the ideal and the real, between what ought to be and what is, is still more striking. To have seen the ideal of conduct, to have recognized its binding force, and to feel that one has acted contrary to its plain behests, is the form which poverty of spirit takes in the presence of the ideal of moral goodness somehow revealed to us. 3. But the feeling of poverty of spirit is most conspicuous in the religious sphere. If we follow the experience recorded in the Scriptures, we shall find that the deepest form of poverty of spirit is found whenever men obtained the vision of God. II. Let us try now to see the connexion between the feeling of poverty of spirit and the blessedness of the possession of the kingdom of heaven. If a man is without the kingdom of heaven, he is in no way concerned with the thought of it. If he is concerned with it, he is already within it. But the vision of God begets poverty of spirit; indeed, the trueness of the vision is measured by the consequent poverty of spirit. This is the note that seals the possession of the kingdom of heaven. In fact, this is the keynote of all our Lord's teaching. It is the note of His own life. At every fresh departure in His work He spent the night in prayer and fellowship with the Father, and whenever He needed wisdom and power for His lifework He sought these from the Father. Thus in virtue of His poverty of spirit He was in possession of the kingdom of heaven. J. Iverach, The Other Side of Greatness, p. 1. Matthew 5:3 Poverty in any shape helps to stir in man a sense of need, a disposition to consider himself as dependent.... The real puzzle of life consists not in the fact of widespread poverty but in that of widespread affluence; in the fact that so many are sufficiently endowed with 'goods' as to believe they can live by them, and so cease to look for their true life to God their Father. E. Lyttelton. References. V. 3. J. Brett, The Blessed Life, p. 7. J. Iverach, The Other Side of Greatness, p. 1. J. R. Cohu, The Sermon on the Mount, pp. 23, 54. W. J. Woods, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxviii. p. 3. J. Stalker, ibid. vol. lvi. 1899, p. 379. W. M. Sinclair, Simplicity in Christ, p. 113. E. Lyttelton, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, p. 50. W. H. Hutchings, Sermon-Sketches, p. 42. C. J. Ridgeway, The Mountain of Blessedness, p. 12. A. W. Potts, School Sermons, p. 64. Henry Wace, Christianity and Morality, p. 17. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 108. W. Sanday, The Anglican Pulpit of Today, p. 334. F. Temple, ibid. p. 83. W. Boyd Carpenter, The Great Charter of Christ, p. 83. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year, vol. ii. ( Sermon-Sketches ), p. 12. B. F. Westcott, Social Aspects of Christianity, p. 101. J. Oswald Dykes, The Manifesto of the King, p. 27. Parker, The Inner Life of Christ, vol. i. p. 149. Davidson, Lectures and Sermons, p. 551. Parry, Phases of Christian Truth, p. 209. Jenkins, Eternal Life, p. 258. Magee, Christian World Pulpit, vol. ii. p. 353 (1872). Expositor (1st Series), vol. i. pp. 70, 128, and 196. A. M. Fairbairn, ibid. vol. viii. p. 188. Bradley, Christian World Pulpit, 29 June, 1881. C. Morris, Preacher's Lantern, vol. iii. p. 503. A. B. Bruce, The Galilean Gospel, p. 39. Goodwin's Works, vol. viii. p. 220. Parker, A Homiletic Analysis of the New Testament, vol. i. p. 52. See Prof. Tholuck, Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount. V. 3, 4. Archbishop Lang, Church Times, vol. lvii. 1907, p. 219. V. 3-5. C. J. Vaughan, Characteristics of Christ's Teaching, p. 1. T. D. Barlow, Rays from the Sun of Righteousness, p. 130. V. 3-12. W. Boyd Carpenter, The Great Charter of Christ, p. 101. V. 3-16. J. Elder Cumming, The Blessed Life, p. 11. The Second Beatitude Matthew 5:4 The world says 'Get as much pleasure as you can out of life; suck it in wherever you can; and hug yourself as close as you can from all that disquiets you or makes you uncomfortable; in a word, get as much pleasure and avoid as much pain as by intelligence and forethought you can possibly do'. In startling opposition to this maxim of the world, our Lord puts His maxim, 'Blessed are they that mourn'. I. What does that mean? Briefly: there are two chief kinds of mourning into which it is the duty of every true servant of our Lord to enter the mourning for sin and the mourning for pain. 1. We must mourn for sin, for we are sinners. 2. The mourning of sympathy with others' pain. There are moments when a Christian may legitimately, like His Lord, in the garden of Gethsemane, be engrossed in the bearing of 'his own burden'. But in the main a Christian ought, like his Lord, or like St. Paul, to have his own burden so well in hand, that he is able to leave the large spaces of his heart for other people to lay their sorrows upon. II. And in proportion to the fullness with which you enter into penitence for sin and into sympathy for the sufferings of men, you shall get, not the miserable laughter of forgetfulness, which lasts but for a moment, but the comfort (or encouragement) of God. III. There is a false as well as a true mourning. It is possible to be discontented with the world but to lack the courage of faith which makes our discontent fruitful of reform. We are discontented; but our discontent is pride, not the humility of true sorrow. It will not be comforted, it will not thankfully take the Divine offer of absolution. The 'woman that was a sinner' made no delay in believing herself forgiven, but set to work at once to show the love which springs of gratitude in the heart of those who accept their release. Bishop Gore, The Sermon on the Mount, p. 27. Matthew 5:4 We reach happiness only through tears. True bliss does not consist in the absence of tears but in the presence of consolation, and real misery is not so much to weep as to weep without being consoled. If Christianity accords moments to sorrow, it devotes our whole life to joy. Vinet. References. V. 4. J. Brett, The Blessed Life, p. 35. W. J. Woods, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxviii. 1890, p. 95. W. Wynn, ibid. vol. xxxix. 1891, p. 179. George Macdonald, ibid. vol. xlii. 1892, p. 47. F. W. Farrar, ibid. vol. xlvii. 1895, p. 33. W. M. Sinclair, Simplicity in Christ, p. 139. J. Wright, The Guarded Gate, p. 29. J. Oswald Dykes, The Manifesto of the King, p. 45. E. Lyttelton, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, p. 24. C. J. Ridgeway, The Mountain of Blessedness, p. 57. J. R. Cohu, The Sermon on the Mount, p. 65. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 117. E. M. Goulburn, Three Counsels of the Divine Master, vol. i. p. 118. The Third Beatitude Matthew 5:5 I. The world says 'Stand up for your rights; make the most of yourself; don't let any man put upon you'. And so we are always standing on our dignity, always thinking ourselves insulted or imposed upon. 'Blessed are the meek,' our Lord says. The meek that is manifestly those who are ready to be put upon as far as they themselves are concerned. This is the character of our Lord, Who, 'when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously'. II. Of course, from another point of view, we may be quite bound from time to time to assert ourselves. We may have to assert ourselves for the sake of the moral order of the Church and of the world. But no one gets true peace, or has really got to the foundation of things, until, as far as his own dignity is concerned, he is in a position to say, You can wrong God and you can wrong society; and it may be my duty to stand up for God and for society; but me, as far as I am concerned, you cannot provoke. This is the ideal to which we have to attain. III. And the result of this entire absence of self-assertion is that we can make no claim on the world which God will not at the last substantiate. 'Blessed are the meek' our Lord is here quoting the Psalm ' for they shall inherit the earth'. What is an heir? An heir is a person who enters into rightful possession. Now, if we go about the world making claims on society which God does not authorize, refusing to bear what God will have us bear, the day will come when the true Master appears, and we shall be exposed to shame. But the meek, who have committed themselves to Him that judgeth righteously, have nothing to fear. 'Friend, come up higher,' is all that is before them. They will simply, in steady and royal advance, enter into the full heritage of that which men kept back from them, but God has in store for them. Bishop Gore, The Sermon on the Mount, p. 32. Matthew 5:5 The history of the world confirms the prophecy that the meek shall inherit the earth. A nation that sells its birthright of peace, and backslides from the front rank of industrialism into the file of filibusterism, makes a poor bargain indeed. From Prof. Nitobe's, Bushido, pp. 186, 187. When have we ever before held such a clew to the meaning of Christ's Sermon on the Mount? 'Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.' In the cruel strife of centuries has it not often seemed as if the earth were to be rather the prize of the hardest heart and the strongest fist? To many men these words of Christ have been as foolishness and as a stumbling-block, and the ethics of the Sermon on the Mount have been openly derided as too good for this world.... It is none the less true that when once the degree of civilization is such as to allow this highest type of character, distinguished by its meekness and kindness, to take root and thrive, its methods are incomparable in their potency. Fiske, Man's Destiny, chap. xv. Could the world unite in the practice of that despised train of virtues, which the Divine ethics of our Saviour hath so inculcated upon us, the furious face of things must disappear; Eden would be yet to be found, and the angels might look down, not with pity, but joy upon us. Sir Thomas Browne, * Christian Morals. * The declaration of our Saviour that the meek shall inherit the earth may be understood, I think, as verified in the very nature and attributes of meekness. The dross of the earth the meek do not inherit; but all the true enjoyments, the wisdom, love, peace, and independence, which earth can bestow, are assured to the meek as inherent in their meekness. Sir Henry Taylor. Matthew 5:5 Say what you will of Pietism, no one can deny the sterling worth of the characters which it formed. It gave to them the highest thing that man can possess that peace, that cheerful spirit, that inner harmony with self which can be disturbed by no passion. No pressure of circumstances or persecution of men could make them discontented, no rivalry could provoke them to anger and bitterness. Even the casual observer was touched with an involuntary feeling of respect before such men. I yet remember what happened on one occasion when difficulties arose between the strap-makers and the saddlers in regard to their respective rights. My father's interests were seriously affected; yet even in conversation the difference was discussed by my parents with such tolerance and indulgence towards the opposite party, and with such a fixed trust in Providence, that, boy as I then was, the memory of it will never leave me. Kant. Describing the character of Mr. Robert Cunningham, minister of Holywood in Ireland during the early part of the seventeenth century, Livingstone declares that 'he was the one man to my discerning, of all that ever I saw, who resembled most the meekness of Jesus Christ in his whole carriage, and was so far reverenced by all, even the most wicked, that he was oft troubled with that Scripture, "Woe to you when all men speak well of you! "' References. V. 5. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 126. J. Brett, The Blessed Life, p. 22. W. J. Woods, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxviii. 1890, p. 134. W. M. Sinclair, Simplicity in Christ, p. 163. E. M. Goulburn, Three Counsels of the Divine Master, vol. i. p. 133. S. A. Tipple, Sunday Mornings at Norwood, p. 65. J. Oswald Dykes, The Manifesto of the King, p. 61. E. Lyttelton, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, p. 66. C. J. Ridgeway, The Mountain of Blessedness, p. 34. J. R. Cohu, The Sermon on the Mount, p. 74. The Fourth Beatitude Matthew 5:6 I. The citizens of the new kingdom 'hunger and thirst after righteousness'. Everyone knows what appetite is, what hunger and thirst mean. It is a strong craving, a craving which must be satisfied, or we perish. You cannot forget that you are hungry or thirsty. And in human pursuits we again and again see what is like hunger and thirst. Righteousness, or rather the righteousness, that character which God has marked out for us, the character of Christ blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after it. II. We so often feel hopeless about getting over our faults. Let us hunger and thirst after righteousness, and we shall be filled. As our Lord saw of the travail of His soul and was satisfied, so, depend upon it, shall we If you only seriously want to be good, your progress may be slow, but at the last you will be good. Christ is pledged to satisfy, if only you will go on wanting. There is not in the pursuit of goodness any failure except in ceasing to hunger and thirst that is, in ceasing to want, to pray, to try. III. Do you want righteousness seriously, deliberately? Then you can have it, and not for yourself only, but for the world. 'Till righteousness turn again unto judgment, all such as are true in heart shall follow it.' It is pledged to us. The day will come when the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of righteousness and meekness and truth, shall be an established and a visible fact. Blessed are they that here and now hunger and thirst after righteousness in themselves and in the world: for they shall be filled. Bishop Gore, The Sermon on the Mount, p. 34. Matthew 5:6 Grace is a nourishment, and the richness of its sustaining quality is determined by one thing alone the genuineness of our desire. E. Lyttelton. References. V. 6. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxv. No. 2103. G. Salmon, Gnosticism and Agnosticism, p. 124. C. J. Vaughan, Characteristics of Christ's Teaching, p. 18. C. G. Finney, Sermons on Gospel Themes, p. 398. W. J. Woods, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxviii. 1890, p. 228. Canon Duckworth, ibid. vol. xlii. 1892, p. 303. W. M. Sinclair, Simplicity in Christ, p. 189. J. S. Swan, Short Sermons, p. 48. J. Oswald Dykes, The Manifesto of the King, p. 81. E. Lyttelton, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, p. 75. C. J. Ridgeway, The Mountain of Blessedness, p. 47. J. R. Cohu, The Sermon on the Mount, p. 81. J. K. Popham, Sermons, p. 1. E. M. Goulburn, Three Counsels of the Divine Master, p. 144. J. Brett, The Blessed Life, p. 47. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 135. V. 6-8. T. Disney Barlow, Rays from the Sun of Righteousness, p. 148. The Fifth Beatitude Matthew 5:7 Of course wherever human misery is, there is also human pity. But, apart from Christ, it was not thought of as a motive force, to be used in redeeming others' lives and in enriching our own. I. For the disciple of Christ pity is a motive to vigorous action. God in Christ declares His 'power most chiefly in showing mercy and pity'. Powerful pity is pity which passes from emotion into practical and redemptive action. Of such pity only does Christ say 'Blessed are the merciful or pitiful'. Compassion which does nothing is in the New Testament regarded as a form of pernicious hypocrisy. II. And the merciful shall obtain mercy. Here we get a great law of the Divine dealing. God deals with us as we deal with our fellow-men. Do we want to know how our Lord will regard us at the last day? We can find the answer by considering how our face looks, not in mere passing emotion, but in its serious and deliberate aspect, towards our fellow-men. III. The same law is observable in the treatment we receive at men's hands. On the whole we can determine men's attitude to us by our attitude to them. Almost all men have their best selves drawn out towards a really compassionate life. 'Perchance for a good man one who is not only just, but good some would even dare to die.' 'Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.' Bishop Gore, The Sermon on the Mount, p. 36. Matthew 5:7 You will find, alike through the record of the Law and the promises of the Gospel, that there is, indeed, forgiveness with God and Christ for the passing sin of the hot heart, but none for the eternal and inherent sin of the cold. 'Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy;' find it you written anywhere that the unmerciful shall?' Ruskin, Fors Clavigera, XLII. References. V. 7. J. Brett, The Blessed Life, p. 60. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 143. C. J. Ridgeway, The Mountain of Blessedness, p. 60. W. J. Woods, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxviii. 1890, p. 310. W. M. Sinclair, Simplicity in Christ, p. 213. E. M. Goulburn, Three Counsels of the Divine Master, vol. i. p. 158. Stopford A. Brooke, Short Sermons, pp. 208, 214. E. Lyttelton, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, p. 81. J. Oswald Dykes, The Manifesto of the King, p. 101. J. R. Cohu, The Sermon on the Mount, p. 89. C. J. Vaughan, Characteristics of Christ's Teaching, p. 34. V. 7, 10, 11, 12. George Macdonald, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlii. 1892, p. 79. Heart Purity Matthew 5:8 I. There is such a thing, according to the Holy Scriptures, as heart purity; that is to say, there is such a thing as a state of the human heart, in which the man, the genuine man, the person of the present day and of modern circumstances, entirely loves the will of God, and entirely seeks to do it. There is such a thing as will, mind, and affection, united, not divided, against the tempter and for the will of God. II. But how shall this thing be? Can I answer better than in the words of our Lord, spoken on an occasion close to the purpose of our present thoughts? 'Who then can be saved?' cried the amazed Apostles. Who then can be saved, deep and at the centre, from the love and from the power of sin? ' * The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.' * It is a question of a miracle; the requisite is this action of none less than a Divine Person. We can, in the grace and mercy of God, put ourselves in the way of the action, even as helpless sufferers of old, the blind, the halt, the palsied, the bleeding, put themselves in the way of the Man of Nazareth. The secret is the Wonder-Worker Himself, trusted, welcomed in, summoned by the soul, to be the conquering and liberating Presence in its great need, and in its depths. III. We shall never do it for ourselves. At the centre of things, man is powerless to be his own transfigurer; he can as soon run, he can as soon soar, from his own shadow. But his Maker and his Redeemer, as man yields himself to God, can lift him from that shadow into light, and set him free indeed. Bishop H. C. G. Moule, The Secret of the Presence, p. 218. The Sixth Beatitude Matthew 5:8 I. If we are to take part in the kingdom, there must be singleness of purpose. Purity of heart is, of course, continually taken in its narrower meaning of absence of sensual defilement and pollution. That is an important part of purity; and may I say a word about the pursuit of purity in this narrower sense? A great many people are distressed by impure temptations, and they very frequently fail to make progress with them for one reason, namely, that while they are anxious to get rid of sin in this one respect, they are not trying after goodness as a whole. For the way to get over uncleanness is, in innumerable cases, not to fight against that only, but to contend for positive holiness all round, for Christlikeness, for purity of heart in the sense in which Christ used the expression, in the sense in which in the 51st Psalm a clean heart is coupled with a 'right spirit' that is, a will set straight towards God, or simplicity of purpose. Our Lord means 'Blessed are the single-minded,' for they, though as yet they may be far from seeing God, though as yet they may not believe a single article of the Christian Creed, yet at last shall attain the perfect vision; yes, as surely as God is true, they shall be satisfied in their every capacity for truth and beauty and goodness; they shall behold. II. Any measure of true spiritual illumination, like that of Job when the Lord had answered his questionings, may be described as 'seeing God'; and in this sense to see God is a necessary preliminary to repentance, and is requisite for spiritual endurance. But in its full sense it is incompatible with any remaining dissatisfaction; it is the final goal of human efforts, the reward of those who here are content to 'walk by faith, not by sight,' and it includes in perfection what in a measure all discovery after search includes satisfaction for the intellect, and full attainment for the will, and the ecstasy of the heart, in God as He is. Bishop Gore, The Sermon on the Mount, p. 40. Matthew 5:8 'Hold off from sensuality,' says Cicero, 'for if you have given yourself up to it, you will find yourself unable to think of anything else.' That is morality. 'Blessed are the pure in heart,' says Jesus Christ; 'for they shall see God.' That is religion. Matthew Arnold. As I myself look at it, there is no fault nor folly of my life and both have been many and great that does not rise up against me, and take away my joy, and shorten my power of possession, of sight, of understanding. And every past effort of my life, every gleam of lightness or good in it, is with me now, to help me in my grasp of this heart, and its vision. Ruskin. 'Intuition,' said Amiel, 'is the recompense of inward purity.' The remark has often been made that the preeminent, the winning, the irresistible Christian virtues, were charity and chastity. Perhaps the chastity was an even more winning virtue than the charity; it offered to the Pagan world, at any rate, relief from a more oppressive, a more consuming, a more intolerable bondage. Chief among the beatitudes, shone, no doubt, this pair: Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, and Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God; and of these two, the second blessing may have brought even the greater boon.... Perhaps there is no doctrine of Christianity which is exposed to more trial amongst us now, certainly there is none which will be exposed, so far as from present appearances one can judge, to more trial in the immediate future, than this. Matthew Arnold, * A Comment on Christmas. * 'Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.' Blessed are those who have preserved internal sanctity of soul; who are conscious of no secret deceit; who are the same in act as they are in desire; who conceal no thought, no tendencies of thought, from their own conscience; who are faithful and sincere witnesses, before the tribunal of their own judgment, of all that passes within their mind. Such as these shall see God. What! after death, shall their awakened eyes behold the King of heaven? Shall they stand in awe before the golden throne on which He sits, and gaze upon the venerable countenance of the paternal Monarch? Is this the reward of the virtuous and the pure? These are the idle dreams of the visionary, or the pernicious representation of impostors, who have fabricated from the very materials of wisdom a cloak for their own dwarfish or imbecile conception. Jesus Christ has said no more than the most excellent philosophers have felt and expressed that virtue is its own reward. It is true that such an expression as He has used was prompted by the energy of genius, and was the overflowing enthusiasm of a poet; but it is not the less literally true [because] clearly repugnant to the mistaken conception of the multitude.... That those who are pure in heart shall see God, and that virtue is its own reward, may be considered an equivalent assertion. The former of these propositions is a metaphorical repetition of the latter. The advocates of literal interpretation have been the most efficacious enemies of those doctrines whose nature they profess to venerate. Shelley, * Essay on Christianity. * References. V. 8. J. Oswald Dykes, The Manifesto of the King, p. 119. E. M. Goulburn, Three Counsels of the Divine Master, vol. i. p. 169. G. Salmon, Gnosticism and Agnosticism, p. 53. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, The School of Christ, p. 114. C. J. Vaughan, Characteristics of Christ's Teaching, p. 53. J. B. Lightfoot, Cambridge Sermons, p. 34; see also Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliv. 1893, p. 309. C. J. Ridgeway, The Mountain of Blessedness, p. 72. E. L. Hull, Sermons, p. 145. W. C. Magee, Christ the Light of all Scripture, p. 105. Stopford A. Brooke, Short Sermons, pp. 256, 263. E. Lyttelton, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, p. 86. J. R. Cohu, The Sermon on the Mount, p. 98. J. S. Swan, Short Sermons, p. 95. B. F. Westcott, The Revelation of the Risen Lord, p. 96. T. F. Lockyer, The Inspirations of the Christian Life, p. 144. J. Guinness Rogers, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxviii. 1890, p. 337. W. J. Woods, ibid. vol. xxxviii. 1890, p. 418. C. A. Vince, ibid. vol. xxxix. 1891, p. 12. E. H. Eland, ibid. vol. lix. 1901, p. 342. W. T. Davison, ibid. vol. lxvi. 1904, p. 337. Bishop E. King, Church Times, vol. lvi. 1906, p. 531. Walter C. Smith, Sermons, p. 50. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 153. V. 8, 6, 9. George Macdonald, ibid. vol. xlii. 1892, p. 61. The Seventh Beatitude Matthew 5:9 I. Christ is the Prince of Peace. He brings about peace among men, breaking down all middle walls of partition between classes and races and individuals, by making them first of all at peace with God atonement among men by way of atonement with God. This is the only secure basis of peace. There are many kinds of false and superficial peace, which the Prince of Peace only comes to break up. 'I came not to send peace on earth, but a sword.' Peace can never be purchased in God's way by the sacrifice of truth. But peace in the truth we, like our Master, must be for ever pursuing. II. Do we habitually remember how it offends our Lord to see divisions in the Christian Church, nations nominally Christian armed to the teeth against one another, class against class and individual against individual in fierce and relentless competition, jealousies among clergy and church workers, communicants who forget that the sacrament of union with Christ is the sacrament of union also with their fellow-men? III. Christians are to be makers of Christ's peace. Something we can all do to reconcile individuals, families, classes, churches, nations. The question is, are we, as churchmen and citizens, by work and by prayer, in our private conduct and our public action, doing our utmost with deliberate, calculated, unsparing effort? If so our benediction is the highest: it is to be, and to be acknowledged as being, sons of God. Bishop Gore, The Sermon on the Mount, p. 42. Matthew 5:9 'The Lord,' said Dr. A. A. Bonar, 'does not use me, like His servant, Dr. Chalmers, for great things, but my way of serving the Lord is walking three or four miles to quiet a family dispute.' Just before his death, Cobden and a friend were walking through St. Paul's Cathedral, when the latter observed that perhaps the name of Cobden one day might be ranked among those heroes. 'I hope not' Cobden said, 'I hope not. My spirit could not rest in peace among these men of war.' He was an happy reconciler of many differences in the families of his friends and kindred which he never undertook faintly; for such undertakings have usually faint effects and they had such faith in his judgment and impartiality, that he never advised them to anything in vain. Izaak Walton, * Life of Dr. Donne. * Compare Sir Philip Warwick's account of Hampden's conduct in a Parliamentary debate. 'We had catched at each other's locks, and sheathed our swords in each other's bowels, had not the sagacity and great; calmness of Mr. Hampden, by a short speech, prevented it, and led us to defer our angry debate until the next morning.' 'This great gift also,' says Augustine, 'hadst Thou bestowed on Thy good servant, in whose womb Thou, did'st create me, O my God, my Mercy: wherever she could, she showed herself such a peacemaker between factious and quarrelsome people, that, although she listened to many a bitter word from both sides, such as swelling anger pours forth against an absent enemy in the presence of a friend who has to listen to sharp angry talk, she never would repeat to one what another said, unless it were something which might tend to reconcile them.' References. V. 9. J. R. Cohu, The Sermon on the Mount, p. 109. J. Oswald Dykes, The Manifesto of the King, p. 139. E. Lyttelton, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, p. 92. W. G. Rutherford, The Key of Knowledge, p. 171. C. J. Vaughan, Characteristics of Christ's Teaching, p. 71. E. M. Goulburn, Three Counsels of the Divine Master, vol. i. p. 184. C. J. Ridgeway, The Mountain of Blessedness, p. 84. W. J. Woods, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxix. 1891, p. 108. H. Price Hughes, ibid. vol. xliv. 1893, p. 381. G. Body, ibid. vol. liii. 1898, p. 220. H. A. Thomas, ibid. vol. lv. 1899, p. 348. H. Hensley Henson, ibid. vol. lxi. 1902, p. 372. H. D. Rawnsley, ibid. vol. lxiii. 1903, p. 125. F. B. F. Campbell, ibid. vol. lxvi. 1904, p. 199. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. vii. No. 422. J. Brett, The Blessed Life, p. 87. F. Lewis Donaldson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxiv. 1908, p. 185. A. Maclaren, Expositions, of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 161. V. 9, 10. T. D. Barlow, Rays from the Sun of Righteousness, p. 172. Matthew 5:10-11 When St. Francis de Sales was asked which of the beatitudes he preferred, he chose this one, giving it as his reason: 'Because their life is hid with Christ in God, and they are conformed to His image and likeness inasmuch as all through His earthly life He was persecuted for that very righteousness' sake which He came to fulfil'. References. V. 10. C. J. Ridgeway, The Mountain of Blessedness, p. 95. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 171. J. Brett, The Blessed Life, p. 103. E. Lyttelton, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, p. 98. E. M. Goulburn, Three Counsels of the Divine Master, vol. i. p. 199. V. 10-12. J. Oswald Dykes, The Manifesto of the King, p. 161. W. J. Woods, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxix. 1891, p. 166. J. R. Cohu, The Sermon on the Mount, p. 120. C. J. Vaughan, Characteristics of Christ's Teaching, p. 88. W. M. Sinclair, Simplicity in Christ, p. 239. Matthew 5:11 When immortal Bunyan makes his picture of the persecuting passions bringing in their verdict of guilty, who pities Faithful? That is a rare and blessed lot, which some greatest men have not attained, to know ourselves guiltless before a condemning crowd to be sure that what we are denounced for is solely the good in us. The pitiable lot is that of the man who could not call himself a martyr even though he were to persuade himself that the men who stoned him were but ugly passions incarnate who knows that he is stoned, not for professing the Right, but for not being the man he professed to be. George Eliot in * Middlemarch. * References. V. 11. J. R. Cohu, The Sermon on the Mount, p. 45. S. Martin, Rain Upon the Mown Grass, p. 295. F. D. Maurice, The Prayer Book and the Lord's Prayer, p. 331. V. 11, 12. J. Guinness Rogers, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliv. 1893, p. 339. E. Lyttelton, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, p. 106. V. 12. C. E. Jefferson, The Character of Jesus, p. 243. Salt Without Savour Matthew 5:13 I. Each of the three leading words of this short sentence, 'Ye are the salt of the earth,' appears to have a significance of its own. 1. Ye, 'you living men and women'. This was one meaning of the Incarnation, that the unseen God should be revealed by and through the 'man Christ Jesus '. Christ Himself must be chiefly known not through His words or even His personal example but through the men and women who are the living embodiments of His spirit. 2. Ye are the salt. When our Lord calls His disciples 'those who profess and call themselves Christians' the salt of the earth, He is implicitly warning us against a vulgar error the error of estimating, or trying to estimate, the real influence of any movement by the simple process of counting heads. The fact is that, from some points of view, it is not so much the quantity of Christians that matters, as the quality, and the failure in the latter respect is often far more grievous than in the former. There was once a city which might have been saved by 'ten righteous' if only they could have been found. 3. 'Ye are the salt of the earth;' of the earth not of heaven. True it is, to earth that we belong to earth and even though our spirits soar beyond the stars, on earth our feet are set. Let us never be tempted by any superfine religion to try and forget or ignore this fact. The 'good Church-people' are not merely the communicants, but those who carry with them into business and politics, into society in general, whether in the west or the east, the salt of a higher honour, justice, purity, usefulness. II. 'Ye are the salt of the earth.' Salt has, we might say, two special functions of its own. In the first place it is a preserving and purifying power. It saves from corruption. It is an influence which is more felt than seen. Or, once more, salt suggests the notion of something strong and pungent that which adds taste and flavour to all that it touches. I am afraid that this is not the idea which we always connect with good people. Good people are frequently conceived of, not as the most strenuous souls, but rather as negative and colourless, or, at the best, sweet and consoling, as though our Lord had said, not 'ye are the salt,' but 'ye are the sugar of the earth'. Do not let us give in to the notion that there is any natural connexion between goodness and dullness, or goodness and weakness. When our Lord said to His disciples, 'Ye are the salt of the earth,' He did not mean that they were to be the wits of the world; but surely He meant that they were to bring to it the savour shall we say of consecrated intelligence as well as of moral purity. III. Salt is good; but if the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? The earth needs the Christian religion as much as ever it did; but an insipid and savourless Christianity will not long be tolerated. It is a fearful thing to realize that in us Christ Himself reigns or falls: that by us He is judged, that through us His name is blessed or blasphemed. 'If the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted?' For there is something more tragical than Jesus crucified by Caiaphas and Pilate it is the Christ who is wounded 'in the house of His friends'. H. R. Gamble, Christianity and Common Life, p. 63. Matthew 5:13-15 To the personal influence of Christians our Lord commits His cause; in personal influence His Church was founded, and by this it was to stand. R. W. Church. References. V. 13. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 178. E. Lyttelton, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, p. 113. H. Scott Holland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lviii. 1900, p. 185. D. Fraser, Metaphors in the Gospels, p. 1. A. Jessopp, Norwich School Sermon, p. 54. Stopford A. Brooke, Short Sermons, p. 22. V. 13, 14. F. E. Paget, Helps and Hindrances to the Christian Life, vol. ii. p. 76. R. H. McKim, The Gospel in the Christian Year, p. 289. C. J. Vaughan, Characteristics of Christ's Teaching, p. 104. V. 13-16. R. W. Church, The Gifts of Civilization, p. 81. J. Oswald Dykes, The Manifesto of the King, p. 181. W. M. Sinclair, Simplicity in Christ, p. 263. W. Boyd Carpenter, The Great Charter of Christ, p. 133. A. Melville, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xl. 1891, p. 360. A. Clayton, ibid. vol. lxx. 1906, p. 49. V. 13-37. C. Gore, Church Times, vol. xxxiii. 1895, p. 337. Christ's Conception of the Christian Life Matthew 5:14 'I am the Light of the world.' That is the assumption which Jesus Christ makes for Himself. 'Ye are the light of the world.' That is the high assumption which He makes similarly on the part of His disciples. And taken together they declare that there is not only power in His own character adequate to dispel the darkness, but the power of that character reproduced in His disciples is also capable of the same result. I. In the parable of the lamp and the lampstand there is a great deal of simple, practical instruction as to light shining whence it proceeds, how it is maintained, and what is to be its nature and outcome. 1. Of course it assumes that in any life the lamp has been kindled by Jesus Christ It assumes, too, that the light is received not for the benefit of the lamp, but for the benefit of those among whom the lamp is placed; that the light is given in order to be diffused. Christ is in us in order that He may be seen through us, in all the activities of our lives and influence of our character. 2. And to such as are already kindled the injunction is, 'let your light shine'; that is, do not hinder it from shining. Therefore, Christ's exhortation really calls us to remove all hindrances to the shining of the light in our own lives. 3. Elsewhere in the same sermon, Jesus Christ said: 'If thine eye be single,' etc. If one is seeking first and only His glory, then there is but little doubt as to the clear shining of the light, and but little doubt also as to its influence. II. Then the Saviour goes on to speak about a lampstand. What does that mean? 1. I cannot but feel that it illustrates our necessary connexion with the world. You have been set in a family that is, you are set upon a lampstand there. You have been put into an office, and that place with all its duties is God's own lampstand for you. 2. It is well to remember that the appearance of the lampstand has very little to do with the shining. You may have a beautiful lampstand, but it does not make the light shine any brighter. Let your light shine just where you are. 3. It is the darkness which is immediately surrounding us that is to be illumined. 'All that are in the house' does not mean all that are in the next street, the next town, or village, or country. III. If the light is to shine, it is, of course, necessary to see that the flame is continually fed. The re is need of continual secret assimilation of oil. If we fail to receive a continual ministry of grace to our own hearts, we shall fail when we seek to minister to others. The cost at which a man becomes a shining light. Of course, it is the oil which feeds the flame, but the wick burns also. You must be consumed also if others through you are going to have light shed upon the pathway, upon the great mysteries and facts of life. Do not forget that it will cost you no less than it cost Jesus Christ, the entire sacrifice of yourself. --J. Stuart Holden, 'Christ's Conception of the Christian Life,' Mundesley Bible Conference, 1908, p. 63. Illustration. I read a very interesting thing the other day in the life of Leonardo da Vinci, who painted the famous picture of the Lord's Supper. When he had painted this wonderful picture he called in one of his friends to see it He stood back from the canvas with his friend, waiting in silence for his comment on what he himself regarded as his greatest work. His friend's first words were, 'How wonderfully you have painted that silver cup.' The painter immediately took his brush and put a great daub of black paint over it. The friend, in consternation, said: 'Why did you do that?' 'I did that,' he replied, 'because it was the cup which first attracted your attention, and I do not want anything in my work to detract from the central figure of Jesus Christ I have painted that picture to give men a conception of Him, and if you come and fix upon that which is a mere detail in the picture, and so overlook Him, it must go.' I could not but feel that the devotion of that painter of early days to Jesus Christ is as an inspiration and an example to me. If my life is to shine for Christ, if Christ is to be the central figure, if Christ is to be seen in me in all His beauty, other things must be painted out, other things must be sacrifice; they must go. You must for wisdom, for sanity, have some access to the mind and heart of the common humanity. The exclusive excludes itself. Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Let Your Light Shine I would not give much for your religion unless it can be seen. Lamps do not talk; but they do shine. A lighthouse sounds no drum, it beats no gong; and yet far over the water its friendly spark is seen by the mariner. So let your actions shine out your religion. Let the main sermon of your life be illustrated by all your conduct, and it shall not fail to be illustrious. C. H. Spurgeon. Matthew 5:14-15 The whole majesty of humanity raised to its fullness, and every gift and power necessary for a given purpose, at a given moment, centred in one man, and all this perfected blessing permitted to be refused, perverted, crushed, cast aside by those who need it most, the city which is Not set on a hill, the candle that giveth light to None that are in the house; these are the heaviest mysteries of this strange world, and, it seems to me, those which mark its curse the most. Ruskin, Stones of Venice, vol. ii. Like a horse after running, a dog after tracking the game, and a bee after storing honey, so a man, after some good deed, does not call others to come and see, but goes on to do another deed, as the vine proceeds to produce grapes season after season. Marcus Aurelius. References. V. 14. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xix. No. 1109. H. P. Liddon, Christmastide in St. Paul's, p. 405; see also Penny Pulpit, No. 485. W. M. Sinclair, Religion in Common Life, p. 58. F. Mudie, Bible Truths and Bible Characters, p. 283. H. Scott Holland, Church Times, vol. lvi. 1906, p. 380; see also Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxx. 1906, p. 216. J. W. Diggle, Sermons for Daily Life, p. 37. J. H. Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons, vol. i. p. 152. Henry Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons, vol. iii. p. 406. W. G. Rutherford, The Key of Knowledge, pp. 182-209. R. Rainy, Sojourning With God, p. 64. W. H. Dallinger, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lv. 1899, p. 52. W. L. Watkinson, ibid. vol. lx. 1901, p. 388. V. 14-16. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 188. D. Fraser, Metaphors in the Gospels, p. 16. E. Lyttelton, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, p. 120. V. 15, 16. J. B. Mozley, Sermons Preached Before the University of Oxford, p. 262. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxvii. No. 1594. Matthew 5:16 Christ doth not say that others hearing your good works, your good story, or your pathetical expressions; but that * others seeing your good works may glorify your Father. * Jonathan Edwards. 'Let your light shine before men,' wrote Margaret Gordon to Carlyle, 'and think them not unworthy the trouble.' God appoints to every one of His creatures a separate mission, and if they discharge it honourably, if they quit themselves like men, and faithfully follow the light which is in them, withdrawing from it all cold and quenching influence, there will assuredly come of it such burning as, in its appointed mode and measure, shall shine before men, and be of service constant and holy. Ruskin, Frondes Agrestes, p. 71. Tolstoy, in his Confession, speaks of the faith and practice of orthodox believers in his own circle, men whose religious position was respectable, and whose manner of life in no way differed from the ambitious, vicious conduct of unbelievers like himself. 'No arguments were able to convince me of the sincerity of such so-called believers' faith. Only actions, proving their conception of life to have destroyed that fear of poverty, illness, and death, so strong in myself, could have convinced me; and such actions I could not see among them. Such actions, indeed, I saw among the open infidels of my own class in life, but never among its so-called believers.' 'A man,' said Mozley, 'can only be a witness to the Christian faith, if his life can only be accounted for by Christian faith.' Matthew 5:16 The main point nowadays is to be pious in the open air. Rothe. 'I cannot,' said John Wesley's father to him, 'allow austerity or fasting, considered by themselves, to be proper acts of holiness, nor am I for a solitary life. God made us for a social life. We are to let our light shine before men, and that not barely through the chinks of a bushel, for fear the wind should blow it out; the design of lighting it was, that it might give light to all who went into the house of God.' 'It has struck me often lately,' writes Mr. Coventry Patmore in a letter, 'that à Kempis, whom you are daily reading now, cannot be read with safety without remembering that he wrote his book expressly for the use of monks. There is much that is quite unfit for and untrue of people who live in the ordinary relations of life. I don't think I like the book quite as much as I did. There is a hot-house, egotistical air about much of its piety. Other persons are so ordinarily the appointed means of learning the love of God, and to stifle human affections must be very often to render the love of God impossible.' References. V. 16. G. F. Holden, Church Times, vol. lviii. 1907, p. 810. B. Reynolds, ibid. vol. li. 1904, p. 112; see also Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxv. 1904, p. 54. H. Ward Beecher, Sermons (2nd Series), p. 244. Henry Wace, Some Central Points of Our Lord's Ministry, p. 213. E. Fowle, Plain Preaching to Poor People, Sermon (1st Series). J. W. Diggle, Sermons for Daily Life, p. 79. E. Talbot, Sermons Preached in Leeds Parish Church, 1889-1895, p. 86. W. Lefroy, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxvi. 1904, p. 27. J. B. Mozley, Sermons Parochial and Occasional, p. 212. W. M. Punshon, Christian Consistency, Sermons, p. 737. The Presuppositions of Christianity The Old Testament Matthew 5:17 Our Christianity is unique, a thing by itself; but it has not come into existence without any ties with the past. It is original; it is not eclectic; but it has one great root from which it has sprung and of which it claims to be the perfect flower. That is the revelation of God to Israel, recorded in the sacred books of that people, the collection of which we call the Old Testament. To a full and proper understanding of Christianity, a man must know the Old Testament; he must in a measure be familiar with the religion of the Jews. His own faith has blossomed out of that, and owes much to it. It is the presuppositions of Christianity in the Old Testament that we shall look at here. To the rest, Christianity, at any rate in its primitive and purest form, owes nothing directly. Its debts are directly, and in the first instance only, to the Old Testament faith. I. I would even emphasize the statement in that form as my first point. It is not to Judaism as it existed in Christ's time that any debt is due. It is to the religion which is enshrined in the Old Testament And the distinction is vital. There is a serious difference between Judaism as Christ found it, and the religion which He recognized as the truth in the much misunderstood sacred books of His people. There was there the revelation which God had given of Himself, and there was alongside of it the man-made version which passed current in the temple and in the synagogue, which was expounded in the schools, and which was practised by the Pharisee. The latter has its modern survival, but it is not Christianity. It is the Judaism of the present day, with the modifications and embellishments which have made it what it is in order to serve a people without a country or a central shrine, at which alone they might perform the rites which ought to be observed, but perforce must lie in abeyance. It is not to that we turn to find the presuppositions of Christianity. That has little to tell us. Our Lord, in fact, repudiated the whole body of tradition, because, as He said, the Scribes and Pharisees made void the law of God by their tradition. II. Christianity accepts without further discussion or exposition the ripened views of the religion of Israel on many primary religious truths. It takes, for instance, the Old Testament view of God, of man, of the Messiah. These, of course, are views that had only gradually attained to clearness in Israel's consciousness through God's continuous teaching. And it is the mature view which Christianity assumes, and to which it adds. But what the Old Testament thus offers, it accepts without demur. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/expositors-dictionary/ Matthew 6:2 'Practically at present,' Ruskin writes, in Sesame and Lilies, 'advancement in life means, becoming conspicuous in life; obtaining a position which shrill be acknowledged by others to be respectable or honourable. We do not understand by this advancement, in general, the mere making of money, but the being known to have made it; not the accomplishment of any great aim, but the being seen to have accomplished it.' He who sincerely takes life in earnest finds it quite natural and a matter of course to do so, and therefore he does not make any great noise about it. Rothe. References. VI. 2. H. P. Liddon, Sermons on Some Words of Christ, p. 19. Phillips Brooks, The Law of Growth, p. 273. VI. 2-4. E. Lyttelton, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, p. 218. J. Oswald Dykes, The Manifesto of the King, p. 351. Matthew 6:3 Carlyle, after quoting this verse in his essay on 'Characteristics,' adds: 'Whisper not to thy own heart, How worthy is this action. For then it is already becoming worthless. The good man is he who works continually in welldoing; to whom welldoing is as his natural existence, awakening no astonishment, requiring no commentary; but there, like a thing of course, and as if it could not be so.' He returns to the same idea at the close of his essay on Varnhagen von Ense's Memoirs: 'Is a thing nothing because the morning papers have not mentioned it? Or can a nothing be made something, by never so much babbling of it there? Far better, probably, that no morning or evening paper mentioned it; that the right hand knew not what the left was doing!' Brave deeds are most estimable when hidden.... What was finest in them was the desire to hide them. Pascal. In his Life of Chalmers, Dr. Hanna quotes the grateful remark of an old, unfortunate teacher: 'Many a pound-note has the Doctor given me, and he always did the thing as if he were afraid that any person should see him. May God reward him!' Bees will not work except in darkness; Thought will not work except in Silence; neither will Virtue work except in Secrecy. Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth! Neither shalt thou prate even to thy own heart of 'those secrets known to all'. Is not shame the soil of all Virtue, of all good manners and good morals? Like other plants, Virtue will not grow unless its root be hidden, buried from the eye of the Sun. Let the Sun shine on it, nay, do but look at it privily thyself, the root withers, and no flowers will glad thee. Carlyle, Sartor Resartus, bk. iii. chap. iii. References. VI. 3. A Scotch Preacher, The Strait Gate, p. 138. VI. 4. W. M. Sinclair, Christian World Pulpit, vol. 1. 1896, p. 58. J. M. Neale, Sermons Preached in Sackville College Chapel, vol. iv. p. 245. VI. 5. E. Lyttelton, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, p. 228. C. E. Jefferson, The Character of Jesus, p. 55. F. E. Paget, Sermons on Duties of Daily Life, p. 269. VI. 5, 6. J. Oswald Dykes, The Manifesto of the King, p. 373. Private Prayer Matthew 6:6 I. It would be impossible to say what our Lord exactly meant by closet prayer. We generally understand it to mean our bedroom. It means, literally, the place from which things are given out or dispensed. We may take it to be the spot in the background of life, that spot wherever it be which is the holiest and calmest, and where the chief supplies of thought and being lie. Our Lord Himself made the mountain His closet and the garden It is not so much the place as the spirit of the place. The great idea is privacy, modesty, and intimacy. Observe the personal words and the possessive thou. When thou prayest enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door pray to thy Father. They are so endearing, they are so practical, and are so solemn, they bring it all so close together. II. By its being said, Enter into thy closet, it implies of course that you are not there, but that you go there for the purpose of prayer. When you go to your closet to pray the first thing is, shut the door. It of course means, first that you are to separate yourself from all outer things, be and feel shut in with God. It has been thought, too, and this is in entire agreement with the context, that you are to shut your door in order that you may not be overheard, which implies that even in your closet you pray out loud, in a soft but in an audible voice. III. The next thing taught us by our Saviour's words is, take as you go to prayers, take with you fatherly views of God. Let it be the prayer, not of a subject to a king, but of a child to its parent Pray to the Father. Pray to the Father who is in secret. Take care that your private communications with your Father are not vague, not such as any one else could say as well as you, but personal, confidential, and minute. Remember that every complete prayer has in it an order, an invocation, a confession of sin, thanksgiving for mercies, a supplication for gifts and graces, intercession, arguments, and pleadings, with a doxology. There is another part of devotion which does not occupy its proper place and degree in many of our holy functions, which is very important Adoration, adoring God for what He is in Himself, not for what He gives. Simple, devout, admiring contemplation of God. James Vaughan, Penny Pulpit, vol. xiv. p. 25. Recollection Matthew 6:6 Recollection, said Richard Cecil, is the life of true religion. It is to the soul, said another, what sleep is to the body; without it must come fever, collapse, and death. The soul that does not gather itself together and abide steadfast at the centre will soon be spent. A return to the well-head is the condition of renewed constant vigour and fertility. We live amidst unprecedented activity and growing discontent The outward agencies of the Church were never so demonstrative; they almost keep pace with the world; but no one is satisfied with their results. 'Life hurries on, spreads itself far and wide, but the source of life dries up.' Dispersed amid the multitude of things external, Christian people are forgetting that mental and spiritual progress consist in intensifying the inward life that abiding and fruitful Christian work can only be accomplished by serious and refreshed souls. I. Recollection is the fixed thought of the Redeeming God carried into all things. It is the calm, collected mood of those who set the Lord always before them, to whom every common vessel has been made a sacramental chalice, because all life has become a true communion with God in Christ It is not necessarily the repression of activity; it is its intensification. If it be true that the world is in a hard strait, and that the duty of Christian men Today is to turn aside from everything and to employ their whole force to set forward the perilous course of the mighty vessel freighted with the human race, recollection will not hinder this zeal. But the 'sad heart tires in a mile'. The world will not be overcome by what St. Bernard calls evisceratio mentis the disembowelling of the soul. The trouble of all the Churches Today is the slackening of the central impetus, and the one cure is recollection the possession of the soul the return to the abandoned sanctuary. II. Some general helps to recollection may be stated, however incompletely. Perfect simplicity of life and feeling can rarely be reached without sacrificing some part of our possessions and our work. There is no rule; every believer has to find how he may best live for himself the life of the true Christian. It is certain that the demands of society are a chief foe to recollection. The last Babylon is a place of merchandise, where the souls of men are sold. John Woolman says, 'Universal love reconciles the mind to a life so plain that a little doth suffice to support it, a life of simplicity and sufficiency where the real comforts of life are not lessened'. It is assuredly true that many do nothing because they try to do much. It is not the will of God that any should undertake all kinds of labour. It is not the will of God that men should elect forms of service for which they have no capacity. He does not take the pencil from the artist, the pen from the ready writer, and turn these men into preachers. He asks each to glorify Him where he stands, to take possession for God of the channels in which his strength is flowing. III. For true recollection we must be occupied with the immediate duty. That is really all we have to do with. Yet Christian workers in our day are being crushed with the burden of the past and the future. With these we have no concern. The past may inspire us, but looking unto Jesus we have a present help. It does not trouble us; in the kingdom of priests we are loosed from our sins. It does not dishearten us; God is with His people still. The future is His, not ours. We have no concern with one day of it. When we sit with Christ in heavenly places we pass already into the nobler order; we see all things put under Him. But the times, the seasons, the circumstances these things should not load us with the lightest burden. It is hardly necessary to add that the life of recollection is supremely a life of prayer a life of prayer with others, but chiefly a life of prayer in the closet. As Pascal says, it abides in its own room. Its first precept is 'Shut to the door'. There it seeks light, peace, strength in the most hidden recollection. So the soul discovers that it has power with God. It reveals to Him its own natural longings. But its will is subordinate to His it is at last, as a great master of the spiritual life has not shrunk from saying, 'steeped sevenfold in the blood of the Lamb'. W. Robertson Nicoll, Ten Minute Sermons, p. 69. Times of Private Prayer Matthew 6:6 Whoever is persuaded to disuse his morning and evening prayers, is giving up the armour which is to secure him against the wiles of the Devil. If you have left off the observance of them, you may full any day; and you will fall without notice. For a time you will go on, seeming to yourselves to be the same as before; but the Israelites might as well hope to lay in a stock of manna as you of grace. You pray God for your daily bread, your bread day by day; and if you have not prayed for it this morning, it will profit you little that you prayed for it yesterday. You did then pray and you obtained, but not a supply for two days. When you have given over the practice of stated prayer, you gradually become weaker without knowing it. Samson did not know he had lost his strength till the Philistines came upon him; you will think yourselves the men you used to be, till suddenly your adversary will come furiously upon you, and you will as suddenly fall. You will be able to make little or no resistance. This is the path which leads to death. J. H. Newman. Matthew 6:6 What indeed is prayer but love love * with a want? * EugÉnie de GuÉrin. References. VI. 6. 'Plain Sermons' by contributors to the Tracts for the Times, vol. i. pp. 71, 79. W. Howell Evans, Sermons for the Church's Year, p. 136. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.- VIII. p. 226. J. H. Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons, vol. i. p. 244. W. Binnie, Sermons, p. 140. W. M. Sinclair, The New Law, p. 38. C. J. Vaughan, Characteristics of Christ's Teaching, p. 137. E. Lyttelton, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, p. 232. G. G. Bradley, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlv. 1894, p. 168. E. Rees, ibid. vol. lxvii. 1905, p. 219. G. Dawson, Sermons, p. 8. VI. 6-15. C. Holland, Gleanings from a Ministry of Fifty Years, p. 185. VI. 7. J. E. Rattenbury, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxii. 1907, p. 371. VI. 7, 8. J. G. James, Problems of Prayer, p. 113. F. D. Maurice, The Prayer Book and the Lord's Prayer, p. 149. VI. 7-15. J. Oswald Dykes, The Manifesto of the King, p. 393. VI. 8, 9. F. D. Maurice, Christmas Day and Other Sermons, p. 170. ** God Our Father ( Trinity Sunday ) Matthew 6:9 ** In 1865 the late Charles Kingsley wrote to Maurice, 'As to the Trinity, I do understand you. You first taught me that the doctrine was a live thing, and not a mere formula to be swallowed by the undigesting reason; and from the time that I learnt from you that a Father meant a real Father, a Son a real Son, a Holy Spirit a real Spirit, Who was really good and holy, I have been able to draw all sorts of practical lessons from it in the pulpit, and ground all my morality upon it, and shall do so more.' We dwell only upon the first of these propositions, that 'a Father means a real Father,' and seek, like Kingsley, to draw some practical lessons from the fact. The whole Trinity is in a sense summed up in 'Fatherhood' the Son reveals the Father, the Holy Ghost proceeds from Him, with the Son, and witnesses to our sonship. The great Duke of Wellington is reported to have said, 'The Lord's Prayer alone is an evidence of Christianity, so admirably is that prayer accommodated to all our wants'. We have now to do with only the opening invocation. Why 'our' if used in private prayer? Two reasons, including our relations to (1) God and (2) to one another. I. Our Relations to God. It teaches us the doctrines of ( a ) Mediation; ( b ) Sonship. a. Mediation. We clearly see that God is not revealed as Father of the individual in the Old Testament, but as the Father of the nation (Malachi 1:6 ; Malachi 2:10 ; Isaiah 63:16 ). True (Psalms 89:26 ) 'He (David) shall cry unto Me "Thou art My Father, My God".' Yet David in his most intimate approaches to the throne does not call God 'Father'. The doctrine but dimly hinted at in the Old Testament is a New Testament truth. Christ says, 'No man knoweth the Father, but the Son and He,' etc. 'I ascend unto My Father and your Father.' 'No man cometh unto the Father but by Me.' 'Our Father' means then Christ's Father and my Father, teaching (1) Atonement, (2) Intercession. Some would like to finish up the Lord's Prayer with the customary Christian form 'for Christ's sake,' but that is not necessary if we understand the meaning of 'Our,' which places Him in the forefront of the prayer. It also teaches: b. Sonship. Not only is He our Advocate, but he whom He leads to God is a son also. 'At that day ye shall ask in My name... for the Father Himself loveth you.' This is the consummation. God is 'Father' of all, even in a sense of unbelievers. This is the teaching of the parable of the Prodigal Son. But even a heathen acknowledges a distinction. Alexander the Great said, 'God is a common Father of all men, but more particularly of the good and virtuous'. Hence the necessity of the New Birth. II. Our Relation to One Another. Another reason for the use of the plural may be found in our relations to one another. a. The Brotherhood of Believers. 'Our Father' means the Father of all my fellow-Christians and my Father. 'God is your Father, and all ye are brethren;' 'Members one of another'. We include in the prayer all God's children everywhere, as they include us. This obtains universal blessing. The Church is a Catholic Church. God's grace, like the sunbeams' actions upon the ocean drawing its particles up into the air in invisible vapour, draws from many hearts, widely apart as the far-stretching ocean, the common prayer of 'Our Father,' and as these particles condense into a cloud and fall in copious streams upon the earth, making it bring forth and bud, so are our common prayers answered, and widespread blessing secured for the world. b. Common Brotherhood. 'Our Father' means the Father of all mankind and my Father. We include in our petitions those who are not in the family reconciled to God. Our Lord says in the same chapter, 'Love your enemies, and do good to them that hate you... that ye may be the children of your Father in heaven '. III. One or Two Reflections. 1. Let us learn a lesson of confidence. We never come alone into God's presence. Every time we say 'Our Father' Christ joins with us in the petition. We go hand-in-hand with Him to the throne (the hand pierced for us), 'and Him the Father always hears '. His Holy Spirit prompting our prayers and filling them with true and vital meaning, thus the whole Trinity stand engaged to make us blest. 2. Let us be sure we can use the plural form in the highest sense of Sonship. 'As Christ is God's Son, so humbly am I.' 3. Let us not be selfish in our prayers. God's family is large, and has many needs. Mark the order of petitions in the Lord's Prayer. Those for others come first. 4. Let us not think we are lost in a crowd. The prayer is individual as well as general Scientists tell us a real solid exists nowhere in nature. Different experiments have proved invisible spaces between atoms composing a so-called solid body. Individuality is God's order ' One sparrow'. Our very hairs are numbered. The Cosmopolitanism of the Lord's Prayer Matthew 6:9-13 I. Has it ever struck you how representative this prayer is in respect to human want. To my mind its very originality lies in its power to include the old desires of the heart. These six petitions are each the voice of an ancient philosophy or faith; Christ has simply gathered them in. He has counted the scattered cries and made them one choir. II. The Jew cried, 'Hallowed be Thy name,' he wanted a God whom men could reverence for His holiness who charged His very angels with folly, who could not look upon sin but with abhorrence. Two empires have cried, 'Thy kingdom come' the Chinese and the Roman; they have seen heaven incarnated on a visible throne. The Brahman has cried, 'Thy will be done'; he counts his own will delusion; he wants to lose himself in the Absolute Life. The polytheist of every clime cries, 'Give us this day our daily bread'; his whole use of religion is for the needs of the hour. The Buddhist cries, 'Forgive us our debts'; he trembles lest the consequences of sin may be to bring us back after death to lower forms of being. And the Stoic cries, 'Lead us not into temptation'; his whole desire is to be free from the vain seductions of life to ignore its jealousies, to scorn its passions, to laugh at its ambitions, to regard its gains and its losses with equal contempt. III. These are the cries of the old world; and Christ has said, 'Come unto Me and I will give you rest!' He has not sent one of them empty away. He has gathered them together as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings; and there will not be one want neglected in His shower of blessings. G. Matheson, Messages of Hope, p. 212. References. VI. 9. E. Lyttelton, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, p. 238. J. B. Roberts, Studies in the Lord's Prayer, p. 15. Henry Wace, Some Central Points of Our Lord's Ministry, p. 231. J. B. Brinkworth, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlviii. 1895, p. 312. C. S. Macfarland, ibid. vol. lxv. 1904, p. 333. R. Flint, Sermons and Addresses, p. 94. B. Wilberforce, Sanctification by the Truth, pp. 189, 202, 213. C. Gore, Prayer and the Lord's Prayer, p. 30. C. E. Jefferson, The Character of Jesus, p. 311. A. Saphir, The Lord's Prayer, p. 37. B. W. Randolph, Church Times, vol. lii. 1904, p. 197. G. E. Deacon, The Lord's Prayer, p. 1. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew, I.-VIII. pp. 228, 233, 241. R. F. Horton, Lyndhurst Road Pulpit, p. 165. C. J. Vaughan, Characteristics of Christ's Teaching, p. 155. F. D. Maurice, The Prayer Book and the Lord's Prayer, pp. 283, 294. Henry Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons, vol. ii. p. 149. F. W. Farrar, The Lord's Prayer, pp. 11, 31, 43; see also Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlii. 1892, pp. 6, 16, 29. J. Harries, Does God Break His Pledges? pp. 38, 43, 49, 52. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Sunday Sermonettes for a Year, p. 34; see also Common Life Religion, p. 126. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iv. No. 213. VI. 9, 10. J. E. Roberts, Studies in the Lord's Prayer, pp. 25, 82. C. W. Stubbs, The Social Teaching of the Lord's Prayer, pp. i. 28. VI. 9-13. Ibid. Christian World Pulpit, vol. lii. 1897, p. 233. W. Boyd Carpenter, The Great Charter of Christ, p. 207. J. Jarvie, Discourses, p. 154. On Doing God's Will Matthew 6:10 Many people make a great mistake about God's will; they think that to do God's will is hard, painful, and so they say 'God's will be done' with a sigh or a groan. They think that if God's will be done it means taking away our dear ones that sickness and trouble will come into our homes. God's will, in their minds, is always connected with ruin, dying friends, and newly made graves. Some people never think of writing those words except on tombstones. I. God's Will is Love. He loves us; He is our test friend, so to do His will must be for our happiness. We obey the will of a good earthly father because we know He is doing the best for us and our future. The angels are perfectly happy because they are doing God's will. People often say: 'Oh, I have a will of my own, and I want to go in my own way'. That is pretty certain to end in misery. The prodigal leaves his father's home and comes to misery; when the sheep leaves the fold he is lost. II. How are we to do God's Will as it is Done in Heaven? Do you say it is too high for you? That you are here on earth and that heaven is very far away? Many mistakes are made about heaven. Heaven means the state of life where God's people do His will, and that life begins here on earth. We must begin the heavenly life here, heaven must be in us now if we are to be in it hereafter. Heaven means doing God's will. If there is no heaven in this life, we shall be the same individuals after death as now. If a man has no love for God, no love for his neighbours, no love for holy and beautiful things, if he be without prayer or praise, what would he do in heaven? We are made to do God's will, and as long as we do it we shall be happy. It is not unpleasant, it is a pleasure. The child who loves you runs quickly to do your wishes; so if we love God our greatest joy is to serve Him. God must come to us before we go to Him. God must work on us before we can do His good pleasure. 'I want to do God's will, I want to serve Him.' In answer to this cry God always comes to us comes into our hearts in answer to our prayer. III. The Example of Jesus Christ. What is God's will? What would He have us do? To get the right answer we must look at Jesus Christ. He did His Father's will as it is done in heaven. He made the world better. We are like emigrants sent from home into a far country. The good emigrant constructs roads and highways. He makes the rough wilderness to blossom like the rose. He puts the wild land into cultivation and produces useful crops and sweet flowers. He builds a good house and makes the place useful and beautiful. We are sent into the world for a like purpose that we may go down into the forest of ignorance and clear the way for truth. We are sent to get the highway of life open to pick up the stones and clear away the rocks so that poor pilgrims may not stumble. We must help our neighbours along the path of life. That is doing God's will. The Life of the Angels Matthew 6:10 What we have to fix our gaze upon, as we use this prayer, is, the revelation that underlies it of the existence of certain spiritual beings who in heaven are doing ever the Father's will; in other words, underlying this prayer, there lies the revelation of angelic existence. I. The point to which I wish to call your attention is the student life of the angels of God. Always and everywhere that is their condition. There is in them an intense craving to know. St. Peter speaks, in the first chapter of his first general Epistle, of things 'which the angels desire to look into'. But then, side by side with this intense craving to know, they have limited knowledge. Our Lord Himself tells us that 'of that day and that hour knoweth no man, not even the angels of God'. Therefore they are in the position of having limitations to their knowledge, a limitation which provokes them immediately into the activity of study. II. If you look at the student life of the angels you will find that they are always revealed to us as students of theology. They seek God everywhere, they find God everywhere, they rejoice in God everywhere, and everywhere they worship God. If you look in the Bible you will find three great spheres of angel-study comprehended in the great theology of the angels, a threefold study in which they are ever engaged. 1. The angels are revealed as studying the material world around us. 'When God laid the foundations of the earth, the sons of God shouted for joy.' And that joy has been an abiding joy; the angels are ever students of science, they are ever penetrating with enlightened gaze into all the mysteries of all physical phenomena around us. 2. But there is a second sphere of angel-study to which our attention is turned by St. Paul. He says as he goes forth upon his mission as a Christian preacher, and as the power of the Gospel is made manifest among men through his preaching, that he is acting upon the angels. And that one effect of God's wonderful working in His Church is the education of the angels themselves. 'To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God.' So that the angels are shown to us as the students of Church history. And surely not of Church history only; are we not taught that all history is under the hand of God in some strange way? 3. The angels are revealed to us as being students of what we call theology, in the more restricted sense especially, as being students of the Incarnate. St. Paul, enumerating some of the mysteries of the Incarnation, says that 'He was seen of the angels'. III. Our prayer is that God's will may be done on earth, as it is in heaven, which surely means that we, by God's grace, may be enabled so to live on earth as angels live above. If this be the case then one aspect of our life must be the aspect of a student. Like the angels we must seek from God the blessed gift of hunger and thirst after knowledge after knowledge of all kinds. 1. We learn from the angels that our student life must not be narrow. 2. We should imitate the angels in the spirit in which they study. The student should be possessed above all things by the spirit of reverence. 3. The study of God, and the study of God's will whenever we seek it, is meant to influence our character and to shape our lives. We must study God's will in order that we may do it, that we may become like Him. Theological study which is thus wide in its extent, courageous and reverent in its spirit, practical in its end this is the ideal of student life which is revealed to us by the lives of the angels. G. Body, The Contemporary Pulpit, vol. viii. 1887, p. 321. Christianity and Wealth Matthew 6:10 Our Lord Jesus Christ left no code of social legislation. He laid down no laws for Palestine in the first century, but He laid down principles for all countries, and for every century. What does Christ say of accumulation, and what of expenditure? I. First, how are we to understand 'Lay not up for yourselves treasures on the earth'? Does He mean that we are not to save money at all? Observe that two reasons are given for this advice. First, the hoard is liable to be lost, spoilt, or stolen, before it is enjoyed; and secondly, 'Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also'. It is assumed that wealth, whether in gold or commodities, is simply hoarded for future personal enjoyment, buried, probably under the floor; and our Lord says, as many other moralists have said: How foolish to keep the means of enjoyment till they are stolen, or spoilt, instead of using them. Well, we do not hoard money now, we invest it, which is a very different thing. But the second reason does touch us. Where is our real treasure? and where is our heart? It cannot be in both places. Those who try to 'make the best of both worlds' generally make nothing of either. We ought to know we do know, if we are honest with ourselves in which of these two worlds lies that which we love best and are most afraid to lose. Is it then impossible, according to our Lord's preaching, to be a successful man of business and to have one's heart and treasure in heaven? No, assuredly not impossible. We are unlucky if we have not known several instances to the contrary. But it is difficult; so our Lord warns us; and those who have tried it will not, I think, differ from Him. But there is another aspect of accumulation besides the self-regarding one. What is the justice of the matter? All acquisition should surely be the exchange value for some service rendered. And the law of Christ has much to say about investments. There are some businesses which degrade all who touch them: there are others which simply waste the energies of the workmen employed upon them; there are others which are gigantic instruments of national demoralization. Are we Christians enough to resist a tempting opportunity to invest at a high rate of interest in concerns of this kind? Once more, how are the workmen treated? All these cautions seem to be covered by our Lord's principles, but it would be a great mistake to suppose that He condemns the investment of surplus income in sound enterprises, which is generally, I believe, the best way of making work for the unemployed, and one of the best uses that we can make of superfluous money far better, certainly, than promiscuous doles. II. Next, as to expenditure it is strange how often one hears the old fallacy that to consume the fruits of labour is 'good for trade'. The millionaire who uses up the value of five hundred working men's time impoverishes the nation by that amount, and is by no means a benefactor. He is bound to show that he is putting in some equivalent for all that he takes out. Wealth does not release the rich man from his obligation to work, but only enables him to do unpaid work for society. A man has a legal right to the use of money which the law allows him to call his own; but morally, we have only the right to do what we ought, not what we like, or are allowed to do. W. R. Inge, All Saints' Sermons, 1905-1907, p. 69. Matthew 6:10 Compare the closing words of Sir Thomas Browne's Religio Medici: 'Bless me in this life with but the peace of my conscience, command of my affections, the love of Thyself and of my dearest friends, and I shall be happy enough to pity Cæsar! These are, O Lord, the humble desires of my most reasonable ambition, and all I dare call happiness on earth; wherein I set no rule or limit to Thy hand or providence; dispose of me according to the wisdom of Thy pleasure. Thy will be done, though in my own undoing.' In Past and Present (chap. xv.) Carlyle describes the true reverent man as one who 'has a religion. Hourly and daily, for himself and the whole world, a faithful, unspoken, but not ineffectual prayer rises, "Thy will be done ". His whole work on earth is an emblematic spoken or acted prayer. Be the will of God done on earth not the Devil's will, or any of the Devil's servants' wills! He has a religion, this man; an everlasting Loadstar that beams the brighter in the Heavens, the darker here on earth grows the night around him.' References. VI. 10. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxx. No. 1778. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. pp. 244, 253. B. Wilberforce, Sanctification by the Truth, p. 227. F. D. Maurice, The Prayer Book and the Lord's Prayer, p. 304. B. W. Maturin, Church Times, vol. xxxv. 1896, p. 357. S. D. McConnell, A Year's Sermons, p. 139. C. Thirlwall, Missionary Duties, Difficulties, and Prospects, p. 5. G. E. Deacon, The Lord's Prayer, pp. 17, 25. C. Gore, Prayer and the Lord's Prayer, pp. 39, 46. J. Harries, Does God Break His Pledges? pp. 56, 60. F. W. Farrar, The Lord's Prayer, pp. 57, 73; see also Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlii. 1892, pp. 45,77. T. Sims, ibid. vol. xli. 1892, p. 182. C. A. Berry, ibid. vol. li. 1897, p. 184. G. Mackenzie, ibid. vol. lii. 1897, p. 118. J. H. Bernard, ibid. vol. lvi. 1899, p. 274. W. H. Fremantle, ibid. vol. lvi. 1899, p. 376. R. Rainy, ibid. vol. lix. 1901, p. 41. G. Campbell Morgan, ibid. vol. lxi. 1902, p. 37. F. W. Gunsaulus, ibid. vol. lxii. 1902, p. 107. F. W. Macdonald, ibid. vol. lxv. 1903, p. 244. G. Campbell Morgan, ibid. vol. lxviii. 1905, p. 251. J. R. Harmer, ibid. vol. lxviii. 1905, p. 243. F. H. Chase, ibid. vol. lxx. 1906, p. 252. T. E. Ruth, ibid. vol. lxxiii. 1908, p. 108. H. T. Knight, Rational Religion, pp. 121, 137. F. E. Paget, The Living and the Dead, p. 193. A. G. Mortimer, One Hundred Miniature Sermons, vol. i. p. 31. Henry Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons, vol. ii. pp. 134, 230. C. Holland, Gleanings from a Ministry of Fifty Years, p. 34. W. Woods Smyth, Life and Holiness, p. 1. E. Bickersteth, ' Thy Kingdom Come' Sermons, 1887. Daily Bread Matthew 6:11 It is remarkable that, out of the seven petitions which compose the Lord's Prayer, only one should concern the needs of the body, while the other six concern needs of eternity. One for the body, six for heaven. And have you noticed that, for present duties, God has fixed an inverse ratio? God has said, 'Six days for work and one for worship,' but He has restored the balance, as it were, in prayer, and He has said, 'Six prayers for heaven, and one prayer for the earth'. After all, when you come to look at it from a real and honest standpoint, you cannot fail to see that the things that concern us for our short day here on earth are of secondary importance to the things that concern the eternity beyond. I wish you to look a little more closely at the believers' way of seeking temporal things from God, and first to see the piety of the prayer, and then the faith, and then the moderation. I. The Piety. Look at the child kneeling at his father's knee, with the love of a son looking up to his father's face, reaching up a hand for the needs of a day our daily bread. How reasonable it all is. Who made the body, and who made the bread? Did not God make the body and the bread; and is it not God, and only God, Who can suit the bread to the body? Is it not God Who gives you the food you eat, and gives you health to eat it? Therefore, is it not reasonable that day by day, and hour by hour, you should lift your eyes to Him Who giveth all, and say, 'Give us this day our daily bread'? And besides being reasonable, is it not a joy, is it not a delight, that we should turn up loving eyes to the Father of all, and then ask Him for all our needs? 'My Father, give me enough bread for my bodily needs, give me enough sustenance to keep me alive, while Thou wilt' Would it not be a joy and a pleasure if we could look up, with the eyes of sons and daughters, look up trustingly, lovingly to our Father, and say, 'Give us this day our daily bread '? It is a beautiful thing, in the sight of God and His holy angels, to see a godly man get up in the morning, and, surrounded by his wife and children, put special emphasis upon the words of my text, 'Give us this day our daily bread'. He looks round and sees his family. He knows that the bread they eat depends more or less on his toil, and he puts an emphasis on the 'us'. He thanks God that He has made the 'us' so large that it includes all that he holds dear, his wife, his children; yes, possibly many more, and he prays, 'Give us this day our daily bread'. What does it matter if the next meal does depend upon his labour? Things may change, health may fail, trials may draw near, but it is the Lord Who changeth not; and that poor man goes forth from his knees to his work, full of joy. 'Give us this day our daily bread.' II. The Faith. Look at the faith of the prayer. It is a strange thing, but there is absolutely no doubt about it, we have far more difficulty in trusting God with regard to temporal matters than with regard to spiritual matters. 'Spiritual things,' we say, 'these are in God's province; for temporal things I have to depend upon myself.' Is it so? God withdraws His hand. You lie, perhaps, upon the bed of sickness, you live by charity. Do you depend upon your own powers, upon your own ability? No, it is given you, given; and what a useful lesson it is! Every morning, yes, often during the day, you should pray, 'Give us'. Why? 'Because I depend upon Thee, Great Lord, because the power of brain and body which Thou hast given me Thou canst take away, Therefore, give it me, keep it for me. Give me all that is included in the word "bread ".' III. The Moderation. Let us see the moderation of the prayer. We see that in time, manner, and degree. Enough for the day is the evil thereof, and enough for the day is this one prayer, 'Give us this day'. One thinks of the miser hoarding his money, hoarding penny after penny. He gloats over it. It is his worship, it is his god. He does not pray, 'Give us this day'. Do not for a moment imagine that I do not want you to make provision for tomorrow; I do. But I do not want you to make anxious provision. That is all the difference in the world. That is the difference between what is good and what is evil. God will provide. 'Give us this day our daily bread.' You know that in the East this word 'bread' is made to stand for all the necessaries of life. God knows what is necessary. We leave it a blank in God's hand. We say, give us this day all that we need for our bodily sustenance. Is not that enough of a prayer? I wonder how many of us pray that prayer as it ought to be prayed? References. VI. 11. Henry Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons, vol. ii. p. 163. J. Martineau, Hours of Thought, vol. ii. p. 60. G. E. Deacon, The Lord's Prayer, p. 33. C. W. Stubbs, The Social Teaching of the Lord's Prayer, p. 54. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 260. C. Gore, Prayer and the Lord's Prayer, p. 56. F. W. Farrar, The Lord's Prayer, p. 91; see also Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlii. 1892, p. 100. S. M. Taylor, ibid. vol. lxx. 1906, p. 294. T. Sadler, Sermons for Children, p. 128. J. Harries, Does God Break His Pledges? p. 62. B. W. Maturin, Church Times, vol. xxxv. 1896, p. 389. H. T. Knight, Rational Religion, p. 155. VI. 11-13. J. E. Roberts, Studies in the Lord's Prayer, p. 36. Forgive Us Our Debts Matthew 6:12 In that last hour of that last day, when the silent morning light has glimmered through the window for the very last time before our failing eyes, and we feel the burden of our many sins pressing heavily upon us, there will be nothing that can give the trembling mind of the strongest man of us any comfort, unless he can say with truth, 'And now, Lord, what is my hope? Truly my hope is even in Thee.' Nothing, unless he can receive back through the familiar voice of the Spirit of God, speaking by a pure conscience, the message which our Lord gave to the sick of the palsy: 'Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee'. And surely it will be well, while we are in the full vigour of both mind and body,' and the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh when we shall say, We have no pleasure in them,' that we consider what grounds we have for this assurance, so that when the summons comes we may have no cause why our hearts should fail us. I. Our Lord has mercifully put into our daily prayer a reminder of how the case really stands between us and God. There is no happiness apart from God. God is that Essence of Goodness and Perfection which fills all space, time, and eternity; Who brought everything into being; apart from Whom there is no life; Who keeps everything in health and safety; Whose perfect will is the law of the universe; and Who, by allowing you and me free will, is training us to be with Him, and share His glory of perfection for ever and ever. To Him we owe everything. It is to His bountiful Providence that we are indebted for our daily food, clothes, money, gifts, and talents. To the Goodness of His Being belong the ideals of our homes, family life, friendships, and affections. To His pervading loving-kindness we attribute our enjoyments in the present, our hopes for the future, our knowledge of Him, our understanding of His revelation, our salvation in Jesus Christ His Son and Messenger, our instruction in the ways of peace and happiness, our consolation in the troubles of this world, our comfort in the unknown terrors of that which is to come. From His loving-kindness in the gradual stages of revelation come the explanation of the bewildering mysteries of life, our conscience, our sense of duty and responsibility, our capacity to love Him, after Whose spiritual image we were formed. We owe all this to God. II. Is there no duty we owe to Him in return? More than that, can we have these things without owing Him any duty at all? Some of them come to us by nature, and we can spoil them by neglecting our duty to God. Some of them we cannot have at all without recognizing this duty, and acting upon it. We owe God love, gratitude, reverence, trust, obedience. We find His laws for us in our consciences, in His Holy Word, in the revelation of His Son. We see that to be on the same side with all that is good, powerful, healthy, living, happy, eternal, we must give ourselves up wholly to Him. We must resign our wills into His hands; our lives, thoughts, hearts, principles, affections, all to be ruled by Him. When a heart is so willingly given up to Him, He sends His Spirit, His Grace, His Power, and does so guide and rule it. He makes the sacrifice easy. He alone can govern the unruly wills and affections of sinful men. That is what He is always waiting to do for us. That, then, is what we owe to God; in order to be what we are intended to be we have to yield up to Him all that we have and are. III. How imperfect is the sacrifice we have made! What self-will there yet remains in some; what worldliness, what wayward affections, what folly, what weakness, what sin fulness in others! What a want of truth, candour, firmness, purity, self-control, generosity, unselfishness, love to man and love to God! Convinced of all this, we should indeed be miserably helpless, if the same message which tells us about God and our sins did not also assure us that, 'if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness'. IV. Therefore it is that, with the precious promises of God's Word before us, and with all the bitter remembrance of our shortcomings behind us, our Lord bids us bend daily before our gracious Father in heaven, and say in penitence and humility, in love, trust, and hope, 'Forgive us our debts'. We are forgiven, not cheaply, because that would encourage other beings and worlds to rebel and ruin themselves. We are forgiven by the infinite and never-failing love of our All-pitying God. We are forgiven for the sake of Him Who died for us, and rose again, and ever liveth to make intercession for us. We are forgiven, in order that God may be feared, and not defied, that He may be loved and not challenged. We are forgiven that we may ever be renewed from the past, that we may have hope for the future, and courage again and again to seek the life-giving Throne of grace to obtain help in time of need. And among other conditions of our forgiveness there, is one of which we, poor vindictive angry souls, so ready to take offence, so unwilling to pardon, have at the same time daily to remind ourselves. In the very act of prayer, we are taught to remember it. The temper that does not forgive cannot be forgiven, because it is itself a proof that we have no idea of the debt we owe. We cannot forget the ten thousand talents, as we exact the hundred pence, and in the act of exacting we bring back the burden of that greater debt upon ourselves. References. VI. 12. B. Wilberforce, Sanctification by the Truth, p. 255. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, The School of Christ, p. 44. F. D. Maurice, The Prayer Book and the Lord's Prayer, p. 348. W. M. Sinclair, The New Law, p. 73. C. Gore, Prayer and the Lord's Prayer, p. 65. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.- VIII. p. 272. J. Harries, Does God Break His Pledges? p. 68. W. C. Magee, The Gospel and the Age, p. 259. G. E. Deacon, The Lord's Prayer, pp. 41, 48. F. W. Farrar, ibid. pp. 109, 129; see also Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlii. 1892, pp. 109, 285. VI. 12, 13. C. W. Stubbs, The Social Teaching of the Lord's Prayer, p. 80. The Sources of Temptation Matthew 6:13 What are the sources of temptation? We should do wrong to narrow down our idea of temptation to incitement to evil, coming from an evil quarter. There are more sources than one, and the first we are apt to overlook; it is: I. God Almighty Himself. In more than one place God reveals Himself as tempting man. God tempted Abraham by the order to slay his only son; God tempted David to number Israel by permitting the devil to suggest it. It is a common phenomenon of daily life, in which God may be seen tempting men, in His goodness, to goodness, for their good. Joseph and Daniel are tried respectively with the same temptations which tried David and St. Peter, but they emerge through degradation and the fear of death to a greater eminence than they enjoyed before. But temptations which come from God are no easy things which any one can bear; all that is ordinarily said about temptation applies to them (see 2 Corinthians 7:7-9 ). See men and women around us snapping under the sharp discipline of God. Yet, could they have but seen it, with the trial, coming out of it, there was the way of escape, there was the special grace enabling them to bear it, the special virtue to be developed out of it. It has been so all through the history of human experience. The sorrows of the world's sin have brought out the Church; the sufferings of the human frame have developed the healing art. Trouble has brought the unexpected store of sympathy; the depth of despair has brought close the vision of God. But the most characteristic source of temptation is: II. The Devil. Now it belongs to the jugglery of the accusing angel to try and confuse in our minds attack and defeat, temptation and sin. Before any sin can be set up, three processes must be gone through. First, there is the suggestion of evil (here, per se , there is no sin); then there comes the delight, the acquiescence in the suggestion (here the sinfulness is commencing); until at last the will consents, and sin is formed, according to the strong statement of St. James, pregnant with death. Next observe some of the regions in which Satan's temptations come upon us. We shall find these in the example of the temptation of our Blessed Lord, the model on which Satan founds many more of his attacks. 1. The appetite. This is the point where Satan is riding roughshod over the lives of thousands of human beings. Think of the terrible condition of our streets, the coarse animalism of our villages. An appetite which overmasters the will enslaves the man. On any showing grace is stronger than nature, reason than instinct, and man is higher than a brute. 2. Satan also approaches through the soul i.e. the inner principle of life. He tampers with the policy, the aim, the motive of life by means of a view from a 'high mountain'. A view! A young man e.g. entering life is altogether upset by the view of riches, and enters on his work with a false aim. We have to deal with a subtle danger known as 'the world' an influence, a mist, which mounts up from the careless lives of men, which smoothes out the distances in religion and obliterates the objects of faith. The world of religion, the world of morality, the world of ideals, we know what they mean so that no one can let himself 'go,' so to speak, in the world. While we get good out of the world for all sorts of purposes, we have to be on our guard against this tarnishing 'mist', It is a dangerous atmosphere to which Satan tempts us to commit ourselves. He is asking us to part with our eternal inheritance at the price of the gratification of a few years; to sell our birthright for a mess of pottage. 3. Satan's third attack is through the region of the 'spirit' e.g. 'If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down'. It is a very subtle temptation to dictate to God how He ought to treat us. Stairs, and walking down, are much too simple things for God to care for. The Son of God has a right to expect upholding angels; nothing between Him and God. It sounds well, but it is the highest presumption. It is the claim for exceptional treatment, the essence of self-complacency. Thus men would be Christians without the sacraments, without the Church, without a revelation. III. There still remains another source there is a temptation which comes from within. We know of two conditions for the spread of disease an infected air and an enfeebled constitution. And so in the infected air around us our weak human nature is a distinct trial to us. True, at baptism, original sin was washed away, but there still remains 'poor human nature' as we call it. When this fails beneath the assault, where is the means of escape? Never too much temptation God always faithful. A way of escape through the temptation. Do we not know how a doctor will say sometimes of a sick man, 'His splendid constitution saved him'? Is there not, or should there not be, a reserve of strength within the souls of us all? There exists in all who have not quenched or driven it out, a reserve of baptismal grace. Confirmation was no mere taking upon ourselves of our baptismal vows, as is sometimes said, with strange ignorance of real meaning. Confirmation was an access of strength coming to us through the Holy Spirit. Welcomed into the soul, it stays, a store of strength, a spiritual reserve in time of need. It is not in vain that we have so often approached the altar, so often prayed, received absolution, heard the Word of God. In our spiritual gifts we shall always find a reserve of strength, so that even the memory of past grace is a way of escape. Matthew 6:13 The Christian says to God: Deliver us from evil. The Buddhist adds: And to that end deliver us from finite existence, give us back to nothingness! The first believes that when he is enfranchised from the body, he will enter upon eternal happiness; the second believes that individuality is the obstacle to repose, and he longs for the dissolution of the soul itself. The dread of the first is the Paradise of the second. Amiel. References. VI. 13. B. Wilberforce, Sanctification by the Truth, pp. 266, 277. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, The School of Christ, pp. 51, 58, 64. C. Gore, Prayer and the Lord's Prayer, pp. 72, 78. Bishop Creighton, The Mind of St. Peter, p. 33. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. pp. 277, 282, 289. H. T. Knight, Rational Religion, p. 169. Harvey Goodwin, Parish Sermons, p. 161. J. E. Cumming, The Blessed Life, p. 133. F. W. Farrar, The Lord's Prayer, pp. 149, 181, 199, 213; see also Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlii. 1892, p. 301, and vol. xliii. 1893, pp. 17, 33, 49, 65. W. M. Sinclair, ibid. vol. xlvi. 1894, p. 75. E. S. Talbot, ibid. vol. lxx. 1906, p. 324. D. M. T. Willis, ibid. vol. lxxii. 1907, p. 300. J. Stalker, The Four Men, p. 31. J. Forgan, British Weekly Pulpit, vol. ii. p. 328. J. Harries, Does God Break His Pledges? pp. 72, 76, 80. G. E. Deacon, The Lord's Prayer, pp. 56, 63. F. D. Maurice, The Prayer Book and the Lord's Prayer, pp. 363, 387. Harvey Goodwin, The Anglican Pulpit of Today, p. 114. Bishop J. Percival, Sermons at Rugby, p. 148. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. ix. No. 509, vol. xxiv. No. 1402. VI. 14. F. W. Farrar, The Lord's Prayer, pp. 229, 245, 257. VI. 14, 15. D. M. T. Willis, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxii. 1907, p. 300. VI. 16. E. Lyttelton, ibid. vol. Ixxi. 1907, p. 168. 'Plain Sermons' by contributors to the Tracts for the Times, vol. x. p. 73. VI. 16-18. E. Lyttelton, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, p. 264. J. Oswald Dykes, The Manifesto of the King, p. 417. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 298. Matthew 6:17 Fasting? Why, for a man who is trying to do his work in the best way, life is a perpetual fast. Edward Thring. References. VI. 17. J. M. Neale, Sermons Preached in Sackville College Chapel, vol. i. p. 141. J. S. Maver, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liv. 1898, p. 174. VI. 17, 18. F. E. Paget, Sermons on Duties of Daily Life, p. 289. VI. 19. S. Rigby, Sketches of Sermons, p. 1. E. Lyttelton, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, p. 275. W. B. Selbie, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxvi. 1904, p. 212. VI. 19, 20. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 299. VI. 19-21. Stopford A. Brooke, The Fight of Faith, p. 307. D. Fraser, Metaphors in the Gospels, p. 28. R. J. Campbell, A Faith for Today, p. 331. George MacDonald, Unspoken Sermons, p. 118. J. Denney, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liv. 1898, p. 344. R. J. Campbell, ibid. vol. lxii. 1900, p. 68. VI. 19-22. H. Ward Beecher, Sermons, vol. ii. p. 1. VI. 19-24. J. Oswald Dykes, The Manifesto of the King, p. 449. VI. 19-34. W. Boyd Carpenter, The Great Charter of Christ, p. 233. VI. 20. T. L. Cuyler, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xli. 1892, p. 367. S. Rigby, Sketches of Sermons, p. 13. VI. 20, 21. A. G. Mortimer, One Hundred Miniature Sermons, vol. i. p. 155. Matthew 6:21 Where the pursuit of truth has been the habitual study of any man's life, the love of truth will be his ruling passion. 'Where the treasure is, there the heart is also.' Every one is most tenacious of that to which he owes his distinction from others. Hazlitt. The character of a man depends on that which is his confidence.... If you can persuade a covetous man that money is not son bouclier ni sa grande récompense , but that God is, you change him from a covetous man into a pious man.... The thing in which I put my confidence for happiness has necessarily a directing influence over my whole being; it communicates its own nature to me in some measure. Erskine of Linlathen. References. VI. 21. H. Montagu Butler, Harrow School Sermons (2nd Series), p. 211. A. F. Winnington Ingram, Church Times, vol. lviii. 1907, p. 690. H. Harris, Short Sermons, p. 230. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 302. The Eye of the Soul Matthew 6:22-23 I. If we would see aright, we must cultivate the imagination. II. Have faith in conscience as a trustworthy witness. III. Educate them both in the things of God. If one of us was asked to judge a piece of music to see if it were Handel's, we should be sure to judge wrongly, if we did not know Handel's style; we must study our composer; we must read into his thoughts and note his expressions, and then we shall know if the piece has a true ring or not. So it is with the things of God: something comes before you purporting to be from God: are you in a position to judge? Not if you have never studied God's ways, not if you know nothing of His love, not if you never pray, not if you are drifting on, careless of your faith, not if you only care for your intellect and leave conscience and imagination to dwindle and to die: then you will decide against the revelation of God; for the light that is in you will be darkness, and if the light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness! But if, on the other hand, with humble patience and modest fearlessness you turn yourself towards the opening heaven; if with fresh untarnished powers you compare that external revelation with the light already gathered by those powers within; if, to sum it all up, in the words of the text, your eye is single, then the opening revelation shall flood your soul with light; nay! your whole body shall be full of light; you shall breathe light, speak light, act light; and you shall inherit the blessing pronounced on those who have 'not seen and yet have believed'. Bishop Winnington Ingram, Oxford University Sermons, p. 1. References. VI. 22. W. G. Rutherford, The Key of Knowledge, p. 182. J. J. Tayler, Christian Aspects of Faith and Duty, p. 267. R. C. Moberly, Church Times, vol. xlviii. 1902, p. 76. VI. 22, 23. J. G. James, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxix. 1891, p. 118. S. Milburn, ibid. vol. xlviii. 1895, p. 152. J. Martineau, Endeavours After the Christian Life (2nd Series), p. 100. C. J. Vaughan, Characteristics of Christ's Teaching, p. 175. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. vi. No. 335. VI. 22-24. E. Lyttelton, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, p. 282. Matthew 6:23 He put things in such a way that his hearer was led to take each rule or fact of conduct by its inward side, its effect on the heart and character; then the reason of the thing, the meaning of what had been mere matter of blind rule, flashed upon him. The hearer could distinguish between what was only ceremony and what was conduct; and the hardest rules of conduct came to appear to him infinitely reasonable and natural, and therefore infinitely prepossessing. M. Arnold. Human life at the best is enveloped in darkness; we know not what we are or whither we are bound. Religion is the light by which we are to see our way along the moral pathways without straying into the brake or the morass. We are not to look at religion itself, but at surrounding things with the help of religion. If we fasten our attention upon the light itself, analysing it into its component rays, speculating on the union and composition of the substances of which it is composed, not only will it no longer serve us for a guide, but our dazzled senses lose their natural powers; we should grope our way more safely in conscious blindness. 'When the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!' In the place of the old material idolatry we erect a new idolatry of words and phrases. Froude on * Calvinism. * Reference. VI. 23. Hugh Price Hughes, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lvi. 1899, p. 161. Matthew 6:24 It would almost appear as if one half of mankind started on their career in life for the purpose of proving that this saying of our Lord's was not true. Mozley. Mammon, cries the generous heart out of all ages and countries, is the basis of known gods, even of known devils. In him what glory is there that ye should worship him? No glory discernible; not even terror: at best, detestability, ill-matched with despicability! Carlyle, French Revolution (towards close). Our deity being no longer Mammon O Heavens, each man will then say to himself: 'Why such deadly haste to make money? I shall not go to Hell, even if I do not make money! There is another Hell, I am told!' Carlyle, Past and Present, Iv. Nature gives herself to those who are determined to possess her, but she will be exclusively loved. Millet, 'Notes on Art'. Go and argue with the flies of summer that there is a power Divine yet greater than the sun in the heavens, but never dare hope to convince the people of the South that there is any other God than Gold. Kinglake in Eothen, chap. vii. This is the meaning of St. Francis's renouncing his inheritance; and it is the beginning of Giotto's gospel of works. Unless this hardest of deeds be done first; this inheritance of mammon and the world cast away all other deeds are useless. You cannot serve, cannot obey, God and mammon. No charities, no obediences, no self-denials, are of any use, while you are still at heart in conformity with the world. You go to Church, because the world goes. You keep Sunday, because your neighbours keep it. But you dress ridiculously, because your neighbours ask it; and you dare not do a rough piece of work, because your neighbours despise it. You must renounce your neighbour, in his riches and pride, and remember him in his distress. Ruskin. It is impossible to read those impassioned words in which Jesus Christ upbraids the pusillanimity and; sensuality of mankind, without being strangely reminded of the more connected and systematic enthusiasm of Rousseau. 'No man,' says Jesus Christ, 'can serve two masters. Take, therefore, no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.' If we would profit by the wisdom of a sublime and poetical mind, we must beware of the error of interpreting literally every expression it employs. Nothing can well be more remote from the truth than the literal and strict construction of such expressions as Jesus Christ delivers. He simply exposes, with the passionate rhetoric of enthusiastic love towards all human beings, the miseries and mischiefs of that system which makes all things subservient to the subsistence of the material frame of man. He warns them that no man can serve two masters God and mammon; that it is impossible at once to be high-minded and just and wise, and to comply with the accustomed forms of human society, seek power, wealth, or empire, either from the idolatry of habit, or as the direct instruments of sensual gratification. Shelley, * Essay on Christianity. * 'But, you may tell me, the young people are taught to be Christians. It may be want of penetration. But I have not yet been able to perceive it. As an honest man, whatever we teach, and be it good or evil, it is not the doctrine of Christ.... Take a few of Christ's sayings and compare them with our current doctrines: ' Ye cannot, he says, serve God and mammon. Cannot? and our whole system is to teach us how we can!... ' Take no thought for the morrow. Ask the successful merchant; interrogate your own heart; and you will have to admit that this is not only a silly but an immoral position. All we believe, all we hope, all we honour in ourselves or in our contemporaries, stands condemned in this one sentence, or, if you take the other view, condemns the sentence as unwise and inhumane. We are not then of the "same mind that was in Christ". We disagree with Christ. Either Christ meant nothing, or else He or we must be in the wrong.... This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/expositors-dictionary/ Matthew 7:1 'Next week, it is still but the 10th of April, there comes a new nineteen' to the guillotine; 'Chaumette, Gobel, Hébert's widow, the widow of Camille: these also roll their fated journey; black Death devours them.... For Anaxagoras Chaumette, the sleek head now stripped of its bonnet rouge , what hope is there? Unless Death were "an eternal sleep"? Wretched Anaxagoras, God shall judge thee, not I. Carlyle, French Revolution, Vol. III. book vi. chap. iii. For myself, I no more call the Crusades folly than I call the eruption of a volcano folly, or the French Revolution folly, or any other bursting up of the lava which lies in nature or in the hearts of mankind. It is the way in which nature is pleased to shape the crust of the earth and to shape human society. Our business with these things is to understand them, not to sit in judgment on them. Froude. I sometimes wonder whether people who talk so freely about extirpating the unfit even dispassionately consider their own history. Surely one must be very 'fit' indeed not to know of an occasion, or perhaps two, in one's life when it would have been only too easy to qualify for a place among the 'unfit'. Huxley. Frederick Denison Maurice to his mother: 'Of all spirits I believe the spirit of judging is the worst, and it has had the rule of me I cannot tell you how dreadfully and how long. Looking into other people for faults which I had a secret consciousness were in myself, and accusing them instead of looking for their faults in myself, where I should have been sure to find them all; this, I find, has more hindered my progress in love and gentleness and sympathy than all things else. I never knew what the words 'judge not, that ye be not judged' meant before; now they seem to me some of the most awful, necessary, and beautiful in the whole Word of God. Have it a fixed principle that getting into any scornful way is fatal. Bushnell. 'The life of Harriet Martineau is strong upon me at present,' James Smetham writes in 1876. 'When the "orthodox" begin to frown and curse and maledict, and send everybody into blackness of darkness who does not hold their precise creed, that is more from beneath than above, and never over any good. And I must say that the lives of some "professors" are below the moral elevation of many who do not see the evangelic scheme at all.... God knows if H. M. was true to the core I don't. I can't unwind her seventy-four years of act and thought, and if I could, who made me a judge or a divider? Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? He grasps her now, and not an atom shall be wanting in the justice of Divine love. How often we forget in judging others the influences under which they have grown up! How can one expect a child to be truthful when he sees how servants, yes, often parents, practise deceit? How many children hear from those to whom they look up, expressions, principles, and prudent rules of life, which consciously or unconsciously exercise an influence on the young life of the child! Yet with how little of loving introspection we pass our judgments? Max Müller. 'The world is habitually unjust in its judgments of such men as Burns,' Carlyle protests. 'Unjust on many grounds, of which this one may be stated as the substance: It decides like a court of law, by dead statutes; and not positively but negatively, less as what is done right than as what is or is not done wrong.... Here lies the root of many a blind, cruel condemnation of Burnses, Swifts, Rousseaus, which one never listens to with approval. Granted, the ship comes into harbour with shrouds and tackle damaged; the pilot is blameworthy; he has not been all-wise and all-powerful: but to know how blameworthy, tell us first whether his voyage has been round the globe or only to Ramsgate and the Isle of Dogs.' No man can say in what degree any other person besides himself can be with strict justice called wicked. Let any of the strictest character for regularity of conduct among us, examine impartially how many vices he has never been guilty of, not from any care or vigilance, but for want of opportunity, or some accidental circumstance intervening; how many of the weaknesses of mankind he has escaped, because he was out of the line of such temptation; and, what often if not always weighs more than all the rest, how much indebted he is to the world's good opinion, because the world does not know all; I say, any man who can thus think, will scan the failings, nay the faults and crimes, of mankind around him, with a brother's eye. Burns. It is curious to notice the kind of criticism indulged in by mechanics whom one meets at the exhibitions of modern pictures at Liverpool and elsewhere. There is no love in it. The men are for ever on the alert to find out something wrong, to detect faults, and no more. Dr. Augustus Jessopp, Arcady, p. 70. References. VII. C. Gore, Church Times, vol. xxxiii. 1895, p. 507. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxix. No. 2312, vol. xlviii. No. 2808. VII. 1. E. H. Eland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxi. 1902, p. 158. C. J. Vaughan, Characteristics of Christ's Teaching, p. 214. VII. 1-5. E. Lyttelton, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, p. 305. VII. 1-6. J. Oswald Dykes, The Manifesto of the King, p. 529. VII. 1-12. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 324. VII. 1-14. W. Boyd Carpenter, The Great Charter of Christ, p. 257. Just Recompense Matthew 7:2 These words are usually interpreted in their application to the relationship which we sustain to others. But the words enshrine a principle to which our Lord gave other and varied applications: I. 'Unto you that hear shall more be given.' The measure of your hearing shall be the measure of your listening. If you want to hear the voice of God, listen! The voice will grow clearer and clearer as your hearing becomes more earnest and intense. Listen to God's voice in conscience, and more and more pronounced and definite shall be its guidance. Do not listen much to conscience, and conscience will say less and less to you, until perhaps some day the hall where it ought to thunder shall be as silent as the tomb. This is a great law: 'Unto you that hear shall more be given,' and 'From him that hath not, shall be taken away even that which he hath'. II. A person can read the Bible, and not listen, and to him there comes no eternal speech. The revelation is not given to the reader, but to the listener. If we turn to the Word with the spirit awake and alert, we shall be led from revelation to revelation, and from glory to glory. III. 'According to thy faith be it unto thee.' The measure of our faith is the measure of the power we receive from our Lord. What is faith? 'Faith is the assurance of things hoped for.' Faith acts on the assurance that the thing hoped for is. 'Believe that you have received them, and ye shall have them.' That is faith. Such faith is power; and the more our faith increases the greater will be our power to pursue a quiet, faithful, and confident life. J. H. Jowett, Meditations for Quiet Moments, p. 72. Matthew 7:3 'In all my travels,' Cobden once wrote to Bright, 'three reflections constantly occur to me: how much unnecessary solicitude and alarm England devotes to the affairs of foreign countries; with how little knowledge we enter upon the task of regulating the concerns of other people; and how much better we might employ our energies in improving matters at home.' Commenting, in his life of Milton, upon the poet's line, On evil days though fallen and evil tongues, Johnson protested that 'for Milton to complain of evil tongues required impudence at least equal to his other powers; Milton, whose warmest advocates must allow that he never spared any asperity of reproach or brutality of insolence.' 'Never yet,' says Dr. Augustus Jessopp, 'have I found an Arcadian who pleaded guilty to anything that was particularly owdacious , even though the recording angel had written it down in letters of flame for all the world to read; but never have I found the same Arcadian unable or unwilling to denounce somebody else!' References. VII. 3-5. H. Hensley Henson, Christ and the Nation, p. 54. D. Fraser, Metaphors in the Gospels, p. 38. R. W. Hiley, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xli. 1892, p. 189. E. Lyttelton, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, p. 311. On Guarding Holy Things Matthew 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs that is to say, never surrender the higher to the lower, never sink the celestial to the terrestrial; never desecrate that which has been consecrated. That was the sound piece of advice that our Lord gave to men and women who were trying to aim at a higher life while they were living in and mixing with the world. That was what He put before them as something definite to aim at In mixing with men and women you will find much that is holy, much that is beautiful and pure and spiritual, and you will find much that is unholy, much that is coarse, and ugly, and animal. And when you find it, when you come across it and meet it face to face, then never surrender good to evil, never sink the higher to the lower. There is the advice, and this is the picture. It is the picture of a glorious and a great temple, the priests sacrificing some spotless lamb, and as they stand at the altar the picture is that of an Eastern dog a coarse, cruel scavenger creeping up the distance of the temple, and then the priest taking a piece of this pure spotless lamb and throwing it to the dog. Every Jew would regard it as a scandal, everyone to whom our Lord was speaking would know to what He referred. I. The Holiness of Manhood. First, I think, human nature itself. You are holy, human nature is holy that which is unholy is inhuman. Human nature is holy because it is human. Man is holy, woman is holy, and am I not right in saying that there is a danger lest our manhood and our womanhood be flung to the dogs and treated recklessly as something unholy, as Satanic rather than as sacred? Manhood is holy, and yet men desecrate their manhood. II. The Holiness of Womanhood. And the same is true of womanhood. We know there are women who in one mad moment have thrown their holiest and their best to the dogs. We know their temptations, we know what it means to them. They have lowered the level of womanhood. They have desecrated the consecrated. They have made themselves a sort of right of way for the public to walk over. To them the Master says, as to the men, 'Give not that which is holy to the dogs'. III. The Holiness of Childhood. And may I say a word for the children? The children are holy; if ever there is a time in life when men and women have been holy it is when they were children. And yet look how children are by their parents literally thrown to the dogs, sent out into life unwarned of everything. What wonder that they go when they are sent to the dogs. I have read the story of a child whose afterlife was the life of many a man. He was a judge's son, and he stood at last in a felon's dock, and the judge who was trying the case knew, and knew well, the man's father. And he said to the prisoner at the dock: 'Don't you remember your father as you stand in that dock?' 'Yes,' was the reply, 'I do remember my father, and the greatest remembrance that I have of him is that whenever I wanted a word of advice, whenever I wanted him to enter into my boy life, he replied, "Go away, and don't worry or bother ".' IV. The Holiness of Health. 'Give not that which is holy to the dogs.' What is it you are in danger of giving Today? Think it out and ask whether you are doing your best to keep it whole and intact and unimpaired. I will take but one more illustration of what I mean health. Health is holy. Don't fling away health as men and women do so wildly, so recklessly. In the prayer of all prayers, the Lord's Prayer, 'Give us this day our daily bread,' comes in before the plea for pardon. First the body, then the soul, because if the body is not kept right the soul is morbid and consequently is not at its best to resist what it has to meet in life. 'Give not that which is holy to the dogs.' Take care of the drugs, take care of the stimulants that are so easily to be had. Take care of the way you spend your recreation hours. Life is in that sense holy, and it is to be treated as you would treat a church or a churchyard. Fence it in from the dogs, fence it in from all that desecrates it. All life really is sacred and holy. Your interest, your work in life is holy; and our thought Today is the thought the Master gave to men and women who, as we have to do, lived in and mixed with the world. 'Give not that which is holy to the dogs.' Matthew 7:6 I was always pleased with the motto placed under the figure of the rosemary in old herbals: Sus apage, haud tibi spiro . Coleridge. There is a Buddhistic parallel: 'Let not this doctrine, so full of truth, so excellent, fall into the hands of those unworthy of it, where it would be despised, shamefully treated, ridiculed, and censured'. 'Mr. Erskine [of Linlathen],' Miss Wedgwood writes in her journal for 13 September, 1865, 'spoke of the connexion between Matthew 7:1-5 , "Judge not," etc., and the verses which follow, "Give not that which is holy to the dogs," etc., and then of the transition which seems in the ordinary acceptation of these later words so abrupt and almost contradictory, but which, as he understands it, is a harmonious development of the same idea. The instrument of judgment is the conscience; we judge ourselves by the conscience, and other men also, and the conscience is "that which is holy" in us; when therefore we present this holy thing in us to the service of malice, or of conceit, we are giving that which is holy unto the dogs, we are turning the good in us to the service of the evil in us, we are giving our light for the use of our own evil passions. The conscience is cast then as pearls before swine, the upper is made to serve the lower, both being in ourselves.' References. VII. 6. C. J. Vaughan, Characteristics of Christ's Teaching, p. 232. W. Boyd Carpenter, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlv. 1894, p. 88. E. Lyttelton, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, p. 313. D. Fraser, Metaphors in the Gospels, p. 50. The Golden Key of Prayer Matthew 7:7 I. Why should we pray? I suppose that the first answer must be because of a deep inherited instinct which has been trained and fostered from our childhood by those we love. Whether a child would pray if it was never taught may fairly be questioned; but certainly there would always be in it that deep instinct for prayer. And, to reinforce the instinct of prayer, we have the voice of authority the voice of One who came from heaven, and, therefore, must know what opens heaven's gate. When we ask the question, 'Why should we pray?' the answer is, 'We know that our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ'. II. How shall we pray? What are the laws of the effective action of prayer? 1. Faith. You cannot pray, or you cannot enjoy your prayer unless you believe that, when you pray, you are coming to a Being who is absolutely perfect, absolutely good, absolutely just, and absolutely loving. It is faith in such a God as that which is the first secret of effective prayer. 2. Unselfishness. What does the Lord's prayer begin with? 'Our Father,' not 'My Father'. Selfishness chokes prayer. 3. Loyalty. Why does Jesus Christ trust His name to us to pray with? Why are we allowed to say 'for Jesus Christ's sake'? I answer that question by another. Why does a husband give his wife his name to use? On one condition, and that condition is that his interests are her interests, that his honour is her honour, and that her life is identified with his. 4. Effective prayer must be persevering. Why are those stories told us of the unjust judge and the selfish friend? To show us that, if an unjust judge or a selfish friend hears at last, then the God of love is certain to hear, and that if we persevere how much more will our heavenly Father give the answer to those that ask Him. III. What shall we pray for for? After the unselfish prayer which the Lord's Prayer teaches us to offer first, then we find that we are allowed to ask for the daily bread for body and soul, for the daily pardon, for the daily guardianship from the evil one for ourselves and for those we love. And if people say, 'Why ask for these gifts of God? He will give them, surely, without asking,' our answer is, Does He do it in nature? The gold is the gift of God, but we dig for it, the coal is the gift of God, but we mine for it. The bread is the gift of God, but we sow for it and we reap for it. So with these other gifts of God power, wisdom, strength, love. They are the gifts of God, but we have to pray for them; and therefore prayer comes to be the most beautiful work in the world, the most glorious work to be done with a method, to be done with perseverance and at regular times, and yet to pervade the whole life, so that in a true sense we 'pray without ceasing'. Bishop Winnington Ingram, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxviii. 1905, p. 136. Illustration. I do not know that we can picture the authority on which we rest our prayers better than by recalling the touching scene in Sheffield when our late aged Queen in her last years had to open the gates of the Town Hall of Sheffield. It was thought well that she should not move from her carriage; so hidden electric wires were fastened to a golden key fitting into the lock which she could turn as she sat in her carnage. By an act of faith and it came to that by an act of faith she turned the golden key, and, as she turned the golden key, at some distance away, slowly, surely, the gates of the Town Hall opened. We cannot see the connecting wires which connect the golden key of prayer with heaven's gate, but a voice which we trust says to us, 'Turn the key; turn the golden key'. 'Ask, and ye shall have; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.' Bishop Winnington Ingram, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxviii. p. 137. References. VII. 7. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxix. No. 1723. C. J. Vaughan, Characteristics of Christ's Teaching, p. 250. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 332. A. G. Mortimer, The Church's Lessons for the Christian Year, part ii. p. 220. W. Howell Evans, Sermons for the Church's Year, p. 35. E. W. Attwood, Sermons for Clergy and Laity, p. 314 Frank Mudie, Bible Truths and Bible Characters, p. 15. John Harries, Does God Break His Pledges? p. 9. H. P. Liddon, Some Elements of Religion, p. 164. VII. 7, 8. J. B. Mozley, Sermons Preached Before the University of Oxford, p. 213. J. G. James, Problems of Prayer, p. 43. H. Scott Holland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. 1. 1896, p. 216. S. Martin, Westminster Chapel Sermons, p. 109. VII. 7-12. H. H. Snell, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xl. p. 88. E. Lyttelton, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, p. 319. VII. 7-14. J. Oswald Dykes, The Manifesto of the King, p. 551. VII. 8. S. Cox, Expositions, p. 60. VII. 9. T. A. Sedgwick, Pœdagogus, p. 1. VII. 9-11. J. Burton, Christian Life and Truth, p. 121. VII. 10. C. J. Ridgeway, The King and His Kingdom, p. 1. The Reasonableness of Prayer Matthew 7:11 Prayer with Jesus was straightforward and unhesitating petition, asking God to do something, and believing that He would do it. And when Jesus laid the duty of petition upon His disciples He went on to assert the reasonableness of a man asking and of God answering, by that argument from man to God which he loved to use and which is thoroughly scientific. I. When we ask whether it is reasonable to pray, and not merely a fond superstition, it surely counts for something that prayer is an instinct. In the straits of life, however indifferent a man may have grown to prayer, or however keenly he may have argued against prayer, upon a petition he will fall back. What does it mean that a bird has wings but that there is air in which to fly, or that men are moved to pray in an orderly universe, but that there is a God to answer them? II. 1. Granted, then, that men should pray, and that God will answer. What is given? Well, the answer may come, not in granting anything nor in taking anything away, but in a new state of mind. It is right to ask for such things as we need, and that we be saved from the things which we fear; but the chief of all prayers, in which all other are included, is this 'Not my will, but Thine be done'. 2. Again definite things may be given which are not visible. St. Paul's thorn in the flesh was not removed; but he received grace to turn it to good purpose, and was able to glory in his affliction. 3. Have we, then, no ground to pray for tangible things? For the healing of the sick, for deliverance from danger, for the welfare of our friends, for our daily bread? Are we to be politely laughed out of faith by clever writers making game of the 'sturdy beggar' type of prayer? Certainly the history of devotion affords some remarkably sturdy beggars who were not ashamed to beat at the door of God's palace and who refused to leave till they got an answer. III. When God helps us He does not reverse the laws of nature, nor does He act without agents. When people in danger of shipwreck cry to God, it is not likely that the sea will be reduced to a calm, but it is likely that succour will come through the capacity of the captain. If it be God's will to grant the recovery of a sick person, it will be accomplished through the skill of a physician. In what particular are the laws of nature violated in such beneficent operations? Is anything more in keeping with human consciousness than action upon the mind from an unseen source, and is not the material the servant of the spiritual? J. Watson (Ian Maclaren), The Inspiration of Our Faith, p. 227. Illustration. Müller of Bristol kept five large orphanages, besides circulating much religious literature, sending out several hundred missionaries, and teaching a hundred and twenty thousand children in his schools, at a total cost of £l,500,000, and he never had a subscription list or made an appeal for money. It is an absolute fact that he simply laid everything before God in prayer, and he never wanted for the support of his orphans. He is a witness to the success of prayer, acting in the physical sphere. J. Watson (Ian Maclaren), The Inspiration of Our Faith, p. 236. References. VII. 11. Andrew Murray, The Children for Christ, p. 210. VII. 12. J. J. Tayler, Christian Aspects of Faith and Duty, p. 218. E. A. Lawrence, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliv. 1893, p. 329. T. Sadler, Sermons for Children, p. 93. VII. 13. A. Jessopp, Norwich School Sermons, p. 1. Marcus Dods, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liv. 1898, p. 136. Matthew 7:13-14 'Now, Madam,' writes Samuel Rutherford to Lady Kenmure, 'I persuade you that the greatest part but play with Christianity; they put it by-hand easily. I thought it had been an easy thing to be a Christian, and that to seek God had been at the next door; but O the windings, the turnings, the ups and downs that He hath led me through, and I see yet much way to the ford.' The straight and narrow way which Christ enjoined upon His followers indicates the moral path which each of us must observe in order to lead a blameless, consistent, and individual career. But the instant we try to survey the moral system of a whole people or race we are confronted, not by a single straight path, but by a vast plain, as it were, stretching from a dim light, far in the distance, with green, graceful hills skirting its base, to the wide plains dotted here with primeval forests, others with gardens of daintiest flowers, and cut up by manifold paths of various breadth running in seemingly contradictory directions. How one is bewildered by a sight like this! Prof. Inazo Nitobe in Japan for the Japanese, p. 263. I am suspicious of any religion that is a people's religion or an age's religion. 'Narrow is the way,' our Saviour says. Newman. 'The straight and narrow way' is an expression that gathers up the whole meaning of the life of this people. It is true even in a geographical sense, the rocky path which leads from Egypt to Assyria is the promised land of the chosen people.... Israel has been called to be the prophet among the nations, and life in the present, for the prophet, is necessarily hampered and compressed within tiny limits. Miss Wedgwood, Message of Israel, p. 56. References. VII. 13, 14. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 342. E. Lyttelton, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, p. 323. D. Fraser, Metaphors in the Gospels, p. 63. R. Winterbotham, Sermons Preached in Holy Trinity Church, Edinburgh, p. 320. D. M. Ross, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliii. 1893, p. 6. J. Stalker, ibid. vol. lvii. 1900, p. 113. C. Gore, ibid. vol. lix. 1901, p. 171. 'Plain Sermons' by contributors to the Tracts for the Times, vol. ii. p. 233. J. R. West, Plain Preaching to Poor People (9th Series), p. 149. Eugene Bersier, Twelve Sermons, p. 19. C. J. Vaughan, Characteristics of Christ's Teaching, p. 272. The Place for Christian Asceticism Matthew 7:14 I. Is, then, the religious life narrow? Our Lord does not say so; He says exactly the reverse that it is only the entrance into it that is narrow. I have seen a commodious vehicle with a very narrow door; when once you got in you could travel with comfort over vast ground, but the getting in was a little embarrassing. You must not imagine that the straitenedness of which our Lord speaks lies in the vehicle; it lies outside the vehicle in yourself. II. His thought, as I take it, might be expressed thus: 'You are entering a chariot with boundless capacities for travel. The one obstacle is the getting in, and that obstacle lies in you. You have something in your hand which prevents you from finding the door wide enough; it is a mirror in which you see yourself reflected. You will never get through the aperture along with your mirror; it is too narrow for both of you together. Throw aside your self-reflector; break it; leave it in fragments on the causeway; and entering into the chariot free from encumbrances, you will journey over a limitless plain.' III. That is in spirit what I understand Christ to mean. His motive is not the restraint but the enlargement of the soul. He has provided for it a conveyance with immense travelling powers; its name is Love, and its synonym is not narrowness, but wideness. Unfortunately the soul has a mirror whose name is Selfishness; it dandles that mirror, it will not let it go. But if the soul would enter the chariot it must let the mirror go. The door is big enough for itself alone, but not big enough for the accompaniment of its looking-glass. If it would enjoy the chariot it must sacrifice the looking-glass. In the interest of wide locomotion, in the interest of extensive sight-seeing, in the interest of reaching a road from which all barrier will be removed, the mirror must be left behind. That must be crucified which narrows me; that must be sacrificed which impedes me; that must be amputated which prevents me from soaring on the wing. G. Matheson, Messages of Hope, p. 42. The Reasonableness of Christianity Matthew 7:14 The doctrine of the text is part and parcel of the spirit and substance of our common philosophy. There is reason under all Jesus says, and He calls upon us to testify that what He is requiring at our hands is only an extension of the principle which lies at the basis of our whole life. I. 'Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, that leadeth unto life' of every kind. You mistake theology, you mistake religion, you mistake Jesus Christ if you think that there is not underneath the whole something that you yourselves are doing every day. Let us illustrate this, and then apply it. 1. Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth to all learning that is worth acquiring. It is said of one of the greatest speakers of the English language that he spent three days in teaching himself how most effectively to utter five words, but when he uttered them the assembly sprang to its feet; fire had touched them, a revelation in speech had been made to their minds. 2. The argument is a fortiori: If for a corruptible, then what for an incorruptible? Thus the great appeal is thundered from infinite altitude, not to discourage the children of men, but to encourage and cheer and welcome every patient toiler. II. You thought that this arduousness applied only to the kingdom of God; but what kingdom is not God's? There is no kingdom of light, music, beneficence, purity, love that is not God's. Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, that leadeth to all excellence. Yet you stood out and said, Why hath God made this gate so strait into His kingdom? It is the law of necessity; it is the necessity of a profound, complete, and beneficent education. There will, of course, always be genius, but that is not to rule the average line of human education and progress. We are called upon to do ordinary work, common everyday work, useful, necessary work, full of enjoyment, and full of high utility; but strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, that leadeth unto this. III. Now will you come and accept the conditions? In striving after this entrance we shall show much weakness. If you are really striving to enter in, you are already in. You have heard what Jesus said to us: 'Ask, and it shall be given; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened,' almost breathlessly, as if the words were continuous, as if they were indeed one solid word. Ask thine; seek find; knock and the door flies back, and all heaven opens its treasures for your use. So the Lord judges us at the point of our growth. Some are young, some are strong, some are very weak; some cannot knock yet because they are groping for the door. When they get hold of the door then they will knock. J. Parker, The Gospel of Jesus Christ, p. 151. References. VII. 14. C. E. Jefferson, The Character of Jesus, p. 107. A Scotch Preacher, The Strait Gate, p. 1. George Tyrrell, Oil and Wine, p. 278. Matthew 7:15 A Prophet is a man who speaks for God, how then can the word 'false' be put before 'Prophet'? What a sharp sword this is to the ministry! Is the slime of the serpent on the altar? Is the lie in the sanctuary? Eden was the sanctuary of God, the garden of the Most High, and the serpent entered there. I. When you enter a Roman house at Pompeii, you see marked on the pavement, ' Cave Canem '. Here at the very threshold of the Christian Church you have a ' Cave,' for the Lord Himself has uttered it. He says, ' Beware of false prophets '. He belonged to the New Covenant which fulfilled the Old. He speaks here in the language of the Old Covenant. But His Apostle Paul, he carries on the same caution. How does he look at it in the New Covenant of Grace? He says, 'Beware of false Apostles'. In the very early history of the Church there is this caution, 'Beware of false Apostles'. II. And if this seems very hard on the pulpit, we too in the pulpit have our caution. We are to beware of 'False brethren'. Surely the very term 'brother' proves that he should never be false to you. The one in whom you have fellowship, whose hands you shake, whose eyes you have looked into. He pretends to be what he is not, and he pretends not to be what he is, so that all is false on his side. And God who hates the false shekel, the false measure, hates the false prophet, the false apostle, the false brother. III. Consider this in connexion with the Christian Church. The Christian Church is that society which is governed by the spirit of truth. If there were no spirit of truth, there would be no Church, and the spirit of truth is to lead the Church into all truth. Not for any expediency of position or popularity can the Church countenance a lie. A lie in the Church is an outrage on the Holy Ghost. The Church must be true, and speak in the truth. IV. What is true of the Church of God must be true individually. God requireth 'truth in the inward parts'. You must not say you believe, because you take it for granted, or because you have been told you must believe. Be true men and true women. Do you really love the truth? If you love the truth, I will tell you what happens: As you seek it, it expands in front of you, enlarges, becomes an horizon of infinite capacity and joy. Beyond yonder hill there rises the horizon, and you say, 'If I get to that hill, I might be able to put my hand against the horizon'. But when you climb the hill, it is just as far. So, too, when you know one truth, you shall see another, and it ever expands and enlarges before you. Your reward is in your search, and in the joy of finding what is true. A. H. Stanton, * Unpublished Sermon. * The Voice of the Church Matthew 7:15 This is the solemn warning of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Our Lord had come to earth to win us grace and to open heaven, that we might reach the end to which God created us. He made Himself the Divine example of our life; and not only so, He came also to reveal to us the Truth. He gave us every proof of the truth of this great claim of His, and when He was about to leave this world, set up His Church and put into it the great instrument of teaching the world, Divine Truth. 'As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you,' and for that purpose our Lord poured out His Holy Spirit. Wonderful, glorious promise of God! I. Hear the Church. It is said that it is so difficult for us to know what is true. Well; we must remember that it is not what this minister or that or the other may say; the question is, What does the Christian Church throughout all the world teach Today? What it teaches Today we know is true because Jesus left His Holy Spirit with the Church. That is the standard by which we are to judge. We have not ourselves the right to judge any man. You have not to judge whether your minister is a good or a bad man. However bad your minister may be, it does not affect your salvation, or the Divine Truth which he teaches, for it is not his but his Divine Master's. Thank God it is so. We have not to judge other people. We have only to beware that our ministers teach us the truth as it has always been taught from the time of the Apostles down to this very day. We judge by that. II. The Church not Narrow. It has often been said how narrow and hard the Church is to these outside. Not at all! We do not judge others; we do not judge those who perhaps have never had the chance that we have had to learn. All we have to be careful about is that we are not outside the Christian Church. We do not judge; it is not for us to judge; it is for God. He teaches us the truth. We do know the one true Apostolic Church, and we can know by a certain method of those who teach if they teach what is true. III. Beware of False Teachers. There never was a time when error was so subtle and the devil was so busy corrupting the faith of the children of the Church. We have to be on our guard against false teachers; against those who set up their own private opinions and their own judgments against the truth. They are, as our Lord says, 'wolves in sheep's clothing'. There is nothing so deadly as heresy; it is deadly for the spirit. The path that is open to us is that we should believe in the revelation of Jesus Christ. References. VII. 15. W. Boyd Carpenter, The Great Charter of Christ, p. 279. VII. 15, 16. J. Hughes, The Saviour's Warning Against False Teachers, a Sermon. VII. 15-20. E. Lyttelton, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, p. 333. D. Fraser, Metaphors in the Gospels, p. 70. J. Oswald Dykes, The Manifesto of the King, p. 595. VII. 16. H. Montagu Butler, Harrow School Sermons, p. 97. H. Harris, Short Sermons, p. 179. VII. 16-20. J. G. Greenhough, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxv. 1904, p. 273. Matthew 7:17 'When a man,' said Bacon, 'has proposed to himself the highest exemplars of noble words and virtues, this done, he need not set himself, like a carver, to make an image, but let his better nature grow like a flower.' References; VII. 17. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year (2nd Series), vol. ii. p. 66. VII. 18; XII. 33. R. E. Hutton, The Crown of Christ, vol. ii. p. 47. Matthew 7:20 The tree is known by its fruits; most truly so but it depends for the maintenance of those fruits, yea, even for its own existence, upon its root in the soil beneath. The Christian life is judged of (and this with the strictest propriety) by that part of it which is seen, but it depends upon the part of it which is unseen for the hold it takes and keeps upon God. Dora Greenwell. The true evidences of Christianity are the public evidences, the effects upon history, and upon the; world, and upon the lives of men in our own time.... If, when religion grew, morality increased in an equal measure, and the most fervent Christians were also the most honest and upright in business, the most innocent, the most friendly, we should not need treatises on evidence, for the lives of Christian men would be their own self-evidencing light. 'By their fruits ye shall know them.' The great and real source; of doubt in which all lesser doubts seem to be swallowed up is the apathy and indifference of Christian men, saying one thing and doing another. Jowett. References. VII. 20. A. G. Mortimer, One Hundred Miniature Sermons, vol. ii. p. 61. J. T. Bramston, Sermons to Boys, p. 1. F. W. Farrar, Everyday Christian Life, p. 190. S. D. McConnell, A Year's Sermons, p. 99. Matthew 7:21 This text brings very clearly before us that it is quite possible to know the name and the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ, and not to know His spirit. It is quite possible to be orthodox in expression, but not to be orthodox in life. I. The expression 'Lord, Lord,' is a very proper expression of our faith. 'Ye call Me Master and Lord, and ye say well, for so I am.' The expression 'Lord, Lord,' is the right expression of our relationship to Him. There is only one Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ, and so we say with David,' Lord, I am Thy servant '; so with Paul,' The servant of the Lord Jesus Christ'; so with James, 'The servant of the Lord Jesus Christ;' so with John, 'The servant of the Lord Jesus Christ'. II. Let us take care when we say 'Lord, Lord,' we really mean it. When we pray, 'Through Jesus Christ our Lord,' let us mention 'Lord' in a vital way to our souls. III. Let us take very good care that we use not these sacred words, 'Lord, Lord,' for our own interest. What harm has been done to religion when men have taken sacred words and used them as, what shall I say, stock-in-trade. Fancy taking the name of the Lord, Who was born in a manger, and died upon the gallows, and was put in a charity grave, for the sake of making yourself rich! Let us take care, again, that we never make use of religion to put ourselves in a higher position in society. Rise in society if you wish, but do not borrow the lever from Calvary. We must mind that the motive that lies at the bottom of it all is true; that when we say, 'Lord, Lord,' we are true men, and trust Him, and worship Him. IV. What was the cause of the failure? What did these men not do? They used the right expression, but they did not do the right thing. For the eloquence of life must be always greater than the eloquence of words. If we be orthodox in expression, let us be quite certain we are orthodox in life. If we believe in the Master, let us try and have the Master's spirit. Be sympathetic, kind, gentle, tender, forgiving, and live for others. Be Christlike. Ask Him to make you like Him, 'Lord and Saviour, make me like Thee'. For the sake of God, let us be manly, and for the sake of man, let us be godly. A. H. Stanton, * Unpublished Sermon. Matthew 7:21 * 'They call me a great man now,' said Carlyle in his old age, 'but no one believes what I have told them.' The censors of modern literature are continually crying aloud for a new message... Was ever age more rich in prophets and in great messages? But what have we done with them? Have we realized them in our lives, quite used up every available particle of their wisdom? And yet here are we hungry and clamouring again. Richard le Gallienne. References. VII. 21. C. J. Vaughan, Characteristics of Christ's Teaching, p. 288. R. W. Dale, The Evangelical Revival, p. 104. John Wills, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlii. 1892, p. 133. H. Hensley Henson, ibid. vol. lxv. 1904, p. 91. W. C. E. Newbolt, Counsels of Faith and Practice, p. 114. H. P. Liddon, Sermons on Some Words of Christ, p. 63. E. Lyttelton, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, p. 341. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xx. No. 1158. M. G. Pearse, Thoughts on Holiness, p. 120. Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. iii. p. 97. Dykes, The Manifesto of the King, p. 615. Parker, The Inner Life of Christ, vol. i. p. 265. Parker, A Homiletic Analysis of the New Testament, vol. i. p. 82. M. Dods, Christian World Pulpit, 22 June, 1881. Matthew 7:22-23 Our Lord anticipates the time when active zeal for Himself will be no guarantee. And we may observe the difference between Christ and human founders. The latter are too glad of any zeal in their favour, to examine very strictly the tone and quality of it. They grasp at it at once; not so our Lord. He does not want it ever for Himself, unless it is pure in the individual. Mozley. References. VII. 22, 23. C. Perren, Revival Sermons in Outline, p. 161. E. Lyttelton, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, p. 349. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlviii. No. 2808. VII. 24. A. Baker, Addresses and Sermons, p. 34. W. H. Frere, Church Times, vol. xlii. p. 26, 1899. VII. 24, 25. A. Robertson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxiv. 1903, p. 247. VII. 24-26. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 353. VII. 24-27. J. Oswald Dykes, The Manifesto of the King, p. 637. E. Lyttelton, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, p. 358. A. Benvie, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxiii. 1903, p. 27. H. Scott Holland, ibid. vol. lxx. 1906, p. 245. D. Fraser, Metaphors in the Gospels, p. 87. Henry Varley, Spiritual Light and Life, p. 1. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvi. No. 918. VII. 25. H. E. Ryle, On the Church of England, p. 58. Matthew 7:28 'I came away on Tuesday,' writes Cobden in 1857, 'after listening for two hours and a half to Disraeli. I wish there could be some Bessemer's power invented for shortening the time of speaking in the House. My belief, after a long experience, is that a man may say all he ought to utter at one "standing" in an hour, excepting a budget speech or a government explanation, when documents are read. The Sermon on the Mount may be read in twenty minutes; the Lord's Prayer takes one minute to repeat; Franklin and Washington never spoke more than ten minutes at a time.' References. VII. 28. J. Barclay, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxvii. 1890, p. 154. S. O. Tattersall, ibid. vol. Ixxx. 1906, p. 52. C. F. Aked, Old Events and Modern Meanings, p. 235. C. S. Robinson, Sermons on Neglected Texts, p. 248. VII. 28, 29. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 363. F. E. Ramsdell, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lx. 1901, p. 139. One Having Authority Matthew 7:29 I. There is an infinite pathos in this simple contrast between the teaching of Jesus and that of the scribes. His words had the ring of authority, and the people instinctively felt that that was not how their scribes spoke. The professional teachers lacked that note of authority without which all teaching is a mockery, not to say a crime. For is it not a crime to attempt to command the heart and conscience of another by the presentation of a truth which does not command and inspire our own? With Jesus, teaching was a matter of life and death; with the scribes it was a matter of profession. They looked upon the surface of the Old Testament, Christ looked into its heart. And is it any wonder that the people were astonished? As some one has said, Jesus spoke with authority, they spoke by authority. They quoted their rabbis; Jesus quoted nobody, because the evidence of the truth was in His heart, and the zeal for it consumed Him. The hungry souls know very well whether they are being fed or not. Their teachers may array themselves in professional robes, they may give themselves professional airs, they may learnedly discuss religious difficulties, and show themselves conversant with the history of opinion, but to the soul that is striving for a word from God these things are nothing but a cruel delusion. The real question is, Can the teacher speak with authority? Do his words pierce and burn? Do they find me? II. The great teacher is always rare. When he comes, we recognize him, not only as one who speaks with authority, but as one who is not as the scribes; that is, not as those other teachers whose special training and manifold opportunities should have enabled them to edify and astonish the people more than he. Clearly, there is more than learning and professional training needed to make a man a great preacher or teacher. What, then, is the secret of authoritative speech? The thing most needful, and almost the one thing needful, is that the speaker should believe what he is saying. This seems an elementary demand; in reality it is the greatest of all demands. There are a hundred men who can speak, for one who really believes, and the only speech which strikes home and leaves its mark upon another soul is the speech of profound and passionate conviction. Man is more than mind, and belief is more than a thing intellectual. The teacher who covets earnestly the power of speaking with authority must believe his truth, not only with the understanding, but with the heart. He utters it, not as a proposition he can prove, but as a truth that has set his heart on fire. The impression he makes lies deeper than his words; it is the magnetism of the man the inherent, transparent power of his message, and not the logic of his words that carries conviction. The truth glows in his face, shines from his eyes. It does not so much belong to him as ho belongs to it. It is not he that speaks, but a spirit that is speaking in him. He is not his own; he is urged on by an irresistible impulse to tell the thing he knows and lives by. He has mastered the truth, but the truth has also mastered him. He is the ambassador of the highest, and that is why he is lord, and why he can speak as one having authority. III. And the truth which he believes and passionately utters must be truth by which a man can live, It is one thing to believe that two and two make four; it is another thing to believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. The latter belief will change my world for me, and the world of any other man whom I can persuade to accept it. But there is much so-called religious teaching that does not deal with the deepest things. It may tell us of the flowers and trees of Palestine, of the scenery upon which Christ daily looked from His Galilean home, of the manners and customs of those to whom He ministered, of the literary structure of the sacred books which He read. It is well to know these things; the more of them we know the better. But that is not religious teaching, and if the teacher does no more than that for us, he does nothing. It is not enough to tell us the pattern of the hem of Christ's garment. He must touch it, and he must speak to us with the glad enthusiasm of one who has been healed by the touch. He must wake in our hearts the dreams, the imaginations, the visions, the faiths, which throb and glow in the hearts of the men who wrote the Bible. Let him, by all means, do all he can to bring back that bygone world, and restore to us its ancient life; but let him not forget the most living thing of all the souls of the men whose words he studies, and the mighty messages that came to them from their God. J. E. McFadyen, The City With Foundations, p. 97. The Springs of Christ's Authority Matthew 7:29 We can all feel the note of authority in this sermon. Authority is stamped upon every sentence of it. As Dr. Parker says, 'the mountain was a veritable king's throne, and the sermon spoken on it was the royal proclamation'. I. The Authority of Character. First of all, then, let me say, it was the authority of character as opposed to the authority of office. If it be office and official position that confer authority, then the scribe, and not Jesus, would have been the man to speak 'with authority'. For all the 'accidents' of authority, all the external badges and insignia of office belonged to the scribe. In the long run there is nothing so commanding, nothing so regal, as a pure and holy manhood. 'As the man is so is his strength.' We are told that those who listened to Lord Chatham always felt that there was something finer in the man than in anything he said. Accounting for the enormous power a certain preacher, who was neither eloquent nor brilliant, wielded over his people, a member of his congregation said to me, 'There are twenty years of holy life behind every sermon'. Men covet power. But power comes from character, not from any titles and dignities conferred upon a man from without. That was Christ's power. He was in no succession; He belonged to no order; He held no office. But he was without spot and without blemish. Men felt that He came from God. And in virtue of that perfect goodness, in virtue of that regal purity, He exercised a supreme and irresistible authority over the hearts of men. II. The Authority of Knowledge. Now pass on to a second element in the authority of Christ. It was not only the authority of character as against office; it was also the authority of knowledge as against the authority of tradition. 'Not as their scribes,' said the people. Now, as a matter of fact, in their own way the scribes were dogmatic and authoritative enough. But everything they said they said at secondhand! The scribes never delivered any authentic message of their own. They spent their lives in retailing what other people had said. But Christ was not as the scribes. For it was not secondhand truth He retailed, but a fresh and authentic message direct from God. Men recognized the note of reality, of conviction, of certitude in Christ's speech. They felt as they listened to Him that here was One who spoke what He knew, One who was at home amid the great realities of the unseen and eternal world. III. The Authority of Love. There was yet another quality about Jesus that lent immense authority to His speech, and that was His Love. What a contrast to the scribes Christ was in this respect. 'Not as their scribes,' no, thank God! Not harsh, unforgiving, loveless; but overflowing in pity, tenderness, and love towards all. You cannot read this sermon without feeling that the Preacher loves men. It is bathed in love, steeped in love, saturated in love. We can feel the love Today, throbbing even through the cold, printed page! But how must they have felt it who listened to this sermon long ago, and heard the tones of the Preacher's voice, and saw the expression on the Preacher's face, and looked upon the light in the Preacher's eyes! They felt the Preacher loved them, and they yielded to love. J. D. Jones, The Gospel of Grace, p. 56. Christ's Supreme Sway Matthew 7:29 It is just this character of authority which lifts Jesus Christ high above the level of comparison, and reveals Him, as He is indeed, the Son of God. I. And yet it is not difficult to discover what are the springs of that authority which gives to Christ the unquestioned obedience of the lives of His followers. 1. Chiefest of all is the convicting truth of His doctrine, which carries the conscience and forces acknowledgment, even from the most unwilling, that He is right in what He says. 2. It is not, however, mere wisdom which gives to Him His authority, but rather expressed knowledge substantiated by manifested character. The inherent quality of His life attested the truth of His doctrine. He not only taught the truth but was the Truth, and hence did not say to men in the formula of the scribes, 'This do and thou shalt live,' but rather, 'Follow thou Me,' and 'He that followeth Me shall have the light of life'. 3. His teaching is the conjunction of perfect ideal with adequate dynamic. He brings to men not merely light but life, so that the one who sets himself to obey the teaching becomes possessed of a power which makes the doing of His will possible. His word is not only enlightenment but enablement not only guidance, but grace. 4. Further, the strength of His authority is attested by the present power of His Word when brought to bear upon the lives of men Today. II. But to draw closer to Him is to discover for ourselves and that by personal experience what is the compelling force of this His unique authority. All else is lost sight of and explained in the supreme fact of His love, for love is the greatest power and exercises the vastest authority in the universe. It is the man whose love is recognized whose rule will also be recognized. He who warms the heart with his own affection can always wield the sceptre as unquestioned sovereign. We cannot read the record of Christ's life without recognizing how true and sympathetic is the affection which animated Him, and we cannot stand at the foot of the Green Hill without realizing how deep is the love which took Him thither for men. Calvary's Cross has become love's throne from whence issues the pure stream of Christ's regal authority. III. This recognition of His authority is not academic nor unpractical, but is the reservoir of all moral force, for love seeks to express itself 'not in word nor in tongue, but in deed and in truth'. The one who loves cannot but labour, and he to whom Christ is Lord will himself become a servant and saviour of men. J. Stuart Holden, Redeeming Vision, p. 40. Matthew 7:29 Taught them with authority, that is to say, with the title to command, find with the force of command. If God has given us a revelation of His will, whether in the laws of our nature, or in a kingdom of grace, that revelation not only illuminates but binds. W. E. Gladstone. References. VII. 29. T. T. Lynch, Three Months' Ministry, p. 217. VIII. 1. C. Perren, Revival Sermons in Outline, p. 221. VIII. 1, 2. C. A. Thomson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lv. 1899, p. 202. VIII. 1-3. M. Guy Pearse, Jesus Christ and the People, p. 121. VIII. 1-4. Archbishop Trench, Notes on the Miracles of Our Lord, p. 175. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 373. W. C. Magee, Growth in Grace, p. 271. J. McNeill, Regent Square Pulpit, vol. iii. p. 313. VIII. 1-9. J. Laidlaw, Studies in the Parables, p. 49. VIII. 1-27. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xli. No. 2434; vol. 1. No. 2868. VIII. 2. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year (2nd Series), vol. i. p. 81. VIII. 2, 3. H. Scott Holland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liii. 1898, p. 42. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxvi. No. 2162. VIII. 2-4. W. M. Taylor, The Miracles of Our Saviour, p. 110. John Laidlaw, The Miracles of Our Lord, p. 165. The Healing of the Leper Matthew 8:3 These words, spoken to a leper, were the very last words that anyone, save He Who spake them, would have dreamed of saying. Most men, if they had spoken at all, would have bidden him keep his distance; some few might have flung to him a word or two of passing pity; one here and there might have bestowed an alms on him; but not one would even for a moment have thought of saying, 'Be thou clean'. It was left for Jesus to say to the poor wretch at His feet, crying for mercy, 'Be thou clean'. The words might have been words of mere advice to seek the best-known remedies; or words of encouragement to hope for the best; or words of fanaticism, assuming a power to heal, which could only have mocked the misery which it could not remove. But the words on the lips of Jesus were words of real authority, and a mysterious virtue went forth simultaneously with them from the Speaker, and made the leper whole ' Immediately his leprosy was cleansed'. I. As we listen to His words there rises up before us the outline of a great example to be followed. The words of Jesus not only express the tenderest pity for the sufferer, but likewise His abhorrence of the disease which caused his suffering. When He pronounced deliverance to the sufferer, He likewise pronounced His ban upon the foul disease. 'Be thou clean' means not only 'I abate thy sufferings,' but also 'I hate thy disease'. But what of example can there be to us in this? The mind of Christ is to be the mind of His followers. If it was His mind to wage war upon disease, it is to be the mind of His followers too. If, in His abhorrence of disease, He said those words to the leper, 'Be thou clean,' He means us to say similar words, and it is possible for us to say these words and say them with power. Every man who refuses to indulge to excess the cravings of his body at the expense of the laws of health; everyone who, by temperance and self-restraint, seeks to defend his body from the attacks of disease; every doctor who studies his science with the view of fighting disease; every community which erects and maintains hospitals to help the poor in their warfare against disease, which attends to drainage, ventilation, and pure water; every landlord who takes good care that his houses are sanitary, and not nests in which disease is bred all these, in their measure and degree, are taking up Christ's words, following His example, and saying, 'Be thou clean'. They are bidding defiance to disease, not with the Almighty power of the Son of God, but with a power that is real and true. They are, like the Master, dealing blows at disease, and in proportion to their self-denial and zeal they will invite His blessing, and succeed. Modern philanthropy and the enthusiasts of sanitary science have learned their best lessons and taken their best watchword from Him, Whom some of them repudiate, Who said, 'Be thou clean'. II. But when Christ spake those words, He not only pointed out one direction in which He would have us follow His example, He likewise taught us the deep spiritual truths which concern us every one. It was a leper to whom He spake, and leprosy was God's own picture of the soul's disease which He calls by the name of sin. When then Jesus said, 'Be thou clean,' and by His Divine power made the leper clean, it is to us a most blessed revelation of how the cleansing of the soul can be brought about. III. Remember that it is the cleansing of Repentance which is the one sure guarantee of the cleansing; of Pardon. How do you know that God has forgiven you your sins? You may think it to be true; you may hope it; your stirred emotions may persuade you that it is so; but to know of a certainty that the Divine Voice, 'Be thou clean,' has stopped and healed the disease that was corrupting your whole being, this in the great distinguishing message of the Gospel of our Redeemer, and the conviction that God has cleansed and pardoned you, even you, for the sake of Him Who died for your sins upon the Cross, that is God's unmistakable dominion, and is His gift. The Voice of Christ still says to us, 'Be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee'; but He says it upon the one condition which can never be left out of sight, that thou art ready, and willing, and anxious to forsake thy sins; when thy penitence is sincere, and when thou hast placed the sacrifice of thy penitence at the foot of the Cross, then the Voice comes forth, 'Be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee'. Matthew 8:3 Men shrink more from skin diseases than from any others. Jesus could have cured him with a word. There was no need that he should touch him. No need, did I say? There was every need. For no one else would touch him. Of all men a leper, I say, needed to be touched with the hand of love. Spenser says, 'Entire affection hateth nicer hands'. It was not for our master, our brother, our ideal man to draw around him the skirts of his garments, and speak a lofty word of healing that the man might at least be clean before he touched him. George Macdonald. References. VIII. 3. C. E. Jefferson, The Character of Jesus, p. 173. VIII. 5, 6. R. W. Hiley, A Year's Sermons', vol. i. p. 59. VIII. 5-13. A. E. Killon, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxiv. 1908, p. 157. W. M. Taylor, The Miracles of Our Saviour, p. 161. Archbishop Trench, Notes on the Miracles of Our Lord, p. 184. John Laidlaw, The Miracles of Our Lord, p. 198. The Ministry of Kindness Matthew 8:7 I. Jesus Christ, the Healer and Comforter, is our Example. As Christ hath loved us, we ought to love one another. To us as members of the Holy Church, the great Christian Brotherhood, Jesus has committed this ministry of kindness. To His priests the Lord says, 'Give ye them to eat'. A starving world is fed at the Altars of the Church. To every member of the Church is the command given, 'Be kindly affectioned one to another'. Pure religion is defined as leading us to comfort the sick and suffering, the fatherless and widows, and to keep ourselves unspotted from the world. II. The Christian's Attitude Towards Sinners. The legend of the Holy Grail tells how one of Arthur's knights set forth to seek the mystic chalice of the Last Supper which had disappeared. As the knight left his house he saw a leper at the gate, and scarcely heeding him, cast a small piece of money to him. After long years' vain search in foreign lands, the knight returned, chastened and softened by what he had endured. At his gate he found the same leper, but now he pitied this stricken one, and taking the wooden bowl from the well, gave him water. Then suddenly the common bowl was changed into a shining chalice the Holy Grail, and the leper was no longer visible, but the Lord Jesus stood in his place. 'As ye have done it unto the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me!' Do not go about among those who have fallen into sin with stones of reproach, but with words of comfort and of kindness. III. The Christian's Attitude Towards the Sick and Afflicted. In our times of sorrow and spiritual sickness we need those who are healers, who bring love with them, who are a comfort to us. It has been truly said that many people belie their religion in church by their manners at home. If our religion does not make us gentle, patient, long-suffering in everyday life, it is not true. Let us remember that manners have a great deal to do with Christianity. A disagreeable person has no claim to the character of a Christian. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Notes of Sermons for the Year, pp. 75-80. Reference. VIII. 7, 13. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxiv. No. 1422. Some Aspects of Humility As Suggested By the Story of the Centurion (Third Sunday after Epiphany) Matthew 8:8 Is there anything weak, or mean, or contemptible in that Roman officer, as he is presented to us in our Gospel, seeking help from Jesus for his sick slave? He is head of an important household, but is full of courtesy and consideration for the slaves in it; surely we should say here is an openhanded, courteous, considerate officer and gentleman, and yet his whole attitude towards Jesus is marked by two striking features faith and humility. I. When our Lord would go with him to his house, he cries out, 'I am not worthy'. Does any one of us look down on him because of his humility? Is it not a robe of honour to him? Men are oftentimes rather flattered than otherwise when they are accused of pride. Poor and rich alike, humility is popular with neither, and yet God's Word teaches us plainly that 'God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble'. There is indeed a counterfeit humility, which is most odious, that which is mere hypocrisy and servility, whilst the heart within is full of pride and hatred. To see what humility is, in all its beauty and perfection, you must look to Jesus. II. The example and history of the centurion suggests some of the aspects of this virtue. 1. Observe how it affects his manner of approach to our Lord. The wondrous truth has come home to him, as it has not yet done to any in Israel, that He is Divine, that the power of the Godhead is His, so that all things obey His word, hence he draws near with the deepest sense of his own unworthiness, even while he casts himself on the love of Jesus. 2. How was it the centurion knew about God at all? It was because humility led him to use every opportunity of hearing truth. 3. Does not the centurion stand forth as essentially a man of action of good and holy work? He is evidently an active soldier from his own words; and more, he is the builder of a synagogue for the worship of God, and the eager seeker after help for one in sickness; and so it is even with true humility, it is not slothful or cowardly, it does not shirk from responsibilities, but whilst it is full of weakness, it leans on the strength of God and makes that its own. The man who begins some work with trust in self is soon daunted by difficulties, and gives up, and turns back. He who begins with distrust of self and trust in God will persevere to the end. The secret of effort and work which will endure is this utterance of humility,' I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me'. W. Howell Evans, Sermons for the Church's Year, p. 44. References. VIII. 8. C. H. Parkhurst, A Little Lower than the Angels, p. 39. W. E. Heygate, Plain In tructive Sermons on Holy Communion, p. 53. VIII. 8, 9. A. Macclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 377. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xli. No. 2434. VIII. 8-10. H. W. Webb-Peploe, The Life of Privilege, p. 71. VIII. 8-12. B. Wilberforce, Feeling after Him, p. 40; see also Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlvi. 1894, p. 305. VIII. 9. G. W. Herbert, Notes of Sermons, p. 37. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year, vol. i. p. 115. Faith Matthew 8:9-10 Our Lord witnesses to the special virtues in the spiritual character of this Roman centurion. He had a faith at which our Lord marvelled. He said that it was the greatest faith He had yet found in all His ministry. We may well, therefore, ask ourselves the question, What is faith? 'Faith,' says the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, 'is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen'. Faith is a superior property bestowed by God whereby the truth is apprehended without the evidence of experience or argument proved; it belongs partly to the understanding and partly to the will. I. Distrust Brought Sin. What was it that induced our first parents to eat of that which was forbidden? It was not altogether the desirableness of the thing itself that was the motive that had to be reckoned with; it was distrust of God, and in that one thought of distrust there lay all the future disobedience of the world. All seems to be centred in that one thought of distrust. II. Trust Brings Righteousness. Just as in the one thought of distrust there lies every possible sin, so also in the one thought of trust there lies every possible good. Thus we see why the faith of the centurion was accounted unto him for righteousness, because in that one thought of trust there lay all the activity of his service 'Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed'. There is something very practical in that thought that God the Father does accept our trust, and does reckon it to us for righteousness. We are not to be saved so much for the accuracy of our theology, or for the correctness by which we take in our dogmas; but we are to be saved by a simple trust which can be common alike to the ignorant and the learned; to the man and to the child. That which God the Father asks of us is not so much that our lives shall correctly state all the truths concerning Him and His, and that relationship which lies between Him and His; but that we may stammer with our lips, in childlike ignorance perhaps, but still that our lips should be striving to frame and utter, that one word 'Father,' which seems to convey the existence of the immense love of Almighty God. III. It is the Foundation of all Spiritual Life. We see in the centurion the great example of this virtue, that simple faith and childlike trust in God is the foundation of all true spiritual life. He had probably never seen Christ before, but he was ready to accept Him as the Son of God. It is quite true that faith is the gift of God, but it is a gift which we can in a large measure increase by our own cooperation. We look down the roll of God's saints, whose faith has been the wonder of the world, and we see there representatives of every type of temperament, every class of intellect. We cannot say that faith depends on the natural temperament alone; it depends to a very large extent on our moral training. IV. It Needs the Discipline of the Will. What is the principal disposing cause of faith? We can learn a lesson from the centurion. In his reply to our Lord there was just one thing brought out, and that is the wonderful state of discipline in which everything connected with him seemed to be. The man seemed to have learnt self-discipline, and we should all of us know the utter hopelessness of attempting to discipline the lives of others without first acquiring power over ourselves. 'I am a man,' he says, 'under authority, having soldiers under me' He was a man who had learnt to obey and to command. Notice his wonderful humbleness he called attention first to the fact that he was a subordinate. Are we not all in the same position? Are we not so much so that we may say 'I am a man under authority' under the authority of God 'and just in proportion as I have learned to recognize His authority, and to obey His laws, so shall I be able to command my will'. These faculties, this power that is given to soul and body, this possibility of good and evil, these thoughts, and words, and deeds as we look upon them and think what a rebellious army they are, and how difficult they are to command, can we not see that our work is to discipline them all? There is only one way in which we are able to get that command strong and clear, and that is by recognizing and obeying a superior authority; by accepting the commands of God and the Church; by obeying the dictates of our own individual conscience. V. The World to Conquer and Heaven to Win. We have the world to conquer, and we have heaven to win. St John tells us the victory which overcometh the world even our faith. We must lay this foundation first, and then we can go on to learn those other things of hope and love. Step by step we can climb to higher things, faith, hope, and love, the three steps to God, of which St. Paul tells us the greatest is love, yet the foundation on which all the other is to be built is this faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. References. VIII. 9, 10. H. Scott Holland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxvii. 1905, p. 72. VIII. 9-13. W. Hay M. H. Aitken, Mission Sermons (3rd Series), p. 182. VIII. 10. H. Jones, Christian World Pulpit, vol. li. 1897, p. 85. H. M. Butler, Cambridge Review, 27 Jan. 1886. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvi. No. 936; vol. xxiv. No. 1422. Outline Sermons to Children, p. 116. W. Hay M. H. Aitken, Mission Sermons, vol. iii. p. 182. F. W. Robertson, Sermons (2nd Series), p. 114. Parker, Inner Life of Christ, vol. ii. p. 12. H. Melvill, One Hundred and Fifty Sermons from the Penny Pulpit, vol. ii. Homiletic Quarterly, vol. i. p. 54; vol. ii. p. 262. ** Faith the Title for Justification ( easter ) Matthew 8:2 ** We may humbly, yet confidently say, that where there is true faith, there justification shall be; there it is promised, it is due, it is coming, somehow, some-while. Whether, as the saints of the Old Testament waited, and were not gifted with Gospel justification till Christ's first coming, these faithful souls will be received into the glory and grace of the Church at His second coming; or whether they enter into the kingdom upon death; or whether, by an extraordinary dispensation unknown to us and to themselves, they receive the gift here; or whether in this world their eyes shall at length be opened, and the Church revealed to them, as the true treasure-house of grace and home of refuge to all believers, and they be led to seek it, and renounce the sect of their birth or of their choice any how, they have a title; if they call, they shall be answered if they knock, it shall be opened to them. Who have this true faith we cannot tell, any more than when God rewards it; no, nor what measure of assistance, what power of spiritual influence He gives to those who nevertheless, like the Jews, have not the peculiar gifts and endowments of the Covenant of the Gospel. Yet it is a great comfort to believe that God's favour is not limited to the bounds of His heritage, but that, in the Church or out of the Church, every one that calleth on the name of the Lord with a pure and perfect heart shall be saved. J. H. Newman. References. VIII. 11. C. Parsons Reichel, Sermons, p. 320. VIII. 11. C. H. Wright, The Unrecognized Christ, p. 74. B. Wilberforce, Following on to Know the Lord, p. 73. W. E. Barton, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lvi. 1899, p. 12. VIII. 11, 12. John Wills, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlii. 1892, p. 133. F. D. Maurice, Lincoln's Inn Sermons, vol. iii. p. 59. H. Scott Holland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxi. 1907, p. 72; see also Church Times, vol. lvii. 1907, p. 117. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. i. Nos. 39, 40. VIII. 12. F. S. Swindell, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlv. 1894, p. 134. A. Murray, The Children for Christ, p. 218. VIII. 13. H. P. Liddon, Sermons on Some Words of Christ, p. 49. R. D. B. Rawnsley, Village Sermons (3rd Series), p. 33. H. R. Nevill, Last Sermon. Henry Alford, Sermons on Christian Doctrine, p. 97. H. P. Cronshaw, Sermons for the People, vol. ii. p. 52. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxiv. No. 1422. Wace, Gospel and its Witnesses, p. 89. Cox, Expositions, vol. i. p. 199. Maurice, Gospel of Kingdom, p. 126. Trench, Miracles, p. 236. Homiletic Quarterly, vol. i. p. 350; vol. ii. p. 262; vol. ii. p. 551; vol. iii. p. 90. Kingsley, Village, Town, and Country Sermons, No. 4. C. J. Vaughan, Good Words for 1864, p. 482, and in his Plain Words on Christian Living. Kitto, Daily Bible Illustrations, vol. vii. p. 292. Hall's Contemplations. Expositor (2nd Series), vol. vi. p. 161. Bruce, Galilean Gospel, p. 146. J. O. Davies, Sunrise on the Soul, p. 39. Robertson's Sermons (2nd Series), No. 10. Parker, Inner Life of Christ, vol. ii. p. 12. Stevenson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xiii. p. 59. Liddon, vol. xxii. p. 97. Bishop Moorhouse, vol. xxix. p. 296. Newman, Parochial Sermons, vol. vi. p. 166. Hook on Miracles, vol. i. p. 158. Girdlestone, Parochial Sermons, vol. i. pp. 101, 117. Cumming, Foreshadows, p. 68. Simeon, Works, vol. xii. p. 354. Roberts, Plain Sermons, vol. i. p. 121. VIII. 14, 15. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxi. No. 1836. W. M. Taylor, The Miracles of Our Saviour, p. 86. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew, I.-VIII. p. 386. VIII. 14-17. J. Laidlaw, The Miracles of Our Lord, p. 156. Archbishop Trench, Notes on the Miracles of Our Lord, p. 194. Life's Fever Matthew 8:15 It is beyond dispute that when our Lord worked physical cure there was underneath the miracle another purpose. On one occasion He said: 'And that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, I say unto thee, take up thy bed and walk'. There our Lord Himself goes out of His way to accentuate the fact that the miracle is an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace. Let us look at the text in that light. I. Life's Fever. So many people realize nowadays that life is a fever, life is something infectious; there is something in it which seizes hold of a man's body, soul, and spirit, and if he cannot resist, and if the Divine hand does not touch him, he will die of the fever. a. The voice of history. I look into history, and I find that all men who have spoken truthfully say that life is a fever. We think of the great Roman who said that he had been everything, but that nothing was of the least use. We think of our own great Shakespeare. 'Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow.' There never was a more cheerful man than Charles Dickens, yet he had to write at the end, 'Of all sad dreams life is the saddest'. Where can you find a life more full of joy than Walter Scott's, yet he wrote, 'Years ago my heart was broken, and although the pieces were handsomely put together I shall bear the cracks until I die'. If you take your part in the world's rush and bustle and in life's tragedy the fever will catch you, and it will go hard with you unless Christ touches your hand. b. The social life. The joys of social life are great, but one thing always strikes me as particularly trying in connexion with it. There is the fuss and fever of life all about one almost before the day has really begun. You are going to see a Mr. and Mrs. So-and-So, and all the rest of it. After all, there are a great many things that must be done, and weightier matters of life should come first. If the fever of life once catches you it will spoil you for the best things. c. In political life. Too often the popular thing to do is to legislate in a panic. Whatever is the latest newspaper scare the cry is: 'Legislate, legislate; remedy this; remedy that!' It is a fever. Legislation is not thought out; it is not considered; it is simply pandering to the cry, 'Something must be done'. d. Then amusements. What a rush they all are! To get into your day as much as you can crowd and then call it amusement! e. Finally, there is the religious life. When other people are on the 'go,' that strange feeling that we must rush too comes over us, whatever may be the latest development of religious energy. II. And its Remedy. The remedy is in the text. Now let me point out one or two ways in which we can follow the text. a. There is the life of silence. Out of the thirty-three years of our Lord's life thirty were spent in silence. Just imagine what people would say Today. 'You call yourself a teacher, and out of thirty-three years you have spent thirty years in silence! Here are souls to be saved, here are hearts waiting to be mended, and you deliberately go and shut yourself up.' But these thirty years were years of preparation. You and I want more silence. We are always talking, pursuing, doing something. What we need is quiet silence. b. Association with Nature. Why did Jesus so often go in His boat on the Galilean lake? Why was He always going to those strange, deserted places? Surely because he wished to teach us that Nature was the mantle of God, and that we ought to plunge ourselves among those beautiful things to see that He is speaking to us for everything. In this you will find a rest and a cure for the fever of life. c. The possession of loyal friends. Is not the power of friendship a wonderful thing? We are told that Jesus loved Lazarus, that He loved St. John, and that He loved the rich young ruler. Why are there so few modern friendships? Because there are so few modern friends. Friendship means sacrifice, devotion, self-deprivation. You know what the French people say about friendship: 'Friendship is love without its wings'. If you had one or two real friends behind you the fever of life would die down; you could hope, you could suffer, you could die if you felt that behind you there was that strong power which St. John felt when He leaned on the Lord's bosom at supper. The modern life has no time for such friendship. d. A tolerant spirit. Is it not strange that men should be so intolerant? A man complains that another man does this or does that, thinks this or thinks that, goes here or goes there. What is it to thee what thy brethren do? The question is, 'Am I a Pharisee?' not 'Is my brother a Pharisee?' You will find that the most tolerant people are those who are devoted to the highest ideals. There never was but one sinless One, and when the woman, stained with her sin, was brought before Him, He said: 'Neither do I condemn thee; go and sin no more'. If only you were more tolerant you would not have all that fever of unquiet; you would not look out upon other lives, but would recognize that your business was to live up to your own possibilities. e. The touch of Christ. But the greatest cure for the fever of life is in the healing touch of the Divine finger. He is with us always in our triumphs, in our failures, in our broken hopes, in all the disillusions that come to us. The Sacred Presence never leaves us. 'I am with you always.' References. VIII. 16, 17. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxvi. No. 2124. W. M. Taylor, The Miracles of Our Saviour, p. 98. VIII. 17. J. W. Diggle, Sermons for Daily Life, p. 27. C. Jerdan, Pastures of Tender Grass, p. 266. E. B. Speirs, A Present Advent, p. 130. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 388. VIII. 18. B. D. Johns, Pulpit Notes, p. 58. VIII. 18-23. J. Laidlaw, Studies in the Parables, p. 49. VIII. 18-27. J. Laidlaw, The Miracles of Our Lord, p. 61. VIII. 19, 20. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 397. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xl. No. 2361. VIII. 19-21. J. Boyd, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxix. 1891, p. 104. VIII. 20. R. F. Horton, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxviii. 1905, p. 99. Caroline Fry, Christ Our Example, p. 83. VIII. 21, 22. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 405. R. Baldwin Brindley, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlv. 1894, p. 61. VIII. 22. F. E. Paget, The Living and the Dead, p. 158. Christ Stilling the Tempest Matthew 8:23-27 Ages ago, the man whose hand was as skilful on the harp as it was mighty on the sword and battle-axe, sang thus to it: 'By terrible things in righteousness wilt Thou answer, O God of our salvation, Who art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are afar off upon the sea; which by His strength setteth fast the mountains, being girded with power; which stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people'. This sublime language was prophetical of the Divine action on the tempest-riven sea of Galilee. I. The peril of the disciples seemed very real. On the evening of a long day of continuous teaching by the seaside, Jesus beckoned to His disciples to pass over to the other side. They had not been long on the water when its face, which had been calm as a mirror all day, gave signs of agitation and storm. The Sea of Galilee was an inland sea, and, like all inland seas, was subject to violent hurricanes of wind, which rolled unexpectedly down the gorges of the mountains surrounding it, and created a furious tempest on the waters, which frequently engulfed the small craft floating thereon, and caused the sacrifice of many precious lives. Such a tornado now swept over this sea and lashed it into madness. But, apart from natural causes, who raised this fearful storm? Was it an accident one of those effects that seem without a cause? No; there was 'a Divinity' in it. But this storm occurred not as that which fell on the sea, and tossed 'the ship going to Tarshish,' in which. Jonah was fleeing from duty, until 'it was thought to be broken'; the disciples were doing just as Christ; enjoined them; they were in the course of duty, and He was therefore with them; and it was because He was with them that this storm arose. What lessons are here for us! II. But the Master was asleep. His human nature was exhausted by his Godlike acts; and glad indeed was He to take a piece of sail-cloth for His pillow, while angels spread their broad, white wings over Him., and so fall to sleep. Here is a certain proof of His perfect humanity. Because of such proofs, people, 'in the days of His flesh,' would not believe in His Divinity. If they were to see Him now, as John saw Him on the Isle of Patmos, clothed with a splendour brighter than the sun, and holding in His hand the sceptre of the universe, they would not believe in His humanity (Hebrews 2:9-18 ). III. The cry of the disciples showed that they realized their peril. St. Matthew says that his disciples awoke Him, saying, 'Lord, save us; we perish!' St. Mark says that their cry was: 'Master, carest Thou not that we perish?' St. Luke has their cry thus: 'Master, Master, we perish!' All the Evangelists record what they heard. A number of the disciples cried one thing, and a number the other; and doubtless all the Gospels are correct. But what fear their cry indicated! The storm was no ordinary one, and their fear corresponded with its fury. IV. The chiding of the Saviour was full of tenderness. But why chide at all? Was not the fear of the disciples natural, and also inevitable under the circumstances of their great danger? Yes; but they, in the height of their fear, forgot that their Almighty Saviour was on board, and thought only of the raging tempest. His chiding, therefore, was followed immediately by His acting. 'He arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.' What a contrast! the sea one moment all storm, as if it had never been otherwise; the next, all calm, as if neither fierce storm nor evening zephyr had ever swept over it! So the wildest tempest hushed by heaven produces the profoundest calm for the believer. The lions' den has often become to him the vestibule of glory the burning fiery furnace the presence-chamber of the Son of God! V. The marvel of the men may next be noticed. 'What manner of Man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?' This exclamation evinces their deep feeling. Men who are fearful in the storm should be grateful in the calm. Yet it is not always so: ten lepers were cleansed, one only returned to give thanks; all were glad that they were healed, one only was personally grateful. Gratefulness is sublime, whether felt on sea or on land; it is the virtue which makes heaven musical for ever. 'Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men?' (Psalms 107:21 ). References. VIII. 23-27. Archbishop Trench, Notes on the Miracles of Our Lord, p. 119. C. Holland, Gleanings from a Ministry of Fifty Years, p. 203. Stopford A. Brooke, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlv. 1894, p. 339. B. D. Johns, Pulpit Notes, p. 182. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 412. Jay, Short Discourses, vol. iii. p. 1. J. H. Gurney, Sermons, p. 17. Dean Hook, On the Miracles, vol. ii. p. 207. Isaac Williams, Sermons, vol. i. p. 140. Simeon, Works, vol. xi. p. 292. Dodd, On the Miracles, vol. i. p. 247. Dean Close, Miscellaneous Sermons, vol. ii. p. 253. Trench, Miracles, p. 151. Cox, Expositor's Note-Book, p. 314. Parker,' Christ's Inward Peace Controlling Outward Storms,' Inner Life of Christ, vol. ii. p. 39. George Huntington in Homiletic Quarterly, vol. i. p. 392. Joseph Hughes, ibid. vol. iii. p. 247. G. W. Barrett, ibid. vol. iii. p. 249. Chapman, 'Christ's Supremacy Over Nature,' ibid. vol. iv. p. 411. Bushnell, 'Christ Asleep,' Christ and His Salvation, p. 119. Kitto's Daily Bible Illustrations, vol. vii. p. 308. Mackennal, Congregationalist, 1878, p. 552. Maclaren's Sermons (3rd Series), No. 19. Liddon's University Sermons, vol. ii. p. 165. Dean Vaughan's, Christ the Light of the World. Jacox, Secular Annotations, etc., vol. i. p. 231. Christian World Pulpit, vol. vi. p. 95; vol. xviii. p. 398. Beecher, ibid. vol. xxiii. p. 51. A. G. Brown, ibid. vol. xxv. p. 309. Sinai and Palestine, pp. 379, 380. VIII. 24. J. M. Neale, Sermons Preached in a Religious House, vol. ii. p. 601. J. G. Simpson, Sermons for the People, vol. ii. p. 87. VIII. 25. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year (2nd Series), vol. i. p. 89. VIII. 25, 26. F. B. Woodward, Sermons (2nd Series), p. 111. The Great Calm Matthew 8:26 I. The Storm and the Calm a Parable of Life. The disciples were saved from the storm because they cried unto the Lord. So the Church weathers the storm which beats upon it, because of the prayers of the faithful. The Church is tossed and buffeted, like that boat upon the lake, but not overwhelmed. As it was said of the city of Troy 'Conquered, it shall conquer, and overthrown, it shall yet rise again'. There was a great calm! It is the voice of God speaking to our troubled hearts, which alone can calm them. Men sometimes laugh at religion while the sun shines, but the tempest drives them to their Lord right humbly. When our ship of life sails calmly over smooth seas, we are tempted to forget that Jesus is with us, but when the sudden tempest arises, we say, 'Master, save us, we perish'. II. Jesus Manifested as the Ruler of the Spirit World. There are some in these days who talk as though the power of evil and of Satan were preeminent, but Satan is not the ruler of this world, he is the master only of those who choose to serve him. People who foolishly and ignorantly dabble with spiritualism, instead of praying to God, fall into this error. The sacrifice of the swine may have been an object lesson to show the awful results of falling into the power of Satan. The swine, as soon as the devils entered into them, became mad and rushed headlong to destruction, the man who allows Satan to take possession of him is no longer himself, but maddened by angry lusts and passions which drive him to ruin. III. The Choice. The people who saw the miracle of our Lord, and His Divine power manifested, begged Him to depart out of their coasts. Those men in the Gospel preferred their swine to their Saviour, and there are among us now some who would choose a pig-sty instead of a sanctuary, the foul slavery of sin rther than the glorious freedom of the Son of God. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Notes of Sermons for the Year, pp. 81-86. Matthew 8:26 It is our duty to be on our guard against panics. Panics are the last infirmity of believing souls. It is, of course, easy to denounce them from the standpoint of a philosophical unconcern as to all religious interests; calmness is a cheap virtue when you have, or when you suppose yourself to have, nothing really at stake. It is not, in this sense, that panics are to be deprecated; the most irrational panic of an unlettered peasant who believes that his creed is in danger, is, beyond all comparison, a nobler thing than the tranquil indifference of a Talleyrand. But panics are to be deprecated, not because they imply a keen interest in the fortunes of religion, but because they betray a certain distrust of the power and living presence of our Lord. Liddon. References. VIII. 26. G. H. Morrison, The Wings of the Morning, p. 34. W. C. Magee, The Anglican Pulpit of Today, p. 145. A. F. Winnington Ingram, The After-Glow of a Great Reign, p. 15. J. A. Paterson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlvi. 1894, p. 266. Henry Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons, vol. v. p. 1. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlix. No. 2852. VIII. 27. D. Strong, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliv. 1893, p. 284. Henry Alford, Sermons on Christian Doctrine, p. 108. G. W. Herbert, Notes of Sermons, p. 39. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxviii. No. 1686. VIII. 28 W. H. Ridley, Plain Preaching for a Year, vol. i. p. 162. H. Jones, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liii. 1898, p. 123. F. B. Woodward, Sermons (1st Series), p. 316. VIII. 28-34. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew I.-VIII. p. 416. J. Laidlaw, The Miracles of Our Lord, p. 218. W. M. Taylor, The Miracles of Our Saviour, p. 212. Archbishop Trench, Notes on the Miracles of Our Lord, p. 125. VIII. 29. H. Ward Beecher, Sermons ( 2nd Series), p. 111. R. W. Hiley, A Year's Sermons, vol. i. p. 7. VIII. 34. A. N. Obbard, Plain Sermons, p. 113. R. W. Dale, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlviii. 1895, p. 20. W. G. Horder, ibid. vol. lx. 1901, p. 60. A. N. Obbard, Plain Sermons, p. 113. P. H. Hall, The Brotherhood of Man, p. 141. R. H. McKim, The Gospel in the Christian Year, p. 102. VIII. 58. R. W. Dale, Christian World Pulpit, vol. 1. 1896, p. 124. IX. 1. J. M. Neale, Sermons Preached in a Religious House, vol. ii. pp. 563, 574. R. W. Dale, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lviii. 1895, p. 20. IX. 1-8. Archbishop Trench, Notes on the Miracles of Our Lord, p. 166. John Laidlaw, The Miracles of Our Lord, p. 178. Arise! Matthew 9:2 The miracle is a parable for the Church in every age. Its teaching is inexhaustible. 1. It should make the heart of the hypocrite, the double-minded man, shrivel. 'Our God is a consuming fire.' Jesus knew their thoughts. 2. It unfolds the Divine power, the personal knowledge of every secret burden of our hearts, the tender individualizing love, of the compassionate Jesus of Nazareth. Eternity would scarcely be long enough to reveal the fullness of that one word, 'Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven'. This Jesus, by Whom the words were spoken, is 'the same yesterday, and Today, and for ever. What a comfort there is in that one thought. 3. It suggests to us the unspeakable blessing that is always waiting for every penitent and believing soul, whenever the Bride of Christ, speaking in the name of the Lord, utters the word of Absolution. 'As my father sent Me, even so send I you.' 'Whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed in heaven.' 'Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven; depart in peace.' This passage teaches us the power, not merely of Christian intercession, but of Christian fellowship; the force that is brought to bear upon the individual soul, wherever a few believers are gathered together with one accord in one place, with one voice proclaiming the glory of God, and with one heart remembering before God those words of the charter of the New Dispensation, 'Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them'. 'Jesus, seeing their faith, said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee'. If miracles of healing are to be wrought in our midst, Christians must be found together with one accord in one place, speaking good of the Lord, ascribing glory to His name, praising God. G. H. Wilkinson, The Invisible Glory, p. 89. Be of Good Cheer Matthew 9:2 The first thing that must strike us all in reading Today's Gospel is the kindness of his friends to the sick man. They brought him to the Saviour. Is there no one you can bring? Directly Andrew knew the Lord, he brought his brother to Him (John 1:41-42 ). When the woman of Samaria knew the Christ, she tried to lead her neighbours to Him (John 4:29 ). Remember that it was on seeing the faith of his friends Jesus healed the man sick of the palsy (James 2:18 ). Consider: I. His Word of Comfort. 'Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee '(v. 2). He makes him see his affliction in the true light the loving discipline of a father to his child (Hebrews 12:6-7 ) that it yields the peaceable fruits of righteousness to them which are exercised thereby (Hebrews 12:11 ; Isaiah 40:1-2 ). He tells him that the cause of his trouble his sin is removed. Only let us know that our iniquities are forgiven, and though there may be affliction afterwards, still there is joy and peace in believing (Psalms 32:1-2 ; see Hezekiah, Isaiah 38:17 ). II. His Word of Reasoning (vv. 3-5). Some murmured when Jesus assured the man of his present forgiveness. They knew nothing of His love to sinners (Luke 15:2 ; Matthew 9:13 ). They knew nothing of His power to forgive (Luke 1:77 ). But Jesus says, 'Whether is it easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise and walk?' If He has power by His word to give new life and energy to one who is beyond human cure, He must be God; so also if He gave pardon of sin; for salvation belongeth unto the Lord (Isaiah 43:11 ). III. His Word of Power. 'Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house' (v. 6). Life and healing accompanied the word (v. 7). Those who are healed by Jesus are immediately called to show their new life by its exercise. They must walk in resurrection-life (Ephesians 5:8 ; 1 Peter 2:9 ). They must show to others what God has done for them; and where should they first display His grace but in their own homes? (Luke 8:39 ; 1 Timothy 5:8 ). Have you learned the power of Jesus to forgive? It is the first step in happiness (Psalms 89:15 ). You may learn many other things; but this alone makes us of good cheer (Romans 5:1 ). Courage, Child Matthew 9:2 * , with Mark 2:3-12 * Of all the words of grace that proceeded out of the mouth of Jesus, few are more precious than those which He spoke to the man that was sick of the palsy. There the unhappy man lay, stretched upon his couch, sick at heart, and weak in body, a burden alike to himself and to his friends, unable to move unless they chose to move him. For him the future could be but one long stretch of misery. There was only one hope: if Jesus could but see him and touch him the wonderful Jesus, who had already shown such strange love for sick folk and such mysterious power over the diseases that vexed them perhaps he might yet be made well again. It may be that the man himself had no hope; but his friends hoped for him, and earnest friendship availeth much. They were in deadly earnest: and, though under the circumstances a meeting with Jesus was hard to secure for the place was crowded to the door and He was preaching they yet contrived, with an ingenuity sharpened by affection, to bring their helpless friend right into the presence of Jesus. I. What will Jesus say? He was deeply cheered by the faith the friends had shown, and He would not let such faith go away disappointed. So, turning to the helpless man upon the couch, He said, 'Courage, child'. He said more, but He began by saying that. And we can imagine how these two simple words, each in its own way, began to touch the springs of life and hope in the wasted body before Him. The man, if a great sinner, may have been accustomed to words of reproach, or to that cold and shallow consolation which stings more keenly than reproach; and now he is told to take heart again. Here is One who speaks to him as if He believed in the possibility of his physical and spiritual recovery, One who appeals to his slumbering hope and heroism. And so tender an appeal too! He calls him 'child'. Many a year had passed since he had been anybody's 'child'; and the tenderness of the Speaker, no less than His first great, authoritative word, goes to the heart of the unhappy man. His inner world is transformed; a new life courses through his veins, and it will not be long till he will be upon his feet, and going upon his way rejoicing. In the presence of this mysterious One, who speaks to him hopefully, who bids him be brave, who assures him of the forgiveness of sins, and who calls him child, old things are passed away, and a new day has dawned. II. Doubtless this was one of the favourite words of Jesus. When the woman who had been ill twelve years fell trembling at His feet, after touching the hem of His garment, He reassured her with the words, 'Courage, daughter'. When the disciples, after a tempestuous night, were terrified by what seemed like a spectral figure moving towards them over the waves, their fears were met by a familiar voice, 'Courage, it is I: do not be afraid'. And, when by their Master's death, those same disciples were to be launched upon a still more stormy sea, His parting message to them was the same: 'Courage: as for Me, I have conquered the world'. And this was the message with which He still continued to brace and visit men, after He had risen from the dead. When His servant Paul was in danger of being torn to pieces by a fanatical mob, from whose hands he was only rescued by the forcible intervention of Roman soldiers, 'the following night the Lord stood by him, and said, Courage'; and the intrepid career of Paul is the proof that His Master's call to courage kept for ever ringing in his heart. He knew well that the fierce activities and persecutions of his missionary life were killing him, and once and again, on sea and on the land, he had been face to face with death. 'Nevertheless,' he says, 'we are courageous at all times; yes, we are courageous, I say' twice over 'and well pleased to leave our home in the body, and to go away to be at home with the Lord.' Death had no terror for this man, he faced it with good courage; for it but took him into the nearer presence of his Lord. III. These experiences, sickness and sorrow, anxiety and death, lie before us all; and in them how can we be better cheered and heartened than just by the kindly word of Jesus, 'Courage, child'. In our Gospels, as we now have them, the words were first spoken to a weak man and to a sick woman. Such we have always with us; and to the world's weak and sick folk those are the words of Jesus for ever. 'Courage,' He said to those who were tossed upon the sea; and still He says 'Courage' to all who are tossed, to all who are sailing through a black and stormy night, made more awful by the presence of spectres. The spectre which strikes a chill into our hearts is but Himself disguised by the mists. 'It is I,' He says; and the moment we are sure of this, we may well take heart again. 'Courage, it is I, do not be afraid.' Courage, then, for God is good. Courage, for Jesus is with us on the sick bed, and with us in the storm. Courage, for He overcame, and we shall overcome in Him. He was brave as He was gentle, and gentle as He was brave. He is touched for evermore with a feeling of our infirmities; and while He appeals to our latent heroism, He yet deals with us as little children. Many a gracious word of His rises to our hearts as we think of Him; but with especial gratitude do we remember Him for this brave and gentle word. And in every hour of pain or fear or desolation may we have grace given us to hear that dear voice saying to our troubled hearts, 'Courage, child'. J. E. McFadyen, The City With Foundations, p. 157. References. IX. 2. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 1; see also Creed and Conduct, p. 15. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. lii. No. 3016. IX. 2-7. Ibid. vol. xxxix. No. 2337. IX. 2-8. W. M. Taylor, The Miracles of Our Saviour, p. 122. IX. 4-6. A. G. Mortimer, One Hundred Miniature Sermons, vol. ii. p. 121. Forgiven Matthew 9:6 I. At almost every stage of the Christian life the call to arise to a higher standard is preceded by a sort of paralysis. This paralysed man was lying there, helpless; and then the word was spoken, 'Arise!' So it is with us. We have gone on very well; we have been good, moral, honest people. Suddenly, we begin to fail in everything. We are inclined to give up in despair. It is the paralysis that God is allowing, to make us ready to receive the free forgiveness through Jesus Christ, the free mercy of God, bestowed without money and without price. Later on in life, we prided ourselves, perhaps, on our love to others. Suddenly, we found our temper becoming bad. We were more impatient and irritable; less kind and tender-hearted. It is the paralysis that is to prepare us for seeking, not natural affection but the Divine gift of charity, as portrayed by. the Holy Ghost in the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians. So all through life. If we are to be prepared for receiving Sacramental truth, there often comes such an utter impotence of will, such an inability to realize heavenly things, that we are obliged to seek more Divine life; and so the man who used only to come to the holy table at Christmas or Easter is seen among the communicants, month by month, and then begins to yearn for yet more frequent celebrations. The Voice has found him paralysed, and the Incarnate God has said, 'Arise'. But when the word is spoken, faith is required. Numbers come to the point of paralysis, and remain there all their life, and pass into the other world. II. How is this faith to be obtained? How did faith give strength to this man, so that he arose? By listening to the Word of Jesus Christ There was a spark of faith, probably, before. It was the Word of God that kindled that spark into a burning flame. There was the germ, to begin with; the germ was developed by that one word, 'Arise!' And this is what we are taught by the Holy Spirit in the Epistle to the Romans. Faith, we are told, is not a mere natural confidence; that is, not the mere assent of the understanding. It is that Divine gift of God which enables us practically to realize, as if we saw them, the things which are unseen. 'Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.' Faith is, to the higher part of our being, what the natural eye is to the body. And 'faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God'. Faith is developed by taking a single text or passage, praying over it, turning it into thanksgiving, reading it, marking it, learning it by heart, and inwardly digesting it, till we have laid hold of the particular portion of everlasting life which God intends at that time to communicate. III. Just as the paralysed man laid hold of the portion of physical life which was laid up for him in Jesus Christ, so we receive, at different points in our spiritual education, out of the fullness of life which is laid up for us in Christ Jesus, the special portion of spiritual life which we need. 'Out of His fullness have we all received, and grace for grace.' We receive it by believing, by taking a promise, feeding upon it, listening to it, till it has become incorporated with our being, and the strength has flowed down into the paralysed organs, and we can rise up in hearty willing response to the call of the Everlasting Father. G. H. Wilkinson, The Invisible Glory, p. 99. References. IX. 6. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 8. C. A. Brigg, The Incarnation of the Lord, p. 3. R. H. McKim, The Gospel in the Christian Year, p. 125. G. W. Herbert, Notes of Sermons, p. 187. J. M. Neale, Sermons Preached in a Religious House, vol. ii. p. 535. W. J. Knox-Little, The Perfect Life, p. 301. The Call of Christ Matthew 9:9 I believe there is no time, no set of circumstances, in which a man may find himself, but if Jesus speaks in his own heart he may then and there respond. I. The Unlikely Man. Notice about this man Matthew that Jesus takes the man just as he is. He is the unexpected man, the last man that one would expect to go out after Christ Here is the man in the very middle of the paraphernalia of his daily calling, he is in the place where he is making his money. He is in the place where his character is known, where his past is known, and what a past it is! II. What Must be Left. Though Jesus took this man just as he is, it meant leaving something. It meant leaving everything for this man, and it will mean leaving something for most of you. It means leaving self-will, the ordering of one's life in the way that seems right to his own eyes, and it means the welcome of Christ as the controller of the spirit and as the guide of the life. III. It also Meant the Confession of Christ's Mastership in the World. Charles Kingsley, one of the bravest, brightest spirits that this country ever had, said, 'Lest I should play the coward I determined to put myself into a position from which I could not retreat,' and that is what a good many will have to do before they will save their souls alive. G. C. Britton, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxii. 1907, p. 294. The Apostle's Conversion Matthew 9:9 St. Matthew was one of the earliest converts to the truth as uttered by Him who was 'the Truth '. I. The Call of the Man. Note a. The unerring prescience of Christ. Nothing left to chance. He Himself knew what He would do. b. The Divine mercy of Christ. Matthew, a tax-gatherer, despised by the Jews, was selected by Jesus Christ from the teeming multitudes of Capernaum as a special object of His compassion and love! Ah! there never yet was a sinner He would not and could not save. The greater the sinner, the greater the Saviour. II. The Response of the Saint. Artful cunning, avaricious greed, love of gold all, all forsook the heart of the publican under the steady burning gaze of Jesus. a. An amazing conversion. The Spirit of Jesus immediately wrought the sinner into the saint; this was truly an amazing conversion of more importance than the creation of a thousand worlds! b. Conversion was followed by Divine command. 'Follow Me.' It was there and then obeyed. St. Luke's account of St. Matthew's immediate response is very explicit: 'And he left all' gold, and silver, and accounts, and office 'rose up, and followed Jesus'. Where? Everywhere the Master led him until His ascension. ** The Divine Call ( for St. Matthew's Day ) Matthew 9:9 ** There is but one subject that can occupy our minds Today the wonderful call of the Apostle Matthew to be Christ's disciple. We find the man sitting at the receipt of custom: we see him absorbed in his worldly calling, and possibly thinking of nothing but money and gain; but suddenly the Lord Jesus calls on him to follow Him, and become His disciple. At once St. Matthew obeys: he 'makes haste and delays not' to keep Christ's commandments (Psalms 119:60 ). He arises and follows Him. I. With Christ Nothing is Impossible. He can take a tax-gatherer and make him an Apostle: He can change any heart, and make all things new. Let us never despair of any one's salvation. Let us pray on, and speak on, and work on, in order to do good to souls, even to the souls of the worst. 'The voice of the Lord is mighty in operation' (Psalms 29:4 ). When He says by the power of the Spirit, 'Follow Me,' He can make the hardest and most sinful obey. II. St. Matthew's Decision. He waited for nothing; he did not tarry for 'a convenient season' (Acts 24:25 ); and he reaped in consequence a great reward. He wrote a book which is known all over the earth; he became a blessing to others as well as blessed in his own soul; he left a name behind him which is better known than the names of princes and kings. The richest man of the world is soon forgotten when he dies; but as long as the world stands millions will know the name of Matthew the publican. III. The Lessons for Ourselves. a. The Divine call comes to each one of us. We sing; Day by day His sweet voice soundeth, Saying, 'Christian, follow me'. Has that call made any impression at all upon our lives? Are we conscious of a daily striving to follow in the footsteps of the Master? Or are we still shutting our hearts against His call? b. The Christian life consists in following Christ. We may be very careful in all the outward observances of our religion, but unless we are fashioning our life upon the life of the Master, we are not truly His disciples. c. Obedience to the call involves self-sacrifice. St. Matthew forsook all. We are not necessarily called upon to do that, but we are called to give all temporal things a second place in our thoughts and lives. The Collect for this day expresses what should be the Christian attitude on such questions. We ask for grace 'to forsake all covetous desires and inordinate love of riches,' and to follow Christ. Covetousness is a sin which destroys the Christian life; and in regard to wealth, we have to remember that at the best it is not our own; we are but stewards. How many a Christian has fallen away because the love of riches has been too strong for him. Self-sacrifice, self-renunciation, self-surrender these things represent the spirit which animated St. Matthew, and they must be the dominant features of our life if we would follow him, even as he followed Christ. Matthew 9:9 See Ruskin's fine exposition of Matthew's call in the first supplement to St. Mark's Rest, apropos of Carpaccio's picture. References. IX. 9. A. G. Mortimer, One Hundred Miniature Sermons, vol. ii. p. 253. N. Adams, Christ a Friend, p. 35. J. Fraser, University Sermons, p. 275. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Holy-Tide Teaching, p. 165. J. Stalker, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lvii. 1900, p. 211. J. A. Hamilton, ibid. vol. lviii. 1900, p. 135. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for Saints' Days, p. 170. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlii. No. 2493. IX. 9-11. A. B. Bruce, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlvi. 1894, p. 282. IX. 9-17. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 18. IX. 10. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. 1. No. 2889. IX. 11. S. Pendred, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxviii. 1890, p. 406. J. A. Bain, Questions Answered by Christ, p. 1. W. J. Knox-Little, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxiii. 1903, p. 217. IX. 12. D. Fraser, Metaphors in the Gospels, p. 95. G. W. Herbert, Notes of Sermons, p. 239. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xi. No. 618. Mercy Preferred to Sacrifice Matthew 9:13 The text is a quotation from Hosea, in which God declares to His people the conditions on which they would obtain acceptance with Him. The word there rendered mercy is equivalent to piety or holiness. Idolatrous systems only required the regular observance of a prescribed ritual; Jehovah was satisfied with nothing less than the devotion of loving hearts. God prefers mercy to sacrifice: I. Because it Indicates More Clearly Man's Relation to Himself. We cannot judge of a man's character by his regard for outward ordinances; but when a man struggles against sin, denies himself, and takes up his cross, we recognize him as a follower of Christ. II. Because it is More Serviceable to our Neighbours. Religious exercises may do us good; but when we lead a pure, godly life, and lay ourselves out for deeds of benevolence and love, we are conferring blessings on those around us. III. Because it Brings the Greatest Happiness to Us. The worship of God is a source of delight to the sanctified heart; but doing good to others affords an amount of joy and gladness never experienced before. F. J. Austin, Seeds and Saplings, p. 64. References. IX. 13. H. Ward Beecher, Sermons, vol. ii. p. 77. IX. 14. J. A. Bain, Questions Answered by Christ, p. 7. IX. 14, 15. T. C. Price, What is Lent? Sermons, 1872-73. IX. 16. G. A. Chadwick, Christ Bearing Witness to Himself, p. 95. IX. 16, 17. D. Fraser, Metaphors in the Gospels, p. 106. IX. 17. C. Gore, Oxford University Sermons, p. 34. IX. 18. A. G. Mortimer, One Hundred Miniature Sermons, vol. ii. p. 153. W. H. Brookfield, Sermons, p. 136. IX. 18, 19. W. Howell Evans, Sermons for the Church's Year, p. 39. Archbishop Trench, Notes on the Miracles of Our Lord, p. 149. IX. 18-26. John Laidlaw, The Miracles of Our Lord, p. 338. B. D. Johns, Pulpit Notes, p. 134. W. M. Taylor, The Miracles of Our Saviour, p. 230. The Hem of Christ's Garment Matthew 9:20 The fact upon which the writers focus our thought is that the woman touched only the hem of His garment. I. What is the hem of Christ's garment? Where is the hem of Christ's garment Today? The hem this woman touched was one of the four tassels of blue which hung from the fringe of His coat. The robe with its fringe no longer passes down our streets. But the hem of Christ's garment can still be touched. For what was this hem, and what is this hem, but that through which His virtue passed out of Him? All the world of things seen, all that is beautiful and uplifting and inspiring, all holy influences and wise thoughts and gracious words, are but the channels through which the virtue of Jesus passes to the healing of the issues of body and mind and spirit. II. Some of the ways in which Christ's virtue passes out of Him: 1. Think of the hem of Christ's garment in nature. Nature is the visible garment of God, wrought, as Goethe said, by God's fingers in time's roaring loom. 2. Think of the hem of Christ's garment in art. By art I include all that is pure and lovely and noble in literature, in architecture, in music, in sculpture, and painting, and in all the works of men done under the inspiration of the Spirit of God. There are some who never see a lovely hillside but they think of it as a place to parcel out in profitable allotments. These are the soldiers who cast lots for Christ's garment at the foot of the cross. These are becoming fewer every day. Yet there are still many who do not realize that art is also the hem of Christ's garment. 3. Think of the hem of Christ's garment in the Word. This is the tassel of blue which most have touched. The Word of God is the closest garment of His thought. It is significant that Christ is called the Word, simply because God in Christ passed out to reveal Himself, and to work His miracles, in and by a word. 4. Think of the hem of Christ's garment in the. ministries of the Church. Newman has a sermon with the arresting title,' The Church a home for the lonely,' in which he shows, in his own deep and simple and lucid way, how solitary, and outcast, and disappointed men find in the service and fellowship of the Church the help and solace they need. There are issues often shameful, sometimes secret, sometimes exhausting, which Christ heals through the ministries of the Church. He heals them as He healed the woman, secretly and with a touch. 5. Think of the hem of Christ's garment in the Sacrament of the Supper. Nothing else brings us so near Christ, and through nothing else does His virtue pass so immediately as the Sacrament of the; Lord's Supper. W. M. Clow, The Cross in Christian Experience, p. 281. Matthew 9:20 Towards the close of Hazlitt's essay Of Persons one would wish to have seen, he describes how Charles Lamb declared, 'I would fain see the face of him who, having dipped his hand in the same dish with the Son of Man, could afterwards betray Him.... There is only one other person I can ever think of after this, 'continued Lamb; but without mentioning; a name that once put on a semblance to Mortality. 'If Shakespeare was to come into the room, we should all rise up to meet him; but if that person was to come into it, we should all fall down and try to kiss the hem of His garment.' References. IX. 20. J. Ker, Sermons, p. 186. IX. 20, 21. R. Winterbotham, Sermons and Expositions, p. 97. IX. 20-22. W. M. Taylor, The Miracles of Our Saviour, p. 243. Archbishop Trench, Notes on the Miracles of Our Lord, p. 157. John Laidlaw, The Miracles of Our Lord, p. 229 Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. lii. No. 3020. The Hem of the Garment Matthew 9:21 This story records a most remarkable instance of our Saviour's treatment of ignorance and superstition. It was a poor conceit of this woman, says good Bishop Hall, that she thought that she might receive so sovereign a remedy from Christ without His heed, without His knowledge. While yet her faith was wholly real and practical, her conception of the manner of the working of Christ's healing power was ignorant and material. Christ healed, so she supposed, not by the exertion of His holy will, but rather by a certain magical influence and power which she thought dwelt in Him. But while this woman's ideas were thus wholly wrong, being tinged with much superstition and ignorance, the result of her practised faith was wholly excellent, for immediately, we read, her issue of blood was stanched, and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And then Jesus turned, and, while He gently showed her how mistaken were her thoughts of Him, He accepted her because of her faith. I. There is a very frequent temptation for us, to whom has been granted, as we rightly consider, a purer revelation of Christian faith, to think harshly and intolerantly of those avowed Christians whose minds are as yet unenlightened on many points of Divine truth. We are tempted to regard their superstitions as a gulf across which we cannot embrace our fellow-Christians. It is good, therefore, to remind ourselves of this miracle of Jesus Christ's a miracle where faith and love were so prevailing, even where there was so little knowledge, where a poor woman had faith sufficient to cure her sickness although she had not sufficient knowledge to consider that she could not hide herself from the All-seeing Eye of God. Her faith went before her knowledge; her faith was the first to receive the blessing. Each of us, indeed, as we read this story, can see that there is much spiritual worship in much apparent superstition; and, still more, that there is much spiritual idolatry in that pride of better knowledge which can only think scornfully of our fellow-Christians because, in their guileless ignorance, they have been accustomed to bow their knees before a statue, or to attribute fictitious power to an image of stone. When Henry Martyn, the great and holy missionary, saw once in Spain a poor old crone bowing down and reverently kissing the feet of a stone image and bathing it with her tears, he reflected that, however much his understanding of the scheme of Redemption might be better than hers, very probably in faith and love she was his superior; and it is by our faith and by our love that we shall be accepted in the Last Day. Even when the idolatry is definite and certain, we shall oftener find it the consequence of dullness of intellect rather than of real alienation of the heart from God. II. Faith and love these are what we require for this world and the next. We know how human love will invest everything that belongs to its dear ones with a peculiar sanctity, so that any trifle even the hem of a garment will easily become identified with the object of its love. So does faith in things Divine; and nothing can show the nobleness and excellence of this poor woman's faith more than this that she saw a healing in spite of superstition. Thus, wherever there is human distress to heal and human faith to gain a blessing, the goodness and the power of God will overflow the ignorance and render faith a healing power. III. There was nothing in the hem of Christ's garment more than in the hem of any other to convey a blessing. A multitude was thronging all round Him, hustling against Him, and yet receiving no benefit. Only one woman in all of that crowd believed that His Sacred Person was full of healing blessing, so that if only she could come in contact with Him she would be at once healed. She recognized that one touch of Christ could overcome all the powers of darkness of this world. And He in turn recognized that touch of timid faith, even amid the pressure of the crowd. It is thus Today within the Church of Jesus Christ. The Christ still conveys strength and healing to us through outward means. And if the hem of Christ's garment had such power to heal and bless when touched by faith, how much more shall the Body and Blood of Christ, received by faith in our hearts, have power for the strengthening and for the refreshing of our souls! References. IX. 21. B. Wilberforce, The Hope that is in me, p. 25. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxx. No. 1809. Trench on the Miracles, p. 200. Dean Hook on the Miracles, vol. i. p. 242. Hall, 'The Bloody Issue Healed,' Contemplations. Cox, 'Healing of Veronica,' A Day With Christ, p. 141. J. O. Davies, 'Jesus Touched by the Way,' Sunrise on the Soul, p. 101. Allon, 'Healing Virtue of the Christ,' Vision of God, etc., p. 75. Maclaren, 'Power of Feeble Faith,' Sermons Preached in Manchester (2nd Series), p. 294. Beecher, 'Healing Virtue in Christ,' Christian World Pulpit, vol. iv. p. 161. W. C. Smith (with Isaiah xlii. 3), 'Survival of Fittest and a Higher Law,' Christian World Pulpit, vol. x. p. 177, and in Three Hundred Outlines on the New Testament, p. 34. Mellor's 'The Hem of Christ's Garment,' Sermons, p. 1. 'Desperate Faith,' Homiletic Quarterly, vol. i. p. 256. 'Confident Timidity,' Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii. p. 556. T. Sherlock, 'The Woman Who Touched,' Homiletic Magazine, vol. vii. p. 150. The Reward of Faith Matthew 9:22 The incident recorded in this passage concerning the woman who came to Jesus is more fully related in St. Luke's Gospel; and we must consider what St. Luke has to say about the striking features in the narrative. They all go to show the preciousness of faith what it will overcome in getting to Jesus, and what it apprehends in reaching Him. Notice I. How Many were this Woman's Difficulties. There was her own bodily weakness (Psalms 38:3-8 ; Mark 14:38 ). There was the crowd thronging round the Saviour (Luke 8:45 ). What an impediment is the world! (Luke 19:3 ; Matthew 13:22 ; 2 Timothy 4:10 ). There was the opinion of man. It was clear that the physicians had pronounced her incurable (Luke 8:43 ; Psalms 60:11 ; Psalms 118:8 ; Ephesians 5:6 ). She had, besides, no invitation (Ephesians 3:12 ); cf. the resolution of Esther (chap. 4:16). She was, moreover, unclean, and by the law therefore prohibited from approach (Leviticus 15:2 ; cf. Ephesians 2:13 ). II. How Simple was this Woman's Faith. She believed that Jesus could do all for her (Mark 9:23 ; Romans 8:32 ; Phi 4:19 ). She therefore pressed through the crowd and touched Him. What was in her touch? Many others thronged and touched Him; but they did not do so intentionally. She put out her hand as wishing to receive. That is what faith does. It simply takes what God has given (Ephesians 1:3 ; 2 Corinthians 1:3 ). We think very little is in a touch; but all through the Bible God shows how important it is (Genesis 3:3 ; Exodus 19:12 ; Leviticus 5:2 ; Isaiah 6:7 ; Luke 22:51 ). III. How Complete was this Woman's Cure. Our Lord said to her, 'Daughter'. She was, therefore, acknowledged as a child of the family (2 Corinthians 6:17-18 ; 1 John 3:1 ). 'Be of good comfort.' There is no fear in coming to Jesus ( 2 Timothy 1:7 ; 1 John 4:18 ; Isaiah 41:10 ). 'Thy faith hath made thee whole.' The believer appropriates all the blessings that are in Christ (Psalms 103:2-5 ). 'Go in peace.' There is no care for the soul that has come to Jesus (1 Peter 5:7 ; Phi 4:6-7 ). 'He is our peace.' We have two thoughts, then, here for us in connexion with precious faith: (1) What Jesus can do for us everything (Ephesians 3:20 ). (2) That nothing should stop us in coming to Him (Mark 1:17-20 ). Reference. IX. 23, 24. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year, vol. ii. p. 246. Matthew 9:27 Never speak of God without speaking to God. On religious subjects the best meditation is prayer. To have prayed is to have thought. I should almost have preferred not to have had any theology. The best is that which is summed up in the words,' Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me'. Vinet. References. IX. 27-30. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxiii. No. 1355; vol. xxvi. No. 1560. IX. 27-31. Archbishop Trench, Notes on the Miracles of Our Lord, p. 163. IX. 27, 38. J. Laidlaw, The Miracles of Our Lord, p. 240. IX. 29. J. Llewelyn Davies, Christus Imperator, p. 108. IX. 32, 33. W. M. Taylor, The Miracles of Our Saviour, p. 187. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlii. No. 2482. IX. 35. H. P. Liddon, Sermons Preached on Special Occasions, 1860-1889, p. 304. J. Parker, The Gospel of Jesus Christ, p. 9. A. F. Winnington Ingram, Under the Dome, p. 203. IX. 35.-XL H. Hensley Henson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lx. 1901, p. 328. The Compassion of Christ Matthew 9:36 When did He see the multitude? He saw the multitudes before there were any multitudes to be seen: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the First and the Last: I was with God before there were any fountains abounding with water. I. When Jesus saw the multitudes, therefore, He was in eternity, in His own sanctuary of solitude; He was a philanthropist before there was a man created to be pitied. God knew from all eternity that the finite must weep, the finite must suffer. The compassion of Christ was from eternity, therefore it could take effect in time, and therefore it will continue to take effect until time's last sunset has glowed upon the world. It is eternity that gives explanation and completeness to the Atonement We are apt to think that the Atonement took place at a time which could be dated; we discourse much about Friday night, and the whole Saturday in the grave, and the dawning of the first day of the week. It is all puerile; any comment dealing with these facts is a comment to be dispensed with; we live in God's eternal purpose, the Atonement was rendered before the sin was done; 'before Abraham was I AM,' and I AM has no time. II. Compassion is not sentiment, it is redemption. There is a sentiment no bigger than its own tear; there is another sentiment that signifies redemption, something done for the sinner. That was the redemption wrought out by Jesus Christ. He did not cry over men, He died for them. He did not say, It is a pity; He said, I will go down, and I will tread the winepress alone, and I will make suffering the way into the highest eminences and noblest sanctuaries of life and service. To Christ we owe the sentiment that completes itself in redemption. Away with your tears that have no depth! Welcome the love that would die for the prodigal! III. What a view was that which Jesus Christ took of the multitudes! He saw the multitudes exactly as they were. It was a multitudinous misery, a multitudinous sin, a multitudinous helplessness. We see throngs, and remark on the number: Christ saw multitudes, and remarked on their misery. Alas! there is no gathering of human beings that does not represent a gathered pain, a gathered helplessness: where two or three are gathered together there is at least one broken heart. The street looks well, it is filled with bunting and with festoons, with spring flowers or summer grandeur; but in every house in that decorated street there is a broken heart. Jesus Christ did not see the bunting flying from the windows, He saw the hearts that were dying within the bosoms of human grief: He had compassion. IV. How was it that Jesus Christ spoke to multitudes and spoke of multitudes? The answer is plain: Jesus Christ was not one of many, He was many in One; that is the explanation. We are only wise in our statesmanship in the degree in which we are Biblical; we must go to God to know what the condition of the world is. That condition has beer, represented in Scripture in the most graphic and in the most awesome and appalling terms. Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. I. p. 190. References. IX. 36. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 41. H. C. G. Moule, My Brethren and Companions, p. 41; see also Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxvi. 1904, p. 233. T. T. Munger, Character Through Inspiration, p. 97; see also The Freedom of Faith, p. 131. G. Tyrrell, Oil and Wine, p. 149. W. H. Murray, The Fruits of the Spirit, p. 290. J. Marshall Lang, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxix. 1891, p. 193. J. Morgan Gibbon, ibid. vol. xlv. 1894, p. 316. C. Gore, ibid. vol. 1. 1896, p. 113. IX. 36, 37. J. Wright, The Guarded Gate, p. 89. IX. 36-38. J. O. Johnston, Church Times, vol. 1. 1903, p. 443. Hugh Ross, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlvii. 1895, p. 374. N. D. J. Straton, ibid. vol. lviii. 1900, p. 85. T. Barker, Plain Sermons, p. 284. Matthew 9:37-38 PÈre Gratry writes on this text: 'If there is one thing clearer than another, it is that there are a thousand times too few men who are consecrated to the religious and moral education of the human race. An incalculable moral wealth is lost, over all the earth, for lack of labourers in the harvest of souls. "The harvest is plenteous," said Christ, "but the labourers are few." This lack of true workers is one of the characteristic features of the world's history, and we see it in our own day. That is why all the works of men, without exception, are in a backward state. "Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that He will send forth labourers into His harvest." That is the world's chief need; that is what we must ask from God. I do not know any wiser enthusiasm than that which stirs men up to become labourers for God.' References. IX. 37, 38. H. Price Hughes, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liii. 1898, p. 308. Lyman Abbott, ibid. vol. lxii. 1902, p. 33. A. E. Garvie, ibid. vol. lxxiv. 1908, p. 353. D. Fraser, Metaphors in the Gospels, p. 112. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xix. No. 1127. IX. 38. F. E. Paget, Helps and Hindrances to the Christian Life, vol. ii. p. 221. E. Fowle, Pray ye the Lord of the Harvest, Sermons, 1872-1873. X. 1, 2. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xii. No. 702. List of the Apostles Matthew 10:2-4 I. There are several pairs of brothers: Peter and Andrew; James and John; Judas and James. This points to (1) the need of companionship in Christian work, as solace, and as a curb to excessive individualism. (2) The allowableness of special friendships among Christian workers. (3) That Christianity is more beautiful when the natural bonds of love and kindred are sanctified. It is meant to heighten these and they to provide channels for its operation. (4) But also Christianity separates and dissolves natural ties. II. There were wide varieties in the characters of the men chosen, which shows that there is room for all diversities in Christ's service and the uniting power of the Christian faith. Christ Himself in His living presence as the centre held all in unity. A. Maclaren. References. X. 3. H. J. Martyn, For Christ and the Truth, p. 75. X. 4. J. E. Roberts, Studies in the Lord's Prayer, p. 106. A. F. Winnington Ingram, The Men Who Crucify Christ, p. 11. X. 5. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 55. X. 5-16. Ibid. p. 68. X. 6. H. Ward Beecher, Sermons (2nd Series), p. 179. X. 7. H. A. Stimson, The New Things of God, p. 267. Lyman Abbott, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlviii. 1895, p. 372. X. 7, 8. E. White, ibid. vol. xlv. 1894, p. 389. W. M. Sinclair, ibid. vol. xlvi. 1894, p. 56. The Condition and Obligation of Service Matthew 10:8 I. The Condition, the Source, the Inspiration of Service. 'Freely ye have received;' and here I cannot, dare not, attempt to speak about the greatness of the giving. He who told us most about it called it unspeakable; the riches of the grace are unsearchable, the love beyond all faith's measurement; we can only kneel before it and adore. But about our receiving we may speak, for that, alas! is too often a measurable quantity, and yet upon that depends all the power and willingness of service. It is not the magnitude of the grace, but the proportion of its inflow, that determines all the issues of the Christian life; the sun-rays are poured as plentifully upon the barren rock as upon the vine which creeps around it, but it is the measure of reception that makes the difference between the dead, profitless stone and the living tree that quivers into fruit-bearing. Glad giving comes out of full receiving. Loving God is letting God love us; the outgoings of our love are just the overflow of the Divine love in us. The Apostles tell us often in glowing, rapturous words of God's wonderful gifts to them, but they tell us quite as frequently of their own receiving. It was that which had made the miracle of their lives: 'Out of His fulness we all received, and grace upon grace'. People who merely move among the crowd about Christ, who stop short of touching the hem of His garment, who perhaps see only His shadow as it passes by, who hardly open the narrowest chink of their being to the healing of His power, cannot be expected to lavish costly ointment at His feet. Only those give Him of their best, and give it with raptures of gratitude, who have been much healed and much forgiven; then they lay at His feet their ointment, or their tears, or their very blood-drops, if He asks, and think it all too small. If we measure with sparing, reluctant hands every coin that we drop into His treasury, every hour that we give to His worship and work, every meagre self-denial which His service imposes, there needs no further proof of the feeble hold which He has upon us and our scant reception of His grace. II. The Obligation of Service. Our receipts make our debt. The Lord tells us here, and His words are echoed and repeated in all the confessions of His disciples, that we have received for the very purpose of giving. The Gospel of the blessed God has been committed to us in trust. We are not absolute owners, we are responsible trustees. 'As every man hath received the gift, so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.' The men who had learned directly of Christ never regarded their spiritual endowments save in this aspect. They never once supposed that the heavenly light had been kindled in them solely for their own glory, that the Divine treasure had been bestowed upon them simply for their own enrichment, and that for their own sakes alone they had been singled out for a benefit so vast, a mercy so wonderful, a salvation so grand and complete. How could they suppose that, unless Calvary had developed in them the Pharisee's pride or the miser's greed? How could they entertain that thought, unless they had been plunged in a blinding maelstrom of intolerable self-conceit? What had they done to deserve this signal grace and the promotion from rude fishermen to companionship with the King of Kings? No, they knew that the Divine love which had fixed itself on them was felt as fully and as freely towards the whole human race, and that the light had shown on their hearts first that through them the illumination might spread everywhere. It was not their own. It was the most sacred and responsible of trusts. It belonged to all men. To withhold it would be to rob men of what God had made their right. Nay, it would be to deny and forfeit their own calling. 'Woe is me if I preach not the Gospel.' And every one feels this who has truly understood and rejoiced in God's great gift. If it has not yet penetrated and suffused the hearts of all Christians, it is because the selfish human elements have counteracted the workings of the Divine, and because man's littleness has brought God's great thought down to the measure of the market and the shop. J. G. Greenhough, The Cross in Modern Life, p. 162. References. X. 8. James Baldwin Brown, The Divine Life in Man, pp. 321, 344. E. Y. Mullins, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxviii. 1905, p. 168. H. Montagu Butler, ibid. vol. lxx. 1906, p. 97. H. A. Stimson, The New Things of God, p. 245. F. Paget, The Spirit of Discipline, p. 234. X. 10. J. O. Wills, The Dundee Pulpit, 1872, p. 185. Matthew 10:11 'There are some men,' says Mrs. Oliphant in her Life of Edward Irving, 'who seem born to the inalienable good fortune of lighting upon the best people "the most worthy," according to Irving's own expression long afterwards wherever they go. Irving's happiness in this way began at Haddington. The doctor's wife seems to have been one of those fair, sweet women whose remembrance lasts longer than greatness.... The Annandale youth came into a little world of humanizing graces when he entered that atmosphere; and it was only natural that he should retain the warmest recollection of it throughout his life.' Reference. X. 12, 13. R. E. Hutton, The Crown of Christ, vol. ii. p. 565. Matthew 10:14 Compare Wesley's account of how he left Georgia, being hampered by the authorities in his work. 'I saw clearly the hour was come for leaving this place and as soon as evening prayers were over, about eight o'clock, the tide then serving, I shook off the dust of my feet, and left Georgia, after having preached the Gospel there (not as I ought, but as I was able) one year and nearly nine months.' Reference. X. 14, 15. F. E. Paget, Sermons for The Saints' Days, p. 205. Matthew 10:16 Compare Amiel's remarks on prudence, as part of love to men. 'Be ye simple as the dove, and prudent as the serpent,' are words of Jesus. Be careful of your reputation, not through vanity, but that you may not harm your life's work, and out of love for truth.' It was what he called his wisdom of the serpent, says Mr. Morley, that gave Cobden his power in the other arts of a successful agitator, which are less conspicuous but hardly less indispensable, than commanding or persuasive oratory. He applied the same qualities in the actual business of the League that he brought to bear in his speeches. He was indefatigable in industry, fertile in ingenious devices for bringing the objects of the League before the country, constantly on the alert for surprising a hostile post, never losing a chance of turning a foe or a neutral into a friend, and never allowing his interest about the end for which he was working to confuse his vigilant concentration upon the means. References. X. 16. J. H. Newman, Sermons Bearing on Subjects of the Day, p. 331. D. Fraser, Metaphors in the Gospels, p. 118. J. Stark, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxix. 1891, p. 241. J. Stalker, ibid. vol. lxi. 1902, p. 41. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxiii. No. 1370. X. 16-31. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 74. X. 19. J. M. Neale, Sermons Preached in Sackville College Chapel, vol. iv. p. 256. X. 22. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. x. No. 554. The Christian Palliation of Pain Matthew 10:23 I. The days of persecution are past; has this text lost its meaning? No, it is to my mind the revelation of an eternal fact a fact which distinguishes Christianity from all other religions. Christ's remedy for the immediate pressure of grief is one peculiarly His own. Consider the remedies proposed by some other faiths. The Buddhist says: 'When you are oppressed by any sorrow, think how all your desires will be stilled in death'. The Brahman says: 'When you are oppressed by any sorrow, remember how all finite things are illusions'. The Stoic says: 'When you are oppressed by any sorrow, keep your mind on things that suppress emotion'. The Jew says: 'When you are oppressed by any sorrow, seek out and expiate the sin you have committed'. Christ says none of these things. His recommendation is: 'When you are oppressed by any sorrow, rest your thoughts as much as possible upon some joy that remains; when you are persecuted in one city, flee into another'. II. Our danger in grief is that of forgetting our untouched joys. We have all some city of refuge some spot left green. Christ says our first duty is to flee thither. He says we shall be better able to remedy any stroke of fortune if in the first instance we seek comfort in another direction. He practised this Himself in His cures. A paralytic came to be healed; Jesus said, 'Thy sins be forgiven thee'. Was not that irrelevant to promise a man forgiveness of sin who wanted cure for paralysis? Yes, but in the irrelevancy lay the beauty. The best prelude to curing a man's paralysis is to get him over to the sunny side of the street to fix his mind upon an actually existing joy. III. So, too, when Christ tells the labouring and laden in body that He will give them rest to their souls, it seems an irrelevancy; but it is not. What better prelude to a medical cure than a flash of sunshine in the soul; what better preparation for a physical improvement than a state of inward rest? Our Lord would have us first get out from the persecuted into the unpersecuted city and brace ourselves for struggle by an hour of peace. G. Matheson, Messages of Hope, p. 149. Matthew 10:23 If religion be the doing of all good, and for its sake the suffering of all evil, souffrir de tout le monde et ne faire souffrir personne , that Divine secret has existed in England from the days of Alfred to those of Romilly, of Clarkson, and of Florence Nightingale, and in thousands who have no fame.' Emerson, English Traits, xiii. References. X. 24. W. J. Knox-Little, Christian World Pulpit, vol. li. 1897, p. 250. X. 24, 25. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 83; see also Greed and Conduct, p. 89. X. 24-26. H. Ward Beecher, Sermons, vol. ii. p. 195. X. 26. A. Martin, Winning the Soul, p. 181. X. 26, 27. H. Scott Holland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xli. 1892, p. 49. X. 27. E. Griffith-Jones, ibid. vol. liii. 1898, p. 195. C. Silvester Home, ibid, vol. liv. 1898, p. 85. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlvi. No. 2674. Matthew 10:28 Compare Carlyle's account, in the first volume of his Cromwell, of Prynne, Bastwick, and Burton, being mutilated, by order of Archbishop Laud, and of how, 'Bastwick's wife, on the scaffold, received his ears in her lap and kissed them. Prynne's ears the executioner "rather sawed than cut". "Cut me, tear me," cried Prynne? "I fear thee not; I fear the fire of Hell, not thee."' Matthew 10:29 Nature herself has not provided the most graceful end for her creatures. What becomes of all the birds that people the air and forest for our solacement? The sparrows seem always chipper, never infirm. We do not see their bodies lie about. Yet there is a tragedy at the end of each one of their lives. They must perish miserably; not one of them is translated. True, 'not a sparrow falleth to the ground without our heavenly Father's knowledge,' but they do fall, nevertheless. Thoreau, * A Week on the Concord. * The Providence of the Trifle Matthew 10:29-30 We are so earth-bound that we half-suspect the competence of any being to exercise a Providence over motes, atoms, and infinitesimal details. We are not sure that we honour the Infinite by such a conception. I. Our own carelessness about details in the lives that crowd our daily pathway makes it difficult for us to believe in Christ's doctrine of a Providence that regulates trifles. It is only a point in the unmeasured area of human life, not to speak of other uncounted realms of life, that we can touch by our sympathies. How incredible that God should fulfil a Providence that includes the meanest things in nature! The indifference that warps our judgment of this question is made up of two things sheer selfishness and rigid limitation of power and opportunity. Selfishness shrivels resource, and the shrinkage of resource seems to justify our selfishness. II. It is often intimated that our theories of Providence are frequently discredited by the actual facts we see around us. The government of the world often looks as though it were impersonal. The universe, we are tempted to say, is ruled by a necessity that takes no account of the individual. All facts point in that direction. Could we get into God's secret chambers we should see how He puts Himself into the blindest forces of the universe, and makes them move the fine threads of His counsel, and work out His deepest and most complex designs. We cannot gauge God's providence over the little things of life by His apparent indifference to the time and circumstance under which the stream of breath in a man ceases. It is His hand which controls that breath, and His hand never forgets its cunning. Much of our terror of death is due to ignorance of what death is, and to the assumption that it can come to any one of us as mere fate. To God and to us death must seem very different things. We are held in its chain, or at least seem to be. He holds death in chains, and never lets the key of the grim monster's fetters pass for a moment out of His possession. III. Belief in a Providence that is informed in incalculably minute sympathies is necessary to our habitual communion with God. If God cannot or will not care for little things, we have no encouragement to come to His feet and pour out our tale before Him. Our belief ought to give calmness in our work and authority to the message we are sent to deliver. Every part of the elect life is under a sacred ordination, and God watches over all the things that concern us as we do His will. We often lack a due sense of our vocation because our belief in a guiding Providence is feeble. T. G. Selby, The Lesson of a Dilemma, p. 82. References. X. 30. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iv. No. 187; vol. xxxiv. No. 2005. James Vaughan, Sermons Preached in Christ Church, Brighton (7th Series), p. 151. On Churchgoing Matthew 10:32 We are told to confess Christ. 'Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven.' Nor is this all. This is only half the truth. There is the dark side as well as the bright one. 'But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven.' I. In an age when everybody is allowed to believe what they like, the constancy of the martyr and the cowardice of the renegade are alike impossible. Confessing Christ before men is done by all respectable churchgoers, as you may say; what can any one require more? I think God will require much more. And here I would enter a protest against a form of cowardice common at this day. How many among us reverse the language of the prayer and 'profess and call themselves non -Christians'? You hear repeatedly men and women say, 'I don't profess to be a Christian, but I look after sick people. I don't profess to be a Christian, but I am always ready to help. I don't profess to be a Christian, but you will not hear any slander or evil-speaking from me.' This is a common line for people to take up just now, even if they do not put it quite so plainly in words. Examine it, and it means something like this. I will copy the teachings of Christ's gracious life, but I will not acknowledge their source For who taught the world to seek out the sick and the sorrowing? Who taught the world to help the poor? Who made it a duty to refrain from guileful speech, and to be gentle, compassionate, tender-hearted? Jesus Christ of Nazareth! This fact, however, must be ignored; we must pretend that it is our own superiority that enables us to lead the higher life. II. We constantly find people taking a sort of pride in assuming this attitude of aloofness about religion. They seem to consider it a mark of intelligence to deny the superior claims of Christianity over other faiths. Buddha, Mohammed, Moses, or Jesus are all treated with the same patronizing approbation. It is a revival of the saying of the Roman cynic, 'All religions are equally false'. To entertain no preference for the best thing in the world is not dignity, but dullness. People are denying the Master in a new way, and while taking all they can from His system, they revile it and call it outworn and dying. III. A public profession of Christianity is what is wanted. Since the days of the Apostles it has been the rule that all Christians should assemble themselves together on the first day of the week in open acknowledgment of their allegiance to Christ. C. H. Butcher, The Sound of a Voice that is Still, p. 160. References. X. 32. S. Martin, Westminster Chapel Sermons, p. 1. C. Perren, Revival Sermons in Outline, p. 173. X. 32, 33. F. E. Paget, Sermons for the Saints' Days, p. 55. X. 32-42. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 94. The Sword of Doubt Matthew 10:34 Our Lord tells us here that the preaching of the Cross is like a sword. When St. John saw the Son of Man is his vision, 'there went a sharp two-edged sword out of his mouth'. It sounds like a paradox that the Lamb should bear a sword. Yet we know that the preaching of the Cross, wherever it sounded, cut men to the heart, leaving deep divisions and awakening sharp animosities. I. Now may we not say that this sword of the Lamb is Doubt. In the mind of the seeker after light it is the anguish of indecision. And in the case of the persecutor it is at bottom the same thing. Ever since the advent of our Lord you find doubt in the world. The leaven immediately began to work, and it worked with great violence, causing a turmoil, a civil war, in the soul, such as had never been experienced before. What did our Lord do to create this horrid spectre of Doubt and let it loose upon the modern world? If we are to understand why He sent not peace but a sword, we must fix our attention on the deepest and most characteristic feature of His work and doctrine, and this is certainly to be found in the Cross. It has always been a supreme difficulty, and there is nothing in the whole body of Christian doctrine that has excited so much hostility, so much repugnance, or so much derision, as the notion that vicarious suffering; can have any moral value or can in any sense be called a duty or a Divine law. It does not seem reasonable, it does not square with our empirical conception of justice, and it is the very last thing that men desire. Yet it is the specific mark of Christianity, and deep within our hearts there is a voice that tells us that it is Divine and that through it lies the way to the right understanding of God and of life. Here, and here only, we see the full meaning of the sword of the Lamb. Alone of all teachers He dared to proclaim as the goal of human aspiration not happiness nor tranquillity but Life, Life attained through pain and working in Pain, Pain not passive but active, not borne with stoic resignation but cheerfully accepted and sought for, as a ransom for the souls of others and through those others of ourselves. Such a doctrine is exquisitely painful. It offends at every point. It affronts our reason, our dignity, our freedom, our conduct, our physical weakness. Yet no man reads the history of the Passion without feeling its truth. II. Pain indeed suggests the one and only doubt which is worth a moment's consideration. Pain is undoubtedly a grave problem, but for this very reason it is of vital importance that it should not be presented in a false or exaggerated light. Nature strikes many people as cruel, yet the suffering which forms part of her system is never inflicted, in the first instance at any rate, from a mere delight in barbarity. Animals are not cruel unless they are depraved. Aimless ferocity is a vice in them as it is in man. They kill for food as man himself does, and almost always in the shortest and least painful manner. Again, it is highly probable that the lower animals are not so susceptible of pain as man himself, and the pain of violent injuries is not to be compared with the lingering torments of disease. Pain is not really a large factor in life, and even what we call brute courage thinks but little of it. These considerations go at any rate some way, and they should debar us from speaking of the world as if it were merely a vast and hideous torture-chamber. The difficulty of pain is almost entirely modern. It is hardly to be found in Scripture, except perhaps in the phrase of St. Paul about the whole Creation groaning and travailing in sympathy with the evil of man. Our Saviour never touches upon this theme, and the old Psalmist writes without hesitation, 'the lions roaring after their prey do seek their meat from God'. III. We may say that pain is not an evil because it shortens life but only when it degrades it, that it never degrades the brute and only accidentally degrades man. But still there will remain an unanswered doubt. Why did a good God order His universe in this way? Why did He not content Himself with framing painless angels and leave suffering beasts out of the scheme? If we fix our eyes on the lower parts of Creation we can discover no satisfactory answer. We do not know the brutes. But man we do know, and in his spirit we can find a law that brings peace, the law of the Cross. And not in his spirit only. The Cross reaches up to heaven and brings suffering into contact with God Himself. As we look upon Calvary we see pain transfigured; it is no longer a burden, but a wing. It is the cement of all society, the spur to all progress, the main link between man and man, and man and God. Why it should be so we cannot tell. We cannot fully solve those or any other mystery, nor can we banish mystery from life. There is darkness around us, above us, within us. But there is also light; and though it be but a glimmering point, the wise man will turn his face towards it. Aristomenes of Messene, when he was condemned to die and cast into the dark pit, at first gave way to despair. But as he strained his eyes around the black recesses of the Ceadas he caught sight of a thread of sunlight, crawled towards it on hands and knees, and finally escaped through a fox's earth. And this is a parable of the Christian pilgrim. Only he must have faith, that is to say, he must believe that there is open day and freedom, and that the little spark of brightness points the way towards the sun. C. Bigg, The Spirit of Christ in Common Life, p. 21. Not Peace, But a Sword Matthew 10:34 I. Not Peace, but a Sword. The words are written in the whole history of the Church from then until now. The martyrdom of Stephen was the first occasion for the extension of the Gospel, and the law of its progress has never varied. For three centuries Christianity maintained an open struggle with the strongest power which the world has ever seen. The victory was won, the triumph exceeded all human hope; but peace was not yet. II. Not Peace, but a Sword. For three more centuries hordes of barbarians poured over the fairest provinces of Europe. Christianity alone was unconquered. Again and again the wild flood swept over our island, but the bulwarks of faith rose secure above them. So again the victory was won. A new family of nations was gathered in the fold of Christ: but peace was not yet. III. Not Peace, but a Sword. The nations were Christianized, but the poor were forgotten. The history of the Middle Age is a long record of conflicts between the spirit of the Gospel and the spirit of dominion. When the full time was come the outward unity of Christendom was broken. Christian was armed against Christian in an unnatural strife. But we now are allowed to look back upon that age of the Reformation and see how men, who owned no fellowship on earth, were yet enabled to work out each some fragment of Divine truth and hand it down to us. But with the larger view of the capacities of Christianity, and the truer view of its adaptation to every variety of thought which we owe to them larger and truer, I believe, than was ever vouchsafed to any earlier age we have received also an inheritance of division: * not peace, but a sword. * IV. But they have also another and a more personal sense. They speak to each one of us in our own peculiar work. In that our battle is to be fought; in that the critical power of Christianity for us is to be manifested; in that we shall find that the Gospel comes not with the soft voice of rest, but with a sterner call. V. Not Peace, but a Sword. But the words cheer us when we find the conflict of life hardest. It is Christ's will that it be so. B. F. Westcott, Village Sermons, p. 298. The Sending of the Sword Matthew 10:34 There seems to be a glaring contradiction between this word and some other words of Jesus. Life proves many a proposition to be true that logic would readily demonstrate as false. And the strange thing about the words of Christ is, that while they seem to contradict each other at the bar of reason, they link themselves together into perfect harmony when we go forward in the strength of them. They are words of life; meant to be lived out. I. The coming of Christ sends a sword into the heart. Now this is exactly what I should have expected when I remember the penalties of gain. For everything a man achieves there is a price to pay. There comes a wound with everything we win. All knowledge, whatever joy it brings with it, brings with it in the other hand a sword. All love, though it kindles the world into undreamed-of brightness, has a note in its music of unrest and agony. To receive Christ is to receive the truth; it is to have the Spirit of Love breathing within us; and if truth and love always bring sorrow with them, I shall expect the coming of Christ to be with pain. II. There are three ways in which the coming of Christ into the heart sends a sword there. 1. Christ opens up the depths of sin within us. We see what we are in the light of His perfection. We were tolerably contented with our character once, but when Christ comes we are never that again. 2. Christ calls us to a lifelong warfare. The note of warfare rings through the whole New Testament. The spirit is quickened now to crave for spiritual things, and the flesh and the spirit must battle till the grave. 3. Above all, it is by heightening our ideal that the old peace goes and the pain begins. It is in the new conception of what life may be that the sword-stroke cuts into the heart. III. Christ comes to send a sword into the home. Did you ever think how true that was of Nazareth? Did you ever reflect on our text in the light of that home? It might have been so peaceful and so happy if God had never honoured it like this. But Jesus was born there, and that made all the difference. It could never be the quiet home again. Gethsemane was coming, Calvary was coming; a sword was going to pierce through Mary's heart. He came not to send peace, but a sword. Develop love, and you develop sorrow. Deepen the heart-life, and you deepen suffering. It is by doing that, through all the centuries, that Christ has brought the sword into our homes. G. H. Morrison, Sun-Rise, p. 158. Illustration I notice in the engines of our river-steamers that there are rods that move backward as well as rods that move forward. A child would say they were fighting with each other, and that half of the engines were going the wrong way. But though half the engines seem to go the wrong way, there is no question that the ship is going the right way: out of the smoke and stir of the great city into the bays where the peace of God is resting. So with the words of Christ that seem to oppose each other. Make them the driving power of the soul, and the oppositions will not hinder progress, and the contradictions will reveal their unity, and you shall be brought to your desired haven. G. H. Morrison, Sun-Rise, p. 159. Matthew 10:34 What said Jesus that He came to send a sword? Of course He did. Every idea is a sword. W. Hale White. References. X. 34. J. Neville Figgis, The Gospel and Hitman Needs, p. 145. W. Garrett Horder, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxiv. 1903, p. 204. A. G. Mortimer, The Church's Lessons for the Christian Year, part ii. p. 247. Selected Sermons of Schleiermacher, p. 295. X. 36-38 C. G. Finney, Sermons on Gospel Themes, p. 319. The Supreme Claim of Christ Matthew 10:37 It seems to me that the supreme claim of the Lord Jesus Christ rests at least upon three bases. The first basis of His claim is in His own character; the second basis of His claim is in the need of him upon whom He makes the claim; and the third basis is in the need of the world for him upon whom He makes the claim. I. His Own Character. Christ claimed it for Himself, mark you, not for a moral ideal, but for Himself as a living Person, and He claimed the same kind of love as we give to father, to mother, or to child. I say that claim was based upon His own character, for Christ was conscious of having an absolute commission from God to men. He claimed it because He was conscious of His ability to guide men, and all men, and all kinds of men in all kinds of conditions. Christ brings us a message from God, that we know from experience is the last message, not only of God as a Creator, or as a Judge, or even as a Father, but Christ's message as of a forgiving Father, and of a forgiving Father to the uttermost. II. The Needs of the Individual. No man ever saw the needs of men as the Lord Jesus Christ beheld them. He saw the individual need some one to take the supreme place in man's affection. Man needs a ruler who will save him from himself. Every man living knows that he longs for someone to save him, not from the world, not from the temptations without, but from himself; not only to put out the fires which our own stupidity have kindled, but to bring out the treasure that we know God has deposited within us, and which we cannot dig out ourselves. There are four ways in which we can use our ware. That boy who had the loaves and fishes could have done four things with them. He could have thrown them away; he could have eaten them himself; or he could have distributed them himself among his friends, or as he did give them to Christ. And we may do these four things with our lives. And that is why Christ claimed the first place in men's lives, because He knew that life must of necessity be a tragic failure without that influence of Divine grace upon it. III. The Claim of Others Upon Us. The world has certain demands upon us. We realize it as we never have realized it before, and the supreme claim of Jesus Christ is based upon the claim of other lives upon us. No man who does not live in communion with God can give an original contribution to life. We owe supreme allegiance to Christ in the interest of the world. We owe it in the interests of the unity of the world as well. J. Douglas Adam, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxii. 1907, p. 86. Matthew 10:37 In his Anglican days, Newman wrote thus of the Roman Church: 'Considering the high gifts and the strong claims of the Church of Rome and its dependencies on our admiration, reverence, love, and gratitude, how could we withstand it, as we do, how could we refrain from being melted into tenderness, and rushing into communion with it, but for the words of Truth itself, which bid us prefer It to the whole world? "He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me."' References. X. 37. R. Flint, Sermons and Addresses, p. 166. X. 37, 38. H. Ward Beecher, Sermons (2nd Series), p. 585. Matthew 10:38 To repel one's cross is to make it heavier. Amiel. To take up the Cross of Christ is no great action done once for all; it consists in the continual practice of small duties which are distasteful to us. Newman. References. X. 38. R. H. McKim, The Gospel in the Christian Year, p. 166. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Holy-Tide Teaching, p. 92. X. 38, 39. T. B. Dover, Some Quiet Lenten Thoughts, p. 95. X. 39. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 102. J. Vickery, Ideals of Life, p. 181. J. H. Jowett, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxiv. 1903, p. 209. H. A. Stimson, The New Things o God, p. 65. Matthew 10:40 Foe a long time past I have seen into a something most wondrous, in what I fear so many think the accident of our circle of friends. It is no accident. If it be true, 'He that receiveth you receiveth Me,' in one sense, it is also in this. God draws nigh in our friend-circles. Smetham. Reference. X. 40. W. J. Knox-Little, The Perfect Life. p. 289. The Exaltation of the Obscure Matthew 10:41 One of the noticeable features of our Lord's earthly ministry was His tender regard for the obscure and undistinguished men and women by whom He was surrounded, closely connected as this feeling was with an unshaken belief in the undeveloped, yet developable, spiritual capacities of the average mass of mankind. I. So long as we keep Christ's image in view we can never degenerate into pessimists or cynics. The more we know of Him, and the more truly we believe in Him as representing God and man, the greater will be our reverence for the image of God in our fellow-men, and the more clearly shall we see how out of the very fact of men's seeming insignificance may come opportunities of special faithfulness and of service to God and to man. But in order to see this as Christ saw and revealed it, we need first to be changed in ourselves. And some such generous faith in the higher possibilities of commonplace men and women, implied as it is in the doctrine of the Incarnation, is necessary for our own moral support. II. There is a peculiar glamour about great talents and powerful individualities. Hence comes a natural tendency to undervalue commonplace qualities, and even to assume that those who are not possessed of any remarkable gifts, however worthy they may be individually, are destitute of significance, and hardly count at all as factors in the moral and spiritual advance of mankind. The same false estimate sometimes has a benumbing effect on character by leading people to disparage their own powers of usefulness. Strictly speaking, the great question for every man is, not whether he has commanding powers, but what use he proposes to himself, with God's help, to make of the gifts entrusted to him. Be those gifts great or small, few or many, the main concern to each of us is that they are our gifts, given to us by God Himself, a part, therefore, of our own distinct personality, and they are the measure whereby our faithfulness will be tested. III. But Christ's words carry us even further than this. Not only do they bring encouragement to the hearts of all those who live faithfully a hidden and an obscure life. They lay down the broad principle of an equivalence of reward as between the eminent and the obscure. They tell us that he who welcomes a prophet simply because he is a prophet, out of regard for his prophetic character, shall receive a prophet's reward, and he who welcomes a righteous man for the simple reason that he loves and reveres righteousness, shall receive a righteous man's reward. The words are of a figurative character, but their meaning is plain. They reveal a law of identification by moral sympathy of humble and holy men of heart with the great characters to whom their highest homage is given. J. W. Shepard, Light and Life, p. 60. A Prophet Matthew 10:41 I. A Prophet a man sent from God to teach us absolute truth concerning our relations with God. Christ was preeminently such: the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He still continues to give this knowledge from heaven. No man spake like this Man. No books speak like these books of Holy Scripture: Christ speaks in them from heaven. The real evidence of Christianity is in the Bible; the Word made flesh can only be known through the word made letter as in the writings of the Lord's Apostles. II. Righteous Men such as might go forth in God's name. Men's character might be told more by their attitude to the Bible than by anything. The righteous man is one who lives in Christ, and though he may not even be able to read he cannot help saving others he radiates the saving energy. III. The Idea of Receiving a Prophet who is able to teach others. The old word 'parlour,' our little social parliament, has given place to the modern term, 'reception room '. Who comes there? Those who like you. Receiving means taking into your confidence, mind, heart, those who are drawn toward you by your character. That man only receives a prophet who receives him to closest intimacy and helps him. To receive a righteous man is to draw him to yourself and help him. IV. Reception of Prophets: our sympathetic help ensures for us certain participation in their reward both here and hereafter. The reward seems too great, as if the shepherds of Bethlehem should be rewarded for listening to the angels' song by being made angels themselves. But receiving a righteous man goes very deep into character. The impulse to a noble, sympathetic act gains the reward of an inward approving conscience, which is, in fact, the approval of the universal conscience the love of God. There was no praise in the universe so hearty and vital as God's. There are many forgotten attributes of God, such as His intensely human sympathies, His love of being loved, the enthusiasm with which He beholds noble and self-sacrificing character. Edward White, British Weekly Pulpit, vol. II. p. 77. References. X. 41. W. Ewen, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliii. 1893, p. 220. W. Boyd Carpenter, ibid. vol. lviii. 1900, p. 113. 'Plain Sermons 'by contributors to the Tracts for the Times, vol. viii. p. 25. X. 41, 42. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 110. X. 42. H. Harris, Short Sermons, p. 221. B. D. Johns, Pulpit Notes, p. 21. XI. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlvii. No. 2708. XI. 2. T. Barker, Plain Sermons, p. 224. XI. 2, 3. F. D, Maurice, Lincoln's Inn Sermons, vol. iii. p. 33. G. Jackson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlvii. 1895, p. 67. T. F. Lockyer, The Inspirations of the Christian Life, p. 76. XI. 2-5. H. Varley, Spiritual Light and Life, p. 145. G. Salmon, Non-Miraculous Christianity, p. 1. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 121. J. B. Stedeford, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxviii. 1890, p. 129. XI. 2-19. A. B. Davidson, The Called of God, p. 230. Impatience Matthew 11:3 I. It was not by want of faith that the Baptist erred, but by Impatience, which is a different thing, except in so far as it may be said to imply distrust in the Divine wisdom. It is impatience when we would go faster than God, when we would force His hand either to destroy what is evil or to advance what is good, when we complain that He does nothing and hide3 Himself, because He does not ripen the grain and reap the harvest directly after seed-time. The cause of it is not so much want of faith, as overestimate of our own insight and power; it arises not so much from lack of devotion as from that most subtle and dangerous temptation, excess of zeal. It is the fault of the too ardent soldier who chafes at the restraints imposed by experience, and starts before his commander gives the word. It is the fault not of bad men only but of the good, even of the best. There is another kind of impatience against which we are warned in the Gospel. 'Tell us,' the disciples! asked Jesus, 'what is the sign of Thy coming? If Thou wilt not now take Thy power and reign, if Thou wilt not now strike down the wicked, when wilt Thou come and avenge Thy people?' You will remember the answer. First there will come false Christs, false prophets not one but many, Who will they be? Will they not be the Christs of the impatient? And who will they be? Will they not be men who promise to save men, not from themselves, but from suffering: and to do it by short, and easy, and violent methods. Our Lord says, Go not after them; believe them not. First the Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations. He does not say that if shall prevail in all the world: only that it shall be preached, and be a witness. II. At all times impatience has been a fruitful source of mischief. It has prompted every persecution there has ever been in pagan ages and in Christian. In our own day there are not a few who have abandoned the Gospel altogether, not because they want to live vicious lives, but because the Gospel is not swift enough and not drastic enough for them, because the kingdom seems too far off, while an earthly millennium can be set up at once by the law without the Gospel. But there are two axioms that ought never to be forgotten. The first is that the good is always the enemy of the better. Men cling to the lower blessings which they know, and shrink from the higher, which they do not know and therefore fear. The second is that the best is often the enemy of the better. The vision of the best may be given in a moment, but its realization is a long and arduous process, marked by stages which follow one another in a, definite order. It was said by a great soldier that all generals alike desire victory; but that a good general differs from a bad one in that he does not take the second step before he has secured the first. To do otherwise is to court defeat. The rule is of universal application. III. The best remedy for impatience is to be found in the intelligent study of Scripture. It is necessary that the study should be intelligent because only by the scholarly use of the Bible can we discern the patience and long-suffering of God, the slow certainty with which His mills grind, the vast and orderly changes which His spirit has wrought. And the next best is history which, though it may make little mention of God, yet describes accurately His method in the education of the world. Now what is the teaching of history so far as it throws light upon our present purpose? 1. That, from the remotest past to which our knowledge extends, there has always been progress, slow, intermittent, not always in a direct line, involving much that strikes us as waste, yet progress. 2. That the slowness of the onward march has an explanation, which applies in a degree to Nature, but is more easily discernible in the realm of thought. IV. May we say that the order of progress in the education of mankind exhibits an alternation of two very different factors? First we have the idea, then the testing, dissemination, assimilation of the idea, then again a new idea, and so on. First the prophet, or revealer, or man of genius; then the patient teacher. It is the second of these it is the work of the teacher that takes so much time. Every teacher, like John the Baptist, prepares the way of the Lord. Not all can be great discoverers, there is perhaps no school of the prophets, nor is it possible to manufacture genius. But all can show what makes the great scholar, the love of truth patience, humility, reverence. Add to these knowledge of character and sympathy, and you have the great teacher, whose beneficent office it is to 'turn the hearts of the children to the fathers,' to enable the children to grasp and to prize the rich heritage of the wisdom of the past. And for the learner. Good teaching will greatly expedite your progress, but it will not enable you to fly; you must still go by the road; you will still have need of diligence and self-discipline. Avoid impatience, avoid sloth. Without haste, without rest. Chain up the beast; and seek wisdom before all things. At every step resolutely practise all the truth that you know, and ever, as you go on, be ready to correct the old truths by the new. These are cardinal rules for all learners. But Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. All truth is His, all discipline is His, all power is His. Absorb Him by growing faith, hope, and love. Let Him be your ideal, and your method, and your zeal. C. Bigg, The Spirit of Christ in Common Life, p. 153. Looking for the Coming One Matthew 11:3 The first thing we remark in reading the Gospel for Today is that I. John the Baptist was Looking for the Coming One. It is taken for granted that One should come (Psalms 118:26 ; Isaiah 59:20 ). But why should John ask such a question? He knew Jesus to be the Saviour. He had declared Him to be sent of God (John 3:34 ), the Lamb of God (John 1:29 ; John 1:36 ), the Son of God (John 1:34 ), the Baptizer with the Holy Ghost (John 1:33 ). Perhaps, now that he was in prison (v. 2), his faith had begun to waver (v. 6). It is so with many (Matthew 13:21 ; 2 Timothy 1:15 ; 2 Timothy 4:16 ). At all events he was looking for Christ, and would have his faith increased (Hebrews 12:2 ; Mark 9:24 ; Luke 17:5 ). But I think it is more probable that he wished his disciples to know who Christ was (Luke 22:32 ), and would lead them from himself to look for the coming One (John 3:30-31 ). We know his one word with regard to Christ had been 'Behold!' (John 1:29 ). So all who are looking to Christ and for Christ will teach others to do the same (John 1:41-42 ). Christ is to be known as the Saviour by His works (vv. 4, 5; John 5:36 ). There can be no doubt in looking to Scripture (Isaiah 61:1-2 ). The next thing we have to dwell upon is II. The Character of John the Baptist as Looking for the Coming One. There must be some decided marks of holiness in the character of one who is looking for a coming Lord. The faithful servant will be doing his Master's will (Matthew 24:45-46 ). The soul full of hope becomes full of purity (1 John 3:3 ). The true convert turns from the service of idols to that of the living God (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 ). Mark how it was with the Baptist. He was a man of firm resolution. Not like a reed blown about by every wind (Ephesians 4:14 ). He was firm before the priesthood (John 1:20 ), firm before Herod (Mark 6:18 ), firm before all (Luke 3:7 ). He was a man of great self-denial. There was no luxury in him (v. 8; 1 Peter 2:11 ). He stood out as one separate (Matthew 19:21 ; Luke 4:23 ; Romans 13:14 ). He was a man of faithfulness in telling of Christ (vv. 9, 10). Never do we find him hesitating boldly and fully to declare the coming One (John 1:7 ). And in this we have a proof of his faith (2 Corinthians 4:13 ). To make this personal, let us see that we know Christ from what He has done for us (Hosea 6:3 ), and then let us see that we are looking for Him (Psalms 123:1-2 ). References. XI. 3, J. A. Bain, Questions Answered by Christ, p. 15. H. Harris, Short Sermons, p. 118. J. Denney, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliii. 1893, p. 250. J. Stalker, ibid. vol. liv. 1898, p. 100. A. G. Mortimer, Studies in Holy Scripture, p. 207. Benson, Hulsean Lecture (1820), p. 55. Parker, Inner Life of Christ, vol. ii. p. 162, and Christian World Pulpit, vol. xix. p. 8. Raleigh, Little Sanctuary, p. 110. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxiv. p. 19. Bruce, Expositor (1st Series), vol. v. p. 11; and see Expositor, vol. ix. p. 122. Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii. p. 404. J. O. Davies, Sunrise on the Soul, p. 169. James Denney, Gospel Questions and Answers, p. 19. XI. 3, 4. W. Ross Taylor, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxvii. 1890, p. 341. XI. 3-6. (R.V.). T. B. Strong, Christian Ethics, p. 47. Matthew 11:4 It is an excellent observation which hath been made upon the answers of our Saviour Christ to many of the questions which were propounded to Him, how that they are impertinent to the state of the question demanded; the reason whereof is, because not being like man, which knows man's thoughts by his words, but knowing man's thought immediately, He never answered their words but their thoughts. Bacon, Advancement of Learning, xxv. 16. References. XI. 4, 5. E. M. Goulburn, Occasional Sermons, p. 191. S. D. McConnell, A Year's Sermons, p. 181. XI. 5. B. F. Westcott, The Incarnation and Common Life, p. 295; see also Christian World Pulpit, vol. xl. 1891, p. 401. J. Guinness Rogers, ibid. vol. xlii. 1892, p. 255. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iii. No. 114. XI. 5, 6. W. C. Magee, Penny Pulpit, vol. xiv. No. 845, p. 437; see also The Gospel and the Age, p. 205. XI. 6. W. J. Knox-Little, Christian World Pulpit, vol. li. 1897, p. 270. J. Denney, ibid. vol. li. 1897, p. 140. A. F. A. Hanbury Tracy, Church Times, vol. xliv. 1900, p. 729. F. E. Paget, Sermons on Duties of Daily Life, p. 83. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxiv. No. 1398. XI. 7. F. E. Paget, Sermons for Special Occasions, p. 41; see also The Preacher in the Wilderness, A Sermon. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year, vol. i. p. 29. H. P. Liddon, Church Troubles, p. 21; see also Expository Sermons on the New Testament, p. 12. Matthew 11:8 Izaak Walton, describing Hooker's parsonage at Bourne, tells how that scholar had not been settled a year before 'his books, and the innocency and sanctity of his life became so remarkable, that many turned out of the road, and others scholars especially went purposely to see the man, whose life and learning were so much admired: and, alas! as our Saviour said of St. John Baptist, "What went they out to see? a man clothed in purple and fine linen?" No, indeed: but an obscure, harmless man; a man in poor clothes, his loins usually girt in a coarse gown, or canonical coat; of a mean stature, and stooping, and yet more lowly in the thought of his soul.' Compare also Newman's description of John Davison, who was 'an instance of the secrecy and solitude in which great minds move, as if they were calling on the world, if it thought it worth while, to "go out into the wilderness after them ". In the preface to these Remains it is observed of their author that "perhaps his character might be cast in a mould of severer goodness than this age could easily endure ".' ** Sincerity in Religion ( for St. John the Baptist's Day ) Matthew 11:10 ** Few figures in the Bible stand out so impressively as that of St. John the Baptist. Everything we read about him commands our attention. He was a great man in every sense of the word. Above all men, St. John the Baptist stands out as a conspicuous instance of the all too rare virtue of sincerity. I should say that a deep sincerity is the first characteristic of a great man. I. Every Life to be Sincere must be Animated by a Great Principle, and it is because St. John the Baptist knew a great principle and dedicated himself to it that he gives to us so conspicuous an example of sincerity. Let us ask ourselves, have we any guiding, dominant motive in life, any principle to which we can give ourselves, and which we can recognize as the fact in existence? The principle of the Christian life, the dominant controlling force in all our experience, should be the coming of the kingdom of God, II. But the Baptist's Sincerity did not save him from Doubt. There are few more pathetic incidents recorded in the whole of history than that of St. John the Baptist, the model of sincerity, the man who was ready to forfeit life in order to do the work to which God had called him, now that he is languishing in prison losing confidence in the message of Christ. But again, the doubt of the Baptist was the doubt of a sincere man. He goes at once to the source at which his doubt may be resolved. He is not the man who has difficulties and is rather pleased to have them. As a sincere doubter he goes straight to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is very strange that this virtue of sincerity is so rare when it might be so common. Some of the graces, indeed, seem to be so hard to obtain, but no one can say that he is not called upon to practise the grace of sincerity. Here is a challenge to every one in every sphere of life. And yet we feel how hard it is. III. Sincerity is not merely Truthfulness, not merely Common Honesty. It is purity of motive which comes from having one dominant principle in life. How simple it is! so simple that in its moral grandeur it stands like some great mountain reaching up to heaven above all the virtues for which saints are canonized. Sincerity is the motive force of all true action in politics, social life, commerce, and in our own apprehension of God. IV. Sincerity does not always Ensure Success. In the Baptist's case it meant failure. Nothing could seem more incongruous than that this life of absolute sincerity should be ended to please a cruel and licentious woman. You are never told in the New Testament to be successful. You are told to be sincere. Let us resolve that we will so act that when life's tasks are over we shall at any rate be able to feel that they have been faced with a sincere desire to do our duty. References. XI. 10. H. P. Liddon, Advent in St. Paul's, p. 26. R. D. B. Rawnsley, Village Sermons (1st Series), p. 19. R. W. Hiley, A Year's Sermons, vol. ii. p. 334. Hemming Robeson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lvii. 1900, p. 135. XI. 11. F. D. Maurice, Sermons, p. 129; see also Lincoln's Inn Sermons, vol. vi. p. 110. John Watson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lv. 1899, p. 152. J. Farquhar, The Schools and Schoolmasters of Christ, p. 101. Henry Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons, vol. v. p. 32. W. Leighton Grane, Hard Sayings of Jesus Christ, p. 37. XI. 11-14. R. E. Hutton, The Crown of Christ, vol. i. p. 53. Matthew 11:12 Sudden conversions, with the ecstatic warmth of feeling which follows upon them, are derided, but only by those who know, even as regards natural things, little of the secret powers, the reserved forces of the human spirit, and are unaware that in the depths of ignorant and hardened and weary and distracted souls, there is still a Strength, blind and fettered like that of Samson, needing a shock to set it free. 'The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.' Methodism has entered into the heart of this saying. Dora Greenwell. References. XI. 12. C. Gore, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lv. 1899, p. 156; see also vol. lxiii. 1903, p. 177. J. Morris Whiton, ibid. vol. xl. 1891, p. 147. J. Addison Alexander, The Gospel of Jesus Christ, p. 319. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. v. No. 252. XI. 12-19. C. Gore, Christian World Pulpit, vol. li. 1897, p. 200. XI. 13. F. W. Farrar, ibid. vol. xxxviii. 1890, p. 153. A. Barry, The Doctrine of the Cross, p. 35. XI. 15. J. Stalker, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlviii. 1895, p. 402. XI. 16, 17. C. Silvester Horne, ibid. vol. xlvi. 1894, p. 40. XI. 16-19. D. Fraser, Metaphors in the Gospels, p. 127. Stopford A. Brooke, The Fight of Faith, p. 19. George Salmon, Sermons Preached in Trinity College Dublin, p. 249. XI. 19. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 131. W. C. Wheeler, Sermons and Addresses, p. 22. J. G. Adderley, Church Times, vol. 1. 1903, p. 200. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. x. No. 556. The Homeliness of Jesus Matthew 11:19 This was a strange thing for the Lord to say of Himself. His enemies found in these words an opportunity of vile abuse 'a man gluttonous,' 'a friend of publicans and sinners'. For good or harm, few things are more powerful than a name: a good epithet has determined the fate of many a great effort. This was how He came, 'eating and drinking,' the homely, brotherly Jesus interested in the common business of our life. This homeliness meets us everywhere. I. See this Purpose in the Circumstances of His Birth. Here in the manger was the Brother of the poorest, the gift of God's love to the whole world, to Whom whosoever will may come no door to keep back, no attendant to whisper a forbidding word. II. In His Coming as a Public Teacher. Wherever Jesus went the people felt the welcome of that great brotherliness. Little children, sinful women, trembling lepers were at home with Jesus. III. In the Choice of His Disciples. Men with broad Galilean brogue and simple ways and peasant's dress. IV. In the Teachings of the Lord. He told simple exquisite stories which children and the poorest understood. V. In His Miracles. Power would only amaze men: He sought to win them. This real Saviour understands us, is at home with us, knowing all the worst, and yet loving, and willing to help. Mark Guy Pearse, The Sermon Year Book, 1891, p. 375. Matthew 11:20 * ; Matthew 11:29 * The man of true humility will not spare the vices and errors of his fellow-creatures, any more than he would his own; he will exercise manfully and without fear or favour, those judicial functions which God has committed in some greater or less degree to every member of the human community... but, whilst exercising that judgment in no spirit of compromise or evasion, he will feel that to judge his brother is a duty and not a privilege; and he will judge him in sorrow. Sir Henry Taylor, * Notes from Life. * References. XI. 20. C. Vince, The Unchanging Saviour, p. 75. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 138. XI. 20-30. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlvi. No. 2704. XI. 24. H. Hensley Henson, Christ and the Nation, p. 147. The Obviousness of the Essential in Questions of Faith Matthew 11:25 I. Whilst the spiritual rulers of the nation rejected our Lord, the unlearned and childlike people understood and accepted Him. The notion must not be allowed to possess us that it is only through scholarship and subtlety that men reach the secret of revelation. In California in the old days deep-level gold-mining was the fashion; it seemed reasonable to suppose that the gold must lie deep, and be difficult to acquire; yet, in the end, deep-level mining proved an expensive failure. A more careful exploration nearer the surface was then tried, and in almost every instance bodies of ore were found that had been overlooked in the eagerness to penetrate to unknown depths the searchers missed the gold by getting below it. It is easy to fall into a similar mistake in our treatment of Holy Scripture The history of theology shows how the truth may be missed through yielding to the temptation of a pretentious profundity. The childlike vision and expression are truest. Theology is a science, yet for the profoundest science simplest words suffice. The obscure may justly be regarded as the mark of the non-essential. The obviousness of revelation must to the utmost be repeated in theology. The river of the water of life is as clear as crystal. II. This obviousness of the saving truth is a fact to be remembered in evangelization. The gracious truths of Christ appeal to the man in the street, and he may at once discern them to the saving of the soul; the dustman may as readily apprehend them as the duke, the illiterate as the scholar, the outcast as the honourable. Salvation does not filter through the upper strata of rank, genius, and opulence, down to the lower strata of illiteracy and labour; rather, as in Nature, the living water finds its way from the depth to the eminence. The essential truth is on the surface, immediately available for the unsophisticated, whether rich or poor. III. It is no doubt deeply interesting to get under the earth with the miner, to grope about the roots of things with the geologist; but when all is said, the surface of the earth is the main matter to the million The mere surface expresses the sum total of all that lies beneath it, as the spirit of man expresses itself in the sparkle of the eye and the bloom of his skin. W. L. Watkinson, Themes for Hours of Meditation, p. 58. References. XI. 25. J. B. Mozley, Sermons Parochial and Occasional, p. 330. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 148. XI. 25, 26. J. Leckie, Sermons Preached at Ibrox, p. 1. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. vii. No. 399. XI. 25-27. G. Macdonald, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlii. 1892, p. 102. XI. 25-30. H. Ward Beecher, Sermons (2nd Series), p. 25. J. J. S. Perowne, Expository Sermons on the New Testament, p. 23. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlviii. No. 2781. Matthew 11:26 This is the text inscribed in the churchyard of Zermatt, on the tombstone of Mr. Hadow, who perished, at the age of nineteen, in the terrible Matterhorn accident of 1865. Signor Guido Rey, in his book The Matterhorn, says: 'On the tomb of Hadow, the youthful victim, his parents, with admirable resignation, wrote this verse from the Gospel: 'Ita, Pater, quoniam sic fuit placitum ante te'. The Secret of the Son Matthew 11:27 I. The Loneliness of Christ. Blade of grass stands close to blade of grass, but peak is sundered from peak by miles of intervening valley; and here was One who towered above all the rest, and was solitary accordingly. 'No one knoweth the Son ' Yes, One, but no finite mind: God knew Him, and only the Father could know the Son. From the coldness, and unresponsiveness, even the well-meaning dullness of workaday humanity, Jesus was always able to retreat into the solitude which for Him was filled with the beatific Presence of that One by whom He knew Himself understood. Loneliness is the lot of greatness, but it comes to others besides the great. We all need to set our minds more than we do upon gaining this sense of the presence of God, to be communed with a Presence which we do not summon, but which we may enter at will, if we have learned the way. II. Who Knows the Father? For now we approach the real centre, and what many may feel to be the real difficulty, of our saying. 'Neither doth any know the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal Him.' Now that consciousness which enabled Jesus to strike this note, to interpret Godhead as Fatherhood, not in a formal sense, but as the symbol of deepest love that consciousness was something new, which Jesus brought into the world; it was unique, for only He who knew Himself as Son could know God as Father. And only as we become sons can we know that Fatherhood. III. Next to Jesus Himself, only those know the Father to whom He reveals Him. How does He do so? In the first place, it is He who has in His own Person and character so shown forth the character of God as to assure us of His paternal love beyond all uncertainty; it is just Christ's perfect Sonship that guarantees to us God's perfect Fatherhood. But there is more than this; we are to exert ourselves, we are to do something, to live a certain kind of life, to acquire a certain spirit ere we can know really know the Father. 'Be sons,' Jesus says,' and you shall know God as Father.' Live the life, do the will, and you shall know of the doctrine; treat God as though He was indeed a parent, and the fact of His being even so will grow more and more clear to you. J. Warschauer, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxii. 1907, p. 169. References. XI. 27. W. M. Sinclair, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlvi. 1894, p. 88. R. F. Horton, ibid. vol. lix. 1901, p. 128. C. A. Briggs, The Incarnation of the Lord, p. 3. H. J. Martyn, For Christ and the Truth, p. 53. R. W. Dale, Fellowship With Christ, p. 171. A. L. Lewington, The Completeness and the Unity of the Catholic Faith, Sermons, 1818-1883. XI. 27, 28, 29, 30. E. M. Goulburn, Three Counsels of the Divine Master, vol. i. p. 59. Natural and Supernatural Religion Matthew 11:27-28 A very important contrast is presented in these passages; it is a contrast between natural and supernatural religion. We may take the Bible as the textbook of our study and the standard of our morals, and yet our religion may never rise above the natural. We arrive at the supernatural when the truth which we have in the letter of the Holy Scriptures becomes a revelation of the Word. Natural religion is based upon a man's effort to come to the knowledge of God; supernatural religion has its foundation in the fact that God has come down to man, and revealed Himself to the soul in the person of Jesus Christ. No river can rise higher than its source! The source of all natural religion is its mental effort and moral sagacity; but the source of all supernatural religion is God by His Spirit revealing Himself in the person of His Son to the souls of men. Revelation means God coming down; natural religion means men seeking to climb up. There are two or three things which you may learn from the passage chosen. I. God's Method of Bringing Man to Himself is by Revelation. We do not at first take in the meaning of that word: we do not grasp its meaning. What is it to reveal? It means to unveil. Two thoughts are involved in the word 'unveil'. First there is the unveiling itself; then there is the object from which the veil is to be removed. We think of some beautiful work of sculpture which is finished and now a veil is over it. You are close to it, but do not see it! Now the day comes for the unveiling; the veil is taken away and you behold the beautiful object beneath. So it is in religion! God has sent His Son, and has fulfilled His word. God is there in all the fullness of His glory, the richness of His grace, the greatness of His love. There can be no addition to His character, but there is the veil. Men do not see that glory; they try to imagine God, they make efforts to follow after Him; that is natural religion. 'No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him.' Now that is the truth that we have running all through the whole of God's Word. This saving knowledge of the Word of God comes by spiritual unveiling. God has given His Son, redemption is there, yet men do not see it! Does this not strike you as something very cold and repellent? Not if you read the next verse: 'Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest'. II. Natural Religion cannot really meet Man's Need. Do you remember that prayer in the Psalms 'Lead me to the rock that is higher than I'? That is the cry of the supernatural! Nothing on the same level, however intellectual it may be, can satisfy the needs of my soul, so you see that salvation does not come to us as a human attainment. What can I do, how can I find my way up to God? Can man by searching find his way to God? He has revealed Himself to the world, but the world does not see it. It is necessary for us to notice that all things have been delivered into the hands of Jesus Christ. III. The Secret of Seeking and Finding God is not an Effort of the Intellect, but is a Submission of the Will, and the possession of faith. If you would know God you must believe, and you must come to Christ. Your submission must come through Him; it is the way to grace. He calls us 'Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest'. Rest for the Workers Matthew 11:28 In these words our Divine Master asserts His Divinity. No human being of such a character as Jesus of Nazareth, 'the Truth' would venture to offer to every age, and to the dwellers in every land, rest: rest to the weary body and to the troubled soul. I. How then does the Lord Jesus Christ give rest to the workers? By the power of the Holy Spirit. Christ has gone up on high, and has sat down at His Father's right hand. His work in man's heart, and in the Church at large, is carried on through the instrumentality of the Holy Spirit By the Holy Spirit Jesus Christ conveys rest to all who are called to labour. Here let us be very careful not to narrow the words to what is technically called religious work. It applies, of course, to all who are working for Jesus Christ in a more direct manner. But the application is universal. 'Come unto Me, all ye that labour' in parliament, in business, in the home, in the farm, in the counting-house, in the street, sweeping a crossing. II. How does He give this rest? 1. By enlightening our understanding. All emotion that is not built upon knowledge must sooner or later perish. Religion based merely upon emotion is like a house founded on the sand. Therefore the Lord Jesus Christ, by means of that Blessed Spirit Who is emphatically given to be our Teacher, first enlightens our understanding. He shows us, first of all, that our work is part of a Divine plan. He shows us that, whether the work in which we are engaged is what men call noble or commonplace, it is part of a great plan by which Almighty God is establishing on earth the kingdom of Jesus Christ. He teaches us that He, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, very God and very Man, is guiding all this complex machinery; that we are under the direction of a living Head, all-wise, all-loving; with infinite and unfailing resources upon which He can draw. The sense of a crushing weight resting upon us, the sense of everything depending upon our own miserable effort, is removed when the eyes are opened and we see Jesus Christ. 2. He teaches us another great principle, which may be expressed by some such words as 'the law of limitation'. In other words, He shows us that Almighty God is pleased, for reasons known to Himself, to allow every human being in this world to be limited; limited by health and strength, limited by the want of full mental power, limited by the shortness of the period in which he has to work. The Lord Jesus shows us that as long as we live on earth we shall never fully carry out our ideal; we shall be hindered by the devil, hindered by other people, hindered by our own miserable imperfections. And then, when we have laid hold of that law, the failure in our own special department ceases to perplex and distress and crush us. The mere knowledge that we are only suffering that which is the lot of all humanity, that the particular failure which depresses is only one of the thousand failures which God and the angels are seeing every day, even among the most earnest, gives a calm. III. Once more. The Lord Jesus Christ, by the Holy Ghost, unveiling to us the meaning of the Bible, lifts us up to see that the victory is certain; that what we consider important may be found afterwards utterly unimportant; that we may have failed in certain departments; that there may have been times of utter crushing discomfiture; but that, in the long run, the victory is certain. G. H. Wilkinson, The Invisible Glory, p. 23. Rest for the Sufferers Matthew 11:28 All the troubles of body and heart and mind and spirit are included in these words: everything that depresses the weather, poverty, failure, disappointment. There is not a phase in human life which is not liable to a secret trial; and those who have the power of self-restraint know well that the hardest trials are those which we would not allow any human being to share. Everything, great and small, everything which commands human sympathy, and everything which is so commonplace that we should be despised if we were to acknowledge how it affected our happiness all is known to our God and Father. I. And how is this promise fulfilled? Through the agency of God the Holy Ghost. Our Lord Jesus Christ, in those wonderful chapters which record His last conversation with His disciples, brings forward perpetually this thought; that it would be by the personal comforting, the personal tender leading and guiding of the Holy Ghost, that He would strengthen them amid all the troubles which were coming on them. II. The New Testament gives us a distinct teaching on the subject in the book of the Revelation of St John. Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the glory of His Ascension life, takes a man like unto ourselves, our 'brother and companion in tribulation,' and places him on a lonely island. And then, before He begins to instruct him, He says, in His tender compassion for you and for me, 'Write these things'; let them be written in a book, that they may be handed on to each succeeding age of sufferers. And how does our Lord give rest to the mind of St. John? He first teaches His Apostle that there is a secret necessity for suffering. He lifts up the veil, and explains to him, by a number of striking pictures, that there must be, for a certain time, war, famine, pestilence, death, perplexing events, triumph of evil; the devil apparently conquering; the world-power beguiling even God's own people; heresy, divisions, misery of every kind. He teaches him that all this does not come from God, but that it is, for a mysterious purpose which cannot be explained, permitted. Now do you see the force of all this? We conquer nature by obeying her. We can guide and direct when we find out any of her laws. And so, when once it is understood that suffering is a condition of our humanity, every intelligent man will submit. III. Our Lord teaches St. John this second principle: that suffering is limited by God. IV. In that same book He reveals the ultimate triumph of good. He teaches St. John that this suffering, though a necessity, is limited, not only in amount, but in length of endurance: in other words, that a day is coming and may dawn tomorrow when the thin veil shall be lifted up, and this dispensation of trial and disappointment shall be over, and the Christ shall appear. G. H. Wilkinson, The Invisible Glory, p. 31. Rest for Weary Feet Matthew 11:28 The world is always full of weary feet, and the days of the Nazarene were no exception. The souls that gathered about Him numbered a great many weary ones, tired self-nauseated, faint. He looked upon them, and saw their weariness, and was moved with infinite pity, and thus appealed to them: 'Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest'. Let us look at one or two types of weary feet to which this Saviour will, with infinite gladness, bring the gift of rest. I. There is no weariness like the weariness which gathers round about a selfish heart. I am inclined to believe that a great deal of the tiredness and weariness of the world, perhaps more than we commonly think, is only the sickly loathing and self-disgust arising from a morbid selfishness, however much we may strive to attribute it to something else. Listen to the Master: 'Come unto Me ye weary, selfish ones, and I will give you rest'. And how will He do it? By taking us away from ourselves, by giving us leisure from ourselves, by making us unselfish. Jesus will give you rest by giving you His yoke, He will add to your burden, and so make your burden light. He will enlarge your thought to take in others, and so give you leisure from yourselves. He will take away your jadedness, and give you His own rest. II. The anxious soul moves with weary feet, and would fain meet with one who had the gift of rest The Master saw how many souls there were who were troubled and anxious about the unknown. And He knew the great secret which, if accepted, would set all their hearts at rest. What did He know? Ha knew God! If everybody knew God, nobody would be anxious. And so He seeks to turn weariness into rest by the unveiling of the Father. And in what strangely beautiful ways He made the Father known! He told them that to Providence there were no trifles, that God did not merely control great things, and allow smaller things to go by chance. 'The very hairs of your head are all numbered.' Nothing is overlooked; all is full of thought and purpose. To. come to Jesus is to take His revelation of the Father, and to live in the inspiration of it, and such inspiration would turn fear into confidence, and confidence into peace. Come unto Me, all ye weary, anxious ones, and I will reveal to you your Father, and in the beauty of the revelation ye shall discover the gift of rest. J. H. Jowett, Apostolic Optimism, p. 87. Matthew 11:28 In Cicero and Plato and other such authors I find many an acute saying, many a word that kindles the emotions; but in none do I find these words, Come unto Me, and I will give you rest. Augustine. References. XI. 28. B. F. Westcott, The Historic Faith, p. 219. Henry Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons, vol. iii. p. 100. R. H. McKim, The Gospel in the Christian Year, p. 309. B. D. Johns, Pulpit Notes, p. 43. Henry Wace, Some Central Points of Our Lord's Ministry, p. 335. J. Jarvie, Discourses, p. 86. W. Henderson, The Dundee Pulpit, 1872, p. 217. Canon Reiner, Sermons, p. 22. F. B. Paget, Helps and Hindrances to the Christian Life, vol. ii. p. 93. J. W. Shepard, Light and Life, p. 267. T. Gasquoine, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxvii. 1890, p. 83. T. R. Stevenson, ibid. vol. xli. 1892, p. 156. J. Hirst Hollowell, ibid. vol. xlv. 1894, p. 252. C. Gore, ibid. vol. 1. 1896, p. 129. H. D. M. Spence, Voices and Silences, p. 223. St. Vincent Beechey, The Excuses of Non-Communicants, p. 18. R. Flint, Sermons and Addresses, p. 155. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxviii. No. 1691; vol. xxxix. No. 2298; vol. xlviii. No. 2781; vol. xlvii. No. 2708. F. B. Cowl, Straight Tracks (Addresses to Children), p. 112. J. M. Neale, Readings for the Aged (3rd Series), p. 31. Phillips Brooks, The Law of Growth, p. 133. XI. 28, 29. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 153; see also Creed and Conduct, p. 321. F. D. Maurice, The Prayer Book and the Lord's Prayer, p. 238. J. H. Jowett, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxv. 1904, p. 305. XI. 28-30. H. Ross, ibid. vol. xl. 1891, p. 396. George Macdonald, ibid. vol. xlii. 1892, p. 102. B. S. Snell, ibid. vol. xlii. 1892, p. 102. A. B. Bruce, ibid. vol. 1. 1896, p. 205. H. Price Hughes, ibid. vol. lxii. 1902, p. 198. E. Rees, ibid. vol. lxviii. 1905, p. 183. A. F. Winnington Ingram, ibid. vol. lxix. 1906, p. 81. W. O. Burrows, The Mystery of the Cross, p. 139. S. Cox, The Book of Ruth, p. 149. T. T. Munger, Character Through Inspiration, p. 24. E. M. Goulburn, Three Counsels of the Divine Master, vol. i. p. 72. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. v. No. 265; vol. xvii. No. 969; vol. xxii. No. 1322. Matthew 11:29 After meeting Dr. Chalmers in the autumn of 1818, Erskine of Linlathen wrote to him: 'I hope I have benefited by my visit to you. Certainly I was much struck with some circumstances in your conduct, and I will tell you what these are. You have been much followed, by great and small, by learned and ignorant, and yet you listened, with the meek candour of a learner, to one whom you could not but consider as your inferior by far. If you had opened to me all mysteries and all knowledge, you could not have brought to my conscience the strong conviction of the necessity and the reality of Christianity with half the force that this deportment of yours impressed upon me.' Quoting verses 21-30 in his essay on The Incarnation and Principles of Evidence, Mr. R. H. Hutton observes that these, 'to me the most touching and satisfying words that have ever been uttered by human lips, no mere man could ever have uttered without jarring every chord in the human conscience'. References. XI. 29. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xix. No. 1105. C. E. Jefferson, The Character of Jesus, p. 257. J. M. Neale, Sermons Preached in Sackville College Chapel, vol. i. p. 171. F. E. Paget, Faculties and Difficulties for Belief and Unbelief, p. 113. B. J. Snell, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxvii. 1890, p. 375. W. Boyd Carpenter, ibid. vol. lxiv. 1903, p. 289. C. Silvester Horne, ibid. vol. lxvii. 1905, p. 246. A. W. Hutton, ibid. vol. lxxiv. 1908, p. 332. Parker, Inner Life of Christ, vol. ii. p. 183. Perowne, Expository Sermons in New Testament ('Clerical Library'), p. 23. Westcott, Historic Faith, p. 229. F. Temple, Rugby Sermons (1st Series), p. 37. Beecher, Sermons (10th Series), p. 141. A. K. H. B., The Graver Thoughts of a Country Parson (3rd Series), p. 203. J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons (6th Series), p. 126. G. Campbell Morgan, The Missionary Manifesto, p. 143. G. Matheson, Expositor (1st Series), vol. xi. p. 101. A. B. Bruce, ibid. (1st Series), vol. vi. p. 142. Perowne, ibid. (1st Series), vol. vii. p. 348. H. Platten, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxi. No. 809 (4 May, 1887). The Yoke of Christ Matthew 11:29-30 How beautiful are these words of Christ! It is one thing, however, to know and to admire, and another thing to feel the power, to acknowledge the authority of them, and to feel their blessedness as a matter of personal experience. I. The Yoke of Christ is the Discipline of Christ. You have seen a young horse being broken in for his work. The youth and spirit of the animal resists the process; but if they are ever to be any good they have got sooner or later to submit. If the animal proves obstinate and obdurate, and firmly refuses the yoke, why it is useless, and there is nothing left but the owner must get rid of it as best he may. That is a parable. Jesus Christ is our Master; He gives each one of us a yoke to bear and a burden to carry. But He is no cruel despot, He is a wise and kind and considerate Master; He knows full well what we, each one of us, can bear; His aim is to discipline not to tyrannize over us, to use not to crush. He has a yoke and a burden for each, but not the same for each; 'every man must bear his own burden,' that is, the burden which is apportioned to him of all the separate spirits of the universe; never an ounce too heavy is the yoke He puts on each one of us. If we look at it in the right way it will prove to be just exactly what we can rightly deal with; for His word is true, 'My yoke is easy, My burden light'. II. The Yoke of Christ is the Cross of Christ. What is a cross? Two pieces of wood put one athwart the other. But what is the spiritual cross? Your pride and selfish will checked, disciplined, crossed by God's good and perfect will. That is what the cross is which Christ says His followers, each one of them, must bear. That is the yoke He puts upon our neck, the will of God to be done, to be suffered, whether it falls in with our inclination or not. Yes, there is the yoke, and its edges are sometimes sharp and rough as we bear it upon our shoulders. And yet for all that His yoke is easy, and His burden is light How and why, the reason? Because of love. The service may be hard, but the Master is good; the trial may be bitter, but the hand which sends it is kind; the task may be difficult, but He Who imposes it is faithful and wise. Love makes all the difference when you feel sure, as feel we may, that the Lord Who orders all truly cares for you and considers you and seeks alone your good, and that He makes no mistakes, and He spares every atom of pain which He can spare consistently with His good purpose for you; then you feel that you have got courage to bear and patience to endure. Faith and love make all the difference; where love shines on you the yoke that might have been grievous becomes easy; the burden which might have been crushing becomes light. III. The Yoke of Christ Lifts up to God. Listen to this parable: There was a time, so says the tale, when the birds had no wings, and they were the most miserable creatures on the face of the earth, they were so piteously helpless. One day, so says the tale, when they got up in the morning they observed that the ground around them was strewn with coarse brown objects such as they had never seen before. They looked at them with curiosity and apprehension, and as they were looking, lo! a shining one, an angel, came down from heaven and bade each one of them take up two of those brown objects and carry them on their backs. Then they broke out in loud lamentations. What! were they not wretched enough already! Already had they not trials more than any others, and must they now bear this new burden! The shining one insisted, however, and so there was nothing for it but they had to submit. So each bird took up two of those brown objects and began to carry them. And now a strange thing happened; after a day their new burdens seemed to grow into their backs and to become part of themselves, and they found that they could move and wave them about; and then some of them began to flutter in quite a new way, and even to rise a little from the ground; and as they fluttered and rose they began to sing. Up they rose, more and more, higher and higher, and as they rose, louder and louder did they sing; for their burdens, instead of being carried by them, were carrying them. Burdens, yes; but also wings; wings to lift them up to freedom and joy. Up they rose, higher and higher, and as they rose they sang. A yoke is a yoke, and a burden is a burden; but if it is the yoke of Christ and the burden of Christ, it can prove so easy and so light that it can, if borne and looked at aright, lift you to Him, lift you too up to your God. References. XI. 29, 30. J. W. Shepard, Light and Life, p. 279. A. G. Mortimer, One Hundred Miniature Sermons, vol. ii. p. 186. 'Plain Sermons' by contributors to the Tracts for the Times, vol. v. p. 67. The Yoke of Christ Matthew 11:30 Christ has a yoke and a burden. The yoke is laid on the shoulder to harness the draught animal, the ox. It is the common and natural image of submission, and it is employed here. Christ demands absolute submission. He controls all life. Then the yoke is put on for the sake of fitting for work. It exists for the burden, the practical duties which prove and exercise obedience. I. Christ's Yoke and Burden are Hard and Heavy. The yoke and the burden of Christianity are very real, and very severe. Christ's precepts are ideal perfection. 'Be ye perfect.' And that is why men accept them. No system ever lasts long which condones imperfection, and pitches the standard low. Bad as men are, they still desire that their law should be good. II. Still they are Light and Easy. A yoke is something easy, soft, padded, fitting comfortably, so that it may even suggest the idea of being pleasant and good to wear a joy and a delight to obey, and of being a mark of His love. Then while the yoke expresses the thought of the blessedness of submission, the burden light speaks of the ease of service. The yoke and burden are light (1) by reason of the motive that impels them: Love which makes submission a joy, and all distasteful deeds sweet. (2) By reason of the strength that is given: There are two ways to lighten a load, one diminishes the burden, one invigorates the back. (3) By reason of their harmony with all nature. People fancy they like to do as they like, but they really like and need an authority to which to submit. (4) By reason of the joy and peace that flow from obedience. III. Christ bears our burdens before He bids us bear His. There are burdens heavier than any He lays which each man has to carry Sin, Self, the World, are harder masters than He, and none but He can take away the burden of sin, of self-will, of isolated effort after goodness. His commandments are not grievous. It is not a Gospel of an easy life. It does not seek to draw by looking at the statuesque purity of the ideal, but by giving us grace to do. He bears us and our troubles. All things are possible to him that believeth. Love fulfilling the law. A. Maclaren. References. XI. 30. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlix. No. 2832. XI. 41. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Sunday Sermonettes for a Year, p. 26. XII. 1-14. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 163. XII. 3, 4. Phillips Brooks, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlii. 1892, p. 13. XII. 3-7. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxv. No. 1503. XII. 6. R. E. Hutton, The Crown of Christ, vol. i. p. 535; see also Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlviii. 1895, p. 71. A. MacLeod, Days of Heaven Upon Earth, p. 140. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxii. No. 1275. XII. 9-13. W. M. Taylor, The Miracles of Our Saviour, p. 148. Archbishop Trench, Notes on the Miracles of Our Lord, p. 257. XII. 9-14. John Laidlaw, The Miracles of Our Lord, p. 189. XII. 10-13. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxv. No. 1485. XII. 12. Henry Van Dyke, Sermons to Young Men, p. 3. S. D. McConnell, A Year's Sermons, p. 246. C. F. Aked, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxviii. 1890, p. 182. W. G. Rutherford, The Key of Knowledge, p. 75. J. Martineau, Hours of Thought, vol. ii. p. 286. XII. 18-21. S. Chadwick, Humanity and God, p. 91. ** Startling Absences Matthew 12:19-20 'Not strive,' not 'cry,' not lift up His voice 'in the streets,' not break 'the bruised reed,' not quench 'the smoking flax'! These are some of the rarest and finest features of a character that is altogether lovely. They are negative characteristics. The character of the Christ is no less unique in its striking absences than in its majestic presences. Its valleys are as conspicuous as its mountains. The Holy Ghost works in the way of a certain exclusion. His handiwork is differentiated from all others by its incomparable restraints. I. Mark the first of the suppressions in the life that is filled with the Holy Ghost. 'He shall not strive.' The spirit of wrangling shall be absent. For what is wrangling? Wrangling is the spirit which subordinates the triumph of truth to the triumph of self. When a man begins to wrangle, his sight has become self-centred; he has lost the vision of truth. You never find the wrangling spirit in the main highways of the truth. Wrangling always nourishes itself on side issues. But Christ would not strive. He would not be diverted from the main issues of life and destiny. He had not come to engage in strife, He had come that we might have life. That is how the Spirit of the Lord will work in us. It will make us feel most at home in the heavenly places. It will make us feel out of place in small disputes. II. 'He shall not strive, nor cry.' The Messiah shall not cry. He had not come to startle, but to win; to conciliate, not to coerce. 'Come now and let us reason together' was the pervading tone of His ministry. And so He put restraint upon His power, but gave no limit to His grace. He was almost niggardly with miracles; He was prodigal with love. Such is the fruit of the Spirit! The man who is filled with the Spirit of God has no desire to make a sensation. III. 'Neither shall any man hear His voice in the streets.' Christ abhorred a mere street-religion. He loved the religion that prayed and glowed in the closet, and that radiated its influence out into the street. He could not do with a piety that advertised itself to gain public applause. Christ revealed the Father! Not to honour Himself, for then He said, His honour would be nothing, but to honour His Father that was the end and purpose of speech and of work. When the Holy Spirit possesses a man, religion is not an affair of the street corner; it is not a medium of self-advertisement; it is not a means for gaining public applause. Life, filled with the Spirit, 'vaunteth not itself,' it hides under 'the shadow of the Almighty,' and it makes its boast in God. IV. 'A braised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench.' Then there is to be an absence of harshness, an absence of severe pitilessness, an absence of that spirit of savage recoil from those who have deceived us. The Lord was ever pitiful with the faint-hearted, with those whose light was burning only dimly, and He ever sought, by a tender and reinforcing sympathy, to nurse them back again into a bright and passionate spiritual life. J. H. Jowett, Apostolic Optimism, p. 99. Matthew 12:19 Will not men look up at a rainbow, unless they are called to it by a clap of thunder? Landor. Matthew 12:19 More than half a century of existence has taught me that most of the wrong and folly which darken earth is due to those who cannot possess their souls in quiet; that most of the good which saves mankind from destruction comes of life that is led in thoughtful stillness. George Gissing. Reference. XII. 19-21. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xix. No. 1147. The Loving-kindness of Jesus Matthew 12:20 It is a frequent expedient of artists to paint pictures in pairs. A landscape will be depicted as it appears in the pearly light of early morn; and, corresponding to it, the same or a similar scene will be painted as it appears in the glowing colours of the evening. In the Gospels we frequently have pictures in pairs. The Pharisee and the Publican; the Rich Man and Lazarus; the Man seeking goodly Pearls and the Treasure hid in a field, these will serve to illustrate the statement. And we have an instructive pair of pictures brought before us in the following words quoted by Matthew from Isaiah's prophecy: 'The bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench'. The first picture is an exterior. The region represented is a flat and marshy one; the locality is lonely and desolate. Growing amid shallow but cold and swirling waters, we see tall reeds and rushes. The sky is grey and heavy, with clouds fleeting before the blast: the reeds bend under the storm: you can almost feel the nipping wind as you look at the picture. And the reeds are swayed hither and thither, being bruised and battered as they jostle one against the other. Look closely at those reeds, and you will scarcely find one that is not scarred and mangled. They are bruised reeds. The other picture is an interior. 'The smoking flax shall He not quench.' The picture is that of an Eastern room. We dimly see the low divans or lounges around the walls, and if the light were brighter we might discern the features of the persons reclining there. There is a low table in the centre of the room, and upon it stands a lamp. In shape this lamp is something like a modern teapot; the receptacle being for the oil, and the wick protruding from what would be the spout. That wick should be burning brightly; instead of that, however, there is only a dull red glow, and there is more smoke than light. It is a 'smoking lamp'. From these two pictures we may learn something as to Christ and Christian character. I. Let us look at the latter picture first the smoking lamp. Now a lamp that does not give a good light is not fulfilling the function of its design and manufacture. What is the use of a knife that will scarcely cut? or of a pen that splutters when an attempt is made to write with it? Yet how many professing Christians there are who are not burning and shining lights, but smoking lamps! and what a trouble they are both in the Church and out of it! In a village church lighted with lamps, if one among them smokes, it attracts a great deal of attention and criticism; the others are scarcely noticed. Just so is it with Christians who are symbolized by a smoking lamp. Everybody observes them, and everybody criticises them. They bring dishonour upon themselves and upon their Church. Will any such who may happen to read these lines suffer a word of exhortation? Often when a lamp smokes, what is needed is simply more oil; and oil is the emblem of grace. The lamps of the foolish virgins were 'going out' because they had no oil that is, no grace. They had neglected the means of grace, and so were found wanting. We must not quench the smoking lamp. 'Comfort the feeble-minded,' cries Paul in another place: stretch out a helping hand to him; speak a word of encouragement. Forgive such an one even unto seventy times seven. As long as the ship floats, it must never be abandoned; as long as there is a vestige of life in the plant, it must not be uprooted. We dare not extinguish the smoking lamp. II. But we turn now to the first picture, that of the 'bruised reed'. It is humbling enough that mankind should be compared to reeds. The fragrant cedar, the spreading oak, the towering poplar, these would seem to be more appropriate emblems of humanity that is, in the estimation of some. But the Word says, 'bruised reeds'. And, indeed, symbols of humanity in the Scriptures are none of them flattering. 'I am a worm,' cries Job. 'Like the chaff,' is the word of the Psalmist. 'Like sheep,' declares the Prophet. 'That fox,' ironically says the Saviour, of one man at least Yes, and the man who has learnt to accept this view of himself is far on the way to salvation, for 'he that humbleth himself shall be exalted'. Yet, though God permits men to be bruised, He does not allow them to be broken. Much we may be called upon to endure, but never too much. There shall never be ground for complaint and murmuring; there shall always be room for thankfulness. III. Lastly. Not only care and trouble, but sin also bruises men. Perhaps the idea here is of a man plucking up, or cutting down, the reeds, for commercial purposes. As such a toiler proceeds he comes to a reed which is so twisted and broken that he regards it as useless, and he flings it aside. Not so does the Saviour deal with mankind 'bruised and mangled by the fall'. He never flings sinners away; He receives them and saves them. Herbert Windross, The Life Victorious, p. 197. Matthew 12:20 It has often been remarked that Vinet praised weak things. If so, it was not from any failure in his own critical sense; it was from charity. 'Quench not the smoking flax' to which I add, 'Never give unnecessary pain'. The cricket is not the nightingale; why tell him so. Throw yourself into the mind of the cricket the process is newer and more ingenious; and it is what charity Commands. Amiel. References. XII. 20. W. Ralph, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxi. 1907, p. 132. F. Mudie, Bible Truths and Bible Characters, p. 139. C. E. Jefferson, The Character of Jems, p. 269. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. i. p. 6. XII. 20, 21. A. G. Brown, British Weekly Pulpit, vol. ii. p. 258. XII. 22. Parker, Homiletic Analysis on the New Testament, vol. iii. p. 127. Birkett Dover, The Ministry of Mercy, p. 102. Parker, The Inner Life of Christ, vol. ii. p. 205. T. S. Evans, Expositor (2nd Series), vol. iii. p. 7. F. B. Woodward, Sermons (1st Series), No. 16. Ashley, Homilies of St. Thomas Aquinas for Advent, etc., No. 6 of Lent. J. Keble, Sermons for the Christian Year, No. 22. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year, No. 22; see also A. B. Bruce, 'On the Sympathy of Christ' in The Galilean Gospel, p. 128. XII. 22, 30. W. M. Taylor, The Miracles of Our Saviour, p. 187. XII. 22-37. John Laidlaw, The Miracles of Our Lord, p. 218. XII. 24. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 171. XII. 28. G. Matheson, Voices of the Spirit, p. 93. A. F. Winnington Ingram, Under the Dome, p. 93. XII. 30. G. H. Morrison, The Wings of the Morning, p. 216. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Sunday Sermonettes for a Year, p. 190. W. J. Knox-Little, Church Times, vol. xxx. 1892, p. 338. XII. 30-34. W. M. Taylor, The Miracles of Our Saviour, p. 400. XII. 30-32. R. W. Dale, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlviii. 1895, p. 168. C. Kingsley, Sermons on National Subjects, p. 395. C. Holland, Gleanings from a Ministry of Fifty Years, p. 104. R. Scott, Oxford University Sermons, p. 64. W. Lee, University Sermons, p. 104. The Sin Against the Holy Ghost Matthew 12:32 The sensitiveness of this critical age is very wonderful. Considering the immense number of insignificant persons who are favoured with paragraphs and biographies in papers, one might imagine that the great majority would regard with composure what was written about them. This patience might at least be looked for from those whose main occupation it is to abuse their fellow-creatures. As a matter of fact, this equanimity is very rare, even among the greatest. Mr. Gladstone, in his curious chapter of autobiography, tells us that a silly electioneering placard once almost unmanned him. 'It freezes the blood in moments of retirement and reflection for a man to think that he can have presented a picture so. hideous to the view of a fellow-creature.' More authors than would easily be believed have the criticisms of their books 'broken' to them. George Eliot and Dickens could not read theirs at all. There is something very ignoble about this. At all events, the person who cannot endure criticism should refrain from criticising. I. In singular contrast with this is the majestic and calm temper of Christ, summed up in that marvellous saying, Whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him. Mark the tremendous assumption that the critic is always wrong. Never a word is said against the Son of Man that can be justified. More, no one ever speaks against the Son of Man without sinning. But the sin does not place him beyond the reach of mercy. He will be forgiven. The sentence might have ended differently. It might have been, Whosoever shall speak against the Son of Man shall be answered? silenced? punished? No forgiven. Did Christ ever assert His Divinity more absolutely and yet more benignantly? II. Whosoever shall speak against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in the world to come. There is one sin so heinous that it closes for all ages and in all worlds every door of mercy. The soul that sins it will never be revived by any Divine spring. It is no mysterious transgression to be struck upon at an unknown stage in the prodigal's path. It is no sudden, angry blasphemy. Whoever fears that he has committed it and prays for pardon is worlds away from it It is the sin of those who know Christ in His essence, who realize His Spirit for what He is, and who deliberately call Him unclean. The historical Christ may be misjudged. Our teachers may misrepresent Him. We may speak a word against Him without the purpose deliberately to sever our life from His. But when His Spirit the Spirit of compassion and purity is known and hated, then the endless alienation has begun. III. Compassion is the first word which describes the Spirit of Christ. It is a deep word deeper almost than love, as the mother knows who has seen her child in the delirium of fever. Christ came to bring in the reign of righteousness, but before and after justice is pity. The march of justice is slow: to be tracked by altars of sacrifice. Slowly we come to purer laws, but meanwhile deepest in man's lot is suffering that cannot wait. To this Christ stretched forth His hand. Marking as He did with pity those who knew their evil case, and with a deeper pity those who did not, He went about healing all manner of sickness and disease among the people. He set in motion the while those mighty forces that are gradually transforming the world. But compassion had to do its work first, and when justice is done in the ideal commonwealth, compassion will take up the work again. But He saw the universal misery as the result of sin. The fangs of the Serpent had done this. He set Himself, therefore, not to reform, but to save He believed that men could be saved. His inseparable following from the very dregs of society proclaimed that the kingdom of heaven was for publicans and harlots. He lowered not a jot the standard of purity while He declared that those who came to Him would in no wise be cast out. When at last He lifted His eyes to God from His long brooding over earthly woe, His thought was of peace and joy. This is the Spirit of Christ the Spirit of compassion, of purity, and hope. To see this and to speak against it is the blasphemy that eternally severs the creature from the Creator. W. Robertson Nicoll, Ten Minute Sermons, p. 95. The Unpardonable Sin Matthew 12:32 I. To take these words as an authoritative declaration of the unending duration of evil, and the ceaseless retributive punishment of the evildoer, is to interpose an immeasurable barrier between God and the humanity for the existence of which He is solely responsible; and hopelessly to confuse the standard of moral rectitude, by implying the inability of God to act upon the command He has enforced on men to forgive one another, even until seventy times seven. It is instructive in this context to note the quotations in Bingham's Antiquities from the early Fathers of the Christian Church in connexion with what is called the 'unpardonable sin'. 'The notion,' he says, 'that the ancients had of the sin against the Holy Ghost was not that it was absolutely unpardonable, but that men were to be punished for it both in this world and the next, unless they repented of it.' II. Consider, then, what is the cogency and extent of this dread declaration which remains in the page of Holy Scripture as a warning to the hardened and impenitent. The eternal truth is that wilful, continuous opposition to an elemental principle is unforgiveable, in the sense of the removal of the inevitable consequences of the opposition, either in this world or in the spiritual world. If man, in the exercise of what he calls his freedom, blasphemes an elemental law of the natural world, he commits the unpardonable sin against nature. Now, in the passage of Scripture before us, this declaration is made with regard to the ultimate factors of being both in the natural world and in the spiritual world. But, it may be asked, can rebellion against elemental law in the natural world be de signated rebellion against the Holy Spirit? The answer to the question is found in a reverent consideration of the nature, place, power, and revealed functions of that particular operation of the Eternal which is named in the Nicene Creed, 'the Holy Ghost, the Lord, the Life-giver'. For the Holy Spirit is the universal life, the 'I am' in whatever is, the essential vitality creating all, pervading all, sustaining all. III. When we, with the awakened God-germ striving within us, with the guarantee of our baptism that we are in very deed the Lord's, persistently, consciously resist, ignore, blaspheme that 'gentle voice, soft as the breath of even' when we deliberately become empty of the Spirit that we may be full of self, the question of 'forgiveness' does not enter into it, for forgiveness does not remake character. Man's safety, man's happiness, man's illumination, the formation of man's character all depend on his being filled with the Spirit, for 'the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control'. Basil Wilberforce, Sermons Preached in Westminster Abbey, p. 84. References. XII. 33. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 181. Lyman Abbott, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlix. 1896, p. 120. XII. 34. C. E. Jefferson, The Character of Jesus, p. 85. W. G. Rutherford, The Key of Knowledge, p. 160. John Ker, Sermons, p. 121. Character the Spring of Life Matthew 12:35 This is the compact statement of a truth upon which Jesus laid the last emphasis that everything depends on character. The word has two meanings. And according to its original sense character is the mark made upon a stone by engraving. It is therefore the stamp of the soul and the expression of a man's being. Character has also come to acquire a secondary meaning. It is not now what the man is, and will continue to be, but what he says he is or appears to be. It is the outer show of the man: it is his reputation. I. One profound difference between our Master and the Pharisees turned upon the reading of this word. With the Pharisees, character was reputation, and their whole strength was given to performing a religious play. With Jesus character was nature, and He was ever insisting that a man must be judged not by appearance but by the heart; not by what he says, or even by what he does, but by what he is. II. Common speech betrays our implicit conviction, and every day we ourselves acknowledge the supremacy of character. One man may use the most persuasive words, but no one gives heed because they are not the outcome of a true soul; another may speak with rough simplicity, and his neighbours respond because every word bears the stamp of a brave heart. III. If character be the spring of life then two things follow. 1. That every man's work is the expression of himself. Just as the Almighty is ever creating under a Divine necessity, because He must express Himself, and just as His character can be discovered by those who have eyes to see in the parable of creation, so every man works under the same compulsion, and reveals himself by the fruit of his hands. According as a man is true, so is his work; in proportion as he is false, so is his work. One of the secrets of great art is sincerity, but if the soul be crooked the work will be a makeshift. 2. Conduct as much as work springs from the heart, and by the heart must be judged. Both God and man try conduct by subtler tests than the outward appearance, and two actions of the same kind may have a different moral complexion. Is calculating prudence on the same level as devout consecration, and do they prove an equal quality in the soul? We ourselves pass behind acts to motives; we also trace the life up to its birthplace. Men are loved who have been able to give but little because they gave it brotherly, fragrant with love; men are hated who have given largely because they gave ostentatiously and inhumanly with cold and careless hand. J. Watson (Ian Maclaren), The Inspiration of Our Faith, p. 157. References. XII. 36. F. E. Paget, Sermons on Duties of Daily Life, p. 123; see also F. E. Paget, Studies in the Christian Character, p. 79. XII. 36, 37. G. Buchanan Gray, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lvi. 1899, p. 140. Stopford A. Brooke, Short Sermons, p. 278. The Gift of Speech Matthew 12:37 We should do well, perhaps, to see what is our responsibility as possessors of the gift of speech, to examine that common endowment which is the distinction and glory of the human race, the gift of language, and what is the responsibility which belongs to us for the right use of our words. We all of us know that we must answer to God for this great gift wherein, as the outward expression of His reason, man stands forth as the acknowledged head of creation. I. Words of Beauty. It is to God that we have to answer for our speech, and every misuse of this gift is an offence against Him. A man ought to see to it that he does nothing with his tongue which will break the harmony of this world's prayers or insult the God of beauty, to Whom the homage of creation is unceasingly offered. II. Words of Truth. Our words are uttered not only in the presence of the God of beauty, they are uttered in the hearing of the God of truth. We ought to think most earnestly about this division of the subject, because there must be a deep-seated tendency in human nature to abuse this gift of language, to use it in the service of untruthfulness. We are startled from time to time by revelations of gigantic frauds, and wholesale impostures built up by lies. Coming nearer home, are we not obliged to make a wide distinction between things which we hear and things which we see? In our hatred of hypocrisy we have gone to the other extreme. Why are good people so shy in their religious professions? God ought to come first and not the consciousness of men. The man who makes no secret of his principles is the man who in the end suffers the least persecution, and is not tempted really so much to deny his Lord. It is a bad thing to be a hypocrite, but it is also a very bad thing to be a self-conscious coward. III. Words of Comfort. Our words are uttered in the face of Him Who is called the God of all comfort, Whose mission it is to strengthen and cheer, as well as in the face of Him Who is the God of beauty and the God of truth. How much can be done by words to help and cheer and advise. How much can be done to pull down, damage, and destroy. When we think of what language has done to enrich the race we may well shrink from the unutterable degradation and base ideas, couched in unworthy and squalid language, while in all our conversation there must always be set before us the importance of truth and honour and respect and love for others. If these be absent, then too soon there sets in that moral warp of character which causes it to lose its hold on the true, the beautiful, and the good. For men despise one who is not true; they mistrust the smart controversialist, and the envenomed critic; they drive him at last from their company, and dethrone him from the pinnacle of their respect. What is this but a reflection of that righteous wrath which, in the end, will cast away for ever from the golden city and the home of truth whatsoever defileth and whatsoever loveth and maketh a lie. Justification By Words Matthew 12:37 Many a battle royal has been fought over the doctrines of justification by faith and justification by works, but perhaps we have heard less than we ought about justification by words. It is not an Apostle, but the Master Himself, who urges the too much neglected truth that men are justified by their words. This great utterance of Jesus was called forth by the malevolent criticism of the Pharisees. He had just performed a great healing miracle which had astonished the assembled crowds, and convinced them that He was the Messiah. The spiteful Pharisees have another explanation. He casts out demons, they said, by the prince of the demons. They do not and dare not deny the fact, but they explain it by asserting that He is in league with the powers of evil. And nothing could have troubled Jesus more than this, that men should look upon His beautiful and gracious deed, and deliberately pronounce it the work of the Devil. Men who could do that were not only lost to all sense of honour, but were devoid of moral sensibilities. Their world was turned upside down. They were the sworn foes of beneficence. They called good evil and evil good. No words, therefore, were too severe to characterize their moral brutality, and our consciences instinctively acknowledge the justice of this great utterance of Jesus, 'By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned'. I. It is a great thing, this human speech of ours a terrible thing! Some, who know the awful powers and dangers that lie hidden in the heart of a word, have thought it the highest wisdom to keep the lips sealed. 'Speech is silvern, silence is golden.' There are few nations without a proverb which expresses the superiority of silence to speech. Like most words which tersely embody the wisdom of humanity upon its average levels, this proverb is only partly true; it partly needs to be supplemented by a more courageous word. There are indeed times when silence is the highest wisdom; there are other times when silence is a crime! It is a crime to say, in a moment of passion, the thing that wounds; but it is no less a crime to leave unsaid the thing that might have helped or soothed or cheered. The wise man is not always the silent man; he is the man who uses words for God. II. There is much that is pathetic in the history of human speech. Case-endings, which were originally full of significance, lose their freshness and force, and often vanish altogether, their place being taken, perhaps, by some prepositional phrase, whose clumsiness would have astonished the ancient men. And what has happened to the inflections has too often happened to the words themselves. They have steadily but surely been emptied of their great original content An 'awful place' used to mean a place which could touch the spirit to awe such a place as the ragged hillside where the lonely Jacob saw the angels of God ascending and descending. It would mean something very different Today. Great words have so often passed through careless and insincere lips that they no longer mean what they once meant. 'Awfully, has, in much colloquial speech, usurped the place of 'very'. We use superlatives where sincerer men would use positives; for this is, in part, a question of individual and social sincerity. As strong and noble words gradually lost their meaning, they had to be reinforced by other words, and these again by other words, till the old simplicity and strength became little more than a philological tradition. To say that a thing is good, or that we like it well, ought to be one of the highest expressions of appreciation; but that is hardly the market value of those great words Today. The careless application of these and many similar words has deprived them of their primal strength and flavour; and part of the Christian problem Today is just to learn to use the strong common words of our English speech with that noble sincerity which can dispense with superlatives and exaggerations. III. In the last resort, this is a question of character. A man necessarily speaks as he is. It is himself that he utters. His words are his spirit rendered audible. They show what manner of man he is; they justify or condemn him. A good man will therefore be careful of all his words, but he must especially beware how he uses the great words of the Christian faith. He must be jealously on his guard lest his use of them deplete them of their Divine content. There are some words whose original nobility is gone, perhaps beyond all hope of recovery; but there are others which every man should count it a privilege to keep bright and clean. We shall not lightly, for example, call every one a Christian whose name is written upon the books of the visible Church. We shall reserve that word for those who love Christ, not in word only, but in deed and truth. The right and conscientious use of words will strengthen the sincerity of our own soul, and will constitute our tiny contribution to the maintenance of at least one lofty ideal among the men and women about us. We shall, even in the common converse of our life, strive to realize both the dignity and the responsibility of human speech; and we shall use it cheerfully indeed, but humbly and carefully, as men who will one day have to give an account. References. XII. 37. H. Harris, Short Sermons, p. 174. M. G. Glazebrook, Prospice, p. 141. On Power Matthew 12:38 I. People are always asking why miracles no longer happen and inferring from their cessation that they never did happen. It seems to me that the answer to this question is writ large in the history of mankind, and the answer is this man can very rarely be safely entrusted with any exceptional power. The experience of the world proves this. It is really the moral of the Old Testament Scriptures. Such phrases as 'God's spirit striving with man,' simply means, God, seeing how far man can be entrusted with what, for want of a better word, I must still call supernatural truth, or supernatural powers. Man at his best has been tested and failed. Moses and the Prophets had been tried with the trust of exceptional power, and had used it badly, as pride and passion prompted. To all in turn had been committed extraordinary gifts, and all in turn had employed them badly. What was left? St. Paul shall answer us: 'When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law'. II. Christ was sent, and, at the outset of His career, was tempted as Moses and Elias had been tempted. In the wilderness, on the mountain, and on the pinnacle, He was given three deliberate choices. He was solicited, first, to make bread out of stones that is, to employ His supernatural power to satisfy His own hunger a personal want. Secondly, to fling Himself from a pinnacle of the Temple to show at the outset of His mission, in the face of all the people, a sign that should compel their recognition of His Divine power; thirdly, to worship to acknowledge the power of evil, for gain. On each of these occasions of making a deliberate choice Christ made the right choice, and the choice I am afraid man would not have made. Christ had supernatural power, but He never used it to gratify curiosity. He never used it without a practical purpose. He did miracles, but they were in nearly every case miracles of mercy and kindness. III. Thus we may say Christ knew how to use power, and from His time to the present day we have no excuse for not using power for good. In a word, one of the chief lessons of Christ's life was to teach men how to use their powers; and that the powers we have are sufficient for our need. He taught men that the power shown in not using power is often the most sublime exercise of power. If whole centuries elapse in which 'miracles do not happen,' and people begin to deny that they ever did happen, this is due only to the fact that men are not found who can fulfil the necessary conditions; and also, I think, if one may say so reverently, that God prefers a more excellent way that men should learn, not by signs and wonders, but by humble faithful use of the natural reasoning powers He has given them. C. H. Butcher, The Sound of a Voice that is Still, p. 122. References. XII. 38. Hugh Black, Christ's Service of Love, p. 181. C. J. Vaughan, Last Words in the Parish Church of Doncaster, p. 181. J. Fraser, University Sermons, p. 67. P. Ansley Ellis, Old Beliefs and Modern Believers, p. 154. XII. 38-45. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlviii. No. 2779. XII. 39, 40. A. G. Mortimer, One Hundred Miniature Sermons, p. 273. XII. 41. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 192. W. M. Punshon, Privilege and Responsibility, A Sermon, p. 731. XII. 42. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, God's Heroes, p. 128. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 196. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. ix. No. 533; vol. xlviii. No. 2777. XII. 43-45. F. E. Paget, The Spirit of Discipline, p. 131. J. H. Jellett, The Elder Son, p. 268. J. W. Mills, After-Glow, p. 157. C. A. Scott, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxx. 1906, p. 13. C. A. Berry, Vision and Duty, p. 171. Partial Reformation Matthew 12:44 I. The Partial Reformation. The three predicates are all significant. Empty, the old tenant has gore out, but no new one come in. Swept, some of the dirt is cleared away. Garnished, some attempts at decoration made. So it is a perfect picture of superficial reformation of morals without religion. Swept, representing suppression of vice. Garnished, representing some alteration for the good. But the failure of the whole thing because it is empty. There is no lofty enthusiasm, no high principle, no seed of a Divine life. Most accurately of all, there is no indwelling Christ. II. The End of it in Complete Submission. All reformation which leaves the heart empty is precarious. There is danger from strength of habit, power of circumstances, weakness of our will. It is like an empty bottle, let down into the sea, the sides smashed in. Christ must fill it if we would have it whole, otherwise there is no reason why the demon should not enter again. Whitewash and beautifying will not keep him out. Partial reformation which fails makes a man very much worse. 'Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself.' Sometimes worse vices come instead of the original, i.e. a man gives up one vice and takes to others, as a gardener changes the things he grows. III. The Only Thorough and Secure Way is to Cast Out the Evil Spirit. A stronger than he cometh, i.e. goes out because Christ comes in, fills the heart and is garrison and guard to keep it. There is the presence within of a new nature, the expulsive power of a new affection. As regards our lower nature, there is no better way of curing a lower desire than to kindle, if it were possible, a higher, which will expel the lower taste. So we are not to go fighting in our own strength, but to open our hearts for Christ's entrance. He will come and fill our souls. A. Maclaren. References. XII. 45. J. B. Mozley, Sermons Parochial and Occasional, p. 118. XII. 46-50. C. Holland, Gleanings from a Ministry of Fifty Years, p. 123. H. Ward Beecher, Sermons (1st Series), p. 284. XII. 48. H. W. Morrow, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxiii. 1908, p. 59. XII. 48-50. R. E. Hutton, The Crown of Christ, vol. i. p. 109. XII. 49, 50. W. H. Murray, The Fruits of the Spirit, p. 474. J. P. Chown, The Penny Pulpit, vol. xiv. No. 846, p. 445. XII. 50. R. C. Fillingham, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liv. 1898, p. 339. XIII. 1-9. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 201. XIII. 1-23. J. Laidlaw, Studies in the Parables, p. 49. The Parable of the Sower Matthew 13:3 In regard to the figure here. None not leaven with its assimilating power, nor light with its illuminating rays, nor bread with its nutritious elements, nor water as it springs sparkling from a mossy fountain to parched and thirsty lips none sets forth the Word of God better than this of seed. For example: I. There is Life in Seed. Dry and dead as it seems, let a seed be planted with a stone flashing diamond, or burning ruby; and while that in the richest soil remains a stone, this awakes and, bursting its husky shell, rises from the ground to adorn the earth with beauty, perfume the air with fragrance, or enrich men with its fruit. Such life there is in all, but especially in Gospel truth. II. There is Force in Seed. Buried in the ground a seed does not remain inert lie there in a living tomb. It forces its way upward, and with a power quite remarkable in a soft, green, feeble blade, pushes aside the dull clods that cover it. Wafted by winds or dropped by passing bird into the fissure of a crag, from weak beginnings, the acorn grows into an oak glowing till by the forth-putting of a silent but continuous force, it heaves the stony table from its bed, rending the rock in pieces. But what so worthy to be called the power as well as the wisdom of God as that Word which, lodged in the mind, and accompanied by the Divine blessing, fed by showers from heaven, rends hearts, harder than the rocks, in pieces? III. There is a Power of Propagation in Seed. Thus a single grain of corn would, were the produce of each season sown again, so spread from field to field, from country to country, from continent to continent, as in the course of a few years to cover the whole surface of the earth with one wide harvest employing all the sickles, filling all the barns, and feeding all the mouths in the world. Such an event, indeed, could not happen in nature, because each latitude has its own productions, and there is no plant formed to grow alike under the sun of Africa and amid the snows of Greenland. It is the glory of the Gospel, and one of the evidences of its Divine origin that it can: and, unless prophecy fail, that it shall. There is not a shore which shall not be sown with this seed; not a land but shall yield harvests of glory to God and of souls for heaven. Thomas Guthrie, Parables of Our Lord, p. 222. Is Christianity a Failure? Matthew 13:3 I. One day there came to Christ those who asked the question: 'Are there many that be saved?' What a field here for an interesting discussion! But He sent them back with the warning: 'Strive ye to enter in at the strait gate'. And so sometimes, when in a broad and interesting fashion we would treat great questions in a somewhat detached and impartial manner, He often sends men back to the more commonplace task of examining their own hearts and their own lives. We can quite imagine that when such a question as 'Is Christianity a failure? 'is put up for discussion, He would rather that each one of us put the question to himself in a somewhat more personal fashion, namely, 'Am I a failure?' II. It is that question which the parable of the sower partly answers. Our Lord, indeed, in this parable admits that Christianity is a failure again and again; failure on the hard ground, failure on the shallow ground, failure on the unclean ground, failure, as it would seem, everywhere. But He bids men remember that the cause of the failure lies not in the seed, but in the soil; not in the Word, but in the hearts of men. III. We see as we read this parable that it is assumed from the very beginning that there is in man, at least in certain limits, a power of free will; that there is in every heart some capacity for reception, and the great central lesson and meaning of the parable is simply this, that it is in the cooperation of the seed and the soil, of the grace of God and the will of man, that there lie all the possibilities of that harvest which in the individual is character and in society the kingdom of God. The whole programme of life may really be summed up in a single sentence: Our wills are ours, we know not how, Our wills are ours to make them Thine. H. R. Gamble, Church Family Newspaper, vol. xv. p. 218. References. XIII. 3. R. H. McKim, The Gospel in the Christian Year, p. 147. H. Scott Holland, God's City, p. 121; see also Christian World Pulpit, vol. xiii. 1892, p. 141. Henry Alford, Sermons on Christian Doctrine, p. 120. E. W. Attwood, Sermons for Clergy and Laity, p. 76. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlix. No. 2842. XIII. 3-5. R. Winterbotham, Sermons and Expositions, pp. 108-51. XIII. 3-9. The Dundee Pulpit, 1872, p. 17. G. Salmon, Non-Miraculous Christianity, p. 196. XIII. 3-8, 18-23. Cosmo Gordon Lang, Thoughts on Some of The Parables of Jesus, p. 13. XIII. 3-9, 18-23. B. W. Maturin, Practical Studies on the Parables of Our Lord, p. 1. Social Reform Matthew 13:4 There is a kind of soil which is content to remain hard and barren. The verse gives a picture of many men and women who have no spiritual receptiveness. They do not understand the language of the Psalmist: 'Like as the hart desireth the water brooks, so longeth my soul after Thee, O God'. This kind of nature is to be found in many different places, and among many kinds of men. I. Hard circumstances often make men unresponsive to any spiritual ideal to the higher nature. We know very well with some circumstances need not be, and sometimes are not, in themselves a fatal drawback. Some men can resist all the evil influences of environment. There were saints in Cæsar's household, and we have seen that in the dullest and dreariest slums some wear the white flower of a blameless life. But of men in the mass it is true that the outward conditions of life must tell upon the spiritual state. Here social reform has its part to play. The only hope for the hard soil is that it should be broken up, and this is what wise social reform can do. It cannot make men Christians or give them spiritual life, but it can prepare the soil for the seed. 'Take away the stone,' said our Lord to His disciples, ere He summoned Lazarus to come forth. The one act can be done by the disciples, the other only by the Lord Himself. II. There are those who are influenced strangely by heredity to an indifference to spiritual things. These are not the victims of untoward circumstances. Often they lead the pleasantest lives, and live in the pleasantest places, but religion comes to them without appeal. They do not understand it, and they do not want it. What are we to do for them? We can only wait for the discipline of life and the training of love to break up the hardened soil. Love and sorrow are the chief openers of the heart which enable the Divine Grace to enter in. III. We must not forget that men often harden themselves. They neglect opportunities and refuse light. And so we find the obdurate conscience which once was soft; the hard heart which once was tender. All this is the story of neglected grace and of rejected light. The old judgment is uttered: 'Take the talent from him'. As we think of this possibility coming so near us all, the hardening that arises from neglected opportunities, there are two passages which occur to our minds: 'Take heed how ye hear,' and 'Today, if ye will hear His Voice, harden not your hearts'. H. R. Gamble, Church Family Newspaper, vol. xv. p. 218, 13 March, 1908. References. XIII. 4, 5, 6, 18. J. Sidmouth Cooper, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxiv. 1903, p. 152. XIII. 5, 6. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlix. No. 2844. XIII. 6. F. E. Paget, The Spirit of Discipline, p. 142. XIII. 7. Spurgeon, Sermons vol. xxxiv. No. 2040. Good Soil Matthew 13:8-9 Our Lord describes for us here the characteristics of good soil. He tells us what sort of man he is who profits by the Sunday sermon, and he tells us first of all that the right hearer has an honest and good heart. I. An honest and good heart means that kind of heart in which there is some affinity to the message received, a correspondence which we sometimes take for granted. It may well be that the soil of our heart has ceased to become honest and good because we have not kept it informed or receptive or interested in the highest things which form the object matter of our intelligence. It is a matter of supreme indifference to many men whether the Creed be maintained in its integrity or not. The Atonement is a doctrine in which they have no practical interest, and never even attempt to understand. The Incarnation is a truth which they cannot imagine to be worth all the disputations which surge round it. Heaven and the joys of Paradise may be all very well for those who like them, but for themselves they would much rather stay where they are. It is no satisfaction to them to be told about Christian holiness; the ways of society and the ordinary code are quite sufficient. The ways and doings of Scriptural characters awake in them no responsive interest whatsoever. If religion is a department of human learning which we can take up as an extra subject or let alone, well and good; but if religion is a question which concerns our well-being here and our eternal salvation hereafter, it is nothing short of a disaster to have reached a state where religion and religious things fail to awake even a languid interest. It is not a good sign if sermon subjects fail to interest us. Ask God to give you an interest in these topics, which are the most serious that can occupy a man's heart. II. But the man with an honest and good heart is more than receptive; he is retentive. Having heard the Word he keeps it. This is the trouble: how to keep what is heard in face of the birds, and the pressure of the rock, under the adverse growth of thorns which spoil the results. It is impossible for the message to stick if we have no place for it in our hearts, if we are not in a condition to be either instructed or advised. If we only set ourselves to practise what we have heard, if only we would act on the advice we receive, or carry out some of the things we know, what different men and women we should be! III. 'Fruit with patience.' It is the unchanging Gospel which needs patience. So also does the hearer, too, need patience in the presence of forgotten truth, now perhaps for the first time revealed to him. It is a good thing for us to hear from time to time all the counsel of God set before us, and to learn patiently to investigate the claims made upon our faith and understanding. Take heed how ye hear. The responsibility of the preacher is, as it must always be, immense, but there is a responsibility which rests with the hearer to offer that honest and good heart, to retain and develop with patience the seed which is to bear fruit unto everlasting life. References. XIII. 8, 9. Canon Newbolt, Church Times, vol. 1. 1903, p. 285. XIII. 9. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 211. XIII. 10. J. A. Bain, Questions Answered by Christ, p. 22. XIII. 10, 11. S. D. McConnell, A Year's Sermons, p. 217. XIII. 10-13. H. Scott Holland, Christian World Pupit, vol. xl. 1891, p. 161. XIII. 10-17. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxix. No. 2304. XIII. 11, 12. T. Chalmers, Sermons Preached in the Tron Church, Glasgow, p. 84. XIII. 12. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxv. No. 1488. J. Service, Sermons, p. 159. P. Young, Plain Preaching to Poor People (7th Series), p. 107. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 220. XIII. 13. Ibid. p. 230. XIII. 14. J. H. Thorn, A Spiritual Faith, p. 35. Matthew 13:13 In our own generation, and our own land, are many pariahs, sitting amongst us all, nay, oftentimes sitting (yet not recognized for what they are) at good men's tables. How general is that sensuous dullness, that deafness of the heart, which the Scriptures attribute to human beings! 'Having ears, they hear not; and seeing they do not understand.' In the very act of facing or touching a dreadful object, they will deny its existence. Men say to me daily, when I ask them, in passing, 'Anything in this morning's paper?' 'Oh no, nothing at all.' And, as I never had any other answer, I am bound to suppose that... every day was a blank day, yielding absolutely nothing what children call a deaf nut, offering no kernel; and yet the total product has caused angels to weep and tremble. De Quincey. The service of philosophy and of religion and culture as well, to the human spirit, is to startle it into a sharp and eager observation. Pater. References. XIII. 14, 15. R. W. Church, Village Sermons (2nd Series), p. 62. XIII. 15-23. B. D. Johns, Pulpit Notes, p. 157. XIII. 18-23. J. Laidlaw, Studies in the Parables, p. 65. Matthew 13:22 'After this,' George Fox writes in his Journal for 1650, 'I was moved to go into Derbyshire, where the mighty power of God was among Friends. And I went to Chesterfield, where one Britland was priest. He saw beyond the common sort of priest, for he had been partly convinced, and had spoken much on behalf of Truth, before he was priest there; but when the priest of that town died, he got the parsonage, and choked himself with it.' References. XIII. 22. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxiv. No. 2040. XIII. 24, 25. W. Lee, University Sermons, p. 34. A. G. Mortimer, One Hundred Miniature Sermons, vol. i. p. 120. XIII. 24-30. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 234. G. Monks, Pastor in Ecclesia, p. 252. W. Arnot, The Parables of Our Lord, p. 75. R. C. Trench, Notes on the Parables, p. 86. R. Winterbotham, Sermons and Expositions, p. 122. H. Calderwood, The Parables of Our Lord, p. 199. Homiletic Quarterly, vol. i. p. 470. A. F. Barfield, Christian World Pulpit, vol. v. p. 135. M. Lucas, ibid. vol. xv. p. 355. Clergyman's Magazine, vol. ii. p. 80. J. Sherman, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. iii. p. 163. A. B. Bruce, Parabolic Teaching of Christ, p. 38. Parker, Inner Life of Christ, vol. ii. p. 235. S. A. Tipple, Sunday Mornings at Norwood, p. 339. W. H. Brookfield, Sermons, p. 239. Preacher's Monthly, vol. vi. p. 189. R. D: B. Rawnsley, Village Sermons (3rd Series), p. 43. XIII. 24-30, 36-43. B. W. Maturin, Practical Studies on the Parables of Our Lord, p. 23. R. Winterbotham, The Kingdom of Heaven, p. 33. Matthew 13:25 'The reformers speedily found,' observes Ruskin, 'that the enemy was never far behind the sower of good seed: that an evil spirit might enter the ranks of reformation as well as those of resistance; and that though the deadly blight might be checked amidst the wheat, there was no hope of ever ridding the wheat itself from the tares.' Describing the French countrywoman, Reine Chrétien, in her novel of The Village on the Cliff, Miss Thackeray observes that 'she was a woman with love in her heart, but she was not tender, as some are, or long-suffering; she was not unselfish, as others who abnegate and submit until nothing remains but a soulless body, a cataleptic subject mesmerized by a stronger will. She was not humble, easily entreated, unsuspicious of evil. The devil and his angels had sown tares enough in her heart to spring up in the good soil thick and rank and abundant; only it was good soil in which they were growing, and in which the grain of mustard-seed would spring up too, and become a great tree in time, with wide-spreading branches, although the thick weeds and poisonous grasses were tangling in a wilderness at its root. References. XIII. 25. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year (2nd Series), vol. i. p. 96. XIII. 25, 26. S. A. Tipple, Sunday Mornings at Norwood, p. 339. XIII. 27-30. H. Scott Holland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlii. 1892, p. 196. The Enemy in the Field Matthew 13:28 I. The Field is the Church. For it is the kingdom of heaven which is itself the field, and if our Lord adds also that the field is the world it is only because His Divine confidence was looking forward to that day when His Church should be universal. It is then inside and not outside the Church that this confusion is to be looked for. It is within the society of the baptized that the tares and the wheat are to be found side by side. And often the tares look so like the wheat that it is only in the fruit, not in the early growth, that the difference can be found out at all. The danger of a too early separation of the two lies not only in that disturbance of the soil which will chill and kill the roots of the healthy plant, but still more in the risk of making a real mistake and plucking up the true instead of the counterfeit growth. In very early days in the Church's history Christians began to see in this parable a counsel of warning and one of encouragement. II. A Counsel of Warning. It forewarned them against that kind of disappointment which arises from a confusion of ideas the confusion of failure with imperfection. The results of the Gospel are real even when they are not complete. It is not the less true that Christ is the Saviour because all men will not come to Him. It is no argument against grace that men who seek it not do not receive it. It is no defect of the Gospel that that should come to pass which its Founder foretold that amongst the children of the kingdom there should be a plentiful growth of spurious plants, whether they take the form of unbelief or ungodliness or hypocrisy. III. A Counsel of Encouragement. Not that this maxim is meant to forbid the proper exercise of discipline. It was not so that our Lord's Apostles understood it It is not so that our own Church interprets it. But it does mean to tell us that discipline has for its object the restoration not the condemnation of the offender. It means to encourage in us a spirit of watchfulness and fear, but not to encourage any deceptive hope that any kind of purging can guarantee the purity of what remains. Has not every man a right to be taken on his own profession a right to pass through life unchallenged as to his claim to be a follower of Christ? IV. The Enemy in the Field. There is an enemy in God's field. Nowhere does the good sower carry his basket but a watchful foe follows in the night. That staggering question often suggests itself how can this be? God made the powerful mind. He made the beautiful form. Did He unmake the one, did he debase the other? The parable gives us the answer, still leaving it all in deep mystery. An enemy hath done this. But it is chiefly in one broad direction that the parable sets before us the danger of this hostile sowing. It is the danger to the good of the presence with them at their very side of the evil. The tares look like the wheat; it is often impossible to discriminate between them. But in these words our Lord teaches us decisively to disconnect all evil from the hand of God. Evil, He teaches us, is God's absence, and we need never be away from God. It is not His will that we should be. If anything now is drawing you to evil it is not from God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Strong as he is, he is weaker than God, Who will help us. If you live in this faith of the omnipotence of the All Good, then shall your heart be steadfast and fear no evil. Matthew 13:28 Names matter little; sin desolates us widely, pain racks us keenly, whether we account for their existence upon a positive or a negative theory. Yet it is remarkable that our Saviour, while He does not explain this awful problem, does not explain it away. To the old, ever-recurring question, 'Whence these tares?' He answers simply, 'An enemy hath done this'. Man has striven to bridge over this chasm between his soul and God with theories contradictory to the reason they profess to satisfy, and false to the moral sense they desire to soothe, but He who spake as never man spake does not reason upon this subject. He sees this great gulf set; He knows what its mouth has devoured of earth's best and noblest; one thing most precious of all remains He flings Himself within it. Dora Greenwell. 'Envy,' observes Bacon at the close of his essay on this vice, 'is also the vilest affection, and the most depraved; For which cause it is the proper attribute of the Devill, who is called; The Envious Man, that soweth tares amongst the wheat by night. As it alwayes commeth to passe, that envy worketh subtilly, and in the darke; And to the prejudice of good things, such as is the * wheat'. * References. XIII. 28. J. G. Adderley, Sermons for the People, vol. ii. p. 103. H. Scott Holland, God's City, p. 181. Adam Scott, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlvii. 1895, p. 22. XIII. 29. W. H. Brookfield, Sermons, p. 239. The Twofold Development Matthew 13:30 This affirmative of the parable involves two facts. Howsoever, on the one hand, wickedness may increase, it shall never so increase that there shall not; be still in the world some of God's wheat, some of the children of the kingdom. And howsoever, on the other hand, the number of true Christians may at any time increase, they will never so increase as that before the harvest, which our Lord tells us is the end of the present age, all men shall be truly converted. I. The first affirmation of the parable has given us very momentous information as to the future course of human history. (1) Observe that it is impossible to understand this increase in numbers. Growth in character is the reference intended, not growth in number. (2) Observe that in this prophecy no account is taken of time. The Lord surveys human history in its totality from His own day to the end, from His first to His second coming. The total number of the children of the kingdom from the first to the second advent He calls wheat; the total number of the children of the wicked one from the first to the second Advent He calls tares. II. The true nature of those tares which so cumber God's wheat-field is not by many fully recognized. Whatever changes in the form of wickedness there may be, they will be such as to bring out ever more and more distinctly its essentially diabolic, God-denying character. Even although the proportion of the converted to the unconverted should greatly increase, which may easily be, yet wickedness in those who remain unconverted will ever become more and more intense in its God-defying and law-rejecting spirit. This is what Jesus clearly means when He says that the tares shall 'grow until the harvest'. III. The lessons of this subject are self-evident (1) The words of Christ rebuke and should silence all baseless fears because of increasing wickedness. (2) The parable no less truly rebukes all false hopes, so common with many in our day, as if we might for an instant hope to see in the present dispensation the church triumphant over the power of the devil, or to see evil at least suppressed if not destroyed. The parable tells us in so many words that this shall not be. (3) And has not the truth of the text a very solemn and searching personal application? Growth is a law of life. It is a law of the life in God. It is equally a law of the life in sin. And it is as with the wheat and the tares in the field: the very same influences which make the wheat grow make also the tares to grow. The truth which, if from the heart you receive it and obey it, saves you and makes you more like Christ; that very truth, if you do not believe it and obey it, makes you more the child of the wicked one and the slave of him in sin than you were before. In the spiritual life, as in the natural life, there is no standing still. S. H. Kellogg, The Past a Prophecy of the Future, p. 275. References. XIII. 30. R. D. B. Rawnsley, Village Sermons (3rd Series), p. 43. R. W. Church, Cathedral and University Sermons, p. 29. B. Wilberforce, Sanctification by the Truth, p. 65. S. H. Kellogg, The Past a Prophecy of the Future, p. 275. Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxiii. 1908, p. 163. The Principle of the Parables Matthew 13:31 Why may the grain of mustard seed be compared to the kingdom of heaven? It is not that they are like one another, for in the ordinary sense of the word they are not alike at all. But they are connected as it were by a cord, along which, if you feel your way, you will be guided from one to the other. And why is that? Because the same God who made the grain made also the soul of man and the Church. Every work of the same hand depicts the whole mind of him that made it. I. The Parables are built upon the belief that everything that exists was made by a wise and good God, and that anything in the world can lead you up to the great Father of All. Now let us notice that we have there the one motive of all learning. Why do we want to know anything at all? Why do men study the rocks, or the flowers, or the stars? Because they believe that they enfold a secret, the secret of their birth. Because they believe that they are symbols, and that they can be made to reveal the mystery that lies behind them. Because, again, they believe, that that mystery, when revealed, must needs be beautiful and good. II. Again, we find in the Parables not only the motive, but the process of all learning. Always we begin with the grain of mustard seed, with the plain, unattractive, obvious little fact. Most people pass it by. They want something grand and showy, and do not see what these common things can have to teach. But at last an eye that can see falls upon the despised little grain, and finds it worthy of patient study. And immediately it opens out, expands, etherealizes itself, revealing its wonderful mechanism, and behind the mechanism the laws of all life. III. It is in this way that knowledge grows. We begin with the love of God's works. We put ourselves into the hands of Nature, and ask to be taught what she can teach us. We approach her in the disciple's spirit, the spirit of humility and patience, putting away all our own ideas and submitting to be led, trying to see things just as they are, counting nothing too small, nothing common or unclean. We stand in the path of light and the light comes, sometimes from teachers or fellow-workers, sometimes straight from above. This is the way of the intellectual life; and our Lord tells us in His Parables that the way of the spiritual life is the same. So He led His chosen disciples on from the grain of mustard seed to the confession of Peter, and from this again to the lessons of the Cross and of the Resurrection, always step by step and line upon line. But first of all we need the blessing 'Blessed are your eyes, for they see'. For we may see without seeing; what we want is the second sight. What is it that we see first of all? A family gathered by the fireside, a group of young men at a lecture or a game, two friends walking together, the crowded street of a town, the trivial scenes that make up social life. There, in the universal craving of man for companionship and communion and affection, you have the grain of mustard seed, the simple roadside fact. It is as necessary, as common, as the air that we breathe, and that is why we fail to see its meaning. We must take this little fact of friendship into our hands, as the botanist takes the little grain of mustard seed, and ask what it means. If you approach it in the right spirit, in the teachable spirit, the spirit of discipleship, it will open for you, and show you how the whole Gospel, the kingdom of heaven, is wrapped up in the love of a friend for a friend. Wherever two or three are gathered together, there is Christ for those who have eyes to see. C. Bigg, The Spirit of Christ in Common Life, p. 241. Divine Energy Matthew 13:31 I. The future can only belong to a Church which believes and preaches the forth-reaching, energizing, and active love of God. To be out of the warmth of the Love of God is to be in the darkness, and how great is that darkness no one painted more clearly than Jesus Christ Himself. But it is the warmth of the sun which makes the soul cast off the cloak of its reserve, and not the terror of the darkness. After all, why did God make anything except in love? Why did He redeem the world, except to his fatherly heart it was impossible to leave one in the darkness? And no Church will save the world, and especially those thousand millions who have not yet had a chance of making up their minds as to the truth of Christianity, except a Church that believes and proclaims and lives out the love of God to every child that He has made. II. And with the gospel of the Love of God must go the message of a free salvation. That the Eternal Son of God came into this very world in which we live, and gave Himself for His brothers, that the Christian religion does not consist in a belief in a good man named Jesus Christ dying on the Cross, but consists in a belief in the Sacrifice of God Himself. III. The greatest danger of the Church is worldliness. In one sense it is impossible for the Church to mix too freely with the world. But on the other hand, to catch the spirit of 'push,' to run a Church as a man runs a successful business, to depend upon cleverness and management, rather than the grace of God, to neglect prayer and intercession in favour of influence with the Press, to lower the teaching of the Church or its moral standard in order to suit an easy and self-indulgent age, is to spell ruin and failure and shame for the most orthodox Church in the world. In a voice which still rings down the centuries, Jesus Christ Himself proclaimed: 'My kingdom is not of this world'. Only a Church whose weapons still are faith and hope and love and prayer can hope to win the world. Bishop Winnington Ingram, The Church Times, vol. lviii. p. 503, 18 October, 1907. References. XIII. 31. Bishop D. L. Lloyd, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlvii. 1895, p. 158. G. Tyrrell, Oil and Wine, p. 168. XIII. 31, 32. R. Winterbotham, The Kingdom of Heaven, p. 52. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching far a Year, p. 105. F. D. Maurice, Christmas Day and Other Sermons, p. 347. J. Laidlaw, Studies in the Parables, p. 81. B. D. Johns, Pulpit Notes, p. 166. H. Hensley Henson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliv. 1903, p. 88. W. W. Battershall, Interpretations of Life and Religion, p. 213. XIII. 31-33. F. Temple, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liii. 1898, p. 188. C. G. Lang, Thoughts in Some of the Parables of Jesus, p. 41. B. W. Maturin, Practical Studies in the Parables of Our Lord, p. 40. XIII. 32. J. Parker, Studies in Texts, vol. i. p. 185. S. Horton, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxiv. 1908, p. 108. XIII. 33. H. Scott Holland, ibid. vol. xl. 1891, p. 216. R. S. Stores, ibid. vol. xlvii. 1895, p. 121. F. Pickett, ibid. vol. xlv. 1904, p. 19. J. Scott Lidgett, ibid. vol. xlix. 1906, p. 104. Henry Scott Holland, God's City, p. 143. J. Laidlaw, Studies in the Parables, p. 81. T. G. Selby, The Strenuous Gospel, p. 336. M. J. McLeod, A Comfortable Faith, p. 179. R. Winterbotham, The Kingdom of Heaven, p. 70. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 244. The Parable of the Leaven Matthew 13:33 I. The woman takes the leaven to lay it not on, but in the meal, where, working from within outwards, it changes the whole substance from the centre to the surface. It is through a corresponding change that the man goes to whom the Spirit of God communicates His grace. It is hidden in the heart. The change begins there; the outward reformation not preparing the way for regeneration, but springing from it; growing out of it as a tree grows out of its seed, or a stream flows out of its spring. In consequence of its being lodged in their hearts, true Christians, so far from being hypocrites, have more of the reality of religion than of its appearance. II. So soon as leaven is embedded in its substance, a change immediately ensues; a process of fermentation is set agoing, and, extending from within outwards, goes on till by a law of nature the whole lump is leavened. Neither art nor nature could supply a better simile of the grace of God than this. The peculiarity of grace is this, that like leaven it changes whatever it is applied to into its own nature. For as leaven turns meal into leaven, so Divine grace imparts a gracious character to the heart; and this is what I call its assimilating element. Yet let there be no mistake. While the grace of God changes all who are brought in conversion under its influence, it does not impart any new power of passion, bat works by giving to those we already have a holy bent; by impressing on them a heavenly character. III. It is said of the meal in which the woman hid the leaven, that 'the whole,' not a portion of it, large or small, 'was leavened'. The Apostle brings out the same diffusive character of this element when he says, 'A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump'. Even so, teaching us not to despise the day of smell things, a little grace lodged in the heart spreads till it sanctify the whole man. Some things diffuse themselves rapidly. There are deadly poisons 30 rapid and indeed sudden in their action that the cup falls from the suicide's hand; he is a dead man before he has time to set it down. To these grace stands out in striking contrast, not only because it is saving, but because it is ordinarily slow in bringing its work to a holy and blessed close; and in that respect grace and sin correspond well to their figures of life and death. Still, let God's people thank Him, and take courage. Though grace, unlike sin, and like leaven, is slow in its progress, it shall change the whole man betimes. Thomas Guthrie, Parables of Our Lord, p. 9. References. XIII. 33. M. Dods, Christ and Men, p. 151. XIII. 33-35. W. J. Knox-Little, The Light of Life, p. 312. XIII. 34, 35. J. Martineau, Hours of Thought on Sacred Things, vol. i. p. 270. XIII. 37, 38. J. G. Greenhough, The Cross in Modern Life, p. 72. Ibid., Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlix. 1896, p. 339. XIII. 37-39. R. E. Hutton, The Crown of Christ, vol. i. p. 217. XIII. 38. C J. Vaughan, Words from the Cross, p. 152. B. W. Maturin, Practical Studies on the Parables of Our Lord, p. 53. XIII. 39. Plain Sermons by Contributors to the 'Tracts for The Times,' vol. vi. p. 219. Malan, Plain Preaching for a Year, vol. i. p. 175. XIII. 43. W. Howell Evans, Sermons for the Church's Year, p. 227. E. L. Hull, Sermons, p. 237. Matthew 13:44 'I want you,' writes James Smetham to a friend, 'to... try to realize while you seek that as soon as your foot is turned to the fields of gold, all heaven is astir to help you. Strange helps will come to you hints, intuitions, breathings, curious allurements.' The kingdom of God is as treasure hid in a field; and of those who profess to help us to seek for it, we are not to put confidence in those who say Here is the treasure, we have found it, and have it, and will give you some of it; but in those who say We think that is a good place to dig, and you will dig most easily in such and such a way.' Ruskin, On the Old Road, II. References. XIII. 44. A. J. Mortimer, One Hundred Miniature Sermons, vol. ii. p. 328. T. Guthrie, Parables of Our Lord, p. 150. H. Scott Holland, God's City, p. 161; see also Christian World Pulpit, vol. xl. 1891, p. 177. W. H. Brannan, ibid. vol. lxxiv. 1908, p. 292. Trench, Parables, p. 121. Winterbotham's Sermons, p. 139. Prof. Calderwood, 'The Exceeding Value of Spiritual Good Found in God's Kingdom,' Parables, p. 234; Biblical Things not Generally Known, vol. i. par. 146. XIII. 44-46. B. W. Maturin, Practical Studies on the Parables of Our Lord, p. 65. Woolcot Catkin, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxviii. 1890, p. 104. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 251. C. G. Lang, Thoughts on Some of the Parables of Jesus, p. 63. Kitto's, 'The Treasure and the Pearl,' Daily Bible Illustrations, vol. vii. p. 314. Parker's Inner Life of Christ, vol. ii. p. 256. A. B. Bruce, in Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii. p. 360 (and same in his Parabolic Teaching of Christ). Allon, 'How Men Find Christ,' Pulpit Analyst, vol. iii. p. 601. Barfield, Christian World Pulpit, vol. v. p. 167. Wray, 'Kingdom of Heaven,' ibid. vol. xvi. p. 360. W. M. Metcalfe, 'The Twin Parables,' Expositor (2nd Series), vol. viii. p. 54. J. Henry Burn, ibid. vol. viii. 468. The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price Matthew 13:45-46 Some lessons taught by this figure of a merchant: I. It Teaches Us to Make Religion our Chief Pursuit. Such is to the merchant his business. To it he does not allot merely some hours stolen from the pursuits of pleasure. In its pursuit he is all energy and activity. II. It Teaches Us to Guard Against Deception. The money which has a suspicious look the wary trader rings on his counter; knowing what frauds are practised in business, the wise merchant often puts such goods as he receives to the test; and the utmost care is taken in such a trade, especially as that of this parable, to guard against mistakes or imposition. The dupes of fraud, men have paid immense sums for pearls which were found to be only paste. But, through the deceitfulness of the heart and wiles of the devil, men have been greater dupes and suffered unspeakably greater losses. As it is not all gold that glitters, it is not all grace that seems so. There is a righteousness which is ours, as well as one which is Christ's. Such being the case, no merchant needs to be more on his guard against fraud and deception than those who may flatter themselves that they are regenerated when they are only reformed. III. It Teaches Us to Examine our Accounts with God. The wise merchant takes stock, balances bis books, and, in some businesses at least, strikes a balance on every day's transactions. In this, as in the energy and toil and self-denial and resolution of worldly, how much is then worthy of the imitation of Christian men? Why should not we, at the close of each day, recall and review its transactions to see how our accounts stand with conscience and with God. And as I have seen the workman, ere he retired to rest, throw himself into stream or sea to wash away the sweat and dust of his daily toil, from such a review the Christian would repair each evening to the fountain of Jesus' blood to be cleansed of the guilt of daily sins; and rise each morning to seek the aids of the Holy Spirit to do his work, to keep his watch, to bear his burden, to fight his battle better. Thomas Guthrie, Parables of Our Lord, p. 188. References. XIII. 45. J. H. Jowett, Meditations for Quiet Moments, p. 63. H. Scott Holland, God's City, p. 226. Ibid., Christian World Pulpit, vol. xl. 1891, p. 205. XIII. 45, 46. Morgan Dix, Sermons Doctrinal and Practical, p. 208. J. M. Neale, Sermons Preached in Sackville College Chapel, vol. iv. p. 60. Bishop Creighton, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liii. 1898, p. 91. R. Winterbotham, The Kingdom of Heaven, p. 90. B. D. Johns, Pulpit Notes, p. 147. Benjamin Keach, 'The Pearl of Great Price,' Gospel Mysteries, book I. p. 157. Charles Simeon, Works, vol. xi. p. 414. Trench, Parables, p. 131. Winterbotham's Sermons, p. 142. Prof. Calderwood, 'Wisdom in Seeking and Distributing Spiritual Good,' Parables, p. 246. McDougall's Sermons, p. 288. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxiv. No. 1424. Matthew 13:46 The pearl is a free gift! What then is meant by saying that the merchant-man who had found it went and sold all that he had, and bought it? The meaning is, that there is no room for it in a heart which is filled with other things; he who would possess it must make room for it. It is not and cannot be enjoyed unless it occupies the whole heart. Erskine of Linlathen. References. XIII. 46. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Sunday Sermonettes for a Year, p. 123. Spurgeon in Christian World Pulpit, vol. xiv. p. 160. C. J. Vaughan in Three Hundred Outlines on the New Testament, p. 21. XIII. 47. H. Scott Holland, God's City, p. 204; see also Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlii. 1892, p. 157. J. L. Fraser, ibid. vol. xli. 1892, p. 348. C. W. Stubbs, For Christ and City, p. 106. XIII. 47-50. R. Winterbotham, The Kingdom of Heaven, p. 103. The Dundee Pulpit, 1872, p. 209. B. W. Maturin, Practical Studies on the Parables of Our Lord, p. 80. XIII. 51, 52. J. O. Bevan, The Spheres of Action of Science and Religion, p. 1. E. B. Speirs, A Present Advent, p. 66. Christ Is God Matthew 13:52 In a large church in Havana, where the black worshippers sit in a different part of the church from the white worshippers, and enter by a different door, outside the door by which the white men enter a white marble statue of the Christ stands, while outside that by which the black men enter a facsimile of the same statue stands in black marble. The arrangement embodies in a crude form a very fundamental expression of the Christian spirit. It is a parable of very deep truth. Each race of man, before it can accept Christ, must interpret Him for itself in the terms of its own characteristic qualities. It is because it finds its own highest possibilities realized in Him, and its own deepest needs and aspirations satisfied in Him, that it acknowledges Him as its Lord, and what is true of a race of men is true of each generation of that race, and of each individual man belonging to that generation. I. How did Christ's First Followers arrive at the Assurance that He was the Incarnate Son of God? Christ did not make His claim to men indiscriminately. He distinctly said again and again that He came not to call the righteous, that is to say, the morally and spiritually satisfied, but sinners, those who were morally and spiritually dissatisfied, and He again and again reiterated the statement that the majority of those who heard Him, though they had ears to hear, could hear not, and though they had eyes, could see not, that only to those whose soul-ears and soul-eyes were open could He make His appeal, that they only were capable of recognizing His nature and His claim. To the former class He spoke in parables and hard sayings, to the latter He unfolded the mysteries of the kingdom without reserve. He came to them with the declaration 'I am the Way. No man cometh to the Father but by Me' the Father, the fountain source of that life which they craved, the supreme Lawgiver behind the Law, Whose voice they could hear speaking with more or less distinctness, through the depths of their own consciences. 'The way to the Father' this was what Christ declared Himself to be. Those who joined themselves to Him joined themselves to His Father, for He and His Father He declared to be One. II. The Conviction of the Divinity of Christ rests on the Testimony of Conscience, on the instinctive recognition by the power with which God has endowed every human soul to be its medium of communication with Him. As the eye responds to light, so conscience responds to Christ. 'This is light,' is not the outcome of any argument; it is the statement of an instinctive and immediate judgment that no argument can change. And so it is with conscience, the eye of the soul. Its recognition of Christ in God is not the outcome of any argument, any external evidence. It depends only on its own activity and on Christ's presence. III. Outward Stimulus is Necessary to stir the conscience into activity. Doubtless, too, the intellect can help in clearing away the prejudices, misunderstandings which often hinder the eye of faith from seeing its true object, but the act of faith transcends all external evidence, all intellectual processes. It is quite complete in itself, bringing its own assurance with it, an assurance that no external evidence can produce and no external objection can shake. It is a supernatural act, a conscious recognition of the Divine by the Divine, a conscious union of God with His own. Surely the teaching of the New Testament is quite clear with regard to this. No man cometh to Him unless the Father draws him, unless the God within him draws him to the God outside him. IV. What then is the Ultimate Basis of Christian Faith? It is found in man's ultimate moral and spiritual needs, the needs of his complete manhood, and in the fact that Christ has satisfied these needs. Thus it was that the first followers of Christ attained to a sure conviction that He was indeed God incarnate in the flesh. That conviction was common to them all, but their interpretations of its content and its claim depended on the kind of satisfaction that they had individually attained, and that in turn depended on the individual needs to which this satisfaction was related. On the Day of Pentecost the Divine Spirit was poured out on the whole body of believers assembled together. Notice the enormous significance of that fact. The Christ life in which these believers shared, the life in which they lived and moved and had their being, was no mere private endowment of each individual Christian. It was the common possession of the whole body. It is only in the light of this conception of the essential character of the Christian life, the essentially supernatural on the one side and the essentially corporate on the other, that the eye of faith can see its way clearly through the clouds of intellectual and practical embarrassment which obscure its vision at the present day. Matthew 13:52 In 1870 Jowett noted down the following list of 'subjects which ought to be, but never are, treated in sermons: Love. The passions not generally but particularly. Good manners. Differences of rank. The right use of money. The influence of art. Self-dedication. The limits of self-denial. Failure in life'. It is the mission of the genius to show that portion of the wealth of Nature, which he has been permitted to remove, to those incapable of finding it for themselves, or even of suspecting its presence. Millet, * Notes on Art * References. XIII. 52. J. Parker, Studies in Text, vol. i. p. 162. H. Scott Holland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liii. 1898, p. 4. Bishop E. C. S. Gibson, The Old Testament in the New, p. 177. The Unaccountable Man Matthew 13:54-55 I. The astonishment of the Nazarenes, among whom Jesus had been brought up, was the greater because they knew all about the Preacher's home and upbringing. When we see a man endowed with special and unique qualities, we always try to account for them. And we look for the secret of these extraordinary qualities chiefly to two things: (1) to a man's parentage, and (2) to a man's education. Again and again you may read in the biographies of great men sentences like these? 'He inherited his strength of will from his father. He derived his gentleness of disposition from his mother.' Mental as well as physical characteristics descend from parents to children, and heredity supplies the key to many a man's character. In fact, since the idea of evolution has become one of our dominant intellectual ideas, we are almost inclined to think that every man's career can be fully explained by an investigation of his family history. Next only to parentage in importance in the formation of a man's character is education. And I use education in a broad sense, including not only the means at his disposal for the training of his mind, but also the influences, the political, social, religious, intellectual influences that have played upon a man in the formative years of his life. The age a man lives in; the ideals and aspirations of his time; the teachers he comes in contact with all these things go a long way towards the make-up of his character. And the Nazarenes thought of these things as they listened to the Preacher that day. He was an * unaccountable Man. * II. Amongst all classes and sections of the people Christ created a feeling of wonder. The doctors were 'amazed'; the multitudes were 'astonished'; the disciples 'wondered'; the governor 'marvelled'. Jesus everywhere created the impression that He was unique. Men could not, on ordinary lines, explain Him. He suggested questions which none could answer. 'Whence hath this Man this wisdom, and these mighty works?' How knoweth this Man letters, having never learned?' 'By what authority doest Thou these things, and who gave Thee this authority? Whence art thou?' He was a mystery, a puzzle, an enigma to them. From the human standpoint, He was to everybody in Palestine, from the humblest peasant in Galilee at the bottom, to Pontius Pilate the governor at the top, an 'unaccountable Man'. Now, I want to go a step farther still, and say, that the wonderful phenomenon Jesus appeared to the Nazarenes, and what He was to the people of Palestine generally, that He is to the men and women of Today. Starting from the purely human standpoint, Christ is to this day the world's * unaccountable Man. * 1. Consider the wisdom of Christ. 'Whence hath this Man this wisdom?' The Jews had their great rabbis, like Shammai and Hillel, but the wisdom of Shammai and Hillel was as dust and dross compared to the wisdom that fell from the lips of Jesus. How was it that a village Carpenter was able to surpass the wisest of the ancients? How came it that their most learned doctors were mere children in their knowledge of Divine things compared to this peasant Preacher? Whence hath this Man this wisdom? 2. The authority of Christ. 'They were astonished at His teaching,' we read, 'for He taught them as one having authority '. Yes, that is a mark of the teaching of Christ He speaks with authority. And this 'authority' which Jesus takes to Himself, conscience freely and gladly admits. As Dr. Dale says, we do not argue the matter out, but we perceive, instinctively and intuitively, that Jesus is our Moral Ruler, that He is the Lord of our moral and religious life. We feel towards Him as we feel to no other teacher in the world. We discuss the conclusions of other teachers; we submit to His. 3. The 'mighty works' of Christ 'Whence,' said the Nazarenes in their bewilderment, 'hath this Man this wisdom and these mighty works?' The 'powers 'of Christ astonished them as much or even more than His words. For Christ not only spoke wonderful words, but He also wrought the most wonderful deeds. His 'powers' (for that is the literal meaning of the words translated 'mighty works') created astonishment and wonder wherever He went. And Christ still confronts the world and challenges it to account for Him. He healed the sick, He cleansed the leper, He cast out devils; He gave speech to the dumb; He gave sight to the blind; He gave life to the dead; and that question faces us and demands an answer How came Christ by this wondrous power? Whence hath this Man these mighty works? J. D. Jones, Elims of Life, p. 25. Reference. XIII. 55. W. C. Magee, The Gospel and the Age, p. 311. Matthew 13:57 Crabb Robinson notes in his diary how once, when he was in the Lake Country, 'Mr. Hutton, a very gentlemanly and seemingly intelligent man, asked me, "Is it true as I have heard reported that Mr. Wordsworth ever wrote verses?"' Men, and almost all sorts of creatures, have their reputation by distance. Rivers, the further they run, and more from their spring, the broader they are and greater. Ben Jonson. References. XIII. 5-7. P. W. Dainton, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliv. 1893, p. 13. XIII. 5-8. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Common Life Religion, p. 188. J. M. Hodgson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liii. 1898, p. 214. H. A. Stimson, The New Things of God, p. 132. T. Teignmouth Shore, The Life of the World to Come, p. 69. XIV. 1-12. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 262. Matthew 14:4 It is an hard condition that the necessity of our calling casts upon us, in some cases, to run upon the pikes of displeasure Prophecies were no burdens, if they did not expose us to these dangers. We must connive at no evil; every sin unreproved becomes ours. Bishop Hall. Reference. XIV. 4-8. W. Lefroy, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxv. 1904, p. 118. Matthew 14:6-8 No sign of a nation perishing is so sure as the corruption of woman Messalina was more ominous than Nero, Herodias than Herod. Dr. John Ker. To be nameless in worthy deeds, exceeds an infamous history. The Canaanitish woman lives more happily without a name than Herodias with one. And who had not rather have been the good thief than Pilate?' Sir Thomas Browne. References. XIV. 10. J. M. Neale, Sermons Preached in Sackville College Chapel, vol. iv. p. 109. XIV. 10-12. F. E. Paget, Sermons for the Saints' Days, p. 221. Telling Jesus Matthew 14:12 They told Jesus. They did something before that. They took up the body of their master, the Baptist, and buried it, and went and told Jesus. They were two men. They had conveyed and expressed the doubt of their imprisoned master; they said to Jesus, 'Art Thou He that should come, or look we for another? This is our master's question, and we wish to take back a reply.' At the moment of the text their stern, austere, commanding master was dead, killed, beheaded by a cruel sword. When they took up the body and buried it they went and told Jesus; they who had once been the bearers of a doubt were now the bearers of a fact that did little to dissipate that doubt. They went from one master to another, and they went along the road of misery a well-frequented path. They transferred their allegiance from the Baptist to the Saviour of the world, and they joined hands with Him, so to say, over the dead body of their master. Is this the only text in the New Testament which represents the truth that men come to Jesus Christ in trouble? It is not, but I think it is the jewel; I believe there is no brighter diamond in all the cabinet of grace. They came to Jesus in trouble; they had a tale to tell, they had a story full of blood to relate to this unique Listener. There are certain people to whom we do go in trouble; we go to them by a kind of natural right of instinct; we are sure they will understand, we are specially sure that they will listen to us: and there is a listening that is sympathy, and there is a sympathy that is a resurrection. They went and told Jesus. I. There must be something about the dear Jesus that drew everybody to Him who had a tale of sorrow to tell. Once a message was sent to Him to the effect that' he whom Thou lovest is sick'. Why did they not go to some other man? Why did not the suffering sisters call in some neighbourly helper? No matter what his name or what his vocation, he is a man, he is human and by so much he will sympathize: go, tell him. Why go a mile or two when your neighbour is next door? Your neighbour may be a thousand miles away. Always discriminate between proximity and identity in all its deepest significance as a sympathetic ministry. What a tribute to Jesus that He could listen to men's trouble! Let such listening be one of His credentials. II. Go to tell Jesus about your successes. The disciples returned to Him and said, 'Master, even the devils were subject unto us through Thy name'. See the radiance of their faces, see how they misconstrue the kingdom of heaven, see in what an elementary atmosphere they live and move and have their being;. 'Lord, even the devils.' They thought He would applaud them, they thought He would stand up His full stature and say, 'I told you it would be so, you must believe Me ever after this; this is exactly what I prophesied, and I call upon you to bear witness accordingly '. That was not the Son of God. What did He do? He said, 'Rejoice not that the devils are subject unto you, but rejoice rather that your names are written in the book of life'; and their brows fell, their chief toy was taken from them, they were disappointed. We always report the wrong thing. We tell of numbers, statistics, and balance-sheets, and great successes, and wonderful funds a quarter of a million strong, and half a million, and a whole million; and Jesus says, 'Rejoice not in your million-fold funds, but rejoice rather that you have brought a blind soul into the light and a bound soul into liberty'. III. They went and told Jesus about their zeal for His cause, they almost outran one another in the race; it was who was to be there first to tell Jesus all about it. About what? 'Master, we saw one casting out devils in Thy name, and we forbade him.' Jesus would be delighted, Jesus would say, 'My dear allies and brethren, how faithful you are, how strongly I am lieutenanted by such men as you! You forbad the man who was casting out devils in My name; I congratulate you, I will telegraph this over all the spaces of the universe.' Nothing of the kind; that was not the Son of God. He said, 'Forbid him not'; He went dead against the whole policy of the crude zealous, undisciplined disciples. They were always doing foolish things, they were often doing the wrong; thing, they were prone to set the pyramid on its apex. The same spirit prevails Today. Do not laugh at these centuries-old people, they are living now, all the men are living now. 'Casting all your care upon Him' why? 'For,' or because, 'He careth for you'. Not because He is great, majestic, infinite, incomprehensible; these are more or less empty words in such circumstances as my soul's need. But the Apostle says, 'Go to Him because He wants you to go, because He is waiting for you to go, take all your tears and leave them with Him, all your sorrow, for, because, He careth for you.' The shepherd that cares for the flock will abide with it all the night, though the wind be troubled by the howling of the wolf. Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. vi. p. 40. References. XIV. 12. Mark Guy Pearse, Jesus Christ and the People, p. 212. XIV. 12; XXVIII. 8. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 269. XIV. 13-21. W. M. Taylor, The Miracles of Our Saviour, p. 268. J. Laidlaw, The Miracles of Our Lord, p. 74. XIV. 13-36. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. liii. No. 3046. Christ's Compassion Matthew 14:14 Christ had sought retirement by crossing the lake for two reasons, the murder of John, and the return of the Apostles from their mission. The need for rest is emphasized in St. Mark's Gospel. There were crowds because of the approach of the Passover, and these crowds outran them round the head of the lake, so that when the boat neared the landing-place, they were all there, and the hope of retirement and privacy had gone. So our text is very emphatic as showing us a glimpse into our Lord's heart, in circumstances that would have annoyed most of us. I. The Unwearied Toil and Endless Patience of the Master. How valuable these and the like hints are of Christ's true humanity. His weariness in body, His longing for quiet and repose of mind, and how gladly He puts it aside without a word of reproach for intruding on His leisure, or a word of regret that it is so broken in upon. II. The Penetrating Look. He saw the multitude. Why was compassion the emotion? Possibly this refers primarily to their weary travel-stained appearance. The visible taken as a symbol. So, a crowd is ever a pathetic sight. III. The Compassion of Christ. If we could see a man as he is we should pity. Christ's eye beholds all our hidden evils and sorrows, and the result is pity, not aversion, not anger, not indifference. The true human sympathy of Jesus. This sympathy was a spring of His action. Some of His miracles are drawn out by entreaty, and some are wrought by His unsought love spontaneous. This pity is the revelation of God. This pity is eternal. This pity is extended to each of us. IV. The Work to which Compassion Leads. (1) The healing His care for the body. (2) The teaching His revelation of the greatness of His compassion. It comes before we ask, is brought near to each of us, but cannot be forced upon us. Take it, and we become of His flock, the Lamb which was slain and is alive for evermore. A. Maclaren. References. XIV. 14. H. M. Butler, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlviii. 1895, p. 94. XIV. 14-16. J. Flanagan, ibid. vol. lxi. 1902, p. 291. XIV. 14-33. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. li. No. 2925. XIV. 15-21. Archbishop Trench, Notes on the Miracles of Our Lord, p. 217. The All-sufficiency of Christ Matthew 14:16 The miracle was meant for a token of Christ's Messiahship, no doubt. But, also, it was the natural expression of His real loving care for men's bodily wants, and, in that aspect, is along with the others quite invaluable. Also it was meant as a symbol. He is the Bread for men's souls. And so regarded, the words of the text may carry lessons not unimportant in their bearing upon the great task of the Church to hold forth the Bread of life to the whole world. The Church has enough to feed the world. I. The All-Sufficiency of Christ He is the Bread of life, and is enough to satisfy the desires of every single soul. It addresses itself to the great primal wants universal, and deep as manhood, the sense of sin, the longing for deliverance, the gropings after God, the need of guidance, enlightenment, authority. This all-sufficiency of Christ is (1) shown in the very nature of the message; (2) attested by the experience of all Christians, for if one heart can so be satisfied, then the world must be; (3) confirmed by the history of His Church. There are many failures, but successes enough to show the divinity of the message. (4) The Gospel in its development is the natural root of all progress for society. 'They need not depart.' The relations between Christianity and moral, social progress are clear enough. The Gospel develops into all moral, social, political reforms and perfections and enters every sphere of human life. But the relations between the Church and these have been wrong on both sides. Christian men have tended to neglect them, and others have shoved Christianity on one side II. Adequacy of our Resources. They are sufficient if Christ's command be observed: (1) if all are occupied; (2) if each acts in the spirit of Scripture; (3) if we are conscious of our own inadequacy; (4) if we bring them to Christ. A. Maclaren. References. XIV. 16. H. C. Shuttleworth, The Church of the People, p. 40. C. Perren, Revival Sermons in Outline, p. 311. Archdeacon Colley, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliii. 1893, p. 253. P. McAdam Muir, ibid. vol. lxxiv. 1908, p. 369. J. Marshall Lang, Sermon, 1887, 'They Need not Depart,' p. 1. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. liii. No. 3046. XIV. 17, 18. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. viii. No. 453. XIV. 19. Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliii. 1893, p. 273. XIV. 19, 20. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 282; see also Sermons Preached in Manchester, p. 354. XIV. 19-21. J. Martineau, Hours of Thought on Sacred Things, p. 164. Superabundant Blessings Matthew 14:20 But the fact that there were twelve baskets full of fragments, after five thousand had been fed, did display the resources of the Saviour, whose we are and whom we serve; and displayed them for our comfort and encouragement. As we look at those well-filled baskets of fragments, we perceive them to be a reminder of the truth that giving does not impoverish God, nor withholding enrich Him. And that, surely, is a reflection worth meditating upon. God has given us much, in manifold ways: yet His resources are not exhausted. Indeed, they are scarcely touched; for there are twelve baskets full of fragments left more to be bestowed than has been received. What a word of cheer for the life that lies before us! I. The thought here expressed is true in regard to the material things of life. The resources of Nature have been amazingly displayed and developed in the past. 'As for the earth, out of it cometh bread; and under it is turned up as it were fire. The stones of it are the place of sapphires; and it hath dust of gold.' Ana men have delved in and cultivated the earth these many years, so that the world's myriad inhabitants have been fed and enriched. But we may be assured that what is to come out of the earth is immeasurably more than has hitherto been extracted. Sometimes philosophers and savants would scare us by gloomy prophecies of the exhaustion of those supplies upon which we depend for our very existence day by day. The earth is to be so impoverished that it will not yield its increase, and men of science will have to extract solid means of subsistence out of thin air. Our coal and iron strong-rooms are being steadily depleted of their wealth. The limits of the gold and silver output are within sight. And then what shall we do? We may be satisfied that He who so arranged matters that there were twelve baskets full of fragments after the five thousand had been fed with a handful of barley loaves and fishes will not fail the men who trust in Him now. There are twelve baskets of fragments remaining. II. But this fact of superabundant blessing is true in regard to spiritual things. The Almighty has infinite resources, and we may confidently anticipate greater spiritual victories, wider religious conquests, more enduring Gospel triumphs, in the future than any the Church has known, even in the palmiest of the days which lie in the sunny and azure past. 'What hath God wrought!' exclaimed England's greatest evangelist, echoing Balaam's shout. And truly God had wrought much. It is said that at Bennecour, in France, there are steep, stony slopes which formerly only produced paving-stones; but now those slopes grow all varieties of fruits apricots, cherries, black currants, green peas, asparagus. The soil has been scientifically treated, with almost incredibly successful results. So was it, spiritually, in the days of Wesley and his itinerants. They treated the hard, rocky human soil of Britain religiously and evangelically; and the glorious result has become historic. But how much has happened since! After all that God had wrought, there were twelve baskets full of fragments remaining. In Him all fullness dwells, and He has proved that He possesses inexhaustible treasures of power and truth. III. And, lastly, this consoling thought of the abounding sufficiency of Divine resources is true in regard to * personal needs. * We can all say, 'Hitherto hath the Lord helped us'; and not only helped us, but helped us bountifully. For God 'giveth liberally'; our 'cup runneth over'; it is not half-filled, or even brimming full; it is more than full. We could, most of us, live on less than we have. Our necessities have all been met, and undeserved luxuries have been bestowed upon us. Notwithstanding which, there are twelve baskets full of fragments remaining. Let fear and all its trembling Kith and kin be evicted from heart and mind. Looking back, some of us may well wonder how our manifold necessities have been supplied through many and many a year. God's protection has been vouchsafed. Life is full of risks; we are in peril with every breath we draw. The prick of a pin, the scratch of a thorn, a breath of air, a speck of dust all these may be more potent than sword-thrust or cannon-shot for our destruction. Verily we live with the sword of Damocles suspended ever over our heads. And it is only by the good providence of God that the fragile hair by which it has been suspended all these years has not been severed. What then? Are God's resources for our preservation and protection exhausted? Surely not. We may step out bravely, 'leaning upon the top of our staff,' which is the tested promise, 'He careth for you'. He who provided in the years gone by has twelve baskets of fragments still available. Herbert Windross, The Life Victorious, p. 3. References. XIV. 22, 23. Archbishop Trench, Notes on the Miracles of Our Lord, p. 228. XIV. 22-33. J. Laidlaw, The Miracles of Our Lord, p. 87. A. B. Davidson, Waiting Upon God, p. 231. W. M. Taylor, The Miracles of Our Saviour, p. 282. XIV. 22-36. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 298. XIV. 23. Stopford A. Brooke, Short Sermons, p. 195. XIV. 24. T. L. Cuyler, Christian World Pulpit, vol. 1. 1896, p. 286. XIV. 24, 25. R. W. Hiley, A Year's Sermons, vol. ii. p. 272. XIV. 24-27 J. H. Newman, Christ Upon the Waters, p. 3. XIV. 25. J. H. Hitchens, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxvii. 1890, p. 393. XIV. 26. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvi. No. 957. He Said, Come Matthew 14:28-29 First we must lay down this as a certain truth: Peter made a brave attempt and partly failed in it, but the having made it, though with partial failure, is to his eternal honour. I. Notice that all the Twelve were in darkness and storm, and this by no act or deed of their own, but by their Lord's command, and by His overruling Providence. But of these Twelve one, by his own act and deed, desired to be nearer to His Lord, and to be more like Him. All in a certain sense were then like Him, all in the storm; but yet with a difference too. He, alone and undefended; they, protected by the ships. He, standing by His own power on the waves; they, borne up by the vessel. Peter desires, alone of them all, to be more like Him still. He will leave the rest, so he may be nearer to his Lord. He will have none of the shelter of the ships, so he may have the upholding of His Master. 'Peter said unto Him, Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee upon the water.' Will that Lord, Who knoweth all things, call the offer rash, presumptuous, boastful? Will He command the Apostle to remain where he was placed, and not to court unnecessary dangers, and leave the safeguard that he had? Not so; 'He saith unto him, Come'. II. But with Peter's leaving the ship his difficulties commenced. Then first he began to understand how boisterous was the wind, and how unruly the sea; then first he comprehended his own weakness. And because he there stopped, therefore he began to fail. He should have gone on, and leant more and more upon the strength of that arm on which he had begun to lean. And yet, even then, he was the true and loving servant. He cried out, it is true: but to Whom? Not to his companions, but to the Giver of all help. He did not seek to get back to the boat, he pressed forward all the more to his Lord. Remember Peter's prayer. There cannot well be a shorter, for it contains only three words,'Lord, save me'. There cannot be a more effective one, for on the instant it brought Omnipotence to his aid. 'And immediately.' One naturally pauses there, for it was not immediately that the Lord heard the prayers even of His truest followers. The nobleman of Galilee, and the Syrophenician woman lead the band of those who have to ask again and again before they have been heard. And yet how the comfort they had besought was delayed, while a prayer of three words finds it immediately! yes, and that although it were confessedly a prayer of weak faith. But there was a reason for this, a reason set forth fourteen hundred years before in the Jewish law. All the sacrifices offered to the Lord were to be without spot or blemish. But there was one exception. A free-will offering needed not to be so; why was this? Doubtless to show the infinite value in God's eyes of a sacrifice which is not made of necessity, but only because of the willing heart of the giver. And so of St. Peter's free-will offering now. Because it was a free-will offering, because not for the sake of any worldly benefit, as the centurion and the Syrophenician woman, but only for the sake of being with the Lord, he made it; therefore, was there an immediate answer to his prayer. III. And it was with no stern rebuke that Jesus rebuked the weakness of His disciple. 'He caught him by the hand, and said, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?' We know what wonders one glance of that loving eye has wrought; we see what strength one touch of that loving hand can give. So to be upheld by it, so to lean on it, that is the privilege of those who go out into the storm; who leave the ship's company to go to the Lord of the ship; who would walk upon the water to go to Jesus. J. M. Neale, Occasional Sermons, p. 144. References. XIV. 28. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 305. XIV. 28-31. N. Adams, Christ a Friend, p. 143. XIV. 28-33. J. McNeill, Regent Square Pulpit, vol. ii. p. 113. XIV. 29. C. S. Robinson, Simon Peter, p. 226. Matthew 14:30 The sincere Protestant accepts the new revelation; he piously abandons what God has taught him to recognize as error, and he gathers strength by his fidelity. The insincere Protestant, forgetting the meaning of the names under which he was enlisted in the war against falsehood, closes his eyes and clings to his formulas. Therefore, like St. Peter failing through want of faith, he finds the ground turn to water under his feet. His mortal eye grows dull. His tongue learns to equivocate. Froude. Reference. XIV. 30. J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons (9th Series), p. 154. Matthew 14:31 'I have been reading the New Testament,' says Eckermann in his Journal for 1831, 'and thinking of a picture which Goethe showed me lately, where Christ is walking on the water, and Peter coming towards him, on the waves, begins to sink, in a moment of faintheartedness.' "This," said Goethe, "is one of the most beautiful legends, and one which I love better than any. It expresses the noble doctrine that man, through faith and hearty courage, will come off victor in the most difficult enterprises, while he may be ruined by the least paroxysm of doubt."' References. XIV. 31. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. v. No. 246; vol. xxxi. No. 1856; vol. xxxvi. No. 2173; vol. li. No. 2925. Miracles Matthew 14:35-36 I. Here is the adequate cause for the miracles narrated in the Gospels. Christ, the Son of God, must manifest His Divine character, and He manifested it chiefly in three ways: 1. By His holy doctrine, in which He taught all men to love God, Who is Truth, Righteousness, Purity, and Charity, and to love one another as brothers. 2. By His absolutely holy and stainless life. 3. By His power over the material universe around Him, ending in His resurrection from the dead. Had He not shown this power, there would have been something lacking. II. Consider the fact that miracles are not attributed in the Bible to all great teachers. John the Baptist, who was the greatest representative of the Prophets, wrought no miracles. But in Christ we see one Whose shoe latchet John was not worthy to bear. Had Christ wrought no miracles His opponents would have made that a reason for disbelieving Him when He said, 'I and the Father are One'. They would have asked how it was that He Who bade all men honour the Son as they honour the Father, showed no sign that He was possessed of power over nature greater than that of other men. III. Note that the miracles attributed to Christ are all worthy of Christ, they are works of mercy and beneficence. They are works which show that hunger and thirst, disease and death are things temporal, which are in God's good time to pass away. The miracles were an essential feature in the great work of our Incarnate Lord, in bringing about the chief event in the world's history. They are established by historical testimony of the most trustworthy kind. They accord with reason. Without them we should have been less able to accept the testimony of Christ about Himself. The record of them fills our hearts and minds with faith, hope, and love, for how can we do less than believe in, trust and love that Lord of Whom it is said, 'They brought unto Him all that were diseased, and besought Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment, and as many as touched were made perfectly whole'. Canon Charles Bodington, The Twelve Gates of the Holy City, p. 155. Illustration. We say that all portents are contrary to nature, but they are not so. For how is that contrary to nature which happens by the will of God, since the will of so mighty a Creator is certainly the nature of each created thing? A portent, therefore, happens not contrary to nature, but contrary to what we know as nature. St. Augustine, City of God, book xxi. chap. viii. Canon Charles Bodington, The Twelve Gates of the Holy City, p. 157. References. XIV. 36. W. J. Knox-Little, The Journey of Life, p. 177. XV. 1-13. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlii. No. 2487. XV. 1-20. J. Morgan Gibbon, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lvi. 1899, p. 184. XV. 2. J. A. Bain, Questions Answered by Christ, p. 28. XV. 8. T. G. Selby, The Strenuous Gospel, p. 296. XV. 9. W. H. Murray, The Fruits of the Spirit, pp. 212, 224, 235. XV. 10-31. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xliv. No. 2597. XV. 11. T. G. Selby, The Cross and the Dice-Box, p. 241. Matthew 15:13 If I had not had a hope fixed in me that this Cause and Business was of God, I would many years ago have run from it If it be of God, He will bear it up. If it be of man, it will tumble; as everything that hath been of man since the world began hath done. And what are all our Histories, and other Tradition of Actions in former times, but God manifesting Himself, that He hath shaken, and tumbled down, and trampled upon, everything that He had not planted? Cromwell to the Parliament of 1655. References. XV. 13. F. D. Maurice, Lincoln's Inn Sermons, p. 1. G. Tyrrell, Oil and Wine, p. 170. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. vii. No. 423. XV. 14. H. Scott Holland, Church Times, vol. lvi. 1906, p. 285. XV. 18-31. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlii. No. 2481. XV. 19. Ibid. vol. xiii. No. 732. W. M. Sinclair, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlvi. 1894, p. 328. XV. 21-28. J. Laidlaw, The Miracles of Our Lord, p. 247. J. McNeill, British Weekly Pulpit, vol. ii. p. 369. Archbishop Trench, Notes on the Miracles of Our Lord, p. 280. W. M. Taylor, The Miracles of Our Saviour, p. 295. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlii. No. 2481; vol. xlii. No. 2446. Archer Butler, Sermons (1st Series), p. 201. Parker, Inner Life of Christ, vol. ii. p. 331. Kingsley, All Saints' Day, p. 76. Stopford Brooke, Spirit of Christian Life, p. 164. Stanford, Homilies on Christian Work, p. 133. Bruce, Galilean Gospel, p. 146. Guthrie, Way to Life, pp. 210 and 228. Laymen's Legacy, p. 208. Lynch, Sermons for my Curates, p. 317. Phillips Brooks, Sermons in English Churches, p. 157. C. Wordsworth, Sermons, vol. i. p. 109. Bishop Wilberforce, Four Sermons, p. 53. Pusey, Sermons, vol. ii. p. 167. W. F. Hook, On the Miracles, vol. ii. p. 33. XV. 21-31. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 314. XV. 21-39. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxviii. No. 2253. XV. 22. C. Silvester Home, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxvi. 1904, p. 225. C. Leach, Mothers of the Bible, p. 95. XV. 22, 23. Eugene Bersier, Twelve Sermons, p. 128. R. W. Hiley, A Year's Sermons, vol. i. p. 129. XV. 22-28. Andrew Murray, The Children for Christ, p. 226. Matthew 15:22 I doubt whether she had inquired after Christ, if she had not been vexed with her daughter's spirit. Our afflictions are... the files and whetstones that set an edge on our devotions. Bishop Hall. Divine Silence Matthew 15:23 Have you prayed? In what way have you prayed? Have any of your prayers been unmistakably answered? It is a curious fact that some persons never look for answers to their prayers, and they, of all persons, would be most astonished if God took them at their word and granted their request. Some people make mistakes in the requests they make to God. It is absolutely necessary for us to keep before; us one or two thoughts in connexion with prayer. Prayer in this way is a science just as much as any other sciences, and having just as many special laws. You may rest assured that any legitimate prayer is never left unanswered, but the answer may not perhaps be as our special desires dictate; in fact, we sometimes look for the answer to come in at the front door when it is already in the house by the back door. We have a wonderful illustration in connexion with the subject in the text 'He answered her not a word'. Has that been your experience? I. It is Just Possible that You Yourselves were not Ready for the Answer. God may have seen that there was some rectification of character necessary. It may have been some inconsistency, some unworthiness, some selfishness, or even some secret sin that prevented God from answering. Here is a very good illustration. A man may be seen in a boat rowing, rowing, rowing, but the boat never moves. Why? Because the boat is anchored. The boat is floating on the surface of the water, yet the anchor holds it fast. That is the picture of a man's spiritual life. He may feel in his heart that he wants to know God, but finds his progress arrested because his real affections are fastened or anchored on to something of this world. He does not make progress, and God does not answer his prayers. II. It is Just Possible that Your Exterior Circumstances are not Ready for the Answer. Take the case of Joseph when he was in prison. Joseph prayed that he might be delivered from the prison, but it pleased God to keep him there for a time that he might be a comfort to his fellow-prisoners. And so it may be with you. God may have His own reasons for not granting you some timely blessing at once. The circumstances may not be favourable; God may be dealing with some other member of your household at the same time; He has not completed His purpose, and the delay should not distress you or disturb you if you reflect that God may choose to confer His blessing in some special way. III. It is Just Possible that Circumstances have to be Rearranged and Readjusted to Bring Greater Benefits. Take the case of Moses and his remarkable prayer when he besought the Lord to let him go over and see the good land which was beyond Jordan. Why did not God grant his request? Because he had something better in store for him. Was it not much better for Moses to see his Lord transfigured on the Mount than to cross over Jordan with the Israelites? There is the illustration of St. Paul when he prayed that a thorn in his flesh might be taken away from him. God did not answer his prayer. He had something better in store for him. He was going to give him more grace, and when St. Paul knew that, he said he would rather keep the thorn and have the grace. Then with regard to the woman in the text, the Lord gave her at first no encouragement whatever; but the delays and hindrances that He put in her path only increased her faith and made her more earnest and more determined to get that which she required, and she stands out as one of the great figures of all spiritual history. What a biography! only a verse or two, but the biography of a woman whose faith in the Redeemer could not be shaken. Her pleading became more earnest, and at last may I say it? the Lord is conquered by her, and then He praises her for her faith. References. XV. 23. W. H. Hutchings, Sermon-Sketches, p. 60. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlix. No. 2841. XV. 24, 26. Ibid. vol. xxx. No. 1797. Matthew 15:25 Consider: it is not failing in this or that attempt of coming to Christ, but a giving over of your endeavours, that will be your ruin. John Owen. References. XV. 25. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xliv. No. 2597. M. Guy Pearse, Jesus Christ and the People, p. 142. XV. 26, 27. H. H. Carlisle, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxix. 1906, p. 268. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxii. No. 1309. Matthew 15:27 A retort quite Greek in its readiness, its symmetry, and its point! But it was not the intellectual merit of the answer that pleased the Master. Cleverness is cheap. It is the faith He praises, which was as precious as rare.... The quickness of her answer was the scintillation of her intellect under the glow of her affection. Love is the quickening nurse of the whole nature. George Macdonald. References. XV. 27. W. P. Balfern, Lessons from Jesus, p. 69. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xii. No. 715; vol. xxxvi. No. 2129. XV. 28. E. B. Pusey, Parochial Sermons, vol. ii. p. 167. B. F. Westcott, The Historic Faith, p. 3. R. H. McKim, The Gospel in the Christian Year, p. 184. Henry Wace, Some Central Points of Our Lord's Ministry, p. 251. S. C. Malan, Plain Preaching for a Year, vol. i. p. 262. R. E. Hutton, The Crown of Christ, vol. ii. p. 509. A. G. Mortimer, One Hundred Miniature Sermons, vol. i. p. 182. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxvi. No. 2173; vol. xxxviii. No. 2253; vol. xlii. No. 2446. XV. 29-38. J. Laidlaw, The Miracles of Our Lord, p. 105. XV. 30, 31. Walter Brooke, Sermons, pp. 125, 135. XV. 32. B. Wilberforce, Christian World Pulpit, vol. li. 1897, p. 113. Hugh Black, ibid. vol. lxix. 1906, p. 189. XV. 32-39. Archbishop Trench, Notes on the Miracles of Our Lord, p. 293. W. M. Taylor, The Miracles of Our Saviour, p. 307. XV. 33. G. F. Browne, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liv. 1898, p. 161. J. A. Bain, Questions Answered by Christ, p. 34. James Denney, Gospel Questions and Answers, p. 61. XVI. 1-4. H. Bremner, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liii. 1898, p. 87. C. Holland, Gleanings from a Ministry of Fifty Years, p. 246. Spiritual Discernment Matthew 16:3 Jesus Christ found that He was in the midst of a number of weather-wise people; they were quite experts in the reading of the cloudy signs, they knew what the weather would be Today and perhaps tomorrow, and they published their forecasts of the weather; but when it came to higher reading, reading on another level, they were as moles and bats from whom the genius of daylight penetration had been withheld. Do we make one another up? do we hold varied trusteeships? and are they brought under one grand obligation, so that we may, thus supplementing one another, constitute a great social unit? Are there not really readers of the clouds and readers of the unseen? could they not meet now and then in common counsel to see how things stand and what the general outlook is? They must not despise one another; for one man can do this, and another man can do that, and neither man can do both. So that we are mutual trustees, we supplement each other; if we could enter into the spirit of this arrangement, we should have brotherhood, free, frank interchange of opinion, and work together in a great and beneficent association. I. But whilst we recognize these great common gifts, we recognize also a partition of ability, so that one man is an expert along line A, and another man is an expert along line B, and each must work out his own vocation. As there are great commonwealth blessings of nature, so there are great republican blessings in moral and spiritual regions. God did not intend any man to be born a slave. Liberty belongs to every responsible creature; his responsibility will limit and define his liberty, and thus give him the very best of it Liberty that wantons itself into licence really conducts itself into the worst bondage. Regulated liberty is freedom. God means every soul in this sense to be free. There are common instincts, common privileges. And yet singular to say, and yet necessary to say, there are limitations which are round about the individual, so that he has his talent, his two talents, his five talents, himself not to be numbered with other men in certain great generalities. The individuality of the soul is never lost; it is never drowned in the river of mean compromises; it should stand forth individual and yet associated; a great personality, yet part of a greater humanity. To combine the whole and the part, the great universal gift and the special endowment: this is the problem, and Christianity alone sufficiently and finally solves it. II. By the text we are entitled to enlarge what we can see into what we cannot see except by the vision of the soul. Here is a great lesson in inductive reasoning. Because such and such is the direction of the wind and such and such are the indications of the clouds, therefore we shall have such and such weather. Quite right; I do not oppose your forecasts; but why not carry up the idea, and endeavour to reason concerning the things you see with the eyes of the heart in the spiritual realm, and draw your inductions according to the great basis of fact, phenomena, and experience available to every student who faithfully and humbly and lovingly endeavours to discover the will of God? There is a spiritual barometer, there is a spiritual thermometer; there are many ways appointed and therefore approved of God by which we can put this and that together and draw wide inferences from great spiritual premises. If we had eyes to see we should know that from the beginning God has a certain purpose and will surely accomplish it. That purpose is a purpose of beneficence. III. We must recognize the fact that there is a difference in sight. We recognize this in the sight of the bodily eyes; why not recognize it in the inner and truer sight of the soul? Can you read a placard fifty yards off? Your answer is, I certainly cannot do so. Are you entitled from that consciousness to declare that there is not a man in the world that can read it? You have to admit that there is sight longer than yours. Can you read the Bible without lenses, glasses, or mechanical aids of any kind? You may possibly reply, Certainly I cannot do so. Does it therefore follow that no other man can read it without such aids? In a moment you say that to make any such contention would be simply absurd. That is right: why not apply that fact to a higher level, and find for it a broader and deeper interpretation? We must listen to the higher voices. We are at liberty to test the spirits whether they are of God; that may often be a bounden duty which we cannot shirk under any plea or pretext. Yet there remains the great fact that we have a book which is filled with holy messages from the holy God, and these have been so often confirmed that their very confirmation becomes not only an argument but a starting-point of the most profound and elaborate reasoning. If any man has read the book of Genesis aright he knows that there is a book coming that shall be full of anthem, song, and triumph; for the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our God and of His Christ. He read that in the very first verse of the Bible if he was a prophet when he read that opening verse. There is a great philosophy of implication; one thing means another, points to another, and gives assurance of another. Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. iii. p. 175. Matthew 16:3 Carlyle opens his Latter-day Pamphlets with this paragraph: 'The Present Time, youngest-born of Eternity, child and heir of all the Past Times with their good and evil, and parent of all the Future, is ever a "New Era" to the thinking man; and comes with new questions and significance, however commonplace it look: to know it, and what it bids us do, is ever the sum of knowledge for all of us. This new Day, sent us out of Heaven, this also has its heavenly omens; amid the bustling trivialities and loud, empty noises, its silent monitions, which, if we cannot read and obey, it will not be well with us! No; nor is there any sin more fearfully avenged on men and Nations than that same, which indeed includes and presupposes all manner of sins: the sin which our old pious fathers called "judicial blindness"; which we with our light habits, may still call misinterpretation of the Time that now is; disloyalty to its real meanings and monitions, stupid disregard of these, stupid adherence, active or passive, to the counterfeits and mere current semblances of these. This is true of all times and days.' 'French revolutions teach nobody!... So with the Jews of old,' wrote F. W. Robertson in one of his letters. 'They were very weather-wise, but could not read the signs of the times. Jewish ladies were a good deal surprised when they found themselves sold as slaves to Romish voluptuaries; and Parisian ladies were equally astonished when, after having spent such enormous sums on their coiffures and ribbons, they one fine day found their head-dress arranged for them at the national expense, à la guillotine .' In his Life of Gibbon (pp. 48, 78), Mr. Cotter Morison notes how in the latter half of the eighteenth century, 'scholars, men of the world, men of business passed through this wonderland [of Parisian society] with eyes blindfolded. They are free to enter, they go, they come, without a sign that they have realized the marvellous scene that they were permitted to traverse. One does not wonder that they did not perceive that in those graceful drawing-rooms, filled with stately company of elaborate manners, ideas and sentiments were discussed and evolved which would soon be more explosive than gunpowder. One does not wonder that they did not see ahead of them men never do. One does rather wonder that they did not see what was before their eyes.' Even as a member of Parliament, he adds, Gibbon failed to read the signs of his age. 'He lived at one of the most exciting periods of our history; he assisted at debates in which constitutional and imperial questions of the highest moment were discussed by masters of eloquence and state policy, and he hardly appears to have been aware of the fact.' In the second volume of his Cromwell, Carlyle also writes: 'Human crimes are many; but the crime of being deaf to the God's voice, of being blind to all but parchments and antiquarian rubrics when the Divine Handwriting is abroad on the sky certainly there is no crime which the Supreme Powers do more terribly avenge!' References. XVI. 3. H. Hensley Henson, Christ and the Nation, p. 193. H. S. Lunn, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxix. p. 69. A. T. Pierson, i bid. vol. xli. 1892, p. 273. J. Guinness Rogers, ibid. vol. lv. 1899, p. 6. C. M. Sheldon, ibid. vol. lviii. 1900, p. 1. Matthew 16:4 The sign was that quality in the preaching of Jonah itself which is represented as producing repentance in his hearers. The appeal of Jesus to His race must, Hebrews 6 aid, be judged by itself. It accepted no testimonial from any external result, even when such external result was present. Miss Wedgwood. References. XVI. 4. R. T. Talbot, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxx. 1906, p. 107. E. Aldom French, God's Message Through Modern Doubt, p. 43. XVI. 4-12. J. Laidlaw, The Miracles of Our Lord, p. 105. XVI. 6. J. Stalker, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liii. 1898, p. 259. XVI. 6, 12. D. Fraser, Metaphors in the Gospels, p. 135. XVI. 12. R. Scott, Oxford University Sermons, p. 151. Faith Matthew 16:13-17 I. Two truths lie upon the surface of this narrative. The first is the importance attached by our Lord to the faith in Himself, and the other the supernatural character of such faith as the gift of God. 1. The importance attached by our Lord to faith in Himself for here there comes to the surface the end for which He had separated and was training the twelve. It was that they might gain a firm and unqualified faith in Himself that they might know how to confess and profess His name. 2. 'Whom do ye say that I am?' St. Peter it is who obeys the promptings of the Spirit which all were secretly acknowledging. 'Thou art the Christ,' he cries, 'the Son of the living God.' This is what our Lord had wanted. This is what He was waiting for. 'Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona; blessed art thou, for faith in Jesus Christ is the one necessity of man's redemption. Blessed art thou, because this fundamental act of faith is not of thyself, or of anything visible or tangible, or merely human. Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee; but My Father which is in heaven.' He means that humanity of itself can never discover God or find Him out The recognition of God must always be God's own disclosure of Himself in the heart of man. 3. We pass a stage downwards in Church history. St. Paul, like his Master, asserts the necessity of faith and also its supernatural character. 'No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost' II. These old lessons are what we again and again must learn and relearn, and lay to heart. Faith is necessary that first if we would share the Christian hope and life. And, again, faith is supernatural. That means it is the gift of God, not the result of the mere action of our own faculties. It is only by an act of faith of our own that we can set to our seal that God's offer in Christ is true, and this act of faith, this giving out of ourselves in loving venture of surrender, is always a motion which we know, even in the making of it, to have its origin far beyond ourselves. It comes upon us as a movement from above, a movement in us of the Divine Spirit. III. There are two sorts of faith. There is the faith by which we come to believe, and there is the faith in which we Christians are meant to live. Both are supernatural both, that is to say, are the work of God in us, though they correspond to different states of the Holy Spirit's activity, for He works upon men to make them Christians, and He dwells, as in a temple, in the hearts of them who are already Christians. Always we need to remember that, as the creation, so also the sustaining, of the life of faith is a Divine gift, and demands on our part a reverent waiting for the gift of the Divine Spirit. Bishop Gore, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxviii. 1890, p. 1. References. XVI. 13. J. Parker, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlvii. 1895, p. 282. J. D. Jones, The Elims of Life, p. 43. XVI. 13-15. J. Clifford, The Secret of Jesus, p. 3. C. J. Ridgeway, Is Not This the Christ? p. 1. XVI. 13-16. H. C. Beeching, The Grace of Episcopacy, p. 34. J. Marshall Lang, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxvii. 1890, p. 168. A. W. Potts, School Sermons, p. 47. G. Critchley, The Penny Pulpit, vol. xii. No. 694, p. 221. XVI. 13-17. B. D. Jones, Pulpit Notes, p. 173. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxiv. No. 2041. XVI. 13-18. A. G. Mortimer, One Hundred Miniature Sermons, vol. ii. p. 229. J. H. Rigg, Scenes and Studies in the Ministry of Our Lord, p. 116. XVI. 13-19. J. Laidlaw, Studies in the Parables, p. 283. XVI. 13-28. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 322. Elijah Or Jeremiah Matthew 16:14 It is of the deepest interest to discover what was the common impression about Jesus, and in this report conveyed by the disciples we get a hint of the utmost value. Did you ever think of the vast difference there was between the characters of Elijah and Jeremiah? Yet some said about Christ, 'This is Elijah,' and others said, 'No, it is Jeremiah'. The one is ardent, enthusiastic, fierce sometimes. The other is the prophet of the tender heart and tears. And the remarkable thing is that the common people should have taken these types, which are so wide apart, and should have found in them both the character of Christ. In other words, the impression which Jesus made was that of a complex, inclusive personality. And I want to try to bring before you some of these qualities of different natures, which harmonize so perfectly and wonderfully in the human nature of our Lord. I. I am arrested in Christ's character by the perfect union of mastery and charm. It is one of the rarest things in the world to find the masterful man possessed of the indefinable quality of charm. Some men are born to be obeyed, some to be loved; but Jesus preeminently was born for both. That is why people said, 'Lo, here is Elijah,' and others, 'No, it is Jeremiah'. All that had marked the noblest of the prophets was harmonized and reconciled in Him. II. I am arrested in Christ's character by the union of remoteness and accessibility. There is something in Christ that always suggests distance. There is much in Christ that tells us He is near. Now there are many people who convey the impression of remoteness, though none in the same way as Jesus did. What you feel is, when men are so remote, that you must not trouble them with your small matters. You must not look to them for the sweet word of sympathy. You must not expect them to bother about you. The strange thing is that though Christ stood thus remote, men should have come to Him with every worry. III. I am arrested in Christ's character by the union of enthusiasm and tranquillity. His feelings were often powerfully stirred, yet the whole impression is one of profound peace. It is very easy to be cold, yet calm; to be uninterested, unimpassioned, and so tranquil. It is very easy to deaden down the feelings, till a man has made a solitude and called it peace. But the abiding wonder about Christ is this, that He had an ardent, eager, enthusiastic heart; yet breathed such a deep, such a superb, tranquillity, that men instinctively felt He was at rest. IV. There is the union of abnegation and appreciation. What is the last word in the ideal of Jesus is it asceticism, or is it joy? The wonder of Jesus is not this or that; the wonder of Jesus is this and that together. In the deepest of all senses Christ renounced the world and trampled all its glory underfoot. The first condition of following in His train was that one should lead the life of self-denial. Yet he who so followed Him was never deadened to the call of lovely or delightful things; he was led into a world where birds were singing, and which was beautiful with the lilies of the field. G. H. Morrison, The Wings of the Morning, p. 76. References. XVI. 14. A. Ramsay, Studies in Jeremiah, p. 281. XVI. 15. Marcus Dods, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxii. 1902, p. 116; see also vol. lxix. 1906, p. 149. G. Jackson, ibid. vol. lxiv. 1903, p. 171. XVI. 15, 16. J. D. Jones, ibid. vol. lxv. 1904, p. 276. E. W. Moore, Life Transfigured, p. 177. XVI. 15-17. E. B. Pusey, Parochial Sermons, vol. ii. p. 283. XVI. 15-18. R. M. Benson, The Life Beyond the Grave, p. 606. XVI. 15-17, 21. C. W. Furse, Sermons Preached at Richmond, p. 22. XVI. 16. Hastings Rashdale, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxiv. 1903, p. 5. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for Saints' Days, p. 141. I Will Build My Church Matthew 16:16 * ; Matthew 16:18 * The words were drawn from Christ by the confession of Peter. The disciple said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,' and the Saviour answered, 'Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it'. I. In many lives, by no means in all, the purpose for which life was given, for the fulfilment of which life is to be spent, disengages itself in one lustrous moment. The clouds are scattered, and the meaning of life is written as with a pencil of lightning. This does not mean that all is new. A man may, in the depths of his feeling and thought be aware of his place and work, and yet things change when the significance of his destiny crystallizes itself in a sentence. As Browning makes Childe Roland say Burningly it came on me all at once, This was the place! So men have said to themselves in one of these moments that count as years in a lifetime, these moments when mists lift off I will make this discovery I will write this book I will love this woman I will serve this cause I will extend this Empire. It is as if they had suddenly turned and seen the revealing angel. So our Lord, Who from the beginning knew His work, put everything into the words 'I will build My Church'. II. Let us ask how Christ builds his Church. I shall borrow from Ruskin's famous book, The Seven Lamps of Architecture. As Ruskin himself says: 'We know not how soon all architecture will be vain, except that which is not made with hands'. I take three of his seven lamps to help us in expounding how Christ builds His Church, how we must build it, if we are to be labourers together with Him. 1. In the first place, there is the Lamp of Sacrifice. The Church is built on sacrifice, and by sacrifice. It is built on the one Sacrifice offered for sins for ever, and built by the continual sacrifice of the members, on the sacrifice which will make up at last that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ. 2. In the second place, there is the Lamp of Power. We see it shining in these calm words, 'I will build My Church'. Says the French aphorist: 'Attempt difficult things as though they were easy, and easy things as though they were difficult'. Christ addressed Himself to His long and terrible task with a certain repose of mind and temper. He was filled with the Spirit. He had the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. 3. Once more, there must be the Lamp of Beauty. He will present it to Himself a glorious Church, for if the Church is to be fair with the beauty of the Lord, love and joy must go into the building. 'We are not sent into the world to do anything into which we cannot put our hearts.' Unless we put our hearts into our building we cannot put our intellects. And it may be true, as the great critic has said, that 'objects are noble and ignoble in proportion to the amount of the energy of the mind which has visibly been employed upon them'. We know what heart Christ put into the building of His Church. The zeal of God's House consumed Him. It was His meat to do the will of the Father, and to finish His work. In the old days men and women put their souls into church building. A French writer describes the rebuilding of Chartres Cathedral after its destruction by fire. All the country over, every one grieved and wept. Whole populations stopped their regular work, left their homes to help, the rich bringing money and jewels, and the poor putting in their barrows everything that could serve to feed labour and men, or help in the work. It was a constant stream of emigration, the spontaneous exodus of a people. Every road was crowded with pilgrims, all, men and women alike, dragging whole trees, pushing loads of sawn beams. What seems more incredible and is nevertheless attested by every chronicle of the time, is that this horde of old folks and children, of men and women, was at once amenable to discipline. And yet they belonged to every class of society, for there were among them knights and ladies of high degree. But Divine love was so powerful that it annihilated distinctions and abolished caste. The nobles harnessed themselves with the labourers to drag the trucks. Patrician dames helped the peasant woman to stir the mortar and to cook the food. The old Durham Cathedral was completed in a similar way. The entire population of the district, from the Coquet to the Tees, headed by the Earl of the Northumbrians, readily rendered all the help they could. Christ has built His Church with joy unspeakable, and we can build it worthily with Him. He does not need us for the building. He said Himself, 'I will build My Church'. He will carry His banner on to victory, though the hands of all of us relax their hold. Perhaps our work may be nothing more than a discipline for our souls, and in itself useless. But, as Ruskin nobly says, 'Since our life must at the best be but a vapour that appeal's for a little time and then vanishes away, let it at least appear as a cloud in the height of heaven, not as the thick darkness that broods over the blast of the furnace, and rolling of the wheel'. It needs all sacrifice, power, joy. W. Robertson Nicoll, The Lamp of Sacrifice, p. 113. Matthew 16:17 Any acknowledgment of Him that rests on merely outward evidence must necessarily fall far short of that good confession for the utterance of which St. Peter's Master pronounced him blessed. This, on that Master's own testimony, was the expression of a deep, inward conviction wrought by God Himself upon the soul; and it was not because Christ had been manifested to St. Peter in the flesh, but because He had been revealed to him in the spirit, that he was able to answer our Lord's question, 'Whom sayest thou that I am?' in the words which drew forth this comment. Dora Greenwell. References. XVI. 17. C. Gore, Church Times, vol. xxviii. 1890, p. 665. H. J. Martyn, For Christ and the Truth, p. 147. XVI. 17, 18. H. C. Beeching, Inns of Court Sermons, p. 155. Matthew 16:17 * ; Matthew 16:23 * Think what change has passed on Peter's mood before the second of these words could be addressed to him to whom the first had just been spoken. The Lord had praised him. Peter grew self-sufficient, even to the rebuking of him whose praise had so uplifted him. But it is ever so. A man will gain a great moral victory: glad first, then uplifted, he will fall before a paltry temptation. G. Macdonald in The Seaboard Parish, chap. xviii. The Unshakeable Church Matthew 16:18 I. What was the Rock? First, then, what was this rock on which the Saviour said He would build His Church? Was it Peter, as the word seems to imply, and even directly to state? Sometimes Protestants have vehemently denied it, because they were afraid that by admitting so much they would be conceding all the claims of Rome. I have no such fear. I think in a sense it was Peter, and the company of Apostles of whom he was the acknowledged leader; for it was indeed upon their rocklike witness, against which all the powers of the world could not prevail, that the Church of all the ages grew. It was built, as we read in another place, upon 'the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner-stone'. But if the rock was Peter, it was Peter made a new man by the mighty truth which he had just confessed this truth, 'Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God'. The Apostles, after all, were only the upper stratum of the rock, if we might so speak, the part which jutted above the surface, while underneath was the solid bed-layer, deeper than the earth, deep as the universe, this solid bed-layer of truth that Christ their Master was Divine, that the words which He spoke were true as heaven, and that His life and power were eternal and indestructible. And we are all rocks if we believe that, from Peter down to the humblest person of the present day. The veriest human feebleness becomes as solid and immovable as the ground under your feet as soon as there enters into it the conviction that Christ is God, that His word cannot be broken, and that you are held fast by Him and His promises in changeless power and everlasting love. There is room in the Church for the weakest faith. We read that hay, and wood, and stubble even, get in, to be purified by fire; but the strength of the building is in its rocklike souls. Upon rock does Christ build His Church, and He wants rock for the building up of any Church rocklike members, rocklike deacons, rocklike teachers in the Bible classes and Sunday schools, rocklike preachers, men that know in whom they have believed and what they have believed, and speak out with clear, unfaltering certainty the things which they have seen and felt and heard of God. II. Shifting Sands. I think there never was a time when that was more needed than it is Today, there never was a more urgent demand made for it. We live in an age of almost general unsettlement. You can hardly think of a department in which there are not doubtful minds, and divided opinions; all questions seem to be in a state of solution, nothing fixed and determined. We want rock; and the real deep hearts of men everywhere, whether they know it or not, are always saying, Away from us, ye who preach negations and doubts and darkness, who come and sit upon the threshold of our hearts like some poet's raving croaking out a dismal 'Nevermore'; away with you; and come ye, John and Paul, and all such clear-voiced witnesses, with the glow of hope on your faces and the music of conviction in your tones. That is the message we need; that is the message which this age needs, and which Christ would have His representatives give. He builds His Church upon rock. III. What is Christ's Church? The Church is the company, now indeed quite innumerable, of disciple-like souls who are for ever and ever learning of Him, some of them, the greater number, beholding His face, and serving Him day and night in His temple; and the rest not seeing Him yet, but rejoicing in Him with joy unspeakable and full of glory. In a word, the Church is the faithful souls of every place and name known and unknown to whom His name is unutterably dear, His words more precious than fine gold, who love Him with a love that is more than human, who trust Him with a trust that is stronger than life or death, whose eager desire is to obey Him and serve Him, and whose fervent prayer for ever and ever is to get His truth made known, His salvation proved, and His name lifted above every name, until at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow. Upon all these, wherever they are, the Saviour looks down as with the joy of one who looks upon a noble possession, and He says, 'They are My Church, My Church; and there is no other, no other'. IV. The Church's Indestructibility. Lastly, this Church of living and loving souls was to be and will for ever be indestructible. From the first He gave this solemn pledge about it, staking His truthfulness upon the word, and His very existence, indeed, upon the word, 'Upon this rock I will build My Church; and the gates of hell' and He meant by that all possible forces that could come out of hell 'shall not prevail against it'. The Church is indestructible. That which He called My Church, which was to Him as the apple of His eye, His dear and peculiar possession the Church of living souls cemented together, and bound to Him by an infinite and immortal love that will never know change or decay. There will always be upon this earth a never-diminishing and ever-increasing number of souls, men and women to whom He is more than all things else in the world, who serve Him with the perfect liberty of a joyful self-surrender, who would rather die than deny Him because He died for them, and to whom the hope of seeing His face and enjoying Him for ever is the main strength, consolation, and ecstasy of living. J. G. Greenhough, The Cross in Modern Life, p. 105. St. Peter's Confession Matthew 16:18 The story of St. Peter's confession is a story of the utmost significance in the life of our Lord. As He scanned the faces of the disciples He seems to have hesitated to put the question upon which everything turned, because He does not ask them point-blank, 'Who do you think I am?' but asks first, 'Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?' And in reply they tell Him of the rumours they have heard. And then we can imagine the pause, and at last the question of questions, 'But whom say ye that I am?' And Simon Peter answered and said, 'Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God '. I. Well, then, this is the root faith of Christendom according to its Founder the faith that He is Divine. And I would suggest to you in passing that with us, as with St. Peter, this faith must express itself in a confession. People nowadays are a little shy of creeds. They have got a habit of calling their creeds 'dogmas' and 'formularies,' which they consider bad names. But I would ask you whether this very modern and common dislike of formularies and dogmas ought to be pressed so far as to exclude an answer to our Lord's own question, 'Whom say ye that I am?' A Christian must be now, as always, a man who, as he reads the record of Christ's life in the Gospels, is drawn to love and reverence and worship Him as the Messiah of the invisible God, and to accept His commandments as the guide of life; and if this is our faith, why should we hesitate to put it into words and say, 'I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God'? It is on this rock of confessed faith that the Church is built. II. We are all what we are, and we all achieve in life what weachieve, by virtue of the religious faith that is personally ours, by what we believe; and secondly, I would say that we are what we are, and we achieve what we achieve, by the intensity of what we do believe, and not by our denials. Of these denials very likely we think more and talk more, and perhaps even teach and preach more, but the important things for us are our active positive beliefs. Let me apply a familiar instance. In an essay upon George Eliot, written by one of our most accomplished critics, the author describes a conversation between himself and that gifted novelist on the subject of religion. 'I remember,' he says, 'how, at Cambridge, I walked with her once in the Fellows' Garden of Trinity on an afternoon of rainy May, and she, stirred somewhat beyond her wont, and taking as her text the three words which have been used so often as inspiring trumpet-calls to men the words "God," "Immortality," "Duty," pronounced with terrible earnestness how inconceivable was the first, "God"; how unbelievable was the second, "Immortality"; and yet how peremptory and how absolute the third, "Duty ".' Every Christian must regret that George Eliot's faith in God and immortality should have given way, but her power in the world was given her by what she did believe, and not by her denials of what other people believed. What gave her her great force over men's consciences was her strong faith in duty. Let us take account of our faith; let us ask ourselves what article of our creed is so solid, is such a rock as this; what religious conviction have we so firm and sure, because based upon evidence so convincing to us that we would hold it if need be against the world? You can see how different it would have been with George Eliot if she had held the Christian faith with the same intensity as she held her own. It does matter what we believe, but it also matters how we believe whether we believe with our heart and mind and soul and strength; because right belief is not, in itself, faith. And this is, perhaps what people sometimes have in mind when they protest against dogmas or call themselves Christians without dogma, as though dogmas were antagonistic to faith. They cannot be antagonistic to faith, because the faith of a rational being must be capable of expression in rational speech, and that is dogma. But it is true that assent to a dogma about Christ is not necessarily unclouded faith in Him. Assent to a doctrine implies the action of only a part of a man's being; and it does not follow that, because the mind assents to the Divinity of Christ, the heart must, as a consequence, admire and trust and worship Him, and the will compel the action into conformity with His commandments. Right opinions are most valuable, but we may hold right opinions without the personal relation of love and trust between the soul and God, which is faith and the essence of religion. 'Lord, to Whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life,' and we believe that' Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God'. To be able to say that to Christ is to have faith in Him; and that is the faith that saves the soul. Matthew 16:18 We understand ourselves to be risking no new assertion, but simply reporting what is already the conviction of the greatest of our age, when we say that cheerfully recognizing, gratefully appropriating whatever Voltaire has proved, or any other man has proved, or shall prove, the Christian religion, once here, cannot again pass away; that in one or the other form, it will endure through all time; that as in Scripture, so also in the heart of man, is written, 'The gates of Hell shall not prevail against it'. Carlyle on * Voltaire. * 'Tis said with ease, but never can be proved, The Church her old foundations has removed, And built new doctrines on unstable sands: Judge that, ye winds and rains! you proved her, yet she stands. Dryden. Man against Hell, without the help of God, is as a rabbit against the Russian Empire. Coventry Patmore. References. XVI. 18. T. Hanley Ball, Persuasions, p. 314. G. Tyrrell, Oil and Wine, p. 139. D. Fraser, Metaphors in The Gospels, p. 144. C. J. Ridgeway, Is Not This the Christ, p. 76. J. G. Greenhough, The Cross in Modern Life, p. 105; see also Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlix. 1896, p. 237. R. F. Horton, ibid. vol. 1. 1896, p. 33. J. A. Brink-water, ibid. vol. lviii. 1900, p. 243. G. Gladstone, ibid. vol. lxiv. 1903, p. 53. 'Plain Sermons' by contributors to the Tracts for the Times, vol. v. p. 148. R. E. Hutton, The Crown of Christ, vol. ii. p. 195. XVI. 18, 19. S. Chadwick, Humanity and God, p. 269. J. Fraser, Parochial and Other Sermons, p. 302. XVI. 19. C. S. Robinson, Simon Peter, p. 253. D. Fraser, Metaphors in the Gospels, p. 152. The Love of the Trinity in the Resurrection Matthew 16:21 The words used by our Lord in the text clearly seem the solemn rehearsal of a previous plan made long before by the Holy Trinity; 'The Son of man must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day'. The Atonement, again, was clearly another wonderful conception of the Holy Three in One. But what we have to face is what would have been the position of the human race if the Love of the Trinity had stopped at the Atonement, for to do so will enable us to appreciate more fully the joy of Easter Day. I. We should have had no certainty that death was not the end. We might have guessed that it was not; we should, no doubt, have made the best of the instinct of immortality which we all possess; we should have got what comfort we could from the teachings of science about the persistence of force, but how should we have looked the dying or the mourner in the face unless Jesus had said, 'I am the Resurrection and the Life; though he were dead yet shall he live, and he that believeth in Me shall never die,' and unless He had proved the truth of that promise by being raised Himself on the third day. With misty aspirations, and vague hopes, and stumbling guesses we should have followed our dear ones to the grave; and it was because the Trinity in Their love knew this that They planned to Themselves, 'Not only must the Son of Man be knit to the human race, "closer than breathing and nearer than hands and feet," not only must He suffer many things of the elders, the chief priests and scribes, but He must be raised up the third day'. II. The sinner would have been left 'unhouseled, disappointed, unaneled'. The Atonement must not only be made, but it must be ministered; the Blood must not only be shed, but it must be sprinkled on the sinner; the Sacrifice must not only be offered, it must be pleaded; and for this the death must not only be endured, but be transfigured. III. We can scarcely realize the blow to every effort for the uplifting of the human race if the Love of the Trinity had stopped short of the Resurrection. It makes no difference whether we say, 'God raised Him from the dead,' or 'the Spirit raised Him from the dead,' or 'He rose Himself from the dead' all expressions are used the fact was that the Holy Trinity were at work, and when the Holy Trinity are at work nothing can stop that work. Bishop A. F. Winnington Ingram, The Guardian, 22 April, 1908, p. 649. Sympathy and Sacrifice Matthew 16:21-24 Simon Peter had discerned and declared the great secret that his Master was the Messiah, the Christ of God. No sooner had the confession been made than the Master set Himself to prepare His disciples for the consequences, the hardships which loyalty to that discovered truth would involve. For such a sudden reversal of their expectations the disciples were not prepared. Peter's impulsive kind-heartedness broke out in protest. 'This be far from Thee.' The rebuke that fell from the Master's lips sounds even now as we read it in the pages of the New Testament startling and unexpected, 'Get thee behind Me, Satan: for thou art an offence unto Me'. The refusal to accept stress, struggle, and hardship as the conditions of loyalty to truth the Master saw to be the very mind of the world, the very spirit of its prince. The disciples from the first must be taught to steed their hearts and minds against it. Then saith Jesus unto His disciples, 'If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me'. I. The Cross of Jesus Christ. To the Christian the Cross of Jesus Christ is the centre of his deepest hopes, memories, associations. It speaks to him of the revelation of the deepest truth, the love of God manifested in fullness of self-sacrifice. It speaks to him of the satisfaction of his deepest need, the forgiveness of his sins. It speaks to him of strength and stay in the midst of his sufferings and trials. But more simply, and, alas! less acceptably, it is meant to speak to him of the inevitable fate of all high ideals in the world. They are crucified; they are realized only through struggle and suffering. It is sometimes worth while to remember that there was nothing, so to say, supernatural in the circumstances of the Passion of the Saviour. They were the mere consequences of the antagonism of the spirit of the world to truth; and our Lord accepted them with loyal obedience. The disciple is not above his Master, and the Cross remains the symbol of combat quite as truly as the symbol of consolation. II. The Gospel of Comfort. Is there not need at this present time of reasserting these first principles of the Christian life? It is of all things the most futile to rail at the times in which we are called to live. For us, because they are ours, they are the best; they are the times in which the Providence of God has seen that we individually have the best chance of fulfilling the purpose for which we exist, and of rendering Him the service which is His due. Yet the true spirit of service in our own day and generation is to see in its characteristic dangers the appointed opportunities of Christian witness. I think we should all agree that one of the characteristics of the present day is its shrinking from the Cross, from the truth that high ideals mean exacting demands, that loyalty to them does not bring ease but struggle, and that their consequence is hardship rather than comfort. This danger comes indeed from one of the very merits of the time. It is the result of the excess of one of its special virtues. There never was a time when kindness of heart was more real, eager, and widespread. There is scarcely any class or any individual who is not filled with the desire to remove hardships, who is not sensitive to hard cases of human suffering, perplexity, and difficulty. Everywhere the one point upon which all sorts and conditions of men are united is in the ambition to spread around us the comforts of life. This diffusion of kindness of heart is indeed a thing for which to thank God and take courage. It is full of hope; it is a most cheering indication of the soundness of the heart of the people. Yet it brings its dangers with it It is apt to spread around us a certain softness and weakness, to loosen the moral fibre, to sap the foundations of resolute endurance and strenuous effort. Instead of speaking of the right to be comfortable, the Christian has rather to dwell upon the duty to be noble, to be self-respecting, strenuous, and ready to accept the law of stress and struggle in the moral life. The gospel of comfort which is being so sedulously preached at the present time becomes a danger unless it is checked, disciplined, and deepened by the Gospel of the Cross. Men shrink, like St. Peter, from the approach of the Cross. It is just here that the Church of Jesus Christ must restore the balance. It must, in St. Paul's vigorous metaphor, openly placard the Cross before the eyes of men. Assuredly let it make wide its appeal, and attract men to itself and its cause by popular services and social recreation. Even more assuredly let it take its proper place in the van of all movements of charity, of all efforts to alleviate the lot of the poor, or increase and spread the opportunities of worthy human life. But when it has gained a hearing and won a place in the world let it never hesitate to set forth the Cross, to make it plain that Christianity means still a moral demand, stern and exciting. No greater service can be rendered at the present time to the nation by the Church than the service of strengthening its moral force by giving witness in its midst to the reality of moral discipline and by spreading through it the saving salt of sacrifice. Archbishop Gordon Lang, The Guardian, 10 June, 1910. References. XVI. 21. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 333. Newman Smyth, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlix. 1896, p. 221. XVI. 21-23. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlvii. No. 2733. XVI. 21-24. S. Chadwick, Humanity and God, p. 113. XVI. 21-26. J. Parker, Hidden Springs, p. 61. XVI. 23. F. E. Paget, Sermons for the Saints, p. 239. C. B. Jefferson, The Character of Jesus, p. 189. W. H. Murray, The Fruits of the Spirit, p. 346. The Mark of the Disciple Matthew 16:24 The mark of the disciple, the characteristic which Jesus Himself looks for, is that we, like Him, deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him. I. In the Scripture there are three words which express, with perfect insight, the darker and the more difficult experiences of a religious life. The three words are 'burden,' 'thorn,' and 'cross'. 1. By the word burden both the Old Testament and the New means all the inevitable care and strain of earthly life. 2. By the thorn we mean the experience of a keener anguish. It always points to some one singular trial. It describes some humbling infirmity, some mortifying disability, some weakness which makes us miserable, because it unfits us for our task. 3. The cross. Every man must bear his own burden. Every man has his thorn in the flesh. But the cross is not universal, and the cross can be escaped. Many men and women never bear a cross at all. Many can refuse if they will, and many do refuse. The whole spiritual tragedy of many who are not disciples of Christ will be found to lie here, that when the cross lay before them they refused it. II. This truth is clear in the experience of Christ. 1. Jesus had His burden. The Gospels tell us a part of the story. His subjection to His parents, the toil of the carpenter's shop, the poverty of the home, His weariness and pain, the hunger and thirst, His enduring of the scorn and contempt of the rich and well-placed and successful these were the burdens He shared with men. 2. Jesus had His thorn. I do not know, and no one knows, what Christ's thorn was. The thorn that Jesus could not escape, until released by death, may have been the hunger and the thirst of a heart famished for the sight of God's face. 3. But Jesus had His cross. He took it up. He might have laid it down. He faced His cross all through His ministry. At His baptism He laid it on His shoulders. In His temptation He bound it to Him with cords. As He passed on through life it was the invisible weight He carried. In the garden of Gethsemane He might have flung it down and gone out to make His peace with Caiaphas, to sit at Herod's table and talk enchantingly to him, and to find Himself an honoured guest in the house of Pilate. His cross was that life and death for sin which came to its consummation in His dying hour. III. When we follow the suggestion of our text, we find 1. That cross-bearing begins with a definite act. It begins in the hour when, in the depths of our will, we resolve to follow Christ. 2. Cross-bearing continues in a daily experience. There are two reasons for this. The first is that life does not stand still. We are continually passing into new circumstances, facing changed situations, meeting new problems and fresh temptations. And the second reason is that we ourselves change in character and in ideal. We grow into the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. 3. Our cross can be borne only as we follow Christ. 'Let him deny himself,' said Jesus, declaring the first definite act. 'Take up his cross,' He adds, indicating the daily experience. 'Follow me,' He continues with a deeper note of appeal, giving us the secret of continuance. What is the issue of this bearing of the cross? The issue of our cross is in our measure the same as the issue of Christ's cross. He bore His cross that He might save men, and we bear our cross that we may also be the saviours of our fellows. Whenever in the simplest and humblest way we bear our cross after Him, we save some life from sorrow and pain, some tempted one from his fall, some soul from death. And it is the men who have borne the burden and accepted the thorn who have also carried the cross. W. M. Clow, The Cross in Christian Experience, p. 231. Illustrations. 1. Woe to him who seeks his own ease! Woe to him who shuns the Cross! because he will find others so weighty that they will overwhelm him. S. Vincent de Paul. 2. Life is a burden; bear it. Life is a duty; dare it. Life is a thorn crown; wear it. Though it break your heart in twain, Though the burden crush you down; Close your lips, and hide your pain: First the cross, and then the crown. 3. Let us go on full of cheerfulness, and be sure that all our crosses will bear Christ with them, and that His help, which will never be wanting, will be more powerful than the combined efforts of all our enemies. S. Ignatius de Loyola. ** Why a Young Man Is Not a Christian ( Because He Does Not Understand What Christianity Is ) Matthew 16:24 ** It may be a bold thing to say, but it is perfectly true, that a great many men are not Christians because they do not know the conditions of Christianity. The Christian Church is such an elaborate institution, with her buildings and her services, her sacraments and her ministers; and the Christian theology is so profound and complicated, with its doctrines about God and man, sin and salvation; and the Christian life has become so conventional, with its rules and customs, that not one man out of twenty has ever got through the forms to the spirit or has ever looked at Christ in the Gospels with his own eyes and heard Him speak with his own ears. It does not matter that Christ spoke with the utmost clearness upon all occasions and was never plainer than in laying down the conditions of discipleship. If a hundred were placed at a table with a pencil and a sheet of paper before them, one wonders how many could write down what Christ demanded of His followers. One hazards the guess that there would be twenty different answers, and half of them at least would be beside the mark. This is a misfortune. Many more men would be Christians if they distinctly grasped the necessary elements of Christianity, but they have heard so much about Christianity that they really do not know what it is. In fact they cannot see the wood for the trees. For instance, there is the man and that is my point now who is unable to call himself by the name of our Master upon intellectual grounds, either because he thinks he understands the doctrines of Christianity and cannot accept them, or because he thinks he is not fit to understand them, and so of course gives them up in despair. One is too honest, and the other is too modest to be a Christian; and the barrier in both cases is, say the Doctrine of the Trinity, or the Deity of Christ, or Election, or Future Punishment. This religion they feel is too theoretical and too learned, too much taken up with things which cannot be proved and which have no bearing on our present life. If Christianity were only stripped of her doctrines, and there never had been such a thing as the Nicene Creed; if Christianity had been only simply a practical principle of life, they also might have been Christians. And they give pledges of sincerity in this desire by listening to any voice that will speak plainly to the heart and conscience, and by openly admiring any Christian who lives the Sermon on the Mount. Here they say is something intelligible, and here is something excellent. I. The theory of Christianity has nothing whatever to do with its practice. People use the telephone every day without understanding in the slightest degree how sound is conveyed by the electric wire, and we walk beneath the light of the stars without even knowing their names. Jesus left it to others, to St. Paul and to the theologians, to argue out Christianity; but He Himself brought Christianity near and made Christianity plain. From the beginning of His ministry to the end He asked no one to accept any creed, except to believe in Him; and there must be something wrong in the man who does not believe in Jesus Christ. What ails him in regard to Christ? What is wanting in Christ? Where did he ever see one better? Can he imagine any master greater? Christ indulged in no speculations, however fascinating, and however fruitful, from the day He met His first disciples on to the night He bade them good-bye. He always called to action, and was much more concerned about what a man did and what a man was than what he thought and said. Jesus did not make His plea with arguments about the origin of things and the nature of things, but with invitations to abandon that which was evil and to cleave to that which was good. A New Testament has been published in which our Lord's words throughout the whole book are printed in red, and it were worth while that a man should purchase that red-letter Testament in order to see what Christ really said. He will find that the words of the Lord are flung into relief not merely by the coloured type, but by their simplicity and beauty, by their reality and attractiveness. II. What then does Jesus lay upon His disciples as the condition of Christianity if He does not lay doctrine? Two things; and both of them are most reasonable. He must be prepared to deny himself. And that does not mean that he should torture his body, or refuse the joy of life, or fetter himself by conventional habits, or be an ascetic in any shape or fashion; but it does mean that he should watch and curb his lower self. There are the remains of the beast in every one of us; and Christ expects a man to keep his passions in order, to live cleanly, to regulate his temper, to beat down envy, to overcome avarice. And the other demand is that he cultivate his higher self, for there is the prophecy of a saint in every one of us as well as the trace of a beast. Most of us indeed are half-way, and neither one nor the other. 'You must carry the Cross,' said Christ; and by this He meant that we must live for other people and not for ourselves, that we must make sacrifices to fulfil great ends, that we must accept heavy burdens to lighten weak shoulders, and that we must not be afraid of a little suffering. 'If any man would be My disciple,' Christ says, 'he must pledge himself to a great effort in his soul and life to kill the bad and feed the good.' Is not this intelligible, is not this reasonable, is not this admirable? Well, the man who is doing this with purpose of heart is a Christian. John Watson, Respectable Sins, p. 83. References. XVI. 24. R. Winterbotham, Sermons and Expositions, p. 360. R. Higinbotham, Sermons, p. 162. H. P. Liddon, Sermons on Some Words of Christ, p. 78. C. Gore, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lvii. 1900, p. 219. J. H. Odell, ibid. vol. lviii. 1900, p. 324. S. D. McConnell, A Year's Sermons, p. 239. Sacrifice Matthew 16:24-25 I. Woven into the very texture of life, giving to it its sternness and its pathos, making it ofttimes a marvel or a tragedy, fixed by a mysterious law as the condition of fuller life of fruitful work and of assured glory, is the principle of sacrifice. II. Sacrifice is the highest and the noblest act of a loving soul. There is a royalty in it that wins our instinctive homage. In it a man's or woman's true self the Godlike regenerate self that is so generally hidden and cramped by selfishness and conventionality is shown in its beauty and majesty: too loving to be selfish, too great to be conventional, splendid in its scorn of falsehood and wrong, it is a power of God which accomplishes an eternal work. But we look away from this idealized manhood and womanhood, and we learn the secret of this transfiguring power of sacrifice. Upon a Cross, uplifted between earth and heaven, pouring out His life in shame and agony, in darkness and dereliction, hangs the Son of Man, conquering the world and the devil, sin and death, by the uttermost sacrifice, and winning the victory and glory and crown of sacrifice for all humanity, consecrating pain and sorrow, and throwing upon the dread mystery of evil the light of the eternal purpose there fulfilled in love. 'It is finished.' III. The disciples of the Crucified should be as their Master. Sharers of His life, they must follow Him in sacrifice. Consider first some of the things that concern chiefly the outward life: 1. Time is to be offered as a perpetual offering. First, by withdrawing, saving it from selfish uses. Secondly, by the watchful seizure and use of opportunities. 2. Work is an acceptible offering as we do it for God, and not as only for man. 3. Speech is a faculty to be used in God's service. So, too, in the things that belong to the inward life, sacrifice should find scope and material, as the human will is merged in the Divine will. 1. Thought should be so directed in prayer and watchfulness, so taught by meditation on holy things, that it may be won from the folly and evil, the malice and the passion, the foolish imaginations and the sentimentality that so often hold it, and that it may be surrendered, held as a little kingdom in which God only shall reign, a place in which He shall ever speak and be always heard, the voice of eternal Truth. 2. The affections, too, must be sincerely offered, ruled in the spirit of sacrifice that they may be both centred and satisfied in God. Our inclinations, too, often conflict with the call of God, with the duties and claims of life, with Christian principles as we have been made to understand them. These also must be yielded lovingly and patiently. IV. And there is another form of sacrifice. What is the particular sorrow, suffering, loss, that is the trial of life? It is a matter in which the will may be offered to God. As Christ completed the offering of His life upon the cross, so our spiritual troubles are a cross on which we, too, may truly offer ourselves as a complete and consummated sacrifice, which will effect to the full all that love can ask or desire. G. Brett, Fellowship With God, p. 33. References. XVI. 24, 25. J. Vickery, Ideals of Life, p. 295. XVI. 24-26. W. Hay M. H. Aitken, Mission Sermons (2nd Series), p. 125. XVI. 24-28. F. D. Maurice, Sermons, p. 127; see also Lincoln's Inn Sermons, vol. iv. p. 110. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlvii. No. 2729. Losing the Soul to Save It Matthew 16:25 I. The sense of the passage turns upon one prominent word what is meant by the soul or the life of man? The soul is the living principle. And obviously the health or the sickness, the saving or the losing, the life or the death of this soul must be a matter of infinite moment to a man, both in time and in eternity, for it guides his actions, it regulates his affections, it influences his feeling; it is to his whole being what the mainspring is to a watch. It is in health when it works in harmony with purity and truth, and righteousness and love, which are the expression of God's own will, and when in the language of Scripture it is guided by the mind of the Spirit. It is diseased, it is dying, and is lost when it abandons itself to the jarring, jangling, lacerating, corrupting forces of a lower world, whose order is disorder when, in fact it is given over to the mind of the flesh. II. But how save the soul? The text gives the response: 'Save your soul by losing it, for you will never lose it by saving it'. So far as concerns the primary application of the words to the contrast between the earthly life and the heavenly, between God and the world, the meaning is obvious and easy. Whosoever prefers self, where truth, or honour, or love, or purity, or reverence, demands self-abegnation, self-abandonment, that man loses his soul, loses his life by saving it. But though the man who saves his soul is sure to lose it, yet it does not follow conversely that he who loses his soul will as certainly save it. In this latter case an important proviso is added, * 'for My sake'. * 'For My sake.' We dare not limit the words as if they applied only to sacrifices made consciously and directly in the cause of Christianity. If Christ be the very eternal word of God, the very expression of the Father's truth, of the Father's righteousness, of the Father's purity, of the Father's love, then the sacrifice of self to any one of these things is a saving of the soul by losing it. III. Within the sphere of religion itself the same contrast and the same alternative may exist. It is possible to be anxious about saving the soul, to be extremely religious in a certain sense, but yet to risk the losing of it in the very desire of saving it. There are two ways of pursuing salvation, the true and the false. The false view takes a valetudinarian view of the soul and the functions of the spiritual being; it confines the soul to the sick chamber, withholding it from all healthy and vigorous exercise, and the soul pines and sickens and dies under the treatment. It is ruined by inconsiderate care; it is lost by being saved. The true method treats the soul as an active, healthy, living vitality, exposes it, adventures it, abandons it The soul must brace itself by vigorous exercise; and that it may drink in the free air and genial sunshine it must commit itself to the struggles and vicissitudes of life, must spend and be spent, must lose itself that it may be saved. The true method of salvation is a great venture of self, a forgetfulness of self, a going out of self. J. B. Lightfoot, Penny Pulpit vol. xii. No. 672, p. 43. Reference. XVI. 25. A. H. Moncur Sime, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liv. 1898, p. 388. The Soul: Its Meaning and Value Matthew 16:26 The word 'soul' is a great word; it is a religious word; it is made sometimes too narrowly a religious word. I. Put the word 'soul' out until we need it. Let us read, 'What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his sight?' That is a term you can comprehend. 'Soul' is metaphysical, spiritual, transcendental; but you know what you mean by your own eyes. What is a man profited, if he shall gain the world, and lose his eyes? What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his hearing? Not a man amongst you would give his sight for the world, would give his hearing for the world, and yet the man will give his soul for nothing. Such fools are men. You would not expect it to be so, but this is the miracle that is performed every day, that a man who would not give his sight for a mountain of gold, will sell his soul for one hour's forbidden pleasure Where is the wisdom? Here is impudent prudence, here the sagacity that quickly turns in upon itself and slays the soul that is proud of it. II. Now we come back to the other point, and say that when you have given your soul you have given your sight. It is the soul that sees. For you have no pictures if you cannot see them; and you cannot see them if you have no soul. You can have acres of canvas, but no pictures. When you have paid your soul for your pleasures you have paid your hearing. It is the soul that hears. Oh, see the great master there, the one musician out of whom all other musicians seem to have been cut; you say, 'He is deaf,' but not in the soul, only in the flesh: it is his soul that hears; it is the soul that was Beethoven. Take care of your soul yourself. He that would save his life shall lose it. You will save your soul yourself best by giving yourself away in the spirit of Christ, under the inspiration and benediction of His Cross. The soul is the secret and value of all things that are called practical. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/expositors-dictionary/ The Use of Religious Excitement Matthew 17:4 Although there is no necessity to give much heed to the words of one, who, when he spoke them, was so startled and confused, that he knew not what he said, yet I suppose, in truth, St. Peter was right in the former part of his saying, and wrong in the latter. 1. Why did God bestow upon us the power of religious emotion? It is certain that no power, no faculty of the soul was given in vain. Each has its proper use and end; its proper exercise, its proper degree, and its proper relation to other powers and faculties. It must be so with religious emotion. God sends this religious emotion to many persons in many ways. A deep stirring of the heart and conscience comes to most people in the events of their own lives. What is to be said of these occasional times of excited feeling? 1. That no man must take religious feeling for religion. 2. That God gives these periods of strong feeling as mighty helps to our weak and wavering courage; that they are a spur to the halting obedience, and a goad to the reluctant will. II. But I think these times of unusual religious fervour have another use. They open to the soul visions of a state of love, and joy, and heavenly mindedness, which, if afterwards they turn into nothing but regret and longing, nevertheless, leave behind them a blessing. III. How far is religious emotion to form any part of our daily religious life, or, in other words, how far are the feelings to be regularly employed in the service of God? I have done with exceptional religious emotion. What shall we say as to ordinary religious emotion? Is it a good thing, or a bad thing? Assuredly, our feelings were not given us for the purpose of being crushed out. Our religion is not one of mere dry duty. The very fact that love holds so prominent a place in it is a proof that, at least, some amount of religious feeling is necessary for a true religious life. But supposing there is in the daily religious life of some more of the element of excitement. Supposing that there are not a few, in whom nothing better than a naturally restless disposition, or a craving after emotional stimulants in spiritual things, accounts for their enjoyment of many church services, much preaching and the like, no one will affirm that the motive which actuates such persons is a very high one. Their religious acts must rank far lower than such as are done from principle and a sense of duty; and though I do not wish to speak of those acts as very meritorious, I come back to the old question: why did God make us able to enjoy certain things more than others? why did God implant in us, though far more in some than in others, a craving after what may move, and stir, and perchance elevate the soul? Take any keen, eager, impulsive, excitable person, may I not believe that God gave such person the power of quick impulse and eager aspiration for some worthy end? W. Walsham How, Penny Pulpit, vol. xii. No. 705, p. 309. The Transfiguration Matthew 17:4 The probable locality was Mount Hermon, not Tabor, as tradition says. The event occurred, according to Luke, while Christ was praying. It was good to be with Christ anywhere. It was good for the disciples now, for the following reasons: I. It Confirmed Their Belief in a Future State. Centuries had passed since Moses died on Pisgah and since Elijah ascended to heaven in a chariot of fire, yet here they were alive, talking with Jesus. II. It Taught Them that there was a Spiritual body. Moses and Elias evidently appeared in a bodily form. III. It Revealed to Them Christ's Divine Character and Mission. Here were Moses, the lawgiver, and Elijah, the chief of the prophets, bearing witness to Him. They spake of His death, which had been foreshadowed in the ancient sacrifices and in the utterances of prophecy. Their sudden disappearance, connected with the words, 'This is my beloved Son,' indicated that type and prophecy were now fulfilled, and that Christ was Prophet, Priest, and King. IV. It Prepared Them for Coming Trials. Sorrow often follows closely upon joy. The joy prepares us for the sorrow. In conclusion: it was good to be there; it would not have been good to remain there. There was work to be done, sorrow to be lightened, sin to be grappled with and overcome. F. J. Austin, Seeds and Saplings, p. 13. References. XVII. 4. J. H. Thom, Laws of Life, p. 379. E. W. Moore, Life Transfigured, p. 1. C. H. Wright, The Unrecognized Christ, p. 29. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Holy-Tide Teaching, p. 150. H. D. M. Spence, Voices and Silence, p. 153. T. B. Hindsley, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxv. 1904, p. 236. E. G. Baines, ibid. vol. lxx. 1906, p. 157. XVII. 4, 5. H. E. Ryle, On the Church of England, p. 112. XVII. 5. C. S. Macfarland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxx. 1906, p. 21. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvii. No. 909. XVII. 5, 6, 7. Ibid. vol. xxix. No. 1727. Jesus Only Matthew 17:8 Christ gave to His timid followers a glimpse of His glory, but He would not allow them to rest upon it but upon Himself in the human nature that He had assumed; and so, 'when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only'. I. There is a danger, especially for the young, in letting their religion be based on mere love or regard for a minister or a religious friend. Such personal attachment is natural, but it is neither wise nor safe. Use their teaching as far as you may, but do not lean upon them, or upon any human stay. In the matter of the soul's salvation fix your heart and fix your hope on no man, but on Jesus only. II. Others there are who allow their religion to be unduly influenced by particular places and circumstances. This is letting association get too great power over us. III. And, in the days when we feel burdened with a sense of our sin, may we then look to no man, save to Jesus only. The memory of our sins must always make us sad: we must always, to the end of our days, look back upon our sins with shame, and sorrow, and pain; but if we look to no man save to Jesus only for pardon, we need not despair; nay, the true penitent is assured of immediate pardon of his sin. We may gratefully accept the comfort of absolution, the assurance of cancelled guilt, if we lift up our eyes in the time of trouble, determined to see no man, save Jesus only. IV. But, besides sin, sorrow often makes the people of God go heavily. In the hour of heart-break and of bitter grief, in the time of privation and of sore distress, may we be able to take comfort from the thought that though men are miserable comforters yet the Son of Man, our unseen Friend, is able to bind up every wound. V. And if this be so with you in sorrow, then in the hour of your own death you will have the one Friend with you who can go down with you into the dark valley, where all other friends must leave you. VI. Lastly, if Jesus be with us, loved and trusted in the common hours of the common life, not only will He comfort and sustain us when we are called to pass under the cloud and the shadow of sorrow, not only will He uphold us in the hour of death, but He will even give us promised strength, beyond the thought of man to conceive! He will even give us boldness in the Day of Judgment. Erskine Clarke, Penny Pulpit, vol. xii. No. 676, p. 75. Matthew 17:8 For the Word of the Law and Wrath must give place to the Word of Life and Grace; because, though the Word of Condemnation be glorious, yet the Word of Life and Salvation doth far exceed in glory. Also, that Moses and Elias must both vanish, and leave Christ and his Saints alone. John Bunyan. References. XVII. 8. W. Baxendale, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xli. 1892, p. 195. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Sunday Sermonettes for a Year, pp. 79, 138. W. J. Knox-Little, Church Times, vol. liv. 1905, p. 165. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvi. No. 924. XVII. 14. C. Perren, Revival Sermons in Outline, p. 124. W. T. Houldsworth, Church Times, vol. xxxvii. 1897, p. 139. XVII. 14-21. W. M. Taylor, The Miracles of Our Saviour, p. 319. Archbishop Trench, Notes on the Miracles of Our Lord, p. 299. J. Laidlaw, The Miracles of Our Lord, p. 278. Unbelief Matthew 17:17 The disciples had the power to cast out devils. They tried and failed. They were weak in Christ's absence; they had been dejected by His previous words about His death, and now by His withdrawal to the mountain, and so they had been unsuccessful. They could not cast out because of their unbelief. The child's father was at his wit's end. He had had a poor trembling faith, if any. The scribes and others with none at all, were maliciously chuckling over their failure. To them all Christ comes straight from the Transfiguration, and when He sees their grief, these words which express holy impatience, endless pity, and personal sorrow are wrung from Him. They are: I. A Cry of Pain. We can understand how the sight should have been more than ordinarily sorrowful to Him, from its sharp contrast with the Transfiguration, and therefore there was pressed out what was ordinarily hidden, the sharp pain and real grief which it was to Him to walk among men. We all know what uncongenial society means, but perhaps we do not give sufficient prominence to this phase of Our Saviour's life. He was the 'man of Sorrows'; 'Himself bare our sicknesses,' and other passages speaking of Him as bearing the burden of sin, do not point only to His death on the Cross, but to all His earthly life. Remember His nature, perfect purity, perfect love, perfect knowledge, acute human sensibility, and take all these as heightening the daily martyrdom which it was to Him to dwell among men. We see but little of it, but it was most real, and all this was borne for us, and He bears it all still. II. A Word of Loving Remonstrance. It is not a word of anger, but of remonstrance, seeking to cure, and that is how He stands before human unbelief. III. A Promise of Infinite Forbearance and Abiding Presence. Christ recognizes in the disciples' weakness without Him a necessity for His still continuing with them. He is staid by their need of Him, as a mother by her tottering child. And in like manner the second clause is really: 'How long will you draw on my forbearance with nothing but the under thought that it is inexhaustible?' So we have the assurance of His pitying presence with us, and that presence is the cure, if we will, for all our ills, and of His endless long suffering. He never goes away from any of us. We cannot break the covenant of His love. A. Maclaren. References. XVII. 17. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xiv. No. 821. W. Howell Evans, Sermons for the Church's Year, p. 48. W. J. Knox-Little, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxviii. 1905, p. 97. XVII. 17, 18. H. Scott Holland, ibid. vol. xxxviii. 1890, p. 193. XVII. 19. J. E. C. Welldon, The Spiritual Life, p. 243. E. A. Stuart, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlix. 1896, p. 342. James Denney, Gospel Questions and Answers, p. 39. XVII. 19,20. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew IX.-XVII. p. 352. XVII. 19-21. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. x. No. 549; vol. xlii. No. 2454. The Victory of Faith Matthew 17:20 (with 1 John 5:4 * ) * I. Faith is a Quality which ensures Man's Growth and Expansion. It does not operate suddenly or effect miraculous changes; it takes time like the grain of mustard seed, but it is victorious in the end even against overwhelming odds. In one way or another all the greatest things we know of have been and are achieved by its power. It is faith that removes mountains of difficulty, that overcomes the manifold dangers, oppositions, weaknesses, impossibilities, of this mortal life of ours, and casts them into the sea of human triumph. a. Take the realm of commerce by way of example. What is it that enables a man to launch forth into enterprises that startle the world, but faith in the practicability of some great scheme which to the cautious and prudent seems only foolhardy and chimerical? b. What is it that buoys up the lonely scientific worker, through years of painstaking calculation and experiment, but faith in the certainty of an ultimate discovery? c. Or what, in the sphere of intellectual effort, accounts for the difference between the good or the bad teacher, but that one believes and the other does not believe in the efficacy of the training and instruction it is their business to give. The good teacher is one who believes that his or her efforts will never be wasted, however unpromising the soil on which the good seed is sown. d. It is faith which has inspired and carried through all the crusades against evil and all the reforms and revolutions that have helped to rid the world of tyrannies, abuses, cruelties, and depravities of every kind. II. Faith is the Conquering Principle in Religion. For Christian faith is not a thing apart from one's ordinary human nature and imposed upon it from without; it is the expansion of an original inherent moral quality, common to us all; it is the spiritualization of a natural faculty; it is the daily energizing, vitalizing power in which we live and do our best work, brought into contact with the Divine power. So glorified it overcomes the world the worldly spirit with its carnal aims, countless temptations, and unholy methods, being the hardest thing there is to overcome. But even unglorified, it has this overcoming power, and if we only get to see this clearly, we shall not find so much difficulty in transferring to the life of religion a quality which we have learnt to regard as the supreme essential in every secular sphere. The Mustard Seed of Faith Matthew 17:20 This text seems to tell me three things: I. The Infinite Value of even a Little Faith. That little bit of faith which you have, though it is only like a little grain of mustard seed, is the most valuable treasure you have got. We never know when we plant a seed and water it what it will grow to. Therefore, while not despising the little grain of mustard seed of faith in ourselves, let us not despise it in others. Scatter the seed when you can, and go on bravely, leaving it to the Eternal God to water the seed and make it grow. II. The Absolute Certainty that Faith Grows. I heard the other day an address by a very able and devout man, who is a great authority in science, and I was very much struck with one thing he said. 'I look back over twenty years, and I would not exchange for anything the solid certainty of Today for the warm feelings of twenty years ago. I would not give up the way that my faith has grown for the more ardent feelings of my youth.' We are taught by feeling, but we walk by faith. And if there are any people discouraged in middle life by the little warmth of feeling they now have, the question for them is. Has their faith grown? III. The Wonderful Power of Faith. 'If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.' One hardly dare say to oneself that there is almost an exaggeration in such a statement as that, and yet, when you look at life on a large scale, that is exactly what happens. You could not possibly describe it more precisely. Faith removes mountains. IV. How is that Faith to grow and Expand that it may become this Strong and Useful Tree? We must see to it that the seed of faith is not dissipated by some flippant remark, is not snatched away by the Evil One in waiting. The seed has no chance unless you give it a chance. But when you have done your part, remember that God is ready to do His part. Bishop Winnington-Ingram, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxviii. p. 331, 1905. Reasons of Failure Matthew 17:20 I. The text covers all failures. 'Because of you:: unbelief.' Jesus had but one explanation. You do not get on in life because of your unbelief. The reason you fail in business is because of your unbelief; the reason why you wither in intellect is because of your unbelief. You do not know how deeply faith goes, you cannot tell what a penetrating power it has and how it takes up all things along with it, and secures them all in one multifold and compendious blessing. Faith is not sentiment, but power. The mystery is that you have been believing the wrong thing, you have been working at the wrong end, and you have been miscalculating the whole purpose of the kingdom of God, which is power power to live, power to think, power to overcome temptation, power to drive out of the life everything that sucks out of it the very pith of existence. You must know that without power you die. And faith is not only power, faith is beneficent power. Power of the beneficent sort would make a new world. Beneficent power never goes about the streets seeking what it can gain for itself; beneficent power parades the road in order to take out of that road everything; that can hinder life, everything that can keep back the light, everything that can prevent the soul growing, expanding, blossoming in God. II. If faith is beneficent power, then the want of faith inflicts serious injury on society. It is not what you are doing, but it is what you might be doing, that is the great and solemn question, that is continually before the serious mind of the serious man. If I have not faith it is not I who lose only, it is the other man. Faith conquers all, rules the whole kingdom, and will prosper and succeed and fructify into blessed, beneficent fruits when all your intellectual framework has melted away and is no longer to be seen, for it is not only of works, but of the meanest kind of works, works with which you have nothing to do, it came to you without your seeking, and will wither away because of your mere wordy, tumultuous pride. III. You are never a man in the full sense until you have faith. Faith is manhood as well as a gospel. Faith is the secret of commerce as well as the secret of eternity. Unless you have faith you cannot be really at your best estate. That is a proposition which must be thought out and thought out carefully, so that you can lay hold upon it and live by it. You were meant to believe that all that ever came before Christ were thieves and robbers; they had not got the right idea of manhood. Manhood is faith; faith is manhood, and unless you have faith you cannot come to the full estate of manhood as God meant you to come to it. Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. vi. p. 146. References. XVII. 20. Stopford A. Brooke, The Fight of Faith, p. 38. J. M. Neale, Sermons Preached, in Sackville College Chapel, vol. iv. p. 201. T. F. Lockyer, The Inspirations of the Christian Life, p. 63. XVII. 21. Archdeacon Colley, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliii. 1893, p. 115. J. H. Jowett, Meditations for Quiet Moments, p. 110. XVII. 24-7. J. Laidlaw, The Miracles of Our Lord, p. 116. Archbishop Trench, Notes on the Miracles of Our Lord, p. 307. W. M. Taylor, The Miracles of Our Saviour, p. 331. XVII. 25, 26. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew, IX.-XVII. p. 374; see also Creed and Conduct, p. 374. XVII. 27. T. Champness, New Coins from Old Gold, p. 102. C. S. Robinson, Simon Peter, p. 294. Spiritual Sins Matthew 18:1 I. Spiritual Envy. Our text relates to the first occasion. Our Lord has just taken St. Peter, St. James and St. John away from the other disciples into the Mount of Transfiguration. The other disciples had doubtless plied them with questions, but they could get no information from them as to what had happened. We can understand their thought how on the part of the nine disciples there may have been envy at this time, envy of the other three because of the greater privilege which they enjoyed. There is, I am afraid, a disposition on the part of very many to envy those to whom Heaven has given blessings it has withheld from ourselves. We imagine that others are the favourites of Heaven. How does our Lord rebuke this spirit in the disciples? He takes a little child and sets that little child in the midst of them, as much as to say, 'God has no favourites. God loves all, even this little child.' You must receive this little child, and you must not imagine for a single moment that though God gives certain privileges to certain men which He denies to other men, these men therefore are the special favourites of Heaven. He has denied them to you because for your work they are not necessary. So it seemed good to the Father for the working out of His own great purposes in the world.' On the other hand there may have been on the part of the other three a creeping in of pride that they had been thus singled out by the Master, that they had been admitted, as it were, into a great secret, and there was a temptation, it may be, to be proud towards the others. If there is anything of that kind, how the great Master scorns it. He tells these very men, that if there is one thing they are to beware of it is of this pride. Christ would teach both those who envy others and those who may be tempted to be proud of their gifts. He wants them to remember that these gifts are given for the building up of the Church, and not on account of their own merit. II. Spiritual Ambition. In St. Matthew 20:20 the circumstances are quite different. Our Lord has just foretold His coming death, and St. James and St. John are able to look through this announcement of the coming Cross and see the Kingdom beyond, and so they came to him and asked Him that they might sit one on His right hand and the other on His left in His kingdom. The other disciples are moved with envy of these two, and so our Lord speaks to the other ten. 'Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister.' There is an ambition which our Lord Jesus Christ does not blame. He does not blame this ambition of St. James and St. John. It was splendid faith, which was able to believe that even though there was to be the Cross there was certain to be the Crown. It was splendid faith which, just at that moment, when He foretold His Cross, was able to keep its eye fixed upon the Throne; and there was courage which enabled them to endure everything for the sake of that Throne. And Jesus Christ tells us how it is to be obtained. God helping, it is to be obtained by resignation, by submission, by drinking of the cup, by being ready to be baptized with the death. There must be a perfect submission of your life to God. The only man who really commands the homage of other men is the man who is willing to serve. III. Spiritual Pride. The third occasion upon which there is this strife as to who shall be the greatest is in St. Luke 22:24 . They have now entered the upper chamber, and our Lord has told them, 'One of you shall betray Me'. And we read in the twenty-fourth verse, 'There was also a strife amongst them, which of them should be accounted the greatest'. Now it is more difficult to see exactly what led to strife on this third occasion, but I think, putting all the verses together, this strife, seems to have arisen after our Lord said, 'One of you shall betray Me'. They seem to have looked one upon the other, doubting to whom He spoke. No doubt afterwards they began to ask, 'Lord, is it I?' I do not think they asked that question first. At first they began to think it must be one of the others who was going to betray Him. I fancy then one and the other began to think, 'At any rate I will never betray Him'; and I fancy that this strife as to who was the greatest may be accounted for by that attitude at that moment. Our Lord rises from supper, takes a towel and girds Himself, and then goes round and washes all their feet, and then He comes and takes His garments and sits down again. Then they had learnt the lesson, and I venture to think that this third is an occasion of spiritual pride, looking down upon others because of some fancied superiority in spiritual things. How does our Lord deal with it? He teaches them that all need cleansing St. Peter as well as all the rest and He will go round and wash all their feet; and then they learn the lesson. Then, instead, of looking one upon another, doubting of whom He speaks, they begin to ask, crestfallen, 'Lord, is it I?' They begin to imagine there are signs of sin in themselves which could produce even such a dastardly deed as that. References. XVIII. 1. J. A. Bain, Questions Answered by Christ, p. 40. James Denney, Gospel Questions and Answers, p. 98. XVIII. 1-3. H. Scott Holland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxii. 1907, p. 267. J. H. Thom, A Spiritual Faith, p. 199. J. Martineau, Hours of Thought, vol. ii. p. 304. XVIII. 1-4. H. Scott Holland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlvi. 1894, p. 161. XVIII. 1-6 Stopford A. Brooke, ibid. vol. xli. 1892, p. 393. XVIII. 1-6, 10-14. D. Fraser, Metaphors in the Gospels, p. 158. XVIII. 1-14. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 1. ** A Child in the Midst ( christmas ) Matthew 18:2 ** I. At Christmas time, especially, we bethink ourselves of those words of His. Whatever other meanings this sacred festival may have, this perhaps is the most prominent thought of it. Once a year a Divine child is set in the midst of us. Incarnate God and yet a little child. One who grew up to a perfect man and to possess all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, yet never left behind, as we do, the things which make childhood attractive. One who was called by His disciples to the last, 'Thy holy child Jesus'. II. All grown-up people at some time or other have longed for or dreamed of a return to childhood, and sighed as they realized the impossibility of it. Truly the lessons which we most need to learn are just those which are breathed forth from the artless lips and shouted in the innocent delights of a happy, hopeful child. And so at Christmas time, the child Jesus seats Himself in the midst and speaks to us. He bids the doctors depart, and the sages be silent, and the world's science hold its lips, and the din of politics hush itself, and the clamours of prejudice and passion be still, that we may take in His heavenly teaching of faith, and innocence, and joy. III. There are times when we get a little weary of all the grand talk about knowledge, and genius, and brilliant statesmanship, and the march of science and invention, and the cleverness of human foresight, and the omniscience of intellect, and the victories won over material forces, and the triumphs of civilization, and the cunning of worldly men. We have a suspicion that it is not doing for us all that the boasters say, that civilization does not quite mean paradise, and that grasp of mind is not the same thing as rest of soul. And therefore we will sit down at the feet of the child Jesus, and pray together that science may learn His humility, that intellect may have His reverence, that commerce may drink from His wells of purity and justice, that riches may clothe themselves with His simplicity and be filled with His self-denying spirit, that education and enlightenment may have their cold, freezing light made warm and gentle with His love, and that the nations as they ring the bells in honour of His nativity may bethink themselves of the spirit of the Divine child whom they worship, and gather from His simple innocence lessons of sublimest wisdom. J. G. Greenhough, Christian Festivals and Anniversaries, p. 220. The Child in the Midst (For Holy Innocents' Day) Matthew 18:2 Today's festival reminds us of the majesty with which childhood is invested in the Gospel. I. Characteristics of Little Children. Fresh from the waters of baptism they are worthy to be companions to the holy angels. Theirs is the life spiritual, unsullied as yet by the life natural. Then, as intelligence begins to dawn, we notice their guilelessness and simplicity; their trustfulness and confiding faith; their truthfulness. They forgive most readily and forget right soon. They are ever hopeful. The memory of past sorrow passes from them with incredible swiftness; and straightway the mirror is as bright as ever. Is it fanciful to note the very slender hold they have on the things of earth? Their hold upon the things of earth is, at all events, speedily relaxed; while possessions, infancy has none. II. There seems to be much Tender Beauty and fine catholic instinct and Gospel grace in this Feast of the Holy Innocents this day kept in honour of the babes of Bethlehem, whereby God caused infants to glorify Him by their deaths. III. There was the Further Design of administering a yearly word of consolation, in this way, to parents. Scarcely a family is there in which some blossoms of hope have not been snatched away before they opened into flowers of promise, or ripened into fruits of joy. A balm has been provided in this day's commemoration for the heart of many a parent whose child has been taken home. The Lord Jesus has called the child and set him in the midst, for of such is the kingdom of heaven. References. XVIII. 2. E. A. Draper, The Gift of Strength, p. 60. E. Fowle, Plain Preaching to Poor People (7th Series), p. 49. T. E. Ruth, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxiv. 1908, p. 97. XVIII. 2, 3. H. Jones, ibid. vol. xxxvii. 1890, p. 86. W. H. Brookfield, Sermons, p. 47. Conversion Matthew 18:3 What is there about little children which must also be found in those of a ripe age who would be citizens of the kingdom of God? I. Pure Affection. In childhood, affection is spring-water. It just bubbles up most naturally, and is pure and delicious. In manhood, affection is too often tap-water. It has flowed through pipes of expediency, prudence, and calculation, and it has lost its sparkle and limpidity. 'Master, who shall be greatest in the kingdom of heaven?' There you have affection which is losing its purity, affection with a selfish aim, affection yoked to personal ambition. The Lord wants us to have the pure, uncalculating love of little children. He wants us to live so much with Him that to love Him shall be our highest bliss. II. Fine Sensitiveness A child's spirit is like a photographer's sensitive plate, exceedingly impressionable, responding to the daintiest touch of the softest light. The joys and sorrows of the world find in children a most ready and sympathetic response. This fine sensitiveness is apt to be lost as childhood is left behind. Our impressionableness is prone to lose its delicacy. The grief and happiness of the world do not move us with the same facility as of old. Our character is inclined to harden in one of two directions towards a gloomy pessimism or towards a glaring worldliness. The child disposition may be symbolized by the month of April. April weather easily breaks into sunshine, and quite as easily melts into rain. We pass either into the dull heavy, pessimistic gloom of November, and it is difficult to move us into smiles, or into the hard, worldly glare of June, when it is difficult to melt us into tears. III. Open-Mindedness. Childhood is an age of eager questionings, and not of dogmatic conclusions. It is a season of keen receptiveness, of intense love of the sweet light. Now that open-mindedness is apt to be lost with the growth of our years. Revelation is regarded as closed; the volume as ended; all light as given; so that our knowledge can now be arranged in final forms. That was certainly the condition of the people among whom Christ's earthly ministry was passed. Their minds were closed, shut up tight against the reception of any new revelation from God. There were two forces actively at work closing their minds, and they are quite as active Today, the forces of pride and prejudice. When these abound in a life, every door and window is closed, and the 'Light of the World' will seek admission in vain. J. H. Jowett, Meditations for Quiet Moments, p. 35. Little Children Matthew 18:3 The call to be children is Christ's supreme call. Failure to meet it was the cardinal sin of the respectable religious people of that day. I. We must repent, and be like children. How easy and simple it is for a child to repent how bitter for us! The truth is we are afraid afraid to repent lest love and faith should carry us we know not where. We cover ourselves with many wrappings of position, calling, philosophy, just because we are cowards, and dare not face ourselves. Half the problems we think so dark, half the difficulties we multiply so proudly, take their origin in this. We dare not be alone. 'I was afraid and hid myself, because I was naked.' And yet the natural line is that of Christ to feel sorry like a child, humble like a small schoolboy who knows he is at the bottom. This is all we can do, when the facts stream in upon us. This, above all else, divides us from the world. We do, they do not, think repentance and humility a duty. Our enemies tell us that we are not better than they are, and often worse. Alas! we know it. It is because we are bad that we want to touch the hem of His garment, not because we are good. II. But though it begins with humbled grief, repentance does not end there. The child who says he is sorry always adds, I'll try and never do it again. That faith in the future, even more than the grief, is the note of the Christian. He believes, the world does not believe, that with God's help he may become better. III. For the child's repentance, and the child's amendment we need the inexhaustible faith of childhood, its infinite and inalienable romance. That which springs up naturally in human childhood is for us the supreme gift, a grace to be sought with prayer this faith, that is at the root of the careless gladness of children, and of the ease and buoyancy of saints like St. Francis this faith so uplifting, so hard to win, yet so essential. For without it where are we? Whether we look at the prospects of the Church or our own life, probability, rational calculation, common sense are all ranged on the cynic's side. People talk of the Church in danger the Church is always in danger; the miracle is not in her weakness, but in her existence. It is only as we throw ourselves on God that we shall certainly conquer for 'of ourselves we have no power to help ourselves'. Yet with that aid victory is not merely likely, but certain. J. Neville Figgis, The Gospel and Human Needs, p. 155. Becoming As Little Children Matthew 18:3 What did our Lord mean by bidding us become as little children? Let us recall the circumstances in which our Lord spoke about the children; and we shall at once see. I. The most striking of His references to children comes in that very solemn warning against despising them. 'Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones, for I say unto you that their angels in heaven do always behold the face of My Father in heaven.' The imagery is drawn from the court of a king. Those who see the king's face are they who stand immediately in his presence and are especially in his confidence. It is the privilege of innocent children to be very sure of God, to speak to Him familiarly in prayer, to rest in the assurance of His protection. II. A second childlike quality which if we lose we must recover before we can be of the kingdom, is sincerity. The prayer, 'I thank Thee, O Father,' etc., was uttered after the rejection of His Gospel by the elders of the Jews and its acceptance by the band of Apostles; and to that it must refer. And, I would ask you, is not one of the most characteristic qualities of children this habit of theirs of looking straight at things and people and judging them to the best of their power without either prejudice or fear of consequences? This is the characteristic recognized in Hans Andersen's delightful story of the Emperor's Robe, which everybody pretended to see and admire, until a child cried out that there was no robe at all to see. Plainly it was this childlike sincerity in the Apostles what our Lord called 'the single eye' that distinguished them from the Pharisees and enabled them to receive a new revelation. III. There is a third childlike quality to which our Lord calls attention, which also, if we have unhappily lost, we must labour to win back again un-pretentiousness, the absence of self-importance. How can this temper be recovered? Clearly we cannot recover the unconscious unpretentiousness of childhood. But there are two or three things we can do. (1) We can aim at taking a real and unaffected interest in others, looking for their good qualities and valuing them. (2) We can make ourselves give exact reasons for any dislikes we feel. (3) We can at anyrate apply the check at the point where the unchristian feeling passes into word or deed. H. C. Beeching, Church Family Newspaper, 3 April, 1908, p. 302. Matthew 18:3 You have the child's character in these four things Humility, Faith, Charity, and Cheerfulness. That's what you have got to be converted to. 'Except ye be converted, and become as little children.' You hear much of conversion nowadays; but people always seem to think they have got to be made wretched by conversion, to be converted to long faces. No, friends, you have got to be converted to short ones; you have to repent into childhood, to repent into delight and delightsomeness. Ruskin, * Crown of Wild Olive. * Wordsworth has told us the law of his own mind, the fulfilment of which has enabled him to reveal a new world of poetry: Wisdom is ofttimes nearer when we stoop, Than when we soar. That it is so likewise in religion, we are assured by those most comfortable words, Except ye become as little children, ye shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. The same truth is well expressed in the aphorism, which Charles the First, when he entered his name on the books at Oxford, in 1616, subjoined to it: Si vis omnia subjicere, subjice te rationi . Happy would it have been for him, if that which flowed thus readily from his pen had also been graven upon his heart. He would not then have had to write it on the history of his country with characters more glaring and terrible than those of ink. Julius Hare. References. XVIII. 3. M. Dods, Christ and Man, p. 226. Henry Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons, vol. iii. pp. 67, 116. F. B. Woodward, Sermons (2nd Series), p. 1; see also Selected Sermons, p. 58. XVIII. 3, 4. S. H. Kellogg, The Past a Prophecy of the Future, p. 157. XVIII. 4. Stopford A. Brooke, Short Sermons, pp. 152, 158. XVIII. 4, 5. A. Murray, The Children for Christ, p. 233. XVIII. 5. J. B. Mozley, Sermons Parochial and Occasional, p. 297. XVIII. 6, 7. H. Ward Beecher, Sermons (1st Series), p. 511. Causing Others to Sin Matthew 18:7 These is a sin which very many people think little about, the sin of making others sin. It is a real sin, a common sin, and a very dreadful sin. It was the first sin committed in the world, for it was the sin of the tempter who tempted the woman to disobey God; and it was the first fruit of the Fall of man, for the first thing which the woman did when she had sinned herself was to make the man sin also. It has ever been the great means of keeping sin alive and strong in the world; one generation has taught the next, and handed on its fatal tradition of evil. I. Besides all sins, then, that we may commit ourselves for our own pleasure or advantage, out of the wickedness and folly of our own hearts, there is yet this burden, the sin of making others sin. And this may be in two ways. It may be in the way of direct temptation. I am not speaking of those who tempt others, as the devil tempts men, for the sake of making them do wrong. I am speaking of people who, when they are doing wrong themselves, do not care about, or see the additional harm and sin, of dragging others into it with them. II. But the sin of making others sin comes in yet another way than that of direct temptation to others. It comes more subtly and secretly, and in a sense more awfully, because less under our direct control, in the example which others see in us and follow. We forget what we are doing merely by our example. We forget what wrong things we are sanctioning, not by trying to make others do them, but by letting them see that we do them without check or fear. We forget that the sins which we thus, often from mere thoughtlessness, encourage, are apt to increase tenfold in those who quote us for their warrant and pattern. III. And is this a sin to think little about the sin of making others to sin? Surely it is one which we ought to take account of when we are trying to realize to ourselves what will be the strict and just judgment of God on our heart and life. R. W. Church, Village Sermons (2nd Series), p. 255. References. XVIII. 7. J. B. Lightfoot, Cambridge Sermons, p. 248. W. G. Rutherford, The Key of Knowledge, p. 134. A. G. Mortimer, The Church's Lessons for the Christian Year, part iii. p. 178. Self-mutilation for Self-preservation Matthew 18:8 We mark these three points. First, the case supposed, 'If thy hand or thy foot cause thee to stumble'. Then the sharp, prompt remedy enjoined, 'cut them off and cast them from thee'. Then the solemn motive by which it is enforced, 'It is better for thee to enter into life maimed than, being a whole man, to be cast into hell-fire '. I. 'The case supposed.' 1. Hand and foot and eye are, of course, regarded as organs of the inward self, and symbols of its tastes and capacities. Our Lord takes an extreme case. If members of the body are to be amputated and plucked out should they cause us to stumble, much more are associations to be abandoned and occupations to be relinquished and pleasures to be forsaken if they draw us away. But it is to be noticed that the whole stringency of the commandment rests upon that if. 'If they cause thee to stumble,' then, and not else, amputate. The powers are natural, the operation of them is perfectly innocent, but a man may be ruined by innocent things. And, says Christ, if that process is begun, then, and only then, does My exhortation come into force. 2. Then there is another point to be observed in this case supposed, and that is that the whole matter is left to the determination of personal experience. Nobody else has a right to decide for you what it is safe and wise for you to do in regard of things which are not in themselves wrong. Do not let your Christian liberty be interfered with by other people's dictation in regard of this matter. 3. But, on the other hand, do not you be led away into things that damage you because some other man does them, as he supposes, without injury. There are some Christian people who are simply very unscrupulous and think themselves very strong; and whose consciences are not more enlightened, but less sensitive than the 'narrow-minded brethren' upon whom they look. 4. It does not mean that we are to abandon all things that are susceptible of abuse, for everything is so; and if we are to regulate our conduct by such a rule, it is not the amputation of a hand that will be sufficient. 5. Nor does the injunction mean that unconditionally we are to abandon all occupations in which there is danger. It can never be a duty to shirk a duty because it is dangerous. II. 'Cut it off and cast it from thee.' Entire excision is the only safety. I myself am to be the agent of that. That is to say, we are to suppress capacities, to abandon pursuits, to break with associates when we find that they are damaging our spiritual life and hindering our likeness to Jesus Christ. We have to empty our hands of earth's trivialities if we would grasp Christ with them. We have to turn away our eyes from earth if we would behold the Master; and rigidly to apply this principle of excision in order that we may advance in the Divine life. Then it is not to be forgotten that this commandment, stringent and necessary as it is, is second best. The man is maimed, although it was for Christ's sake that he cut off his hand, or put out his eye. His hand was given him that with it he might serve God, and the highest thing would have been that in hand and foot and eye he should have been anointed, like the priests of old, for the service of His Master. But until he is strong enough to use the faculty for God, the wisest thing is not to use it at all. III. Christ rests His command of self-denial and self-mutilation upon the highest ground of self-interest. 'It is better for thee.' The maimed man may enter into life, and the complete man may perish. The maimed man may touch Christ with his stump, and so receive life, and the complete man may lay hold of the world and the flesh and the devil with his hands, and so share in their destruction. A. Maclaren, Christ in the Heart, p. 293. References. XVIII. 8. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 9. F. B. Woodward, Sermons (1st Series), p. 47; see also Selected Sermons, p. 9. XVIII. 8, 9. P. N. Waggett, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxiii. 1908, p. 205. Dying to Live Matthew 18:9 There is and there can be (according to our Lord) for all men but one supreme end and aim to 'enter into life'. To 'enter into life' means (if we may attempt to define the expression) to enter into conscious and purposeful fellowship with God: first, here; and then, hereafter. This is the supreme aim; and all that interferes with it even though it be good in itself, as it often is must be ruthlessly sacrificed. I. It is clear that this conception of our Lord's is opposed to two widely contrasted ideals. 1. It is opposed to asceticism, in the more common use of that word. For it is evident that while our Lord regards the possession of 'two eyes' or 'two feet' as good in itself, and only counsels their sacrifice for the sake of something better, asceticism regards the sacrifice as in itself desirable and praiseworthy. Our Lord would prefer that we should use and enjoy all our faculties; that the world should be full of men with keen eyes and strong arms; asceticism would regard the one-eyed or the one-armed man as superior to normal and healthy human beings; it would exult in a maimed and mutilated humanity. 2. It is equally opposed to what is sometimes called æstheticism. Æstheticism proclaims that the main object of man is to see and to feel. It declares that art is free, and must be free, from all moral considerations. It professes to worship the beautiful the eye must see, both eyes must see, all that is to be seen, whether they 'offend,' 'cause one to stumble,' or no. Its aim preserved at all costs was to have two eyes and two hands to enjoy what it would call a 'full and complete life'. II. Now let us be quite sure that the religion of Christ is no enemy to art or culture. But while the religion of Christ finds full scope in its teaching and in its practice: in architecture, in stained-glass windows, in the music of the Church for the love of beauty to find its expression even in worship, it has never been forgetful of the awful danger which may beset, and often has beset, those who make the pleasure of the senses, even in their most refined forms, the great end of life. This, at any rate, is what the Christian religion says. It says that a full life is a good thing, but a sound life is a better; and that to have a sound life a healthy life to 'see salvation' we must, if necessary, be prepared to sacrifice some of the fullness. III. It is better 'to enter into life'. For notice that whatever the sacrifice required in the present, the end is to be a fuller, not an emptier existence. If the lower is to go, it is only that the higher may be preserved. 'Whosoever will lose his life shall save it.' H. R. Gamble, Christianity and Common Life, p. 105. Illustration. All parts of our nature were made by God. The best thing is that we should be able fully to exercise all our faculties; but we must be safe at the centre before we can be free at the circumference. Whatever exposes us to temptation that is too strong for us must at any cost be abandoned. Bishop Gore. Matthew 18:10 What is Contempt, George Meredith asks in his Essay on Comedy, 'but an excuse to be idly minded, or personally lofty, or comfortably narrow, not perfectly humane?... Anger is not much less foolish than disdain.' He who despises mankind will never get the best out of either others or himself.' De Tocqueville. References. XVIII. 10. G. H. Morrison, Sunrise, p. 62. Morgan Dix, Sermons Doctrinal and Practical, p. 40. H. Varley, Spiritual Light and Life, p. 161. H. P. Liddon, Penny Pulpit, No. 467. F. E. Paget, Sermons for the Saints' Days, p. 89. W. Boyd Carpenter, The Burning Bush, p. 21. J. S. Maver, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxii. 1902, p. 438. A. J. Forson, ibid. vol. lxxii. 1907, p. 313. XVIII. 10, 11. J. M. Neale, Sermons Preached in Sackville College Chapel, vol. ii. p. 315; see also Readings for the Aged (3rd Series), p. 227. XVIII. 11. R. Davidson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liv. 1898, p. 26. Horace Bushnell, Christ and His Salvation, p. 57. XVIII. 12. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 19. XVIII. 12, 13. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxv. No. 2083. XVIII. 12, 14. Cosmo Gordon Lang, Thoughts on Some of the Parables of Jesus, p. 263. XVIII. 13. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 29. XVIII. 14. C. Vince, The Unchanging Saviour, p. 103. H. Montagu Butler, Harrow School Sermons, p. 230. Henry Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons, vol. iv. p. 257. Matthew 18:15 With a little more patience and a little less temper, a gentler and wiser method might be found in almost every case; and the knot that we cut by some fine heady quarrel-scene in private life, or, in public affairs, by some denunciatory act against what we are pleased to call our neighbour's vices, might yet have been unwoven by the hand of sympathy. R. L. Stevenson, Across the Plains, p. 314. Matthew 18:15 When a man is to be amended, it becomes the office of a friend to urge his faults and vices with all the energy of enlightened affection, to paint them in their most vivid colours, and to bring the moral patient to a better habit. Burke. You reprove me like a friend, and nothing comes so welcome to me as to be told of my faults. Walpole * to Mason. * Professor York Powell describes Richard Shute, the Oxford scholar, as a man 'who had devotion enough for his friends to tell them when he thought they had got on the wrong path, and he would manage this with singular tact, so that a man, however young and vain, could hardly feel his raw self-respect hurt, even though Shute spoke plainly enough to show him his full folly. Not many men of his years have courage to help their friends in spite of themselves.' References. XVIII. 15-17. E. Griffith Jones, The Cross and the Dice-Box, pp. 53, 69. Lyman Abbott, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlix. p. 156. XVIII. 15-27. G. Jackson, ibid. vol. lviii. 1900, p. 284. XVIII. 17. W. Binnie, Sermons, p. 202. W. Farquhar Hook, Hear the Church, p. 3. XVIII. 18. C. Silvester Home, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliii. 1893, p. 35. XVIII. 18-20. J. Laidlaw, Studies in the Parables, p. 283. XVIII. 19. R. W. Church, Village Sermons (2nd Series), p. 274. K. Lahusen, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxiii. 1908, p. 363. XVIII. 19, 20. 'Plain Sermons' by contributors to the Tracts for the Times, vol. ii. p. 206. Social Worship Matthew 18:20 This text has no special reference to meetings for worship, but includes these as well as all others. Christ's own definition of a Church is independence of all times and places. I. Social Worship its Grounds. (1) The necessity of worship as the expression of religion. (2) The necessity of private worship from the individuality of man and the tensely individual character of the acts of religion. (3) Necessity of social worship from the equally obvious destination of man for society. II. Social Worship its Nature. (1) 'In My name.' That is, He, Christ, is the bond of union. It must be in conscious obedience to Him, as opposed to a mere formal meeting. (2) It should be as far as possible the engagement of the whole man. (3) It should be common prayer involving the participation of all, possibly formal. (4) It should have the two parts, speaking to God and to man. III. The Blessings of Social Worship. (1) The help to deeper devotion in the outward associations of fixed times and places. These material helps are like reservoirs which hold supplies that feed a town. (2) The expression and help to highest unity. A counterbalance to personal cares and peculiarities. Our prayers are apt to take one special form; selfish wishes, personal peculiarities. (3) Revelation of the oneness beneath all social and intellectual distinctions. (4) That the Gospel alone has preaching thus embedded in its services. The living voice will always be the most potent instrument for the conversion of men. A. Maclaren. Matthew 18:20 The devout meditation of the isolated man, which flitted through his soul, like a transient tone of Love and Awe from unknown lands, acquires certainty, continuance, when it is shared by his brother men. Where two or three are gathered together in the name of the Highest, then first does the Highest, as it is written, appear among them to bless them; then first does an Altar and act of united Worship open a way from Earth to Heaven; whereas, were it but a single Jacob's ladder, the heavenly Messengers will travel, with glad tidings and unspeakable gifts for men. Carlyle. References. XVIII. 20. A. A. Bonar, British Weekly Pulpit, vol. ii. p. 237. B. F. Westcott, The Historic Faith, p. 115. C. C. Collins, Public Worship in the City Churches, Sermons, 1895-99. F. S. Webster, In Remembrance of Me, p. 11. J. Wright, The Guarded Gate, p. 171. Lyman Abbott, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxix. 1891, p. 156. H. Scott Holland, ibid. vol. xlvii. 1895, p. 385; see also vol. lvii. 1900, p. 393. F. Temple, ibid. vol. lii. 1897, p. 216. J. G. Stevenson, ibid. vol. lxv. 1904, p. 17. E. Cornwall-Jones, ibid. vol. lxxi. 1907, p. 245. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxx. No. 1761. XVIII. 21. J. A. Bain, Questions Answered by Christ, p. 46. C. Parsons Reichel, Sermons, p. 362. XVIII. 21, 22. G. Jackson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxiv. 1903, p. 38. Matthew 18:21-22 When thou turn'st away from ill, Christ is this side of thy hill. When thy heart says, 'Father, pardon,' Then the Lord is in thy garden. When to love is all thy wit, Christ doth at thy table sit. George Macdonald. 'If you are exchanging measurable maxims for immeasurable principles,' wrote F. W. Robertson in a letter, 'you are surely rising from the mason to the architect. "Seven times?" no no no Seventy times seven. No maxim a heart principle. I wonder whether St. Peter wholly understood that, or got a very clear conception from it.' References. XVIII. 22. C. S. Robinson, Simon Peter, p. 310. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 37. XVIII. 23-25. A. Brown, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xli. 1892, p. 68. R. Winterbotham, The Kingdom of Heaven, p. 111. T. Guthrie, Parables of Our Lord, p. 242. XVIII. 25. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year (2nd Series), vol. ii. p. 184. XVIII. 27-34, 35. J. H. Jellett, The Elder Son, p. 55. XVIII. 28. A. R. Buckland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliv. 1893, p. 316. XVIII. 32, 33. W. H. Hutchings, Sermon-Sketches (2nd Series), p. 221. A. G. Mortimer, Life and Its Problems, p. 71. Matthew 18:33 The correcting, hallowing, consoling rush of pity. Pater. 'Nothing,' says Charlotte Brontë, of her sister Emily, 'nothing moved her more than any insinuation that the faithfulness and clemency, the long-suffering and loving-kindness which are esteemed virtues in the daughters of Eve become foibles in the sons of Adam. She held that mercy and forgiveness are the Divinest attributes of the Great Being who made both man and woman, and that what clothes the Godhead in glory can disgrace no form of feeble humanity.' References. XVIII. 33. F. E. Paget, Faculties and Difficulties for Belief and Unbelief, p. 201. Henry Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons, vol. v. p. 184. A. MacLeod, Days of Heaven Upon Earth, p. 100. The Unjust Steward Matthew 18:35 This parable does not deal with the limits of human mercifulness, but with its ground and pattern. If we understand these, we shall not need to ask, as St. Peter asked, 'How often?' for the question will answer itself. I take the whole parable for consideration, and I think we shall find that it yields us great thoughts about our relations to God and men. I. The King and his Debtor. The analogy between sin and debt is imperfect, and we are not to look for correspondence between the details of the parable and the realities of men's relation to God. The one point is the immense sum owing. The debt is stated in talents each talent represents a large sum. So each sin against God is great. II. The Debtor's Prayer. Here again the imperfect analogy, for no future righteousness can wipe out past sin. 'I will pay thee all.' How long would it take a penniless bankrupt to amass 10,000 talents? III. The King's Mercy. This is as great as his severity had been. He is moved with compassion. He goes far beyond the debtor's petition. What seems all but incredible in men and rarely found in them represents God's mercy. IV. The Contrast between the Treatment Shown to the Forgiven Debtor and his Treatment to his Debtor. He had just been the object of mercy which should have made his heart glow. He had come through the agonies of an experience which should have made him very tender and very ready to do as he had been done by. The hands which were wrung in agony and entreaty are now throttling his 'fellow-servant'. Such inconsistency excites the notice of his fellow-servants, who tell it to the Lord. The world will be quick to notice if Christians show malice and unmercifulness. Note that 'wrath' comes in here for the first time. Unmercifulness in a recipient of God's mercy is a worse sin than many which are more recognized. The cancelled debt is revived. It is a solemn thought that if we cherish any feelings but those of merciful readiness to forgive, our possession of the sense of God's pardon is dimmed. No man can at the same moment feel God's mercy lapping him in its warm folds, and give way to the emotions which are naturally excited by another man's faults to us. Observe that the parable lays down the principle that the personal reception of God's mercy in Christ precedes our showing mercy to others. And, with equal clearness, that showing mercy is the proper result of having received that Divine mercy, and the condition of retaining it. So the two lessons are: (1) Recognize your debt to God and seek forgiveness by Christ. (2) See that you imitate what you hope in, and keep the grace received by letting it shape your lives and characters. A. Maclaren. Matthew 18:35 In a letter to James Boswell, Dr. Johnson observes: 'I had great pleasure in hearing that you are at last on good terms with your father. Cultivate his kindness by all honest and manly means. Life is but short; no time can be afforded but for the indulgence of real sorrow or contests upon questions seriously momentous. Let us not throw away any of our days upon useless resentment, or contend who shall hold out longest in stubborn malignity. It is best not to be angry; and best, in the next place, to be quickly reconciled.' References. XVIII. 35. G. W. Herbert, Notes of Sermons, p. 195. Canon Wilberforce, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlvi. 1894, p. 280. W. R. Huntington, ibid. vol. lxxiii. 1908, p. 141. XIX. 4-6. E. W. Langmore, The Divine Law in Relation to Marriage with a Deceased Wife's Sister, Sermons, 1818-83. XIX. 5. Canon R. E. Sanderson, Church Times, vol. xxxvi. 1896, p. 110. D. M. Ross, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxviii. 1890, p. 301. Matthew 19:2 Goethe describes, in his autobiography, how Marie Antoinette passed through Strasburg on her way to Paris: 'Before the Queen's arrival, the very rational regulation was made that no deformed persons, cripples, or disgusting invalids, should show themselves on her route. People jested about this precaution, and I made a little poem in French upon the subject, in which I contrasted the advent of Christ, who seemed to wander through the world for the special sake of the sick and lame, with the arrival of the Queen, who scared such unfortunates away.' References. XIX. 5, 6. Lyman Abbott, ibid. vol. xlix. 1896, p. 204. W. J. Knox-Little, The Perfect Life, p. 319. XIX. 6. D. C. MacNicol, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lii. 1897, p. 150. XIX. 9. W. Allan Whitworth, Church Times, vol. xxxiii. 1895, p. 538. Matthew 19:10 No temper in the world is so little open to reason as the ascetic temper. How many a lover and husband, how many a parent and friend, have realized to their pain, since history began, the overwhelming attraction which all the processes of self-annihilation have for a certain order of minds! Mrs. Ward. References. XIX. 12. Paul Bull, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxv. 1904, p. 342. XIX. 13. F. Pickett, ibid. vol. lxxx. 1905, p. 138. T. Sadler, Sermons for Children, p. 1. XIX. 13-30. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xliii. No. 2517. When the Child-spirit Dies Matthew 19:14 It is a beautiful conception, daring and fresh as it is beautiful, that the one attribute of all the citizens of God must be the possession of the childlike heart. I. Now of course to be childlike is one thing; and it is quite another to be childish. To be childlike is to have the spirit of the child, to have the touch of the Divine about us still. It is to live freshly in a glad fresh world, with a thousand avenues into the everywhere out of this dull spot that we call now. But to be childish is to be immature; to have no grip of things, never to face facts squarely; and he is a poor Christian who lives so. It is one distinguishing glory of our Lord that He looked the worst in the face, and called it bad. There can be little doubt, too, that in claiming the childlike spirit Jesus was reaching up to the very highest in man. Jesus, stooping to the little children, was really rising to the crown of life. Show me the greatest men in human history the men who were morally and nobly great and I shall show you in every one of them tokens and traces of the childlike heart. Great souls, with the ten talents flaming into genius, live in a world that is so full of God, that men say they are imprudent, careless; and Jesus sees that they are little children. And you cannot read the story of Jesus Christ without feeling that to the very close of it the child-spirit was alive in Him. No scoffing hardened Him. No disappointment soured Him. No pain dulled the keen edge of His love. He still believed, spite of Iscariot. He had still a Father, spite of Calvary. And that sweet spirit, as of a little child, has been the dew of heaven to the world. II. There is no loss more tragic for a soul than the loss of that spirit of the child. There are three penalties that follow when the child-spirit dies: 1. That we cease to be receptive. The joy of childhood is its receptivity. The child knows nothing of a haunting past yet, and it is not yet anxious about the future. Its time is now, with its magnificent content, and now is God's time too. 2. No doubt it is that very receptivity that makes the little children dwell apart. I have long thought that the aloofness of the Christian, his isolation in the busiest life, was closely akin to the aloofness of the child. For the Christian also dwells apart, but not in the solitude of emptiness. He has his world, just as the children have; old things have passed away from him in Christ. 3. When the child-spirit dies, then the simplicity of faith is gone. There is an exquisite purity about the faith of children; sometimes they make us blush they trust us so. But better than to be trusted, is to trust; to walk by faith and not by sight; and when the spirit of the child dies out, it is not possible to walk that way again. For when we cease to be childlike we grow worldly, and to be worldly is always to be faithless. 4. When the child-spirit dies, then the feeling of wonder disappears. For the child is above all else a wonderer, and is set in the centre of a wonderful world. 'I had rather,' said Ruskin, 'live in a cottage and wonder at everything, than live in Warwick Castle and wonder at nothing.' You have all felt the trials of existence, I want you to feel the wonder of it now; and the great wonder that the Lord should be your Shepherd, and should have died upon Calvary for you. G. H. Morrison, Sun-Rise, p. 187. References. XIX. 14. J. Page Hopps, Sermons of Sympathy, p. 63. A. Murray, The Children for Christ, p. 241. W. H. Murray, The Fruits of the Spirit, p. 494. J. H. Thom, Laws of Life, p. 253. XIX. 16. Marcus Dods, Christian World Pulpit, 1890, vol. xxxviii. p. 152. J. A. Bain, Questions Answered by Christ, p. 52. W. Howell Evans, Sermons for the Church's Year, p. 53. XIX. 16-26. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 46. Faith and Obedience Matthew 19:17 What is meant by faith? it is to feel in good earnest that we are creatures of God; it is a practical perception of the unseen world; it is to understand that this world is not enough for our happiness, to look beyond it on towards God, to realize His presence, to wait upon Him, to endeavour to learn and to do His will, and to seek our good from Him. It is not a mere temporary strong act or impetuous feeling of the mind, an impression or a view coming upon it, but it is a habit, a state of mind, lasting and consistent. To have faith in God is to surrender one's self to God, humbly to put one's interests, or to wish to be allowed to put them into His hands Who is the Sovereign Giver of all good.... To believe is to look beyond this world to God, and to obey is to look beyond this world to God; to believe is of the heart, and to obey is of the heart; to believe is not a solitary act, but a consistent habit of trust; and to obey is not a solitary act, but a consistent habit of doing our duty in all things.... Works of obedience witness to God's just claims upon us, not to His mercy; but faith comes empty-handed, hides even its own worth, and does but point at that precious scheme of redemption which God's love has devised for sinners. J. H. Newman. References. XIX. 17. F. W. Farrar, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lv. 1899, p. 257; see also, The Anglican Pulpit of Today, p. 220. George Tyrrell, Oil and Wine, p. 243. J. J. Tayler, Christian Aspects of Faith and Duty, p. 184. XIX. 19. A. Pinchard, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxiii. 1908, p. 236. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iii. No. 145. XIX. 20. F. E. Paget, Sermons on Duties of Daily Life, p. 43. James Denney, Gospel Questions and Answers, p. 1. Matthew 19:21 They who are living religiously, have from time to time truths they did not know before, or had no need to consider, brought before them forcibly; truths which involve duties, which are in fact precepts, and claim obedience. In this and such-like ways Christ calls us now.... Nothing is more certain in matter of fact than that some men do feel themselves called to high duties and works, to which others are not called. Why this is we do not know. But so it is; this man sees sights which that man does not see, has a larger faith, a more ardent love, and a more spiritual understanding. No one has any leave to take another's lower standard of holiness for his own. It is nothing to us what others are. If God calls us to greater renunciation of the world, and exacts a sacrifice of our hopes and fears, this is our gain, this is a mark of His love for us, this is a thing to be rejoiced in. Newman. References. XIX. 21. W. J. Knox-Little, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxv. 1894, pp. 184, 211. H. Price Hughes, ibid. vol. liv. 1898, p. 72. Matthew 19:22 Every light of moral beauty, permitted to enter but not allowed to guide us, becomes, like the afterimage of the sun when idly stared at, a dark speck upon the soul which follows us at all our work, adheres to every object, approaches and recedes in dreams, and is neither evaded by movement, nor washed out by tears. If the fairest gifts are not to be turned into haunting griefs, it can only be by following in the ways of duty and denial, along which they manifestly lead. Martineau. Matthew 19:23 Temptations connected with money are indeed among the most insidious and among the most powerful to which we are exposed. They have probably a wider empire than drink, and, unlike the temptations that spring from animal passions, they strengthen rather than diminish with age. W. E. H. Lecky. References. XIX. 23-26. D. Fraser, Metaphors in the Gospels, p. 169. XIX. 27. Henry Gee, Sermons for the People, vol. ii. p. 65. J. A. Bain, Questions answered by Christ, p. 57. G. W. Herbert, Notes of Sermons, p. 210. J. T. Bramston, Sermons to Boys, p. 59. XIX. 28, 29. J. Wright, The Guarded Gate, p. 117. Matthew 19:29 In his volume on French and English (p. 162), after describing the arduous labours of the French nuns among the poor and sick, Mr. Hamerton adds: 'The active sisterhoods are repaid to some extent in this world by a beneficent law of human nature. They have one remarkably uniform characteristic: they seem to be invariably cheerful, with bright moments of innocent gaiety. This serenity of mind... is gained by the ever-present sense of duties accomplished in the past and the determination to face them in the future. It is the spirit which inspired Wordsworth's 'Ode to Duty' with a health surpassing all songs of love and wine. Be Vigilant Matthew 19:30 The question of St. Peter is wrong in spirit. So while Christ recognized rewards, He rebukes the spirit which seeks them, in these words of warning. The first case dealt with in the text is one of priority in time. A man may have had a start in the race of life and be overtaken and passed. Advantages of any kind, such as talents, opportunities, etc., may be neutralized and disadvantages conquered. So at the end the order in which men stand is widely different from what it was at the start, as in a race. I. Look at the Working of it in the Christian Life. No man however advanced can relax vigilance, care, effort. There is no height beyond the reach of gravitation. The spring must never be uncoiled. The higher we go, the steeper the slope down and the worse the fall. The 'First' have temptations which yielded to will make them 'Last'. There is no such conquest of sin for us here that without perpetual vigilance it will never recur again. We may have long overcome it, and holier habits may have supervened, but still the thing is there, and we can feel the temptations stirring now and then. Then there are temptations which belong to each stage, and the more advanced are not without their special ones. Temptations to rely in some degree on past attainments; to get into a mechanical mode of life; to lose early fervour and freshness without gaining fixed principle; to become weary even in welldoing. And there are temptations which belong to the older stages of any career the Christian as well as any other irrespective of the degree of advancement which we have made. Just because we have been doing something for a long time, we are apt to think that we can do it well. To become slaves of habit, to become conceited, to get deep into the ruts, to lose fresh interest, to take it easy, as a spring works more feebly near the end. II. There are no Disadvantages which need be Permanent. 1. Take the case of the Penitent Thief and of St. Paul. Many a man coming late to Christ's service, and crowding a life of work into a few years. 2. Take the case of inferiority in attainments. 3. Take the case of inferiority in Christian character. That need not be permanent. It is the grand confidence of Christianity that any man may reach the highest levels. III. The Practical Discipline. 1. The constant realization of the two facts the stern possibility of falling to make us vigilant; the grand hope of ability to rise to make us full of effort. 2. The constant cherishing of the same graces and emotions with which we began. So let us labour, as knowing that there are infinite resources in His hands. There is no reason why you and I should not rise far above our former selves, 'Forgetting the things which are behind'. A. Maclaren. Reversal of Judgment Matthew 19:30 I. This is a saying to make us pause, full of deep suggestiveness, applicable to many spheres of life and religion. It should lead to self scrutiny to be thus told authoritatively that in the spiritual world there will be a complete reversal of human judgment, such moral surprises as that the first and the last should change places. How true it is we sometimes see even here, true of men, and nations, and Churches. Innumerable are the illustrations of how God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty. It is a commonplace of history and experience. The fable of the hare and the tortoise is only a parable of life. Again and again has first in time been last in reaching the goal; first in privilege been last in achievement; first in position been last in permanent power. II. And if this is so even in such palpable instances, how much truer is it in the things of the spirit, in the kingdom of Heaven which cometh not with observation. The spiritual world is a secret world. There an act is judged not by its size, not even by its good result, but by its motive alone; and a man is judged not by the place he fills in men's minds, not by the splash he makes in the world, but by his spirit alone. Character will be stripped bare, and only moral worth will remain. The things we thought goodness, the things which deceived us, which we looked on as of first importance, will be seen as they are. So that many that are first are last, and many that are last are first. Even now, though often late, justice is done, and contemporary judgment is reversed, and we can see the truth of our text. The Jews were first in privilege, but the Gentiles laid hold of eternal life, and the favoured people were left a broken branch on the tree. And in the Christian Church again and again it has been not the mighty, the noble, the wise, those patently first to the eye, who have been called to high service, but the poor and the weak, and the foolish; and the last has been first. There is another judgment, according to intrinsic spiritual worth, and that will be the final judgment of all. III. Above all, let us ask the question of ourselves as individuals. Our virtues and graces, the things that people admire in us, or that we admire in ourselves, may be only tending to our deterioration, if we have lost sight of the essential thing, if our hearts are not pure from the taint of self. IV. But there is more than warning in these deep words. There is also a message of hope to all who feel themselves last, the despondent, all who think themselves overmatched in the warfare of life, and outrun in the race of life. What God asks from all, the high and the low, the first and the last, is a sincere heart in which burns the pure flame of love. Whatever be our scale of earthly precedence, though it be reckoned last in our purblind judgment, that is first so far first that it has no second. H. Black, Edinburgh Sermons, p. 123. The Weapons of Saints Matthew 19:30 Let us understand our place, as the redeemed children of God. Some must be great in this world, but woe to those who make themselves great; woe to any who take one step out of their way with this object before them. If we are true to ourselves, nothing can really thwart us. Our warfare is not with carnal weapons, but with heavenly. The world does not understand what our real power is, and where it lies. And until we put ourselves into its hands of our own act, it can do nothing against us. Till we leave off patience, meekness, purity, resignation, and peace, it can do nothing against that Truth which is our birthright, that Cause which is ours, as it has been the cause of all saints before us. But let all who would labour for God in a dark time beware of anything which ruffles, excites, and in any way withdraws them from the love of God and Christ, and simple obedience to Him. This be our duty in the dark night, while we wait for the day, while we wait for Him Who is our Day, while we wait for His coming, Who is gone, Who will return, and before Whom all the tribes of the earth will mourn, but the sons of God will rejoice.... It is our blessedness to be made like the all-holy, all gracious, long-suffering, and merciful God; Who made and Who redeemed us; in whose presence is perfect rest, and perfect peace; Whom the Seraphim are harmoniously praising, and the Cherubim tranquilly contemplating, and angels silently serving, and the Church thankfully worshipping. All is order, repose, love, and holiness in heaven. J. H. Newman. Matthew 19:30 Not a day passes over the earth, but men and women of no note do great deeds, speak great words, and suffer noble sorrows. Of these obscure heroes, philosophers, and martyrs, the greater part will never be known till that hour when many that are great shall be small, and the small great. Charles Reade. There is so much inevitable ignorance in our judgments now, so much mistake, so much exaggeration in what we praise and in what we condemn; so much good of which we know and imagine nothing, so much evil of which we know nothing; such strength of virtue which we never suspect, never give men credit for, such depths of sin which perhaps here are never found out. Who can doubt what awful discrepancies will, in many cases, appear between God's judgment and ours, beyond the veil? R. W. Church. In Hawthorne's American Notebooks, one suggestion for a tale is, 'A person to consider himself as the prime mover of certain remarkable events, but to discover that his actions have not contributed in the least thereto. Another person to be the cause, without suspecting it.' That solemn sentence which Scripture has inscribed on the curtain which hangs down before the Judgment Seat. Mozley. References. XIX. 30. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Holy-Tide Teaching, p. 100. J. B. Mozley, Sermons Preached before the University of Oxford, p. 72. G. Salmon, Non-Miraculous Christianity, p. 307. T. Teignmouth Shore, The Life of the World to Come, p. 137. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxvii. No. 2221. XX. 1. F. B. Woodward, Sermons (1st Series), p. 226. H. Harris, Short Sermons, p. 256. R. E. Hutton, The Crown of Christ, vol. i. p. 265. W. Howell Evans, Sermons for the Church's Year, p. 61. XX. 1, 3, 5, 6. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xi. No. 664. XX. 1, 6, 7- H. Scott Holland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliii. 1893, p. 156. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xliv. No. 2602. XX. 1-8. Sanday, Expositor (1st Series), vol. iii. p. 81. Hill, ibid. (1st Series), vol. iii. p. 427. Brute, Parabolic Teaching, etc., and in Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iii. p. 447. Cox, Expository Essays, pp. 239, 251. Calderwood, Parables, p. 291. Trench, ibid. p. 166. Dod, Parables of Our Lord (1st Series), p. 151. Pusey, Sermons for Church's Seasons, p. 133, and Selections from Pusey, p. 102. Parker, Inner Life of Christ, vol. iii. p. 73. Parsons, Sermons, p. 413. Cumming, Foreshadows, p. 137. A. Roberts, Plain Sermons, vol. i. p. 161. Simeon, Works, vol. xi. p. 484. C. J. Vaughan, Sermons, 1853, p. 309. XX. 1-16. E. A. Lawrence, Christian World Pulpit, vol. li. 1897, p. 262. J. Laidlaw, Studies in the Parables, p. 147. Rayner Winterbotham, The Kingdom of Heaven, p. 121. T. Guthrie, Parables of Our Lord, p. 269. W. Gray Elmslie, Expository Lectures and Sermons, p. 217. B. W. Maturin, Practical Studies on the Parables of Our Lord, p. 93. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol xliii. No. 2517. Ibid. vol. xliii. No. 2517. XX. 6. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year, vol. i. p. 157. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xliv. No. 2602. Work in God's Vineyard Matthew 20:6-7 This fragment of the parable is itself a parable. With the main scope of the parable I am not concerned. I desire to separate from the rest of the parable just these five words: 'No man hath hired us'. I. God's Care. The text shows us that there is a God Who concerns Himself about us. That is the teaching of Jesus Christ as contrasted with the cold creed of the Deist who would have us believe that God created the world and peopled it with mankind, but needs it no longer. We are told by Jesus Christ of a God Who looks upon us with a gaze as keen as it is merciful, a God Who knows what we are, a God Who knows by what precise steps of ascent or descent we have reached our present standing-place, a God Who comes in, as it were, day by day to notice and to question nay, who rather does not need to come in, for He is here here in necessity of a Divine omnipresence. II. God's Call. God has a work going on everywhere. The work for which He employs men is the work of man's moral culture. He has to form in man a Godlike character. All His redeemed are the workmen. The work which God permits to every man is a twofold work. a. Each Individual Soul is a Vineyard, and he has charge of it the weeding and tending of that heart out of which issues the life. He must free the soil from noisome and deadly weeds, he must plant it with the choicest vine, he must subject it to God's watering, he must seek for it evermore the dew of His blessing, the rain of His Grace, the sunshine of His countenance. b. Life Itself is a Vineyard the life of a man as it is lived amongst his fellows. The life of the family in which each one of us is a son, a brother, a daughter, a sister here is a sheltered spot of the vineyard in which God bids us work, and in which many stand in God's sight all the day idle. I think that the lazy selfishness of many a young man in his home life, though he is active enough in a wider sphere, is neither creditable to himself nor to the Christian name he bears. There must of necessity be great variety in the work to be done by each in the vineyard of life, but amidst all this variety there is unity. Go where you may, you cannot escape the call to be God's workman. God bids a clergyman go into the vineyard, but the call to him is not substantially different from the call to any other man. God calls the soldier, the lawyer, the business man to work in his vineyard. Neither is sex any restriction. God calls the woman in her many duties to work in His vineyard. God bids us set before ourselves in youth as in age this one object so to live as to make others better, so to live as to make God known. III. What Answer are We Making? We are here some of us in the early morning of life, and some have reached the eleventh hour. Still the same call, patient and long-suffering, is in all our ears. Honestly, are we really at work in God's vineyard, or are we in God's sight still standing idle? The selfish life is an idle life, and this is the point I wish specially to emphasize. Are we saying in reply to God's question, 'Because no man hath hired us'? The parable speaks of the heat and burden of the day. That burden is not avoided, that burning sun is not escaped by those who stand idle. For each of us life will have its load. The toils, cares, and sorrows of life are not lightened, but rather multiplied, by living for ourselves. Yet the scorching sun will beat upon those equally within or without the vineyard. Only there will be this difference. Shall we have a friend constant in life and changeless in eternity, or shall we be living and dying by ourselves? Even to the longest life comes an evening which is both a sunset and a dawn. References. XX. 6, 7. H. Scott Holland, Church Times, vol. xlii. 1899, p. 347; see also, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lvi. 1899, p. 193. C. Herbert, ibid. vol. lxiii. 1903, p. 93. XX. 7. W. H. Hutchings, Sermon-Sketches, p. 65. A. Legge, Christian World Pulpit, vol. li. 1897, p. 138. Matthew 20:8 We are not sent into this world to stand idle all the day long, but to go forth to our work and to our labour until the evening. Until the evening, not in the evening only of our life, but serving God from our youth, and not waiting till our years fail us... The end is the proof of the matter. That evening will be the trial; when the heat, and fever, and noise of the noontide are over, and the light fades, and the prospect saddens, and the shades lengthen, and the busy world is still. Newman. References. XX. 8. Bishop A. Pearson, Sermons for the People (2nd Series), vol. ii. p. 161. XX. 9. R. Collyer, Where the Spirit Dwelleth, p. 37. XX. 13. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year (2nd Series), vol. i. p. 113. XX. 13-16. A. G. Mortimer, The Church's Lessons for the Christian Year, part iv. p. 191. XX. 14. J. Baldwin Brown, Misread Passages of Scripture, p. 25. A. W. Potts, School Sermons, p. 29. W. J. Butler, Sermons for Working Men, The Oxford Sermon Library, vol. ii. p. 99. J. H. Jellett, The Elder Son, p. 43. XX. 15. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. ii. No. 77. W. Cunningham, Church Times, vol. xxxii. 1894, p. 642. S. Cox, Expositions, p. 208. H. Scott Holland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lv. 1899, p. 65. F. E. Paget, Sermons for Special Occasions, p. 181. R. Flint, Sermons and Addresses, p. 241. Many Called, But Few Chosen Matthew 20:16 Few are choice: such surely is the thought of our text. There are such distinctions among the adherents of the Kingdom. It does not follow that because all are enrolled in the same service they are all either equally efficient or equally worthy. Some wear their: loyalty with a difference. They are the élite of the Christian society, the flower and chivalry of the band; whose number, unhappily, is soon counted. Consider then this outer Christian circle how wide it is: and this inner Christian circle how select it is: also how one may hope to pass from the one within the other. I. This outer circle consider how large it is. 'Many,' says our Lord, 'are called.' By which it is evident that He means not merely privileged to hear God's merciful invitation addressed to them, but inwardly drawn to obey it as well. He is thinking of the Kingdom's bona fide servants, who wear the genuine livery and render a service which will be rewarded in its measure one day; and of such He says that they are 'many'. II. Nevertheless it remains true that amongst the many few are 'choice'. The inner circle is select-always. They are 'choice'; that is, they are men chosen or picked out of the Christian band. You. note in them a selectness, a refinement, and a Christian grace, which put them in a category quite different from the ordinary, and merit for them the name of Christ's 'chosen' or 'choice' disciples. 1. For example, there is what may be termed the unworldly type. Very often such a man is more thoughtful than other men more prone to meditation than they, and loving no exercise more than to place himself in the presence of God, and brood there over the deep things of existence. 2. There is what you may call the more especially Christian type. That is to say, there are Christians of whom it is in a peculiar degree true that Jesus Christ is the Alpha and Omega of their lives. 3. There is what you may call the filial type. I mean the Christians whose grand endeavour manifestly is to live here the life of a son of God. III. The means by which any of us may hope to pass from the outer to the inner circle of Christ's followers. 1. First, it is a thing never to be forgotten that the makings of a saint are in every Christian. Sometimes it is supposed that it is only specially favoured natures that may dare to aspire so high. Nature may give some men the start, but grace duly improved must surpass nature in the long run. 2. And again remember that the scene in which a believer is to attain all this is just the life the very ordinary and commonplace life, as a rule he already has. You know the other misgiving that haunts men here. No sooner do they waken to the high aims God sets before them than they are apt to sigh for better opportunities of realizing them. We may be sure that if there had been another life in which we would have been more favourably placed for parting with our old nature for the image of the heavenly, He would have given us that life, for He is God and can give nothing but the best. A. Martin, Winning the Soul, p. 117. References. XX. 16. B. Wilberforce, Feeling After Him, p. 171. Henry Alford, Sermons on Christian Doctrine, p. 134. J. Fraser, Parochial and other Sermons, p. 105. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxvii. No. 2221. XX. 17-19. Ibid. vol. xxxvii. No. 2212. XX. 20-23. R. Rainy, Sojourning with God, p. 80. F. D. Huntington, Christian Believing and Living, p. 232. Matthew 20:21 Nearly all the evils in the Church have arisen from bishops desiring power more than light They want authority, not outlook. Ruskin. References. XX. 21, 22. A. F. Winnington Ingram, Church Times, vol. lii. 1904, p. 145. See also Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxvi. 1904, p. 105. Matthew 20:22 'Words are given prodigally,' says F. W. Robertson in a letter, 'and sacrificial acts must toil for years to cover the space which a single fervid promise has stretched itself over.' 'It has for many generations been an Italian error,' says Agostino in Mr. Meredith's Vittoria, 'to imagine a positive blood relationship not to say maternity itself existing between intentions and deeds.' The Ventures of Faith Matthew 20:22 Success and reward everlasting they will have, who persevere unto the end. Doubt we cannot, that the ventures of all Christ's servants must be returned to them at the Last Day with abundant increase. This is a true saying, He returns far more than we lend to Him, and without fail. But I am speaking of individuals, of ourselves one by one. No one among us knows for certain that he himself will persevere; yet every one among us, to give himself even a chance of success at all, must make a venture. As regards individuals, then, it is quite true, that all of us must for certain make ventures for heaven, yet without the certainty of success through them. This, indeed, is the very meaning of the word 'venture'; for that is a strange venture which has nothing in it of fear, risk, danger, anxiety, uncertainty. Yes; so it certainly is; and in this consists the excellence and nobleness of faith; this is the very reason why faith is singled out from other graces, and honoured as the especial means of our justification, because its presence implies that we have the heart to make a venture. The Old Age of St. John the Divine [St. John] had to bear a length of years in loneliness, exile, and weakness. He had to experience the dreariness of being solitary, when those whom he loved had been summoned away. He had to live in his own thoughts, without familiar friend, with those only about him who belonged to a younger generation. Of him were demanded by his gracious Lord, as pledges of his faith, all his eye loved and his heart held converse with. He was as a man moving his goods into a far country, who at intervals and by portions send them before him, till his present abode is wellnigh unfurnished. He sent forward his friends on their journey, while he stayed himself behind, that there might be those in heaven to have thoughts of him, to look out for him, and receive him when his Lord should call. He sent before him, also, other still more voluntary pledges and ventures of his faith, a self-denying walk, a zealous maintenance of the truth, fasting and prayers, labours of love, a virgin life, buffetings from the heathen, persecution, and banishment. Well might so great a saint say, at the end of his days 'Come, Lord Jesus!' as those who are weary of the night, and wait for the morning. All his thoughts, all his contemplations, desires, and hopes, were stored in the invisible world; and death, when it came, brought back to him the sight of what he had worshipped, what he had loved, what he had held intercourse with, in years long past away. Then, when again brought into the presence of what he had lost, how would remembrance revive, and familiar thoughts long buried come to life! Who shall dare to describe the blessedness of those who find all their pledges safe returned to them, all their ventures abundantly and beyond measure satisfied? J. H. Newman. References. XX. 22. E. B. Pusey, Parochial Sermons, vol. ii. p. 98. G. W. Herbert, Notes of Sermons, p. 234. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Holy-Tide Teaching, p. 143. J. M. Neale, Sermons for Some Feast Days in the Christian Year, p. 204; see also, Sermons Preached in Sackville College Chapel, vol. iv. p. 136. A. Fleming, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxvi. 1904, p. 294. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for Saints' Days, p. 150. XX. 22, 23. Bristow Wilson, The Communion of Saints, p. 180. Next the Throne Matthew 20:23 The seats by Christ's side. There is distinctly, in the words of my text, the principle of diversity of degree corresponding to what we call rank, and that diversity depends upon, and is, diversity in closeness to Jesus Christ. All shall be close to Him, and all shall be every moment getting closer, but there shall be diversity in the proximity, and some shall sit on the right hand and on the left. Of course we start with the conception of equality. All get the penny in the parable. All 'sit down with Him on the throne,' which is the apex of the universe. But perfection does not exclude growth. Equality does not exclude variety, and perfection is not inconsistent with progress, and if there be progress there must necessarily be diversity of stages. Such diversity is a necessary result of the very conception of the future, as being the retribution for the present. Nor let us forget, in reference to this diversity, that we are taught in the context to discharge from our minds, in connexion with it, all earthly ideas of superiority, wherein the excellency of the one is the inferiority of the others, and preeminence for A means degradation for all the rest of the alphabet. II. The law of precedence in the kingdom. It belongs to them 'for whom it is prepared of My Father'. The language is strongly metaphorical. The seats are prepared, first, for those that have drunk most deeply of Christ's cup. The measure in which we Christian people incorporate Jesus Christ into ourselves here will determine all our future. The context gives a second condition of that preeminence. It falls to those who most fully imitate His life and death of service and sacrifice. Unselfish service for His sake is the only path. These words about the preparation by the Father further suggest the certainty that these seats thus prepared shall be ours if we adhere to the conditions. III. My text speaks of Jesus Christ as, under the aforesaid laws and restrictions, the Giver of the precedence. To take the words before us as being an unconditional disclaimer, on His part, of His authority to give heavenly places would be to run counter to the whole tenor of Scripture. For His disclaimer must necessarily be interpreted with reference to the conceptions to which it is the answer. And these conceptions were that He could give the kingdom, and preeminence in it, as a pure piece of partiality, and arbitrary favouritism, with regard to fitness. The gift is surely from His hand, for if the hand had not been pierced with the nails it never had been able to give the crown. And all that we hope for in the future, or possess in the present, is alike the purchase of His blood and the result of His great sacrifice. A. Maclaren, The Unchanging Christ, p. 24. The Cross and the Throne (For St. James the Apostle's Bay) Matthew 20:23 The incident recorded in the Gospel is a familiar one in the life of St. James and his brother St. John. Salome, their mother, was evidently jealous of the sons of Jonas, the late neighbours and partners of her own sons; and as she, like all other mothers, loved her own above all others, she yielded to the temptation to desire from Christ that they should occupy the most exalted position in His kingdom (Mark 10:35-37 ). I. But She Asked for a Wrong Thing; and St. James and St. John did wrong when they prevailed upon their mother to intercede with Christ for them. Ambition is a salutary stimulus if free from selfishness; but when it is allied to selfishness, it is a passion charged with pride, envy, and covetousness, and most injurious to the soul. Christ declared His emphatic disapprobation of such selfish ambition. 'If any man,' said He, 'will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow Me.' The cross, therefore, must be borne ere the throne be occupied. And this St. James and St. John found out in their after-experience; they were both baptized with the baptism of Christ, and drained the same cup of suffering. This toned down their ambition, chastened their spirit, and sanctified their life. II. The Martyrdom of St. James. In the forty-fourth year of our Lord, about the time of the Passover, St. James was accused by some of the Jews to Herod, who, to conciliate them, ordered his apprehension, and condemned him to death. On his way to execution, it is said that St. James performed a miracle of healing upon a paralytic, by which one Josias a principal witness against the Apostle was so affected that he fell at his feet and implored his pardon. Surprised at this sudden change, St. James raised him up and embraced him; and after he had imprinted a kiss on his cheek, he saluted him, saying, 'Peace be to thee, my brother'. This return of good for evil, of love for hate, so wrought on Josias that he there and then declared that he was, too, a believer in Christ This bold confession led to his condemnation also; and he was beheaded at the same time and place as St. James. St. James had thus the great honour of being the proto-martyr of the Apostles, as St. Stephen had that of being the proto-martyr of the Church. Such was his preeminence at last; and now his desire is gratified he sits with Christ in His throne. From the Foundation Matthew 20:23 This is part of Christ's answer to the mother of Zebedee's children. It was a little family gathering; they had made it all up among themselves. There are many toy-makers. They thought it would be well if the kingdom of heaven could be in some way divided amongst the family. Some people's notion of heaven never gets beyond some family arrangement. They are themselves little, and can only do with little notions. We think that God is living from hand to mouth, inventing a new policy for every day, introducing surprises into the economy of His kingdom. Jesus Christ rebukes that foolish and truly atheistic notion, for there is no God in it, and He says in effect, The kingdom is already apportioned; the right-hand seat and the left-hand seat are already reserved. God does nothing by surprise and offhand and at the bidding of human suggestion; from the foundation every seat was settled. I. 'From the foundation;' and where is the foundation? It is in the thought of God, in the purpose of the Eternal, away beyond all the little candle-stars, away where no comet has ever been seen by mortal vision, away to the everlasting, the unbeginning, the inconceivable, the ineffable that wondrous position that we want to define by polysyllables, and cannot. Now Jesus Christ was with the Father from the foundation; He was part of the foundation; yea, He was an essential element in the foundation; He was before all things, and by Him all things consist, and by Him all things will be judged. When there were no fountains abounding with water He faced the Eternal Love. So when He speaks thus to the mother of Zebedee's children He does not renounce His majesty, He uses His limitation that He may help her beyond her own. All things, according to the teaching of Christ, have been settled from the foundation, part of the Divine purpose, part of the Divine nature, wondrous, ineffable things, before even dreams began or poetry fashioned a harp. II. See how the Incarnation is defined. Let us reverently paraphrase the music of the Son of God: Lord, I have come to do Thy will in the prepared body; I have come to show the world something of what the world could never see, the glory I had with Thee before the world was. This was the purpose of the Incarnation, to show all men and women in all ages that everything was in the purpose of God and will be settled according to the Divine purpose; and as for the front seats and the back seats and the intermediate seats, woman, man, mother of ambitious sons, all these things were settled from the foundation. III. And then see how it not only defines the Incarnation, but how it interprets the great ministry of providence. How many things are settled for us, if we would only believe it, and how many prayers are answered which are never offered except by some Divine intent which is a great mystery in the heart of every man. We have the most of things without asking for them. There are some things it would be absurd to ask for. We owe all the greatest things to prayers we never uttered and never can utter, and would de-Christianize ourselves if we attempted to utter them. We live in the greater prayer. The only happiness is consonance with God, unity with that which was from the foundation I mean the foundation below the foundation, the base below the base, the other base that makes the superficial base a possible term in geometry or economy. Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. iv. p. 127. Matthew 20:23 There was never wedge of gold that did not first pass the fire; there was never pure grain that did not undergo the flail. Let who will, hope to walk upon roses and violets to the throne of heaven: O Saviour, let me trace Thee by the track of Thy blood, and by Thy red steps follow Thee to Thine eternal rest and happiness. Bishop Hall. References. XX. 23. J. Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. iv. p. 127. E. L. Hull, Sermons Preached at King's Lynn, (3rd Series), p. 58. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 56; see also Sermons Preached in Manchester (3rd Series), p. 351. XX. 25 R. F. Horton, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxx. 1906, p. 225. XX. 25, 26. J. Clifford, ibid. vol. xliii. 1893, p. 280. Matthew 20:26 The great cry with everybody is get on, get on! just as if the world were travelling post. How astonished people will be, when they arrive in heaven, to find the angels, who are so much wiser, laying no schemes to be made archangels! Julius Hare. It is a beautiful and salutary arrangement which we seldom reflect on as we ought, that, as a rule, men can only become rich and great by supplying some want of their fellow-men, by doing some work for others which others need and are willing to pay for, be that work moral guidance or material provision. We cannot rise to command except by stooping to serve; we cannot obtain conspicuous station among men or power over them without in some way or other rendering ourselves useful or necessary to them. W. Rathbone Greg, Literary and Social Judgments, p. 486. Greatness By Service Matthew 20:26-28 I. Christ stood forth before men, and said, 'Behold I am among you as He that serveth'. St. Paul singled out this as the characteristic feature of his Divine Master that, though He was in the form of God, He emptied Himself of all honour and glory, and took upon Him the form of a slave. Yet, in spite of Christ and His Apostles, in spite of the influence of the Church as a moral force, the idea still survives in many quarters that to serve others in a menial or subordinate capacity is degrading, while to be served by others is an honourable and dignified estate. We commonly speak of our Lord's 'human ministry'. But do we reflect that the word 'ministry' simply means service, the doing of helpful, assisting work, and that a large space of Christ's time was spent in healing the sick and the suffering (which was reckoned in those days to be the work of a slave), and more generally in surrendering His own personal freedom for the sake of bearing the burdens of the obscure and friendless. II. Service, however lowly, when willingly rendered in the spirit of sympathetic concern for others' good, exalts the doer. But the service must cost the doer of it something. It is best and rarest when the heart's blood is distilled into it: it is worth most when combined with careful thought and intelligence. True service, such as confers greatness, is the ripe fruit of a long discipline of the impulses and the emotions, carried on through many stages, and only perfected after many ambitious failures. Doing good and being good are indissolubly united, being the active and the passive sides of the Christian character. And, like all beautiful things, both are arduous. III. No one not even the best of us who feels the call to minister to others' good, and nobly ventures along that difficult path, can be sure that success will attend his efforts. But no one who does this in sincerity and humbleness can make of his life half so dismal a failure as he who is always demanding from others the willing service that he never thinks of repaying. J. W. Shepard, Light and Life, p. 254. References. XX. 27. Henry Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons, vol. i. p. 51. XX. 27, 28. Lyman Abbott, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlix. 1896, p. 226. The Servant-lord and His Servants Matthew 20:28 I. Let us look first at the perfect life of service of the Servant-Lord. In order to appreciate the significance of that life of service, we must take into account the introductory words, 'The Son of Man came'. They declare His pre-existence, His voluntary entrance into the conditions of humanity, and His denuding Himself of 'the glory which He had with the Father before the world was'. We shall never understand the Servant-Christ until we understand that He is the Eternal Son of the Father. His service began when He laid aside, not the garments of earth, but the vesture of the heavens, and girded Himself not with the cincture woven in man's looms, but with the flesh of our humanity, 'and being found in fashion as a man,' bowed Himself to enter into the conditions of earth. It was much that His hands should heal, that His lips should comfort, that His heart should bleed with sympathy for sorrow. But it was more that He had hands to touch, lips to speak to human hearts, and the heart of a man and a brother to feel with us as well as for us. But then, passing beyond this, we may dwell upon the features, familiar as they are, of that wonderful life of self-oblivious and self-sacrificing ministration to others. 1. The life of Jesus Christ is self-forgetting love made visible. The source from which his ministrations have flowed is the pure source of a perfect love, 2. No taint of bye-ends was in that service; no sidelong glances at possible advantages of influence, or reputation, or the like, which so often deform men's philanthropies and services to one another. Like the clear sea, weedless and stainless, that laves the marble steps of the palaces of Venice, the deep ocean of Christ's service to man was pure to the depths throughout. 3. That perfect ministry of the Servant-Lord was rendered with strange spontaneity and cheerfulness. On His cross He had leisure to turn from His own physical sufferings and the weight of a world's sin, which lay upon Him, to look at the penitent by His side, and He ended His life in the ministry of mercy to a brigand. And thus cheerfully, and always without a thought of self, 'He came to minister'. 4. Think, too, of the sweep of His ministrations. They took in all men; they were equally open to enemies and to friends, to mockers and to sympathizers. Think of the variety of the gifts which He brought in his ministry caring for body and for soul; alleviating sorrow, binding up wounds, purifying hearts; dealing with sin, the fountain, and with miseries, its waters, with equal helpfulness and equal love. 5. And think of how that ministry was always ministration by a Lord. For there is nothing to me more remarkable in the Gospel narrative than the way in which, side by side, there lie in Christ's life the two elements, so difficult to harmonize in fact, and so impossible to have been harmonized in a legend, the consciousness of authority and the humility of a servant. 6. That ministration was a service that never shrank from stern rebuke. For it is not service but cruelty to sympathize with the sinner, and say nothing in condemnation of his sin. And yet no sternness is blessed which is not plainly prompted by desire to help. II. Secondly, note the service that should be modelled on His. There is no ground on which we can rest greatness or superiority in Christ's kingdom except this ground of service. The servant who serves for love is highest in the hierarchy of heaven, If we are ever to be near the right and the left of the Master in His kingdom, there is one way, and only one way to get it, and that is to make self abdicate its authority as the centre of our lives, and to enthrone there Christ, and for His sake all our brethren. Be ambitious to be first, but, remember, Noblesse oblige . He that is first must be last. A. Maclaren, Christ's Musts, p. 55. Matthew 20:28 This was one of the three texts which Dean Colet quoted in addressing Wolsey at his installation as Cardinal in Westminster Abbey. The others were, 'He who is least among you shall be greatest in the kingdom of heaven,' and 'He who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted'. References. XX. 28. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iv. No. 181. C. J. Ridgeway, The King and His Kingdom, p. 50; see also Christian World Pulpit, vol. lii. 1897, p. 285. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. pp. 71, 80. Hugh Black, Christ's Service of Love, p. 23. W. H. Murray, The Fruits of the Spirit, p. 441. H. Scott Holland, Logic and Life, p. 227. XX. 29-34. Archbishop Trench, Notes on the Miracles of Our Lord, p. 351. J. Laidlaw, The Miracles of Our Lord, p. 323. XX. 32. Henry Alford, Quebec Gospel Sermons, vol. iii. p. 146. XX. 34. J. Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. v. p. 98. Seeing and Following Matthew 20:34 Here is the greatest of all prayers: 'Lord, that our eyes may be opened '. We can do nothing until that great miracle is worked. It is just there that God comes in; after that, certain consequences will happily flow, but those consequences are impossible until a certain miracle has been wrought. 'Lord, that our eyes may be opened.' We have eyes, but the very possession of them is a trouble to us, because it is a continual mockery; our very eyes seem to be groping after the light, and cannot find it. 'Lord, that our eyes may be opened.' It is the inclusive prayer. Give us our eyesight, and then we may learn how to do certain little things at least for ourselves; but we cannot do them until our eyes are opened, and there is only one power that can open them: Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on us! I. Prayer is educational. Always pray for the thing you need, and let the things you want stand on one side. To want is one thing, to need is another. Mere want cannot pray; true need can do nothing but pray, it must cry. If we have this great faculty of discernment, we can make some little progress. II. They 'received' sight. Why did not they give themselves sight? Notice that word 'received'. It was through no power of their own; they had often rubbed their eyes, they had often touched their sightless eyeballs, but they had not that touch that would enable the eyes to receive the morning; they could only receive the kiss of the sun, not its smile. And we must make this a spiritual faculty, as it was a physical fact in the instance before us. We have nothing that we have not received. Is that so? Yes; and until you realize it you have no religion. True religion is an impossibility to your experience until you know that you are receivers and not originators. We are miracles of grace. The Apostle says, 'What hast thou that thou hast not received?' Art thou an eloquent man? thou art not eloquent of thyself, but thine eloquence explains some great act of reception. III. And here is the right use of faculty 'they followed Him'. 'They received sight, and they followed Him.' That is the kind of action which we call the true profession of Christianity. It is not nominal profession, it is not an offhand profession, but they followed Him. Why, they could see His footprints then. The joy of putting my feet into the very print on the ground made by Christ! Now that is impossible literally, but it signifies what is possible namely, the spiritual following of Christ, the keeping on the road He trod, the doing of the things He did, the entrance into the very spirit of redeeming love. Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. v. p. 98. Matthew 20:34 If pardon be, even for a moment, severed from a moral process of renovation, if these two are not made to stand in organic and vital connexion with one another, that door is opened through which mischief will rush. W. E. Gladstone. References. XXI. 1-3. A. G. Mortimer, One Hundred Miniature Sermons, vol. i. p. 1. XXI. 1-5. J. M. Neale, Sermons on the Prophets, vol. ii. p. 208. XXI. 1-16. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 89. XXI. 2, 3. Jesse Brett, The Soul's Escape, p. 77. XXI. 3. H. P. Liddon, Passion-Tide Sermons, p. 167. J. M. Neale, Sermons for the Church's Year, vol. ii. p. 80. XXI. 4. C. Kingsley, Sermons on National Subjects, p. 1. XXI. 4, 5. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 97. Harvey Goodwin, Parish Sermons, p. 275. C. A. Berry, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlv. 1894, p. 273. XXI. 5. J. Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. v. p. 279. C. J. Ridgeway, The King and His Kingdom, p. 50. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year (2nd Series), vol. i. p. 183. C. Kingsley, Sermons on National Subjects, p. 306. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. vii. No. 405; vol. xviii. No. 1038. XXI. 7, 8, 9. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year, vol. i. p. 249. Palm Sunday and Its Lessons Matthew 21:9 Palm Sunday ought to have something to say to us, if we can hear its voice and learn its lessons. I. One thing we learn here is that the sympathies of the multitude are right. This great mass of people, untaught, ignorant, simple-minded, with no one to guide them, instinctively gave their honour and adoration to Christ. They had heard of His kindly works, His sympathy with all who were in sorrow, His uniform goodness and purity, and their hearts went out to Him. Their instincts, as we may call them, were right. But their opinions and judgments were weak and easily swayed. And when a few crafty priests and glib-tongued Pharisees had been in and out among them saying this and that false thing of Christ, slandering and reviling Him, and declaring that He sought not the people's good, but to subvert their customs and destroy the nation, that was quite enough to change the sentiments and voices of all who had greeted Him with Hosannas. You can get any sort of music from a crowd, if you know how to play skilfully enough. Everything depends upon those to whom they lend their ears their guides and leaders. II. The ideals of the multitude are often coarse and material, and sorely need to be purified and raised. On that Palm Sunday they were chanting praises, not to the real Christ as He was, but to the imaginary Christ which they thought He ought to be. When they spread those palm branches for Him to tread upon, they had no idea that He had come to save them from their sins and uncleanness, and to purify their hearts. They thought He was the Messiah whose purpose was to enrich them and the nation with wealth and bodily comfort, to relieve them of Rome's bondage and heavy taxation, and bring in a time of plenty and prosperity for the very poorest. That was what the shoutings and songs of Palm Sunday meant. And that sort of glorying and huzzaing could not last. It was soon to pass away, like so much empty breath, simply because it came out of a falsehood. They found out very soon that that coarse material work was not Christ's purpose at all, and then they turned against Him. There is no real worship of Christ save that which is founded on a true understanding of His character and mission. He comes not to change things without, but to make the world slowly new by a change of the heart within. III. Palm Sunday bids you go steadily on. You are not to be elated by temporary triumphs, or cast down by the proved fickleness of those among whom you labour. If you are engaged in any sort of public work you will have the palm branches waved around you at one season, and ere long there will be no palm branches, but something not unlike the shadow of a cross. And you need to steady your heart's purpose by sitting at the feet of Christ. J. G. Greenhough, Christian Festivals and Anniversaries, p. 20. Advent Matthew 21:9 The Advent, or coming of Christ, in one sense or other is the message of all Scripture. This coming of Christ is manifold in its nature. I. Christ came to visit us in great humility. At first men found no room for Him, and then they slew Him. There were occasions, however, when the power of His Divine majesty claimed their wonder and adoration even at this season. A great multitude spread their garments in the way as though He were some mighty king; others strewed palm branches before Him, as though He were some triumphant conqueror; and all cried to Him as unto their Saviour Hosanna. And yet in one short week the King the Conqueror the Saviour was forgotten; and men cried Away with Him Crucify Him and mocked Him as He hung upon the cross. This advent of Christ into Jerusalem is but a figure and a pattern of His general reception in the world. We must not only be willing to confess a conquering King, but ready also to believe in a crucified Saviour. II. Think of the Second Advent of Christ's entrance into a new Zion not to die but to reign when He shall 'return in glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead '. Think then of the witness which our own conscience will bear against us when Christ shall judge the world; and so judge yourselves that ye be not judged. We know nothing perhaps so little or so badly as our own heart. It will not be so at that day. Then we shall see our sins as God sees them. No one speaks carelessly of death and the judgment after death but he who knows nothing of himself nothing of God. The first lesson which we learn of our own nature, if we deal sincerely with ourselves, must be one of deep, inexpressibly deep humility. The first lesson which we learn from the Bible, if we truly realize its teaching, must be one of deep, inexpressibly deep gratitude. III. But there is yet a third Advent full of joy and peace and hope and comfort to every troubled soul. Christ comes to each one of us who have been made His in especial manner as He once came to His own, in love and tenderness. If Christ be already with you, labour more and more earnestly that your whole life may be devoted to God through Him. If Christ be not found in you, pray faithfully for the presence which He has pledged to you. Pray faithfully, earnestly, ceaselessly, and be very sure that your prayer will be heard, and Christ will come to you, and make His dwelling with you. But that Christ may thus come to us, we must cast out all that is hostile to Him. We must patiently wait for Him. We must be silent. We must pray to Him, as the multitude prayed, Hosanna. Save now, we beseech Thee. B. F. Westcott, Village Sermons, p. 1. References. XXI. 9. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Sunday Sermonettes for a Year, p. 72. W. C. E. Newbolt, Church Times, vol. xlix. 1903, p. 489. R. W. Church, Village Sermons (2nd Series), p. 1. M. G. Glazebrook, Prospice, p. 98. H. P. Liddon, Passion-Tide Sermons, p. 196. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxvii. No. 2196. Parker, Inner Life of Christ, vol. iii. p. 91; and see his Homiletic Analysis of Matthew. Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iii. p. 136. Pulpit Analyst, vol. iii. p. 654. Dr. Arnold's Sermons (3rd Series), No. ix. 'Who Is This?' Matthew 21:10 Who is this? The question was asked by some, no doubt, in idle curiosity; by some, perhaps, in doubting hesitation, for the days were evil, and the glory seemed to have departed from Israel; by some with eager hope that the answer would announce their King. I. So is the question asked still in varying moods. Who is this? Who is the Leader of the great Christian procession of the ages? The Chief Figure in that procession is now as of old a Master of men. But who is He? Why do men go after Him? It is a great question for every soul. You can hardly escape it. That great procession passes by your doors, incessant and unending. You must have an answer. It is answered in the text, you say. This is the Prophet, Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee. Yes, that was a true answer as far as it went; but we cannot forget that the men who gave it seem soon to have lost their faith in the Prophet. II. Who is this? The question comes to us still, and meets, alas! at times with as poor an answer. Men and women still follow the great Christian procession. They join in the Confession, which declares that He on whom their eyes are fixed is the Christ, the Redeemer, 'Very God, of Very God'. But they have not really thought of what they are saying. And so when the question comes to them, as come it surely does one day, Who is this? they receive a shock. It is best left to theologians, they suppose; and so they take refuge in an answer which nobody can gainsay: This is Jesus, the Prophet. He was the world's greatest Teacher, who spake as man never spake, who brought men a message of holiness and peace. They do not see that they have given the lie to all their previous professions; they have robbed their halfhearted allegiance of the only element which justified its existence at all. III. It is a real danger that we should acquiesce in this way of thinking about our Lord. The devotion of the Christian centuries is not devotion to the memory of a great Prophet of the past, but love to an ever-present Lord and King who still lives and reigns among men. We cannot replace the one conception by the other without disaster to our spiritual life, without a shipwreck of faith, without peril to our souls. And thus the story of the text with its terrible sequel teaches us the miserable insufficiency of any such view of the Christ as that which regards Him only as a great Teacher, a great Prophet Such a belief as that will not nerve men and women with courage to trust Him in an hour of spiritual darkness, in days of perplexity and distress and pain. J. H. Bernard, Via Domini, p. 136. References. XXI. 10. J. Cameron Lees, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lviii. 1895, p. 116. H. P. Liddon, Advent in St. Paul's, p. 1. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. li. No. 2939. XXI. 10-16. Selected Sermons of Schleiermacher, p. 103. Matthew 21:12 As the good husbandman, when he sees the leaves grow yellow, and the branches unthriving, looks presently to the root; so didst Thou, O Holy Saviour, upon sight of the disorders spread over Judea and Jerusalem, address Thyself to the rectifying of the temple. Bishop Hall. When nations are to perish in their sins, 'Tis in the Church that leprosy begins. Cowper. References. XXI. 12-14. V. R. Lennard, Passion-Tide and Easter, p. 33. XXI. 13. A. G. Mortimer, One Hundred Miniature Sermons, vol. i. p. 7. T. H. Ball, Persuasions, p. 1. R. F. Horton, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lviii. 1900, p. 8. F. D. Huntington, Christian Believing and Living, p. 602. XXI. 15. W. H. Lyon, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lviii. 1900, p. 269. XXI. 15, 16. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxx. No. 1785. XXI. 17. W. P. Balfern, Glimpses of Jesus, p. 167. XXI. 17-20. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxv. No. 2107. XXI. 17-22. J. Laidlaw, The Miracles of Our Lord, p. 125. Archbishop Trench, Notes on the Miracles of Our Lord, p. 357. XXI. 18, 19. V. R. Lennard, Passion-Tide and Easter, p. 33. XXI. 18-22. W. M. Taylor, The Miracles of Our Saviour, p. 412. Punishment Matthew 21:19 'Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever;' and presently the fig-tree withered away. A stern sentence surely, and executed with dreadful swiftness, and for that very reason, worthy of our notice; since it concerns us very deeply to remember, that although the Lord our God is gracious and merciful, slow to-anger and of great kindness, He who is very Holiness cannot bear with wilful and unrepented sin. He Who is the Truth itself may not endure hypocrisy, and the pretence of righteousness in those that have it not. Consider carefully what the real forgiveness of sins is, and what are its conditions. There are two great facts about sin and forgiveness: I. In this World there is no 'Forgiveness of Sins'. Nature is unflinchingly, cruelly just. Those who keep her laws shall prosper, those who break them must suffer. We all recognize this to some extent in outward things, and shape our course accordingly. We know that the fire will burn us, that the deep waters will drown us, and we call him a madman who acts as if it were not so, and suffers for his neglect. But the laws of our moral nature are not less stern. We may dream, if we will, that we can play for a while with the burning fire of lust or anger, and come away unscathed, but it is not so; before we know it, our souls are seared and branded with scars that nothing earthly can ever efface. Let us never fancy that we can sin a sin and be done with it. When you are tempted to sin, think what you are doing not to yourself only, nor your neighbours, but toothers, whom maybe you will never know. In this world there is no forgiveness of sins. Yet we believe that God will pardon us and heal us, if we turn to Him rightly; it was for this that Jesus Christ died upon the cross; that we might be cleansed and restored, and live with Him for ever. II. There is no Forgiveness at all without Repentance. Real repentance means doing as well as feeling; and the first thing to do is to read carefully through that sad chapter of the past which we would so gladly close for ever, in order that we may truly know what we have been doing; and laying our sin before God in all its meanness, stripped of every excuse, implore His pardon. It may be, of course, if we have been grievously sinning against others, that our conscience will bid us make open confession and reparation; but in every case there must be absolute plainness with ourselves, absolute submission to God. You see it is not a pleasant nor an easy thing to repent; think of this too when you are going to sin. III. Consider the especial sin and its punishment which are denounced in our text; the sin of spiritual barrenness, what I may call ineffectualness, the failure to help our fellow-creatures, and its punishment, the loss of power to help. Day by day, and hour by hour, the choice of good and evil is offered to you, and every time you choose the better part you are bearing fruit acceptable to God; every time you yield, and choose the worst, you are losing power; and remember this, that if you go on refusing God's service, and doing what seems easiest, a time will come when it will be too late, when the will is utterly paralysed, and repentance is only despair. To such an one the judgment is come in his lifetime; on him already the terrible doom is pronounced, 'Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever'. Is it not the experience of all of you, that already your own shortcomings have prevented you from boldly rebuking vice, or stretching out a hand of help, when you would gladly have done it, if you had dared. Let us learn of Jesus Christ how the poor wasted lives, which we menage so ill for ourselves, may become rich and useful these are His words: 'I am the Vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in Me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without Me ye can do nothing.' J. H. F. Peile, Ecclesia Discens, p. 97. Fruitlessness Matthew 21:19 The whole thing is symbolical only so is it intelligible. I. Christ Seeking Fruit. He comes to give, but also to require. He has a right to you. He is the Creator of you, as of the tree, and He is the Redeemer. He desires fruit from you. He not only demands, but desires, longs for and delights in it. The fruit He desires is yourself. II. The Barrenness which is a Crime. What a lively image of human nature this is plenty of leaves, that is professions, talk, etc., but no fruit! Now observe that naturally we ought to bring forth fruit. Human nature is made for God, to blossom in goodness just as does the tree. He comes requiring, for the demands of God's law cannot drop down to our impotence. What we ought to be remains always the same, however much we may vary. III. The Close of the Time of Seeking. This points to the great law of the limitation of the period of probation. The whole analogy of God's dealings seems to teach that the time of probation is limited. Christ comes seeking fruit for the last time, then there is: IV. The Punishment of Fruitlessness by Perpetual Fruitlessness. Sin punished by continual sinfulness. A natural process which God allows to take effect. And this is the most awful idea of hell, that the bottomless pit is an endless descent; that the fire which shall never be quenched is the fire of burning passions; that the chains of darkness are 'the cords of his sins'. Every sin tends thitherwards. A. Maclaren. The Barren Fig-tree Matthew 21:19 This tree was a symbol of that which, in man, is a worse sin than a merely fruitless life. It had leaves, you will observe, though it had no fruit. That was the distinction of this particular tree among its fellows ranged along the road, with their bare, leafless, unpromising branches. They held out hopes of nothing beyond what met the eye. This tree, with its abundant leaves, gave promise of fruit that might be wellnigh ripe, and thus it was a symbol of moral or of religious pretentiousness. I. And thus the fig-tree represented immediately, we cannot doubt, in our Lord's intention, the actual state of the Jewish people. The heathen nations, judged from a Divine point of view, were barren enough. Israel was barren also, but then Israel was also pretentious and false. Israel was the fig-tree of the spoken parable which our Lord had pronounced just a year before. No Jew with his eye on the language of the Prophets, particularly of Ezekiel, could have doubted that in this parable our Lord referred to the Jewish people; but what He then taught by words He now would teach, in its completeness, by action, for now the year for which the dresser of the vineyard had pleaded had just run out. During that year of patient appeal our Lord had stretched out His hands, in entreaty, all day long, to a disobedient and gainsaying people. The tree by the roadside was a visible symbol of the moral condition of Israel as it presented itself to the eye of Jesus Christ, and there was no longer any reason for suspending the judgment which had been foretold in the Saviour's parable. 'No man eat fruit of thee, hereafter, for ever.' If humanity needed light, strength, peace, consolations, Israel could no longer give them. Israel was hereafter to be a blasted and withered tree on the wayside of history. II. But the parable applies with equal force to nations or to Churches in Christendom, which make great pretensions and do little or nothing of real value to mankind. For a time the tree waves its leaves in the wind. It lives on, sustained by the traditional habits and reverence of ages. But, at His own time, Christ passes along the highway passes to inquire and to judge some unforeseen calamity, some public anxiety, some shock to general confidence, lifts the leaves of that tree, and discovers its real fruitlessness. III. To every individual Christian this parable is full of warning. The religious activity of the human soul may be divided, roughly, into leaves and fruit into showy forms of religious activity and interest, on the one side, and the direct produce of religious conviction on the other. It is much easier, we all know, to grow leaves than to grow fruit, and many a man's life veils the absence of fruit by the abundance of leaves. It is always easier, for instance, to take interest in and to discuss religious questions, than to submit the will entirely to religious principle. An anxious question for all of us is whether the foliage, so to call it, of our Christian life is the covering of fruit beneath that which is ripening for heaven, or whether it is only a thing of precocious and unnatural growth which has drained away the tree's best sap before its time, and made good fruit almost impossible. To take an interest in religious questions, in religious society, in religious observances, is most right and important; but it is not necessarily the same thing as being the servant of Christ our Lord in whose soul His wonder-working grace is bringing forth the fruit of the Spirit 'love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance'. We know that what He demands is fruit, not merely leaves. H. P. Liddon, Penny Pulpit, vol. xiv. No. 830, p. 317. References. XXI. 19. R. W. Church, Village Sermons (2nd Series), p. 71. H. P. Liddon, Sermons on Some Words of Christ, p. 100; see also Expository Sermons on the New Testament, p. 45. J. Parker, Hidden Springs, p. 98. XXI. 21. H. Ward Beecher, Sermons (1st Series), p. 536. XXI. 22. F. E. Paget, Helps and Hindrances to the Christian Life, vol. ii. p. 131. XXI. 23. J. A. Bain, Questions Answered by Christ, p. 65. A. F. Winnington Ingram, Lenten Mission, 1905, p. 35. XXI. 23-27. A. B. Davidson, Waiting Upon God, p. 183. F. D. Maurice, Lincoln's Inn Sermons, vol. iv. p. 84; see also Sermons, p. 95. XXI. 23-46. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlvii. No. 2756. XXI. 25. H. J. Martyn, For Christ and the Truth, p. 158. Working for the Master Matthew 21:28-30 I. Let us consider how this parable applies to the classes our Lord was especially addressing at that time. You will find on looking at the context that our Lord was addressing the elders and chief priests in the Temple. The chief priests and elders and Pharisees whose outward deportment seemed to make them correspond with the one who said, 'I go, sir, but went not,' rejected our Lord's teaching, disparaged His miracles, refused His invitations and scorned His threatenings, and, on the other hand, the history shows us that His preaching of the truth came home with power and effect to the hearts of the publicans and the harlots who pressed into the kingdom of God. Such is the application of the parable to those whom our Lord primarily addressed. You will see how it applies with equal force to the Jew and the Gentile. II. Let us bring this home to ourselves. Does not this parable find, in almost every congregation, two classes very aptly represented on the one hand by the first son who refused but afterwards went, and on the other by the second son who seemed to assent but nevertheless went not. In almost every congregation you will find a number of persons who may be very easily wrought upon and impressed by peculiar circumstances. There will be many who will listen with eager, breathless attention as the message comes: 'Go work Today in My vineyard'. The attitude they assume, their eager, riveted interest, might well fill a minister's heart with hope and confidence. Yet often those who say, 'I will not,' will doubtless be found amongst the best workers in the vineyard of Christ. How often have some of you known it in your own experience how the promise made on a sick bed is altogether forgotten when the season of health returns, and he who under sickness and trial responded readily to all the minister had to say about eternity shows how evanescent have been the resolutions he made, and the man who said 'I go' afterwards went not. III. The message comes to every one of us, 'Son, go work Today in My vineyard'. Prodigals as many of us may be, all our wanderings do not destroy the fact that we are still, in some sense, God's children, and He addresses us as our father: 'Son, go work Today in My vineyard'. But though salvation is freely provided and offered to us and becomes ours by faith in Him who wrought it out, yet there is a work for every one of us to do. There is no room for sloth, we are summoned to work for God, for ourselves and for others, and to work Today. Today is the only time that we can call our own. References. XXI. 28. C. G. Lang, Church Times, vol. Leviticus 9 Feb. 1906, p. 183. F. W. Farrar, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxvii. 1890, p. 353. W. L. Watkinson, ibid. vol. liv. 1898, p. 184; see also vol. lxvi. 1904, p. 122. H. W. Burrows, Oxford Lent Sermons, 1868, p. 45. A. F. Winnington Ingram, The Call of the Father, p. 114. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxiii. No. 1338. Promising Without Doing Matthew 21:28-30 So very difficult is obedience, so hardly won is every step in our Christian course, so sluggish and inert our corrupt nature, that I would have a man disbelieve he can do one jot or tittle beyond what he has already done; refrain from borrowing aught on the hope of the future, however good a security for it he seems to be able to show; and never take his good feelings and wishes in pledge for one single untried deed. Nothing but past acts are the vouchers for future. Past sacrifices, past labours, past victories over yourselves these, my brethren, are the tokens of the like in store, and doubtless of greater in store; for the path of the just is as the shining, growing light. But trust nothing short of these. 'Deeds, not words and wishes,' this must be the watchword of your warfare and the ground of your assurance But if you have done nothing firm and manly hitherto, if you are as yet the coward slave of Satan, and the poor creature of your lusts and passions, never suppose you will one day rouse yourselves from your indolence. J. H. Newman. References. XXI. 28-30. J. H. Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons, vol. i. p. 165. H. Scott Holland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lviii. 1895, p. 145. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlvii. No. 2747. XXI. 28-31. Stopford A. Brooke, Short Sermons, p. 287. T. Sadler, Sermons for Children, p. 30. C. J. Vaughan, Last Words in the Parish Church of Doncaster, p. 293. XXI. 28-32. B. W. Maturin, Practical Studies on the Parables of Our Lord, p. 110. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xiii. No. 742. Trench, Parables, p. 191. Calderwood, ibid. p. 163. Marcus Dods, ibid. p. 171. XXI. 28-32; 33-43. R. Winterbotham, The Kingdom of Heaven, p. 129. Matthew 21:29 That doing of the right thing, after a term of paralysis, cowardice any evil name is one of the mighty reliefs, equal to happiness, of longer duration. George Meredith, One of Our Conquerors, chap. xxv. References. XXI. 30. H. Ward Beecher, Sermons (1st Series), p. 414. XXI. 31. C. H. Parkhurst, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlvi. 1894, p. 388. Matthew 21:32 I have often observed how incongruous and irrational the common temper of mankind is, especially of youth, in that they are not ashamed to sin, and yet are ashamed to repent; not ashamed of the action for which they ought justly to be esteemed fools, but are ashamed of the returning, which only can make them be esteemed wise men. Defoe, Robinson Crusoe, chap. I. References. XXI. 33-46. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 107. XXI. 37. R. D. B. Rawnsley, Village Sermons (3rd Series), p. 12. XXI. 39. H. Hensley Henson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxviii. 1905, p. 296. XXI. 40, 41. H. Scott Holland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lviii. 1900, p. 153. XXI. 44. J. Smith, The Integrity of Scripture, p. 109. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 116; see also Sermons Preached in Manchester, p. 1; Creed and Conduct, p. 348. XXII. G. Tyrrell, Oil and Wine, p. 103. XXII. 1. B. Wilberforce, Sanctification by the Truth, p. 40. XXII. 1-4. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 126. XXII. 1-14. B. W. Maturin, Practical Studies on the Parables of Our Lord, p. 124. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlviii. No. 2809. XXII. 2. J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons (9th Series), p. 193. XXII. 2-4. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xvii. No. 975. XXII. 3. F. E. Paget, Helps and Hindrances to the Christian Life, vol. ii. p. 108. The Frivolous Spirit Matthew 22:5 I. There are of course some things that every wise man will make light of. There are petty grievances in every lot. 'Think, sir,' said Dr. Johnson to a worrying friend, 'think, sir, how infinitely little that will seem a twelve-month hence.' It is an untold blessing to have a little vision and a little humour, and see things in their true sizes and proportions. There is a gentle art of making light. But it is the corruption of the best that is the worst: and it is the overstraining of our instincts that degrades: and it is the making light of everything that is our ruin. II. These men of our text were essentially frivolous. And I want to guard you now against a common mistake. I want you to remember that there is a whole world of difference between frivolity and a truly buoyant spirit. It is one thing to be a light weight. It is quite another thing to be light-hearted. Many a solemn face is but a mask for an utterly frivolous and petty soul. And many a heart that is tremendously in earnest about life, has the most infectious laugh in the whole company. The Pharisees were most supremely solemn; but, on the testimony of Jesus, most supremely flippant. III. There is a double condemnation of frivolity. 1. It is utterly insufficient for life's journey. There are worse bankruptcies than ever come before the courts. There are men who go bankrupt in hope, in aspiration, in ideal, long before the end. And life is far too grim, and sometimes far too sad, to be carried through with a frivolous heart. And is not that one task of sorrow in the world? It sobers, sanctifies: brings men and women to themselves again, and bringing them to themselves leads them to God. 2. But for us who are Christians there is another condemnation of frivolity. It is the fact that Jesus our teacher and our Lord has mightily increased the seriousness of life. I could understand an old pagan being frivolous, for for him there was nothing infinite in man. But Jesus has come, and God has tabernacled and tabernacles still in man; and life has been lifted into heavenly meanings, and swung out through death into eternal ages; and when my life means fellowship, kinship with God, eternity, then to be frivolous is antichrist. G. H. Morrison, Flood-Tide, p. 34. Making Light of the Gospel Matthew 22:5 'But they made light of it.' They made nothing of the grand chance. How could they make anything of it? Their characters are here described. If their characters or occupation or engagement had not been referred to we might have invented reasons for this frivolity; but the reason of the frivolity is given in the parable itself. These were prosperous men; they had married wives and bought oxen and entered into merchandise and possessed themselves of large farms. These people had never needed a Gospel; that is to say, they had never been sensible of their need of it. A prosperous man, as the world counts prosperous, does not want the Gospel. He could not understand it if he heard it, it would be an alien tongue; only the broken-hearted can listen to the Gospel; only the bereaved catch the word resurrection as if it were a revelation; only those who have been desolated and orphaned and smitten in two can detect a possible hope in such sweet words as the Gospel gives. The fat beast needs no organ or trumpet or banner or promise or sacramental love; he lives beneath the Gospel, away from the great offer made in blood. I. Let us beware of frivolity. Frivolity always means ruin; frivolity, being translated, means loss. Is this frivolity, destruction, or ruin only in Gospel things? No; frivolity is ruin everywhere. That is the great plea of the Christian Gospel; it says, Fools, hear me; you are not only wasting me, you are wasting life. The frivolous man is not only wasting his chance of heaven, he is wasting his own business; that is how the Gospel has such a determining and beneficent hold over men. II. What is this age suffering from? Want of discipline. I hear a great deal about making life cheerier, brighter, this and that, and something else: all of which may within given limits be right; but the character that made England, the only England that cannot be shaken, was a character of hard work, labour a misunderstood and degraded term. Until we get back to discipline we shall not get back to hardihood, to true soldierliness, to the pith that means victory in any contest. It is the disciplinarian wht wins, only he may have long to wait for his victory; yet when it comes no man can pluck it from him. III. Now there are many persons who make light of opportunity. They squander away their chances; they are always here at the wrong time, and they are always there at the wrong place, and they were always just going to do it, but suddenly the night fell, the night in which no man can work. Be on the outlook for opportunities, be on the outlook for the best chances; make every occasion great; make every call a call to a feast, the best feast you can provide; and if you are going to provide a good feast in your pulpit it will not be you that fail, if failure there is, it will be God, and God cannot ultimately fail. Until you get back to your principles of faith, the innermost meanings of the Divine purpose, you may get up as many twentieth-century funds as you please, and they all amount to nothing. Have no faith in gigantic financial manipulation, have no faith even in a self-constructed patronage, have no place to which you must go cap in hand to ask for another dole; so live your principles as to leave God to supply your necessities, and He will do it. You have never tried Him. Call upon Me, saith He, prove Me now, let faith prove the God of redemption, and there will be a great marriage feast, and all things will be ready. Do not begin at the wrong end of things. Do not begin at the money end; begin at the prayer end, the faith end, the self-examination end. Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. I. p. 218. References. XXII. 5. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. ii. No. 98. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year (2nd Series), vol. ii. p. 167. XXII. 10. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxiv. No. 2022. XXII. 10-14. H. Scott Holland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlviii. 1896, p. 177. The Intruder At the Feast Matthew 22:11 A feast is an old picture of Gospel blessings (Proverbs 9:1-5 ; Isaiah 25:6 ), but it remained for Christ to show them, as a wedding feast, an occasion of greatest joy. The first manifestation of His glory was His providing for a wedding feast (John 2:11 ). What will the last triumphant manifestation be? (Revelation 19:7 ; Revelation 19:17-18 ). The guests who were first invited were the Jews. God first sent to them His Prophets (v. 3); but they would not hear (Acts 7:51-52 ). When the sacrifice was offered, and all was ready, He sent again His Apostles (v. 4), but they refused to hear (Acts 13:46 ; Acts 28:17-29 ); so wrath came upon them to the uttermost (1 Thessalonians 2:14-16 ). The guests who are now being gathered in to the wedding feast are all who will come Jew or Gentile (Romans 1:16 ). It matters not who, provided they are in Christ (Colossians 2:11 ). But now mark at wedding feasts in ancient times there was a certain garment peculiar to the occasion, and those who came without it were considered intruders. Here we find a man who entered without a wedding garment. See I. How he was Discovered (v. 11). The king came in to see the guests God notes all (Revelation 2:1-2 ; Son 7:12 ). The man was not discovered till the king himself saw him (Jeremiah 23:24 ; 1 Samuel 16:7 ). But when once the king was come, then he was detected (Proverbs 15:3 ; Proverbs 15:11 ; Amos 4:2-4 ). What a discovery shall take place when Christ shall come! II. How he was Tried (v. 12). The king takes him on his profession of friendship (Psalms 50:21 ). He asks him only, 'How camest thou in hither, not having on a wedding garment ?' this is the one regulation (John 10:1 ). How do you come otherwise (Psalms 50:16-17 ). What does he say? Nothing. ' He was speechless' (Romans 3:19 ; Job 5:16 ). III. How he was Sentenced (v. 13). He was bound (Matthew 13:30-41 ). He was taken away (Matthew 25:41-46 ). He was cast into outer darkness (John 12:35-36 ; John 8:12 ). Such is the end when God visits an unprepared soul (Job 27:8-10 ; Matthew 24:50-51 ; John 15:2-6 ). References. XXII. 11, 12. H. Montagu Butler, Harrow School Sermons, p. 387. XXII. 11-13. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxiv. No. 2024. XXII. 11-14. Ibid. vol. xvii. No. 976. R. H. McKim, The Gospel in the Christian Year, p. 137. The Self-deceiver Detected Matthew 22:12 There is a spirit by nature, in all of us, which refuses to accept salvation as a gift of free grace. The feeling is, that we can accomplish our salvation by our own efforts and deservings. I. When the man who has refused to clothe himself with the wedding garment is confronted with the king, he is absolutely speechless. Why is this? First, because he sees his offence in the right light. To us, in the present twilight state of existence, the sin of a practical rejection of Jesus Christ seems a very trifling matter. But in the estimation of God the matter assumes a very different aspect. In God's sight the sin of all sins is the rejection of the Son of His love. It comprises all other sins. Perhaps it is not easy for us to see this now. But we shall see it hereafter. And a terrible thing it will be if we see it too late; for when the great final disclosure comes, what will befall the man who carelessly, thoughtlessly, has put away from him the proffered righteousness of Jesus Christ; and gone, in reliance upon his own merits and his own strength, into the awful presence of the heart-searching God? He will be speechless. II. 'But,' you may say, 'why does he not cry for mercy?' Because it is too late, and he knows that it is too late. The time in which he might have taken the wedding garment is passed by. III. 'But,' it may be said again, 'is it possible that unconverted, unspiritual men, should go out of this world in perfect ignorance of their condition before God, and wake up, only when the light of eternity falls upon them, to see things as they really are?' I believe it to be perfectly possible. I should believe it, even if I had not the teaching of this parable to guide me. Men can deceive themselves as to their standing before God, and wake up to the consciousness of the truth, when it is too late to alter what has been done. 'Search us, O God, and know our hearts; try us, and know our thoughts! And see if there be any wicked way in us, and lead us all in the way everlasting.' Gordon Calthrop, Penny Pulpit, vol. xii. No. 680, p. 106. References. XXII. 12. A. G. Mortimer, One Hundred Miniature Sermons, vol. ii. p. 130. W. Howell Evans, Sermons for the Church's Year, p. 216. XXII. 15-22. H. Hensley Henson, Christ and the Nation, p. 86; see also Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxii. 1907, p. 216. XXII. 17. J. A. Bain, Questions Answered by Christ, p. 74. Human Coins Matthew 22:20 The question, 'Whose is this image and superscription?' was an example of one of our Lord's suggestions for a thought-excursion into the transcendent; truth of the inseverability of God and man. There is a threefold lesson for us, arising out of the suggested thought-excursion, in our Lord's question theological, personal, practical. I. The Theological Lesson , from the human coin stamped with the Divine image, is one of the utmost importance as a stimulus to optimism. It is the transcendent twin-truth of the Eternal humanity in God, and the Eternal Divinity in man; that inasmuch as all that is must have pre-existed, as a first principle, in the mind of the Infinite Originator, and as the highest of all that is, so far as we at present know, is man, the archetypal original of man must be in the Deity; and therefore man, however buried and stifled now in the corruptible body, is, in his inmost ego, indestructible, and inseverably linked to the Father of Spirits. Moreover, that for the purpose of Divine self-manifestation, man is as necessary to God as God is to man. As God's power is revealed in the wheeling planet, God's nature is revealed in the thinking man. Inasmuch as humanity is the chosen vehicle of the self-unfolding of the absolute, humanity will, through much initial imperfection, and through many changes, struggle upwards and onwards in development, until, at last, it shall be found complete in Him, and the pre-ordained purpose of the Absolute be completely fulfilled. II. The Personal Lesson. 'With God,' said Tocqueville, 'each one counts for one.' Each one of us is a responsible, moral being, perfected, purified, tested and found faithful, is not machine-made, he must be grown; he is the product of evolution; and, for the purposes of evolution, he must emerge triumphant from resistance, as the blade of wheat emerges triumphant from clay and stones. That this educative operation of the will of the Father-Spirit may be effected, man is, by the determinate foreknowledge of God, a composite being. He possesses an inferior animal nature, a lower region of appetite, perception, imagination, tendency, and so on; in other words, to carry on the analogy used by our Lord, there is a reverse side to the coin. Obviously, if we concentrate all our attention on the reverse side of the coin, we are apt to forget that the king's image is on the other side. We can only see one side at a time; and while we gaze at the reverse side, and the other side is hidden, doubt, depression, pessimism, are the inevitable result. What is the moral of the analogy? It is this: the inevitable inaccuracy of human judgments; the need for caution in our verdicts. 1. As to ourselves. Remember, you cannot see both sides of the coin at once. 2. In our judgments of others. Here again, remember, we cannot see both sides of the coin at once, and therefore our judgments are literally one-sided. III. The Practical Lesson. 'Whose is this image and superscription?' asks the Head of humanity of the human items that make up the race. A recognition of the truth underlying the question would prove to be the golden key which would unlock all the great social problems of the age. I believe that all the prominent evils which degrade humanity would pass away before it, and the kingdoms of the world would become the kingdoms of our Lord. Archdeacon Wilberforce, Speaking Good of His Name, p. 75. Illustration. Did you ever examine closely the reverse side of a sovereign? Close to the date you will see the minute capital letters 'B. P.' Not one person in a thousand has ever seen these initials; they have not looked for them. They are the initials of Benedetto Pistrucchi, the talented chief engraver to the Mint, in the reign of George III., the designer of the coin which Ruskin said was the most beautiful coin in Europe the English sovereign. Basil Wilberforce, Speaking Good of His Name, p. 83. The Image of God Matthew 22:20 With His finger upon the coin, our Lord enunciated a great truth. He showed that the authority of God and of man are not to be opposed to each other. 'Render unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's; and unto God the things that are God's.' Now consider: I. What ought we to render to Cæsar, the representative of human authority? As Christians we are taught to render to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour. The principle of government is from God, and the governor who rules the nation has a right to levy taxes from his subjects for the good of the nation. Moreover, as the principle of government is from God, the governor is primâ facie entitled to fear and honour as the representative of Divine authority. The governor is to be obeyed because 'there is no power but of God; and the powers that be are ordained of God'. Our duty to the State requires us both to obey the laws of the State and to uphold our rulers by the active force of earnest and constant intercession. II. A penny piece is a token of the law of our duty to Caesar, but we bear upon ourselves a higher image and superscription, which reminds us of our duty to God, from Whose mint we have come. What then are the things that are God's, the things which duty requires us to render to Him? The Church Catechism gives us our answer. It teaches us to render to God faith, fear, love, worship, thanksgiving, trust, prayer, honour, and a lifelong service, with all the powers of our heart, and mind, and soul, and strength. The understanding is to be opened to know what the will of the Lord is. The affections are given to us in order that they may be set on things above, and not on things on the earth. The speech is to be with grace, seasoned with the salt of sound wisdom. The eyes, the ears, and all the members of the body are to be rendered to God as a living sacrifice. We owe to God public worship, private devotion, all such good works as are prepared for us to walk in, prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and lifelong earnest labour in our Heavenly Father's vineyard. III. What then is left for ourselves? Nothing. The Lord Himself is the portion of mine inheritance. Man is not created for himself and his own glory, but for God and His glory. Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it He asks the members of the Church to love Him and to give themselves wholly to Him. Not until we give to God the things that are God's, ourselves, our souls and bodies, do we find rest, or peace, or joy, or a life worth living. Canon Bodington, The Twelve Gates of the Holy City, p. 175. The Catholicity of Christianity Matthew 22:20 Christianity comes to us all, in all points, in all interests, and in all undertakings, with this one great question: you are living your life; every act you do bears the stamp of some image or superscription, whose image and superscription is it? Unless it bears the image and superscription of the Christ, it is not the image and superscription which God has a right to expect. I. Christianity and the Business. Work is a law of life. When a man goes forth to work, if he undertakes an honest occupation and trade, it bears the impress of God, for it is God's work given to men. But there always comes in the higher law of the moral and spiritual life. The Master asks us and it is a practical question in the pursuit of your profession, in the pursuit of your trade, in the pursuit of your business, what is the moral and spiritual influence which is at work? What is influencing you? Whose image and superscription does that calling bear? II. Christianity and Home Life. Or look at the home life, which is the source and the very centre of the national existence Does the father or the mother say, this is my prayer, this is my desire, this is my passion and longing for my child, that he should be great in the eyes of the Lord? Whose image and superscription, says the Master, is being written upon the home life? III. The Right Use of Money. When the Master spoke these words and asked this question, He held a Roman coin in His hand. Every coin bears some image or some superscription. The value in the markets of the world comes from the image and superscription. But there is another mint in the world besides the mint which coins gold and silver. There is the mint in the man himself the purposes and the uses to which he puts that money. As he pays his money out he impresses a new image upon it; and the Master says to each one of us as we spend our coin, Whose image and superscription does it bear? IV. Life in Relationship. We do not live for ourselves. We live in relationship. The paradox of life is, He that loses himself shall save himself. You never know the greatness of your own soul, nor the greatness of your fellow-men, nor the magnificence of life till you lift your eyes above and beyond the little hedge which surrounds your own body. Nay, no man lives to himself, nor dies to himself; and unless we catch the spirit of Christ, which is the spirit of sacrifice and unselfishness, we have not yet got His image and superscription stamped upon us. A. B. Boyd Carpenter, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxii. 1907, p. 84. References. XXII. 20. G. H. C. MacGregor, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliv. 1893, p. 134. XXII. 20, 21. J. Stalker, ibid. vol. lvii. 1900, p. 372. XXII. 21. B. Wilberforce, Feeling After Him, p. 223. R. W. Hiley, A Year's Sermons, vol. ii. p. 241. R. Flint, Sermons and Addresses, p. 264. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year (2nd Series), vol. ii. p. 192. Henry Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons, vol. ii. p. 194. J. Baldwin Brown, Misread Passages of Scripture, p. 14. A. G. Mortimer, One Hundred Miniature Sermons, vol. ii. p. 147. J. Parker, Studies in Texts, vol. i. p. 152. H. Wace, Religion in Common Life, p. 90. H. Scott Holland, Church Times, vol. xlvi. 1901, p. 340; see also Christian World Pulpit, vol. lx. 1901, p. 193. Christ and the Herodians Matthew 22:22 This passage invites us to 'consider Him who endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself'. There are three kinds of people the Christian finds constantly opposed to him in the world the self-righteous man, the unbelieving man, and the worldly man. Here we see our blessed Lord dealing with each. The Pharisees (vv. 34, 35); the Sadducees (v. 23); and the Herodians (v. 16). It is with the last of these that we are specially employed Today, and we shall dwell upon the two leading points of the narrative: I. The Question put by the Herodians. You know that they were a political party amongst the Jews who favoured the rule of the Herod family. There were no religious pretensions about them; they were essentially worldly. They ask,' Is it lawful to give tribute to Cæsar, or not?' Mark, if He said 'Yes,' there was the anger of the people to be apprehended; if He said 'No,' there was the appearance of revolution. So their object was to entangle Him (v. 15), and thus worldly people are constantly asking, 'Do you think it right to do this or that?' not because they wish to know, but because they desire to make you trip. Let this remind us of the character of such. They plot against God's people (Psalms 38:12 ; cf. Nehemiah 4:8 ), they are always enticing to evil (Proverbs 1:10-14 ; 2 Timothy 3:6 ), they delight in the iniquity of others (Proverbs 2:4 ; Romans 1:32 ). Such are worldly people. II. The Answer given by Our Lord. He calls for a penny, and making them acknowledge that it belonged to Cæsar, He says, 'Render unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's, and unto God the things that are God's' (vv. 19-21). It is only by following this example that the child of God can meet the world. Realize the difference between those who rule in the world. There are two kingdoms (Colossians 1:13 ), two rulers (Ephesians 2:2 ; Acts 3:15 ), two laws (Romans 7:22-23 ; Romans 6:16 ). There are but the two, and the mistake is attempting a neutral position (Matthew 6:24 ; Luke 11:23 ). If we are children of God we are stamped with the image of the King (Romans 8:29 ), we know what our duty is (1 Corinthians 11:19-20 ). References. XXII. 22. E. Fowle, Plain Preaching to Poor People (2nd Series), p. 117. E. C. Wickham, The Glory of Service, Sermons, 1895-99. XXII. 29. T. L. Lynch, Three Months' Ministry, p. 193. J. Bell, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xli. 1892, p. 186. Matthew 22:30 'All I can say about the text is that it has nought to do with me and my wife,' Charles Kingsley wrote once to a friend. 'I know that, if immortality is to include in my case identity of person, I shall feel to her for ever what I feel now. That feeling may be developed in ways which I do not expect; it may have provided for it forms of expression very different from any which are among the holiest sacraments of life: of that I take no care. The union I believe to be as eternal as my own soul. I have no rule to say in what other pair of lovers it may or may not be eternal. I leave all in the hands of a good God. Elsewhere, in his correspondence, Kingsley returns to this subject, avowing that this text 'has been to me always a comfort. I am so well and really married on earth, that I should be exceeding sorry to be married again in heaven. All I can say is, if I do not love my wife, body and soul, as well there as I do here, then there is neither resurrection of my body nor of my soul, but of some other, and I shall not be I.' References. XXII. 30. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xiv. No. 842. Henry Ward Beecher, Sermons (4th Series), p. 551. XXII. 31, 32. H. L. Mansel, Oxford Street Sermons, 1868, p. 29. The Hope of Immortality Matthew 22:32 I. The Hebrews never believed that death means absolute extinction. The common belief was that at death a man descends into Sheol, 'the land of darkness and the shadow of death,' a place of silence and forgetfulness. Enoch and Elijah were supposed to have escaped this dreary fate, but only by not dying. I. Had the Israelites, then, no hopes that were not bounded by the grave? Yes, they had. But it was the glorious future of their nation, to which they looked forward, and on this earth. The feeling of solidarity was much stronger with them than it is with us, and especially, like all Orientals, they hoped to live again in their children and grandchildren, so that childlessness was to them a greater calamity than death itself. Such was the common Jewish faith. The Jew loved life and feared death, but he was almost content with the thought that his descendants would inhabit a more glorious Jerusalem, while he was lying in Sheol, an unsubstantial ghost. II. It is the prophets who first preach individual retribution. Jeremiah and Ezekiel both protest against the 'sour grapes' proverb, and say that 'Every one shall die for his own iniquity'. This necessarily leads to belief in a personal future life. In the interval between the latest books of the Old Testament and the Gospels, the belief in the resurrection of individuals grew steadily, till in our Lord's time it was only rejected by the Sadducees. III. Our Lord Himself gives us very little definite teaching about the next world. He was understood by His disciples to have promised an early return in glory to inaugurate a kingdom at Jerusalem; and it was believed that the dead Christians would be resuscitated to share in it. In this they were mistaken; but it is plain that our Lord spoke of the resurrection mainly in connexion with His kingdom, and that the penalty of His enemies would be exclusion from the kingdom, and banishment into outer darkness. All through the Bible, in the New Testament as well as in the Old, where immortality is referred to, it is corporate immortality which is mainly thought of. By corporate immortality I do not mean a sham immortality a life in the memory of others. In its purer form, the desire for corporate immortality almost forgets the individual, as we have seen was the case with the Jews and early Christians. The triumph of the nation, of the Church, of the principles of righteousness, seems a much greater thing than our private survival, and it is easier to feel a strong faith in the eternal victory of a great cause than of a small individual, because the great cause enlists the highest capabilities, the most devoted efforts and sacrifices of one generation after another. These considerations do not in any way affect the belief in personal immortality. That remains where it was. But I suggest that one chief reason why our faith in immortality is often so dim is that we are too self-centred in our thoughts about it. We think of our own resurrection, and that of our friends; but we do not, like the Biblical writers, think of the future and more glorious life of our nation, and of our Church, as part of our religious hope. W. R. Inge, All Saints' Sermons, 1905-1907, p. 103. References. XXII. 32. R. J. Campbell, A Faith for Today, p. 331; see also, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lvii. 1900, p. 68. XXII. 32, 33. F. E. Clark, ibid. vol. lviii. 1900, p. 111. XXII. 34-40 (R.V.). R. E. Bartlett, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlvi. 1894, p. 340. XXII. 34-46. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 135. XXII. 35-40. H. Hensley Henson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxiv. 1903, p. 276. S. Cox, Expositions, p. 88. XXII. 36-38. W. Boyd Carpenter, British Weekly Pulpit, vol. ii. p. 111. XXII. 36-40. H. Ward Beecher, Sermons (4th Series), p. 205. Religion for the Entire Man Matthew 22:37 The religion of Christ is a religion for all men. It is universal in its adaptation to the needs of humanity. But it is more than this. It is a religion for the whole of man. There is not a power, or faculty, or energy given to us which lies outside its influence. It claims as its own all our being. This surely is the meaning of the never-to-be-forgotten definition in which our Lord sums up man's duty to God. Now, as we look into this definition, full as it is of valuable teaching, there are two truths which stand out very distinctly and prominently. I. The Revelation of God as a God to be Loved. The first truth is one of special importance to the Jewish disciples. What is it? It is the grand revelation of God as a God to be loved. Till now they had not realized this. God a God to be reverenced, held in awe, served, feared this they knew; only now and then faint glimpses of something better seem to have been given to them, and so He Who came to fulfil all things teaches them that love is to religion what atmosphere is to a landscape, what tone is to a picture, what life is to a body. 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God.' II. Religion is worthy of Man's Highest Powers. But side by side with this there stands out another truth of a very special importance to us Christians Today. It is this. Religion, the religion of Christ, is worthy of a man's highest intellectual powers. How much this is overlooked in our day! 'With all thy heart' that is, with all the emotional powers of a man; 'with all thy soul' that is, with all the spiritual instincts of a man. Yes, this may be true of religion; but, 'with all thy mind,' with all the intellectual faculties of the man nay, is not this going too far? Religion, a sentiment, a thing of the emotions, of the feelings, yes; but religion a science, a thing to be known as well as felt, to be studied as well as believed in; this, in these days of intellectual pride, is forgotten, if not openly denied. III. The Intellect in Religion. What could better employ the powers of man's intellect than this? We consider a man's life well lived who has studied the heavens, and has tracked the worlds along their shining orbits, even though he discovers no new world; or who has tried to unravel the tangled threads of history, and has gathered up a single thread of the birth, or rise, or decline, or death of only one nation; or who has for a few short years held the helm of the State, and steered the vessel safely through the shoals and quicksands of diplomacy. Shall we then regard his time wasted, his talents thrown away, who has sought to know the God Who made each shining world, Who holds in His hand the fate of dynasties, Who is the King of kings reigning over all the kingdoms of the world? Nay, if this be Religion, Religion is not only a science, but it is the queen of sciences. IV. The Union of Knowledge and Love. But we must not stop there. Religion is a science, but it is more than a science. What is lacking? Jesus tells us. Mark, He links together knowledge and love. He tells us that this knowledge of God will not be held within the limits of the intellect, but must overflow into the heart. He teaches us that he who knows God will love God; aye, that the more a man knows God the more he must love Him. Knowledge and love, what a close connexion there is between them! The love of husband and wife deepens as years pass on. Or think again: we know something of the meaning of a mother's love. There is no love like a mother's; life, with its sorrows, and trials, and disappointments, only helps to make us know it better, and greater knowledge brings greater love. Shall not the earthly faintly outline for us the heavenly? The knowledge of God, what is it to the Christian? To know God is to know His love; and to know His love is to love Him in return. If our religion is unsatifying, it is because we know God so little; and for this lack of knowledge we have only ourselves to blame. Christian Faith and Modern Thought Matthew 22:37 I. The members of the Church must become thinkers. By thinkers we do not mean men gifted with special learning, or intellectual power. Christian thinkers axe men and women who really try to put their intelligence into the service of their religion; men and women who are anxious to learn about the Bible, the Creed, the Sacraments, the Church out of the best books that they can get; who try to think out quietly just where and why the great Christian Faith has found their own life and experience, and then seek to express the reason for the faith that is in them in words which are real to themselves, and which their own neighbours and friends can understand. Every Christian man who thus uses his mind in religion is a link between Christ and his own day and generation. And, remember, that the strength of the chain is the strength of the individual links that compose it. II. Want of thinking gives advantage to doubt. In most cases it is through defect rather than excess of thinking that doubt comes in to disturb. The air we breathe is full of the germs of doubt. None of us can be protected from it Now and then a germ may reach you, and if it find your mind swept and garnished, or furnished only with your old childlike notions of religious things, it will enter and do its work. There are many people who surrender the truths of Christianity before they have taken the trouble to understand them. The man who uses the best mind that God has given him, the best books he can reach and the best teachers he can find, to know really what his faith means, and to be able to express it intelligently to himself and his friends that man is fortified against doubt. III. Want of thought creates division. The party spirit, alas! we know is the greatest hindrance to the spirit of truth. We have a pleasant word in which we describe our divisions; we call them 'Schools of thought'. There is an unconscious irony in the phrase, for it is want of thought that is mainly responsible for the cleavage between these schools. Men become victims of catchwords catchwords which are substitutes for thought, or else the victims of a shallow logic which moves with deceptive simplicity along a narrow groove. But the more we read and think, the more we see that the truth cannot be. contained in these phrases, or tied in this narrow logic. Real thought always makes for synthesis; that is to say, for some point of view in which differences are not ignored or even lost, but merged in a deeper unity. And if only our ordinary Christians in England would begin to read and think a little more there would be more prospects of the spirit of Christian brotherhood. IV. Let us put this plea for using our minds in religion on its truest and highest ground. It is a form of service. It is that love of God with all the mind which our Lord lays down as part of the first and the greatest duty of man. To give God the thoughts of our mind is part of our fundamental religious duty. We owe it to Him. He has given us these minds that they may be enriched and find their highest exercise in the study of His truth. Archbishop Lang, Church Times, 23 Oct., 1908, p. 539. Love to God Service to Man Matthew 22:37 There is discoverable in this injunction a command, consolation, a prophecy. I. A command ; a parental order that no loyal son may disobey. You say love is the one emotion that will not come at command. True, but it is possible for a man willingly to place his whole being in such an attitude towards the Eternal Father, that love shall be unfolded from the heart as flower and fruit from a plant in its right attitude to the sun; for this command is a claim upon the WHOLE of MAN for God; heart, soul, and mind; emotions, will, and intellect. As the whole of each tree by the seaside is bent in the direction of the prevailing wind, so the whole of each life must be bent by the prevailing influence of God. In the feeblest love of what is true God is loved by the mind. In the simplest longing after what is good, by the heart. And in every honest effort, mental and physical, after the attainment of our ideal, He is loved by the soul and the strength. II. But there is also consolation as well as command, and it is here; it is the death-blow of pessimism; an overwhelming proof of the all-embracing love of God for man. God says, 'He that planted the ear, shall He not hear?' And any child of God Today may say, 'He that commanded me to love HIM with all my heart and mind and soul, shall He not love ME with all His heart, and mind, and soul? And that He may remove any doubts as to whether His ideal of wholehearted love is different from ours, He has brought into action His moral attributes in the Incarnation. And Fatherhood says, 'What think ye of the Christ?' Does that character satisfy you? Here is one loving you unto the death, with all His sacred heart, and mind, and soul, and He, with all the authority of the incomprehensible God, declares, 'He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father'. III. The consolation leads us to the prophecy. Thou shalt love, in the perfected future, not now; the capacity is wanting in the natural state. God says shall; all God's shalls are ultimately irresistible. Every shall in the Bible is a promise as well as a command. Every soul here is enfolded in the shall of God; God-begotten, God-enclosed; God-loved, is every man. To know it is salvation, for the redeemed are all men, the saved those that know it. Archdeacon Wilberforce, Feeling After Him, p. 121. Illustration. Faraday learnt this Divine lesson in boyhood by a childish experience. As a little lad, humbly earning his bread by selling newspapers in the street, he was waiting outside the office of the Edinburgh Courant for the morning issue of the paper, and thrust his head and arms through the railings of the iron gate. He was a born metaphysician, and began to speculate on which side of the railings he was. 'My head and hands are on one side,' he said to himself, 'and my heart and body are on the other.' The gate was opened hastily before he could disengage himself, and the wrench he received taught him, as he said in after life, that all true work required head and heart and hands to be on the same side. Basil Wilberforce, Feeling After Him, p. 127. References. XXII. 37. W. Howell Evans, Sermons for the Church's Year, p. 257. S. A. Barnett, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliv. 1893, p. 358. XXII. 37, 38. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year (2nd Series), vol. ii. p. 151. XXII. 37-39. R. T. Davidson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxiv. 1903, p. 257. XXII. 37-40. (R.V.) R. A. Armstrong, ibid., vol. xli. 1892, p. 298. Self-love New Version Matthew 22:39 Perhaps this is the most familiar text or verse in the Bible. Shall I startle you if I say that the words imply, or even enjoin, love for self? Yet surely they do. For if we are to try to love other people greatly and also to love them as ourselves, clearly, there must be self-love of some sort implied or enjoined. But all depends on what you mean by self-love. If we mean self-indulgence, self-gratification, self-spoiling, so to speak, if we are thinking of the commonplace, vulgar, stupid aim of doing simply what we like best, what is easiest, what is most comfortable, then certainly it is a degrading, a humiliating, a pitiful thing to have that sort of self-love. But why explain it thus? Is that what love means? Can you think of it thus as applied to wife, or child, or friend? Surely not We think then of something quite different. I. There is a form of Self-Love, or, as we like better to call it, Self-respect, which is strengthening, ennobling, stimulating and uplifting, which is approved of God, which is useful to man. Each of us in the common experience of life finds out that he has two different levels, or two different compartments, as it would sometimes seem, to his own life. There is in us a better self and a worse self. When the Prodigal had gone to the lowest degradations he could find, better thoughts came. He 'came to himself,' and began to find out that he was worth something better. II. Now what we have got to do is to Encourage that Higher Self and make it assert itself oftener than it does. For ourselves separately, each one ought to try sometimes to think, 'What do I suppose was God's purpose for me?' If we are each one to be helpful to others, keeping straight and pure and strong and high-minded, we must see to it first that, so far as God enables us, we are fit men ourselves. III. How are we to set about it? a. By going back to the very fountain of our faith, that which lies at the centre and the root, the Lord Jesus Christ. b. The inspiration is not by example only. You might find it impossible to follow that, but for the knowledge on His part and on ours that He is with you and me Today. He Who set that example, Who gave us that pattern, will hear, day by day, from you and me, in the dusty, busy, working, interrupted harassed life, the prayer that we uplift from the heart, 'Keep me pure, keep me brave. Take my life and let it be Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.' Matthew 22:39 Whoever walks a furlong without sympathy walks to his own funeral drest in his shroud. Walt Whitman. The greatest of all arts is the art of life, and the best of all music the harmony of spirits. There are many little rules to be learnt for giving harmony and melody to our life, but the thorough bass must be love. Max-MÜller. Matthew 22:39 He who carries self-regard far enough to keep himself in good health and high spirits, in the first place thereby becomes an immediate source of happiness to those around, and in the second place maintains the ability to increase their happiness by altruistic actions. But one whose bodily vigour and mental health are undermined by self-sacrifice carried too far, in the first place becomes to those around a cause of depression, and in the second place renders himself incapable, or less capable, of actively furthering their welfare. Herbert Spencer. References. XXII. 39. J. Stalker, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lviii. 1900, p. 149. H. Hensley Henson, Christ and the Nation, p. 162. G. Macdonald, Unspoken Sermons, p. 189. XXII. 39, 40. J. H. Jellett, The Elder Son, p. 214. XXII. 40. D. M. Ross, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxvii. 1890, p. 404. A. Boyd Carpenter, ibid. vol. lxxiv. 1908, p. 71. S. D. McConnel, A Year's Sermons, p. 261. Matthew 22:40 When a man is told that the whole of religion and morality is summed up in the two commandments, to love God and to love our neighbour, he is ready to cry, like Charoba in Gebir, at the first sight of the sea, Is this the mighty ocean? is this all? Yes, all: but how small a part of it do your eyes survey 1 only trust yourself to it; launch out upon it; sail abroad over it: you will find it has no end: it will carry you around the world. Julius Hare. References. XXII. 41, 42. J. Marshall Lang, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxvii. 1890, p. 168. H. H. Snell, ibid. vol. xliv. 1893, p. 24. J. G. Greenhough, ibid. vol. lxi. 1902, p. 161. XXII. 41-46. J. Morgan Gibbon, ibid. vol. lxii. 1902, p. 88. What Think Ye of Christ? Matthew 22:42 I. You cannot make it a matter of indifference whether you think rightly of Christ or not; the question is very short, very simple, but the answer to it involves life or death. 1. Let us then inquire what it is to think rightly of Christ First with respect to His Person, we must think that He is perfect God, equal with the Father, and together with Him and the Holy Ghost, making up the ever-blessed Trinity. 2. We must think of Him as perfect man, of like nature with ourselves in everything, sin only excepted. 3. We must think of Him as the great Redeemer and Saviour, who by the voluntary sacrifice and death of Himself made atonement for the sins of the whole world, provided a means of reconciliation between His Father and mankind, and brought in an everlasting righteousness which is unto all and upon all them that believe. 4. We must think of Him as a King: He is the great head of a spiritual dominion over the heart of all whom He chooses and calls out of the world. 5. We must think of Him as the great High Priest, who, like the Jewish high priest of old, has gone alone before us into the Holy of Holies, that is Heaven, to make satisfaction for the sin of His people with blood, even the blood of Himself, Who ever stands at the right hand of God to make intercession for them; and can always feel for and pity them, because as man He was tempted like as they are. 6. We must think of Him as the Prophet that should come, foretold by Moses shortly before his death, who has shown to mankind the way of salvation, who has clearly explained how God's mercy and God's justice can be reconciled when sinners are accounted righteous, who has taught us how God would have men to live, and has placed duties and morality upon their right foundation, and these are the inward motives and the heart. 7. We must think of Him as the great Example, who has left men a pattern that they should walk in His steps, who has given them, in His own person and behaviour, a model of conduct in nearly every department of life which they cannot strive too much to imitate. II. But this is not all. There are two ways of thinking about Christ; both indeed are necessary to salvation, but one is very often found to exist without the other. It is one thing to think of Him with the head, and another to think of Him with the heart; it is one to think about His offices as a matter of opinion, it is another to rejoice in them as infinitely important to your own soul; it is one to know these things correctly, it is another to live as if you felt them; it is one to acknowledge that Christ is a mighty gift to ruined man, it is quite another to apply this healing medicine to your own case. J. C. Ryle, The Christian Race, p. 168. References. XXII. 42. R. W. Hiley, A Year's Sermons, vol. ii. p. 172. G. W. Herbert, Notes of Sermons, p. 184. B. Wilberforce, Following on to Know the Lord, p. 3. J. S. Swan, Short Sermons, p. 136. C. S. Robinson, Sermons on Neglected Texts, p. 206. G. A. Chadwick, Christ Bearing Witness to Himself, p. 159. B. D. Johns, Pulpit Notes, p. 178. W. Alexander, The Great Question, p. 3. Bishop Simpson, Sermons, p. 295. A. G. Mortimer, One Hundred Miniature Sermons, vol. ii. p. 113. Marcus Dods, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xl. 1891, p. 281; see also vol. lxii. 1902, p. 116; vol. lxix. 1906, p. 149. Henry Varley, ibid. vol. xli. 1892, p. 228. R. A. Armstrong, ibid. vol. xli. 1892, p. 298. T. T. Munger, ibid. vol. xliii. 1893, p. 406. A Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, ibid. vol. lxi. 1902, p. 101. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xix. No. 1093. P. McAdam Muir, Modern Substitutes for Christianity, p. 173. 'Great David's Greater Son' Matthew 22:42-45 That Christ was lineally descended from David, and that as such, he had the body and the mind and the heart of a man, is an historical fact. In the same body and the same manhood, altered, but accurately the same, He walked this earth for forty days after His Resurrection. Before it was a natural body; after He rose, it was a spiritual body. Nevertheless all the while He was and He is God. The mystery of the union is utterly unfathomable; far above the reach of all knowledge and all conception. But it was prophesied of Him before He came. He asserted it of Himself; His Apostles bore witness to it even to the death, and He allowed Himself mark this He allowed Himself to be killed for it. For the high priest sentenced Him to die for blasphemy, and this was the blasphemy that He said He was God. And any honest man who was not God would have said, 'You misunderstand. I do not mean that I am God.' He would not have allowed Himself to be put to death on the wrong misunderstanding of His own words. But Christ offered no qualifying word. He was crucified on that charge, and the alternative is inevitable either Christ was a dishonest man or He was God. Such, then, is Christ at this very moment in Heaven God and Man. Both perfectly equal, perfect God and perfect Man. So He is now at God's right hand, set before us in the Revelation; so He will return to this earth. For a little while He was pleased for our sake to divest Himself of His glory, and to come amongst us 'in the form of a man,' but the attributes and the prerogatives of the Godhead were still perfect in Him. He still assumed them. And now he is at once the Man, the wounded, crucified Man, a Man that has been slain, and yet as fully and as truly He is 'King of kings and Lord of lords,' with 'a Name which is above every name'; the object and adoration of saints and angels; the Judge of all men; the Creator of the universe God, * God! * I. Christ in Heaven. 'The Son of David' a Man! what is the result of that? a. Whatever He came to this earth to do, whatever it was, is finished and accepted, else He would not be resting there. Accepted of God, exalted to the highest. b. His presence there in manhood shows what manhood is capable of, what human nature may become. You look on a man as you see him here, as you see yourself, or any fellow-creature. You look on that very Man in Heaven and you see the capabilities of a man; read his destiny. Behold yourself in your Saviour. c. There in that Man Christ, David's son there we have a brother. His human form shows Him a brother. It shows His sympathy. d. That Son of David, that Man at God's right hand, He is a representative Man. He was a substitute on the Cross, not a representative. Now He is not a subsitute but a representative Man. e. And that Son of David, that Man in Heaven, is pledged as the forerunner of us all, 'the firstborn among many brethren,' the gathered sheaf which ensures all the harvest, the seed of the warrant of our eternal happiness. II. David's Son and David's Lord. So on earth and in Heaven He is David's Son and David's Lord. If Christ be a Man in Heaven, no less He is God. The thought of this union of God and manhood is utterly unfathomable. But the truth is clear and the comfort exceeding great. 'My Saviour is my God.' And all that this Man died to purchase that same He now lives as God to give. He carries out in omnipotence what he wrought in the infinity of the love of His manhood. This Man who is my Brother, rules the world. How to Read the Bible Matthew 22:43 Many of the prophets spake in the spirit, and in the spirit they must be interpreted. It is not for any one man to say where the whole meaning runs itself out, it is for us to wait until we can say, 'This is the man,' and many a time we have said this o'er the cradle of the child; we have said, 'This is He of whom Moses and the prophets did write'. There has been a wonderful unrest in our soul because we knew that the prophecy had not yet been quite fulfilled, but when Jesus came he said, 'This is the light; they that sat in darkness have seen a great light'. Jesus Christ takes up all that the prophets did say, and shows what the prophets themselves did mean, though they, the prophets, did not know their meaning at the time of their ecstasy and their madness. I. How beautifully is the whole thing shown to us in that walk to Emmaus! 'And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.' I think we should not be ashamed of finding Jesus where Jesus found Himself; we should study Jesus Christ's way of reading the Old Testament, and He always found Himself on every page: there a flower, and He said,' I am the Rose of Sharon'; there a trickle of blood oh, so red, so hot and He said, 'I redeem with a great price'. He heard Himself in many an echoed song, and He said, 'This is the singing of the ages, and the music is fulfilled in Me'. Jesus Christ must set the example of how to read the Bible. He began at Moses He could not begin earlier and the Psalms, and the prophets, and, lest that should not be enough or be misunderstood, it is said, 'in all the Scriptures': they are full of Him, they burn with Him as the bush burned with God. The Lord hath yet more light and truth to break forth from His holy Word. We have not yet begun to understand either the miracles or the parables. We have approached them from our own point of view, and have found fault with them, we have made them a field of criticism. We should approach them from Christ's point of view, and find them to be music that can give rest to the soul, light that can satisfy the vision, and ministry that can appease the hunger of the heart. II. Christ is the contemporary of all ages. He lives Today; He is the dying Christ, the living Christ, the constant and never-departing Christ If He has gone out of sight, it is only that from a higher level He may move the progress of the universe. Every century has its own revelation. Why was not the whole thing revealed at once? It would be impossible, and it would be absurd. There can be no 'at once' in the movement of eternity. But could not the men of the first century have understood what the men of the twentieth century understand? No, they could not. The men of the twentieth century have a new responsibility, they have their own vision of God, and they are responsible to God for the use they make of it. III. It has not been given to any man to see all things, and we are not to be harsh with those who do not see what we see. The Lord's school hath many scholars. If that is the truth some remote and shiny point then every man with his face towards it is orthodox, though he come from east west, north, south, climbing the mountain that he may grasp the stars. That is orthodoxy, not your little notion and mine, but the great love-truth and the great truth-loving. He is orthodox who wants to know what is true. Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. vi. p. 183. References. XXII. 46. A. N. Obbard, Plain Sermons, p. 172. XXIII. 1-10. T. A. Gurney, The Living Lord and the Opened Grave, p. 198. XXIII. 3. Hugh Black, University Sermons, p. 246. Matthew 23:5 Old Samuel Johnson, the greatest soul in England in his day, was not ambitious. 'Corsica Boswell' flaunted at public shows with printed ribbons round his hat: but the great old Samuel stayed at home. The world-wide soul wrapt up in its thoughts, in its sorrows what could paradings, and ribbons in the hat, do for it? Carlyle. Reference. XXIII. 5. C. Jerdan, Pastures of Tender Grass, p. 291. Matthew 23:8 The passage before us presents us with the true foundation on which all Christian teaching in God's Church rests, and with the consequent guard against the most dangerous of the perversions to which it may be exposed. I. Christ the Sole Teacher in His Church. They shall all be taught of God, was the Old Testament promise which described in the highest way the glory of the New Testament times. The universal prerogative of all Christian men is the possession of direct teaching from Christ Himself. Then we have to consider the characteristics of this teaching of Christ's, and we shall best do so by keeping in view the tacit contrast between the limitations of ours, and the perfections of His. II. Christ's Teaching is Inward. We can only appeal to men by words which may move their hearts or clear their understandings. We can only present motives which may have power or not. Conviction by the force of truth, persuasion by the weight of motives that is all we can do at the best for one another. We stand outside. But Christ can put His Hand into the secrets of the heart and touch the will. He uses His instruments, He blesses the word, He uses the discipline of life; but over and above all these, there is a teaching deeper than them all, when the soul in direct communication with Christ learns of Him. III. Christ's Teaching is Original. It is the impartation of Himself, and He is the Truth. A. Maclaren. References. XXIII. 8. D. M. Ross, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliii. 1893, p. 364. A. H. Bradford, ibid. vol. xliv. 1893, p. 193. Lyman Abbott, ibid. vol. xlix. 1896, p. 264. H. Hensley Henson, ibid. vol. lxvi. 1904, p. 58. G. Philip, Home in the World, Beyond, p. 114. J. J. Tayler, Christian Aspects of Faith and Duty, p. 150. Christ Our Master Matthew 23:8-10 I. Christ claims to be the supreme, and ultimately the sole, Teacher and Master of all Christian men. His first work was teaching: His followers were His disciples or scholars. This is an aspect of Christ's work which is apt to be obscured. We think of Christ more in relation to faith than in relation to conduct; as the Redeemer of men rather than as their Teacher. And even when we do think of Him in relation to conduct, it is perhaps His example rather than His words that we think of. But Christ claims to be a teacher, with a definite body of teaching as to what we should believe and what we should do. II. Christ claims to be our only Master and Teacher. What are the forces that prompt and guide and limit our activity? In many cases we shall confess the influence of maxims gathered from our own experience, or learned from the masters of worldly policy. How much, when we look into it, comes from other sources than Christ? III. Let us begin to seek out and to apply His precepts to our whole life; to test by them all influences that govern us. 1. We shall find much that conforms to Christ's law, in so far as our civilization is Christian. Let us verify all this as from Christ, and follow it now as part of our obedience to Him. 2. We shall find precepts in Christ's teaching which, in what at least seems to be their plain meaning, we have not acted on. Such cases, where we seem to disregard, or diverge from, the precepts of the Master, call for careful examination. No doubt wisdom is needed for their interpretation. 3. We shall find in our application of Christ's precepts that there are still with us actions and feelings at variance with our Master's teaching. 4. We may find that our whole scale of moral values differs from Christ's: the scale of honour in which we range the virtues, the order of detestation in which we place the vices. IV. Let it be said, too, that the disciple must carry his Master's teaching into all spheres, not only into his private life, but also into his business and his politics. It is in our own lives that we have the nearest and freest field for acting as disciples of Christ. Those only rightly obey Christ who believe on Him, who acknowledge Him as Master because they trust Him as Saviour. P. J. MacLagan, The Gospel View of Things, p. 40. Matthew 23:8-10 To be throned apart, like a Divine being surrounded by the bought homage of one's fellows, and possessed of more power than a man can decently use, was a condition which excited in Delafield the same kind of contemptuous revolt that it would have excited in St. Francis. 'Be ye not called master;' a Christian even of his transcendental and heterodox sort, if he were a Christian, must surely hold these words in awe at least so far as concerned any mastery of the external or secular kind. To masteries of another order, the saint has never been disinclined. Mrs. Humphey Ward in Lady Rose's Daughter chap. XXIII. References. XXIII. 8-10. T. G. Selby, The Strenuous Gospel, p. 314. J. Clifford, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliii. 1893, p. 280; see also vol. xlvi. 1894, p. 216. G. Campbell Morgan, ibid. vol. lxxi. 1907, p. 99. XXIII. 13-15. T. G. Selby, The Lesson of a Dilemma, p. 319. XXIII. 15. H. Hensley Henson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lx. 1901, p. 337. Matthew 23:15 The proselytizing agency of the Roman Church in this country I take to be one of the worst of the religious influences of the age. I do not mean as to its motives, for these I do not presume to touch, nor feel in any way called upon to question. But I speak of its effects, and they are most deplorable.... With this pernicious agency I for my own part wish to have nothing whatever to do; although I am one who thinks lightly, in comparison with most men, of the absolute differences in our belief from the formal documents of Rome. Gladstone in 1863. More than thirty years later, in the Nineteenth Century, Mr. Gladstone remarked that he 'would define the spirit of proselytism as a morbid appetite for effecting conversions, founded too often upon an overweening self-confidence and self-love'. The Visible Temple Matthew 23:17 A Temple there has been upon earth, a spiritual Temple, made up of living stones, a Temple, as I may say, composed of souls; a Temple with God for its Light, and Christ for the High Priest, with wings of angels for its arches, with saints and teachers for its pillars, and with worshippers for its pavement; such a Temple has been on earth ever since the Gospel was first preached. This unseen, secret, mysterious, spiritual Temple exists everywhere, throughout the kingdom of Christ, in all places, as perfect in one place as if it were not in another. Wherever there is faith and love, this Temple is; faith and love, with the name of Christ, are as heavenly charms and spells, to make present to us this Divine Temple, in every part of Christ's kingdom. This Temple is invisible, but it is perfect and real because it is invisible, and gains nothing in perfection by possessing visible tokens. There needs no outward building to meet the eye in order to make it more of a Temple than it already is in itself. God, and Christ, and angels, and souls, are not these a heavenly court, all perfect, to which this world can add nothing? Though faithful Christians worship without splendour, without show, in a homely and rude way, still their worship is as acceptable to God, as excellent, as holy, as though they worshipped in the public view of men, and with all the glory and riches of the world.... King's palaces are poor, whether in architecture or in decoration, compared with the shrines which have been reared to Him. The invisible Temple has become visible. As on a misty day the gloom gradually melts, and the sun brightens, so have the glories of the spiritual world lit up this world below. The dull and cold earth is penetrated by the rays. All around we see glimpses or reflections of those heavenly things which the elect of God shall one day see face to face. The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ; 'the Temple has sanctified the gold,' and the prophecies made to the Church have been fulfilled to the letter. J. H. Newman. Reference. XXIII. 19. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xiv. No. 831. The Details of Life Matthew 23:23 I. The efficiency of some great men has been seriously impaired by their neglect of the uninteresting parts of life and duty. Disraeli confessed of himself, 'I want energy in those little affairs of which life greatly consists'. This hatred of the trivial, even in cases where detail was of the essence of statesmanship, was acknowledged by his friends to be a cause of his weakness as a minister. On the other side, the greatest men who brought their work to splendid perfection, and whose lives were veritable triumphs, considered no detail of their task too trivial, no uninteresting portions of it too insipid, the truth being, the modest and monotonous details were so scrupulously wrought out that glorious success seemed to flower magically. II. Life cannot be all interesting; much that it involves is necessarily stale and flat. In this contempt of triviality we suffer loss. We miss the essential discipline of the trivial, and missing that are not prepared for the greater situations and seasons; ignoring the grandeur of the minute, we defraud ourselves of one of the chief delights of existence; and having neglected insignificant particulars, we have certainly more or less marred the whole result in character and destiny, which is made up of insignificant particulars. III. Detail is of the essence of life, and he is great and shall be great who knows it. There is teaching, discipline, and blessing of the highest order in faithfulness in monotonous days and things. 'And the hand of the Lord was there upon me; and He said unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee. Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory of the Lord stood there' (Ezekiel 3:22-23 ). On the flat, dull, monotonous stretches of life does God speak with men and show them His glory. W. L. Watkinson, Themes for Hours of Meditation, p. 185. The Doctrine of Proportion Matthew 23:23 This is the doctrine of proportion, perspective, relativity, in things spiritual, religious, pious, and practically good. One matter is of so much consequence, and the other matter is of so much less consequence; they are both important, but one is lighter than the other and ye have omitted the weightier matters. I. Here are men who are deeply concerned about a creed. Are they concerned about the right thing? Only a man of superficial mind would speak disrespectfully of forms of faith. They are useful, helpful, sometimes they approach the very point of essential necessity. What is greater than creed? Faith, faith is larger in all its inclusiveness and suggestiveness than any creed can ever be. Many men cannot put faith within the limits of credal form. Are we then to make infidels of them? Shall we not recognize that they are attending to the weightier matters of the law, and approach them, and recognize what measure of sincerity and earnestness may be obvious in all their spirit and action. II. This line of reasoning might be fitly applied to the Bible itself. No man is going to be so fatuous and impious as to deny the great importance of many aspects of the controversy raging around the Bible; let us, however, be careful that we do not diminish the authority of the Bible by misunderstanding the purpose of the Bible itself. How did Jesus Christ Himself use the Bible? By the Bible, of course, I mean the Old Testament. His will be the right way. What did He go to the Old Testament for? For Himself, this is the whole necessity: to find the Son of God should be the object of every Biblical student and reader. III. Apply the matter to the question of the Sabbath. Here are men who believe that the Sabbath begins at twilight of one day and goes on to evening twilight of another day. They keep Sabbath by the clock: up to five minutes within the time they can be buying and selling and getting gain, but now it is Sabbath Day, because a bell has been struck. Another man says, 'I go the length of admitting that one in seven should be a day of rest'. That is the weightier matter; he is a Sabbatarian, in the truest, widest, noblest sense of the term. IV. Apply this also to service. Some men can render one kind of service and some another; let every man be distinctive in his mission, and be most himself because he attends to the weightier matters which he is peculiarly constituted to carry out to completeness of fruition. Joseph Parker, The Gospel of Jesus Christ, p. 28. Illustration. I go to the Great Northern Railway to go to Scotland. The man who is in charge of the place insists on being fundamental; he is a man of culture. When I approach him, he says, 'Let us begin at the beginning,' my reply is, 'I want to go to Edinburgh'. 'By no means begin at that end of the business,' he will reply; 'let us be at once elementary, fundamental, and complete.' I look at the man with a feeling of vacuity, for either he is out of his head or I am. He says, 'This is the Great Northern Railway'. I reply, 'I never doubted that'. 'But do you understand it?' 'I think so.' 'Let me explain it to you,' he continues. 'Consider' the importance of the word "the," a little word, an article, and a definite one; in all languages the article plays a most important part. "Great," a word you might apply to kings, to empires, to the heavens themselves. "Northern," not North-Eastem mark that; and not North-Western, be on your guard; this is an age of sophistry; not the North-Western. Not the Southern, but the Northern. Stand in front of a map, where is the North? At the top mark that.' I thank him for his lecture, and feel that it must have cost him a great many hours of anxiety to prepare it, and I say now to a porter, 'Where is the train to Edinburgh'? He says, 'It is gone, sir!' Gone! Will this man who has been lecturing to me on the Great Northern bring it back? Never; he has befooled mo. So it will be with many at the last. Whilst you have been talking about matters of absolutely insignificant importance, or of merely relative importance, the train will have gone. Joseph Parker, The Gospel of Jesus Christ, p. 41. Matthew 23:23 Writing in 1826 upon the prospects of reform within the Church of England, Dr. Arnold, of Rugby, observes: 'The difficulty will always be practically, who is to reform it? For the clergy have a horror of the House of Commons, and Parliament and the country will never trust the matter to the clergy. If we had our general assembly, there might be some chance; but, as it is, I know no more hopeless prospect, and every year I live, this is to me more painful. If half the energy and resources which have been turned to Bible societies and missions, had steadily been applied to the reform of our own institutions, and the enforcing the principles of the Gospel among ourselves, I cannot think but that we should have been fulfilling a higher duty, and with the blessing of God might have produced more satisfactory fruit. 'These things ye ought to have done, and not to have left the other undone.' References. XXIII. 23. W. J. Butler, What is Our Present Danger, Sermons, 1870-93. J. Parker, The Gospel of Jems Christ, p. 32. F. B. Cowl, Straight Tracks, p. 13. XXIII. 23, 24. H. Hensley Henson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lx. 1901, p. 360. D. Eraser, Metaphors in the Gospels, p. 181. Mistaken Magnitudes Matthew 23:24 It was one great complaint of our Lord against the Pharisees, that they had lost the relative magnitude of things. I. One of the great arts of worthy living is to see things in their relative importance. It is a great thing to know a trifle when you meet it. It is equally great, when the decisive moment comes, to seize it and use it with every power of manhood. It is such swift distinguishing between the great and little, such vision of the relative magnitude of things, that is one secret of a quiet and conquering life. 1. The failure to see things in their true proportions is often seen in relation to our grievances. When a man has a grievance he is almost certain to have distorted vision. You can block out the sun by the smallest coin if you hold the coin near enough to the eye. And we have a way of dwelling on our grievances, till we lose sight of the blue heaven above us. 2. Of course, I am aware that the failure to see things in their true proportions has sometimes got physical and not moral roots. We are so apt to be jaundiced and think bitter things, when all that we want is a little rest and sunshine. Of all the secondary ministries of God for helping us to see things as they are, there is none quite so wonderful as sleep. We go to rest troubled, perplexed, despondent. We cannot see how we shall get through at all. But when we waken, how different things are! Jesus loved to speak of death as sleep. Our 'death,' for Christ, was sleep, and sleep is the passage to a glad awaking. There will be no mistaken magnitudes in heaven. There will be no errors in proportion there. We shall no longer be blind to the relative importance of things that confused us when we fell asleep. II. What are the Gospel powers that help a man to see things as they are? 1. Remember that the Gospel which we preach puts love at the very centre of our life. When anything else than love is at the centre, the gnats and camels are certain to get mixed. For love alone sees purely, clearly, deeply. Take away God, and things are chaos to me. And without love, I never can know God. You understand, then, the wisdom of Jesus Christ in putting love at the centre of our life It focuses everything. It links the little and the great with the Creator, and brings things to their relative importance. 2. And then the Gospel takes our threescore years and ten and lays them against the background of eternity. It is because Christ has brought immortality to light that the Christian sees things in their true proportions. The efforts and strivings of our threescore years are not adjusted to the scale of seventy, they are adjusted to the scale of immortality. 3. And then the Gospel brings us into fellowship with Christ, and that is our last great lesson in proportion. The heart that takes its measurements from Jesus is likely to be pretty near the truth. G. H. Morrison, Sun-Rise, p. 32. Illustration. Mr. Froude, in his Spanish Story of the Armada, makes a significant remark about the Spanish king. He is showing the incompetence of Philip II, and he says: 'The smallest thing and the largest seemed to occupy him equally'. That was one mark of Philip the Second's incompetence. That gave the worst of all possible starts to the Armada. And for the equipping of nobler vessels than these galleons, and the fighting of sterner battles than they fought, that spirit spells incompetency still. G. H. Morrison, Sun-Rise, p. 33. Formalism Matthew 23:25 I. What is the explanation of this unwonted severity of our Blessed Lord? Why was the whole tone of His ordinary addresses so entirely altered? The answer is given in the words of the text In that solemn sentence the verdict of God Almighty is recorded upon the whole race of Pharisees, 'Ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter'. The heart of these professors was not right with God. They responded to the calls of public charity, but no true love for God and man reigned in their souls. From this hypocrisy our Lord revolted with the united strength of His human and Divine nature. He made one last effort to save them from themselves, to reveal the truth to their blinded hearts, to snatch them back from the abyss which was already opening to receive them. II. How was it that these Pharisees could descend to such depths of iniquity? There was, no doubt, a time in the lives of these Pharisees when they were conscious of heavenly aspirations a blessed spring-tide of the soul when refreshing showers descended from on high to quicken the good seed which had been sown in their hearts. They shrank, however, from the sacrifices by which real holiness could be attained. They held back from the free surrender of their heart to God. They were afraid of the answer which might be returned if they inquired of their Father in heaven, 'Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?' So Satan took advantage of their indecision, and suggested an easier method by which the favour of heaven could be attained. Under the guidance of this master-teacher of deceit they renounced the rugged pathway of inward self-denial, and turned into the smoother road of external obedience. III. The temptation of compounding for inward sin by correctness of outward conduct will press most heavily upon those who, without any real change of heart, have come to be considered religious. They have great doubts whether they are really religious, whether they are ready to die and appear before the judgment seat of Christ Yet they shrink from so humbling themselves as to acknowledge the false foundation on which their spiritual fabric has been raised. Their character for godliness is too precious a possession to be lightly abandoned. So, instead of falling down on their knees and praying God Almighty to create in them a clean heart and renew a right spirit within them, they direct all their efforts to preserving the appearance of goodness, are mere miserable counterfeits, so the process goes on very easily and very surely under the crafty guidance of the master-spirit of deceit Conscience is soothed, the still small voice is silenced, and unless the Spirit of God arrest their downward course they become at last like whited sepulchres all is well on the outside; they are fair and spotless in the eye of man. But within there is no love for God, no warmth of self-sacrifice, no sorrow for sin, no enthusiasm for their Lord, no growing religious life only the cold chill of death, the second death the death of the soul! Bishop G. H. Wilkinson, The Invisible Glory, p. 62. Illustration. Just as in some foreign capital the crown and the sword of a giant king are preserved, though for centuries no head has been found large enough to wear the crown, no hand of strength sufficient to wield the sword, so was it with those poor Pharisees. In the thronged street, the crown of righteousness was borne before them, and men cried 'Rabbi, Rabbi' but theirs were not the heads on which its jewels were first intended to sparkle, they were not the Godlike heroes for whom its massive robes had been moulded. On their foreheads and on the folds of each gorgeous robe might be observed the texts of Scripture ostentatiously displayed, but their puny hands were powerless to wield that sword of the spirit, their feeble wills were impotent to wage a Godlike warfare against man's triple foe the world, the flesh, the devil. In this alone had they succeeded that they had made clean the outside of the cup and of the platter. Bishop G. H. Wilkinson, The Invisible Glory, p. 66. Matthew 23:26 'This,' says Matthew Arnold, 'was the very ground-principle in Jesus Christ's teaching. Instead of attending so much to your outward acts, attend, He said, first of all to your inward thoughts, to the state of your heart and feelings. This doctrine has perhaps been overstrained and misapplied by certain people since; but it was the lesson which at that time was above all needed. It is a great progress beyond even that advanced maxim of pious Jews: "To do justice and judgment is more acceptable than sacrifice". For to do justice and judgment is still, as we have remarked, something external, and may leave the feelings untouched, uncleared, dead. What was wanted was to plough up, clear, and quicken the feelings themselves. And this is what Jesus did.' Respectable Sin Matthew 23:27 The imagery of this denunciation would appeal powerfully to a Jewish audience. These whited sepulchres, gleaming in the sun, were a familiar feature in the landscape. You are not to think of them as separate buildings, like the mausoleums of the Romans. They were just caverns cut in the limestone rock, with a great stone set up to close the opening. And once a year these stones were whitewashed, not for the purpose of making them look beautiful, but to warn people that a grave was there, lest they should touch it, and touching, be defiled. Many a time our Lord had wondered at them, when He rambled among the hills at Nazareth. You know how the darkness and the dead men's bones would stir the imagination of a boy. And now in the glow of His anger at the Pharisees, He sees again that haunting of His youth, 'Ye are like unto these whited sepulchres, beautiful outwardly, but full of all uncleanness'. Now we cannot have a moment's doubt as to the spiritual meaning of that figure. That figure is enshrined in common speech as perfectly expressive of the hypocrite. The man who is one thing inwardly, another outwardly who is not really what he seems to be of such hypocrisy in its most general aspect, I might textually speak tonight. But I want to get nearer to the text even than that; to seize upon its characteristic feature; to show how it stands apart amid the many figures of the hypocrite. Now this, I think, is the emphatic thing here that the Pharisee never shocked nor startled people. He never outraged the feelings of society; never broke through its unwritten laws. Whatever he might be in the sight of God, in the sight of men there was no fault to find. The Pharisee was eminently guilty: he was also respectable. I want then to speak upon the subject of respectable sin. I. Respectable sin is not just secret sin. I do not mean by respectable sin that sin of which others have got no suspicion. It is true that so long as a man's sin is secret, he may still keep the respect of the community. If he is cunning enough to hide his shame, he may still pass as a reputable citizen. But the point to note is that that respectability depends upon the keeping of the secret. The moment the sin is trumpeted abroad, the man becomes an alien and an outcast. It is not such sin that is respectable. It is sin that, when known, carries no social stigma. It is sin that a man may openly commit, and yet not forfeit his place in the community. It is sin that is tolerated in general opinion; that is not visited with social ostracism; that does not shut the door in a man's face of the society in which he loves to move. II. Now when we study the earthly life of Jesus, there is one thing that we soon come to see. It is with what terrible and dread severity He judged those sins we call respectable. There is often an element of unexpectedness in the moral judgments of our Saviour. He is sometimes severe where we should have been lenient; He is often lenient where we should be severe. And nowhere is this more remarkable than in His attitude towards actual sins, as He saw them in the streets of Galilee, and in the homes and in the market-place. All sin was hateful to Jesus Christ, because all sin was rebellion against God. He never condoned sin in any form; never thought of it as the other side of goodness. And yet undoubtedly the sins that stirred Him most were not the sins of passion or of weakness. They were the cold and calculating sins which masqueraded as respectable. Think for example of the Temple traders. Did anyone think the less of them for trading so? Was not that traffic a general convenience, acquiesced in by society without protest? Yet never in all his life was Christ so angry so filled with a passion of tumultuous scorn as when He knit His scourge, and drove them forth, and hurled the charge of robber in their teeth. It was not in that way that He spoke to Peter. It was not thus that He had addressed the Magdalene. Towards them, in the whole conduct of the Saviour, there is the throb of unutterable tenderness. But towards the Pharisees and towards the traders I look for any such tenderness in vain. Christ hurled His bitterest and sternest judgments upon the sins of respectability. III. Sin that is respectable has an unequalled power of deadening the conscience. In the mirror of the society he moves in, a man sees nothing to alarm or terrify. Is this not true of respectable sin, that of all sin it is most pernicious in its influence? I think that Jesus Christ condemned it so, because He was the lover of mankind. He saw its untold power to allure. He saw how mightily it would appeal to natures that would turn in loathing from coarse vice. And therefore did He terribly denounce it, out of His great love for foolish men, who are so ready to think that anything is right when they can do it without social censure. G. H. Morrison, The Return of the Angels, p. 77. Matthew 23:27 Compare the sentences inserted by Charlotte Brontë in her preface to the second edition of Jane Eyre: 'Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to assail the second. To pluck the mask from the face of the Pharisee, is not to lift an impious hand to the Crown of Thorns.... The world may not like to see these ideas dissevered, for it has been accustomed to blend them; finding it convenient to make external show pass for sterling worth to let whitewashed walls vouch for clean shrines. It may hate him who dares to scrutinize and expose to rase the gilding and show base metal underneath it, to penetrate the sepulchre and reveal charnel relics; but hate as it will, it is indebted to him.' How much among us might be likened to a whited sepulchre; outwardly, all pomp and strength; but inwardly full of horror and despair and dead men's bones 1 Iron highways, with their wains fire-winged, are uniting all ends of the firm Land; quays and moles, with their innumerable stately fleets, tame the ocean into our pliant bearer of burdens; Labour's thousand arms, of sinew and of metal, all-conquering everywhere, from the tops of the mountain down to the depths of the mine and the caverns of the sea, ply unweariedly for the service of man: yet man remains unserved.... Countries are rich, prosperous, in all manner of increase, beyond example; but the Men of those countries are poor, needier than ever of all sustenance outward and inward; of Belief, of Knowledge, of Money, of Food. Carlyle. References. XXIII. 27, 28. D. Fraser, Metaphors in the Gospels, p. 191. XXIII. 27-39. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 139. Matthew 23:29-30 I saw the state of those, both priests and people, who, in reading the Scriptures, cry out much against Cain, Esau, and Judas, and other wicked men of former times, mentioned in the Holy Scriptures; but do not see the nature of Cain, of Esau, of Judas, and those others in themselves. These said, it was they, they, they, they, that were the bad people; putting it all from themselves; but when some of them came, with the light and spirit of truth, to see into themselves, then they came to say I, I, I, it is I myself, that have been the Ishmael, and the Esau, etc. George Fox. 'It is trite,' says Professor Seeley, 'that an original man is persecuted in his lifetime and idolized after his death, but it is a less familiar truth that the posthumous idolaters are the legitimate successors and representatives of the contemporary persecutors.... The second half of the original man's destiny is really worse than the first, and his failure is written more legibly in the blind veneration of succeeding ages than in the blind hostility of his own. He broke the chains by which men were bound; he threw open to them the doors leading into the boundless freedom of nature and truth. But in the next generation he is idolized, and nature and truth are as much forgotten as ever; if he could return to earth, he would find that the crowbars and files with which he made his way out of the prison-house have been forged into the bolts and chains of a new prison called by his own name. And who are those who idolize his memory? Who are found building his sepulchre? Precisely the same party which resisted his reform; those who are born for routine and can accommodate themselves to everything but freedom; those who in clinging to the wisdom of the past suppose they love wisdom, but in fact love only the past, and love the past only because they hate the living present.' Speaking of adherents of theological creeds, the late Mr. R. H. Hutton once observed that 'the greater the glow of trust with which they formerly held possession of their past, the more sullenly do they fortify the empty sepulchres.... It was a saying of Luther's that the very people who, in his lifetime, would not touch the kernel of his teaching, would be greedy after the husks of it when he was once dead.' The only valuable criticism is that which turns what is latent in the thought of a great writer against what is explicit, and thereby makes his works a stepping-stone to results which he did not himself attain. It was those who stoned the Prophets that built their sepulchres. Those who really reverenced them, showed it by following the spirit derived from them to new issues. E. Caird, preface to * Philosophy of Kant. * And, while we fools Are making courtesies and brave compliments To our rare century, and courtierly Swaddling our strength in trammels of soft silk, The rotten depths grow rottener. Augusta Webster. References. XXIII. 29-32. A. Orrock Johnston, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xl. 1891, p. 420. XXIII. 29-39. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xl. No. 2381. XXIII. 33. J. Baldwin Brown, The Divine Treatment of Sin, p. 155. Matthew 23:34 Generation after generation of insurgent Poles, or Italians, or whatnot, may bleed and die, and seem to leave nothing to show for it all. But who are we that we should presume to judge how much expenditure of blood the keeping alive of an idea is worth? * Memoirs of Henry Holbeach. * References. XXIII. 34 H. C. G. Moule, Christ's Witness to the Life to Come, p. 120. XXIII. 34, 35. R. E. Hutton, The Crown of Christ, vol. ii. p. 329. XXIII. 37. A. G. Mortimer, The Church's Lessons for the Christian Year, part iv. p. 203. 'Plain Sermons' by contributors to the Tracts for the Times, vol. viii. p. 151. John Watson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlviii. 1895, p. 56. J. M. Neale, Sermons Preached in Sackville College Chapel, vol. ii. p. 243. C. Stamford, Symbols of Christ, p. 263. D. Fraser, Metaphors in the Gospels, p. 209. C. Jerdan, Pastures of Tender Grass, p. 360. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xl. No. 2381; vol. xlv. No. 2630. XXIII. 37, 38. E. E. Smith, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lix. 1901, p. 228. XXIII. 38. C. Jerdan, Pastures of Tender Grass, p. 110. XXIII. 41. H. P. Liddon, Some Elements of Religion, p. 201. XXIV. 1-21. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlix. No. 2381. XXIV. 1-35. R. W. Dale, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlviii. 1895, pp. 60, 104. XXIV. 3. D. Heagle, That Blessed Hope, p. 62. S. H. Kellogg, The Past a Prophecy of the Future, pp. 321, 339. XXIV. 6. J. Addison Alexander, The Gospel of Jesus Christ, p. 275. XXIV. 6, 14. H. Scott Holland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lx. 1901, p. 216. XXIV. 7. F. E. Paget, The Redemption of War, p. 1. J. B. Mozley, Sermons Preached Before the University of Oxford, p. 97. H. J. Coleridge, The Return of the King, p. 116. XXIV. 11. G. St. Clair, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xl. 1891, p. 339. The Intrusion of the World Matthew 24:12 No doubt this referred originally to the great crash of the fall of Jerusalem. But one cannot help seeing that the whole prophecy describes rather the constantly recurring features of all epochs of great change affecting the kingdom of heaven than the details of special circumstances attaching to some one event. I. Observe that it is more inside the Church that iniquity is said to abound. There may be a fair amount of morality and obedience in the Church. But it is the outside world, the mass of the people who are not Christians in any real sense, in whom a low tone of morality abounds. And the Church of course ought to be the antagonist of this, to curb it and overcome it If it has failed to be so, then the world is leavening the Church. The two powers are always in existence and in operation; perhaps there is always action and reaction, but there are periods when the forces of the Church are evidently the stronger, and others when the world evidently is. II. I want to urge that as a truth not only about communities, but about individuals. Either you are salting the world or the world is putrefying you. There cannot be a severance of relations. You must either be actively giving out or passively receiving. In what are the bulk of professing Christians different from the world? They are like them in their views of things, in their amusements, in their pursuits, in their ambitions, in their loves and fears. That no doubt partly comes from the more obvious parts of Christian morality having permeated to a considerable extent the classes of society to which most of us belong. But that will not explain it all. There should be a distinct difference of tone, a higher standard of self-sacrifice. It all comes to this, are we trying to be the salt, or are we letting the evil around us conquer unchecked? III. The Cure. Honestly bring your hearts under the influence of the love that will kindle them. Our love as Christians is eminently reasonable. It rests upon a believed fact. It is the echo of Christ's love to us. It is not then to be produced by willing only or by effort, but mainly by laying our hearts in sunshine that makes them warm. Then let the practical discipline of life go to cultivate that love, and to suppress what wars against it. Make an effort to keep Christ's love in mind, and practice the fruits of love, and guard against the intrusion of the world. A. Maclaren. Reference. XXIV. 12. H. J. Coleridge, The Return of the King, p. 89. Matthew 24:13 This is one of those great notes which sound through Scripture, the necessity of continuance, of not stopping before the end. Love is tried by continuance, by going on with what we have begun. Mozley. References. XXIV. 13. Stopford A. Brooke, Short Sermons, p. 41. J. Lewis Paton, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxi. 1907, p. 406. 'Plain Sermons' by contributors to the Tracts for the Times, vol. i. p. 318. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 148. H. P. Liddon, Sermons on Some Words of Christ, p. 113. XXIV. 14. D. Heagle, That Blessed Hope, p. 90. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year (2nd Series), vol. i. p. 1. T. F. Lockyer, The Inspirations of the Christian Life, p. 99. G. F. Maclear, The Evidential Value of the Continuity of Missionary Enterprise, p. 1. XXIV. 15. H. J. Coleridge, The Return of the King, p. 142. R. E. Hutton, The Crown of Christ, vol. i. p. 37. Matthew 24:23 Nothing doth so much keepe Men out of the Church, and drive Men out of the Church, as Breach of Unity: and therefore, whensoever it cometh to that passe, that one saith, Ecce in deserto ; Another saith, Ecce in penetralibus ; That is, when some Men seeke Christ, in the conventicles of Heretikes, and others in an outward face of a church, that voice had need continually to sound in Men's eares, Nolite exire , * Goe not out. * Bacon. References. XXIV. 24. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. vi. No. 324. J. B. Wilkinson, Plain Preaching for a Year, p. 191. XXIV. 24-26. Alfred Rowland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlii. 1892, p. 71. XXIV. 26. S. H. Kellogg, The Past a Prophecy of the Future, p. 308. Lightning Matthew 24:27 The presence of the Divine Humanity is likened to a flash of lightning; not, I imagine, to the destructive zigzag forked lightning of the thunderstorm that metaphor was appropriated by our Lord Himself to evil personified when He said: 'Behold, I saw Satan, like lightning, fall from heaven' but rather to that harmless beautiful illumination which we call summer lightning, or sheet lightning. I. What, then, is this sheet lightning, and in what sense can it be an analogy of the presence of the Divine Humanity, the light of the world? Sheet lightning is the flashing into manifestation of an atmospheric power, always present everywhere but not always manifested. No man can define electricity, and yet it has been scientifically demonstrated to be the combining agent of matter, and without it the million million atoms of the material world would be disintegrated. The Incarnation is God manifest, as the lightning-flash is electricity manifest. His presence on earth is the coming into visibility of a Divine, world-creating, world-sustaining presence, always everywhere diffused and operative; always everywhere the life, the spirit; but impersonal and unknowable to the finite minds of men, except as revealed under some limitation that man's eye can see and man's intelligence apprehend. II. These eyes of the soul are greatly in our own power. The faculty of spiritual discernment, though it may be withered from non-use, is the hereditary possession of every human being. Eyes must be blind indeed that cannot see a lightning-flash. The Christ is the lightning-flash that reveals the nature of the Father Who loves us. Act as though it were true. Let the solemn mystery of that presence challenge you and subdue you. III. Obviously, in a very special and influential manner, is that same presence shrouded in every guaranteed act of the Church. At the supreme moment of earnest, faithful communion, the veil between the two worlds is very thin; the spirits of the departed are very near; the soul is strengthened by a bath of heaven's sunshine from the presence of the glorified Redeemer God's lightning-flash illuminating the darkness of the world. Basil Wilberforce, Speaking Good of His Name, p. 17. Matthew 24:27 In her Life of Edward Irving, Mrs. Oliphant quotes a reminiscence of his preaching at Perth by a Scottish minister. 'His text was taken from the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, regarding the coming of the Son of Man. I remember nothing of the sermon, save its general subject; but one thing I can never forget. While he was engaged in unfolding his subject, from out of a dark cloud, which obscured the Church, there came forth a bright blaze of lightning and a crash of thunder. There was deep stillness in the audience. The preacher paused; and from the stillness and the gloom, his powerful voice, clothed with increased solemnity, pronounced these words: For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. You can imagine the effect.' References. XXIV. 27. Sir G. R. Fetherston, Bart, A Garden Eastward, p. 26. D. Fraser, Metaphors in the Gospels, p. 221. The Carrion and the Vultures Matthew 24:28 This grim parable has, of course, a strong Eastern colouring. It is best appreciated by dwellers in those lands. They tell us that no sooner is some sickly animal dead, or some piece of carrion thrown out by the way, than the vultures for the eagle does not prey upon carrion appear. And so, says Christ, wherever there is a rotting, dead society, a carcass hopelessly corrupt and evil, down upon it, as if drawn by some unerring attraction, will come the angel, the vulture of the Divine judgment. I. The first thing in these most true and solemn words is this, that they are to us a revelation of a law which operates with unerring certainty through all the force of the world's history. We cannot tell, but God can, when evil has become incurable; or when, in the language of my text, the man or the community has become a carcass. There may be flickerings of life, all unseen by our eyes, or there may be death, all unsuspected by our shallow vision. So long as there is a possibility of amendment, 'sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily'; and God dams back, as it were, the flow of His retributive judgment; 'not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to the knowledge of the truth'. But when He sees that all is vain, that no longer is restoration or recovery possible, then He lets loose the flood; or, in the language of my text, when the thing has become a carcass, then the vultures, God's scavengers, come and clear it away from off the face of the earth. Let us see to it that we do our little part to be the salt of the earth which shall keep it from rotting, and so drive away the vultures of judgment. II. We have here a law which shall have a far more tremendous accomplishment in the future. Jesus Christ is to come in bodily form as He went away. All men are to be judged by Him. That judgment is to be the destruction of opposing forces, the sweeping away of the carrion of moral evil. III. This is a law which need never touch you, nor you know anything about but by the hearing of the ear. 'There is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.' If we trust in that great Saviour we shall be quickened from the death of sin and so shall not be food for the vultures of judgment. The hand Whose touch healed the leper will heal us, and our flesh will come again as the flesh of a little child. Christ has bared His breast to the Divine judgments against sin, and if by faith we shelter ourselves in Him, we shall never know the terrors of that awful day. A. Maclaren, Christ in the Heart, p. 105. References. XXIV. 28. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 157; see also British Weekly Pulpit, vol. ii. p. 417. H. J. Coleridge, The Return of the King, p. 214. W. H. Simcox, The Cessation of Prophecy, p. 188. C. Jerdan, Pastures of Tender Grass, p. 104. W. Alexander, The Great Question, p. 257. H. D. Rawnsley, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lvi. 1899, p. 180. D. Fraser, Metaphors in the Gospels, p. 232. J. Service, Sermons, p. 48. XXIV. 29, 30. Bishop E. C. S. Gibson, The Old Testament in the New, p. 79. The Cross Blazoned on the Skies Matthew 24:30 The Saviour declared that at the end of the present age, and on the verge of His Second Coming, a strange, mystic sign would appear upon the firmament. What is that tremendous sign to be? I believe, with Dean Alford, that 'no sign completely answers the conditions but the * Cross. * I. Consider: Him to Whom the Sign Appertains. He calls Himself 'the Son of Man'. He adopts a phrase of Daniel the Prophet and gives it a definite and rich signification. Who is this Son of Man? Evidently He stands in close relationship to humanity. He is human in His nature and experience and sympathy. But does not the very term suggest that He was more than man? So unique a relation to humanity must imply Divinity. It is noteworthy that in this solemn discourse from which our text is taken, whilst He calls Himself the Son of Man He unequivocally calls Himself by names which none but a Divine Being dare apply to Himself. II. Mark: The Wonderfulness of the Sign. The emblazoned Cross is the sign of human sin. Never will the tribes of the earth realize fully the horror of sin till 'shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven'. The Cross burning on the forehead of the heavens is the sign of * the guilt of sin. * The Cross ardent on those resplendent heights is the sign of full and complete atonement. Can we be surprised that the Cross has, therefore, always been the supreme symbol of the Christian religion? The Cross kindled on the skies is the sign of character. The ideal of Christian excellence is in the Cross, which also supplies the motive for striving after the ideal and the power to achieve the ideal. The Cross blazing in the skies is also the sign of the reward of the believer. Such as have trusted the Redeeming Cross will know assuredly then that they have not believed in vain. III. Let us seek to appreciate the Momentousness of the Appearance of this Sign. Note carefully the time-point of my text, 'And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven'. The appearance of the flaming Cross is to synchronize with astounding phenomena. In the Cross of Christ I glory Towering o'er the wrecks of time. That is the proclamation of a literal circumstance, the Cross shall survive all things, even as (in God's gracious purpose) it did antedate all things. One wonders if the Cross will be a gospel to a world of sinners in that awful hour. The Cross when it appears in heaven will give universal compunction. The Lord saith that 'than shall all the tribes of the earth mourn'. When the Cross appears Jesus will speedily return as Lord. The 'sign' will, as Matthew Henry puts it, 'dash infidelity quite out of countenance'. When the Cross appears * the full salvation of believers shall be declared. * Finally: the Cross when it appears will reveal what shall be the glory of saints for ever. Dins-dale T. Young, The Travels of the Heart, p. 19. References. XXIV. 30. Bishop E. C. S. Gibson, The Old Testament in the New, p. 95. J. B. Wilkinson, Plain Preaching for a Year, vol. i. p. 276. XXIV. 30, 31. F. E. Paget, Helps and Hindrances to the Christian Life, vol. i. p. 128. W. B. Trevelyan, Sermons for the People (2nd Series), vol. ii. p. 120. XXIV. 31. Bishop E. C. S. Gibson, The Old Testament in the New, p. 109. The Prophet May Matthew 24:32 Transposing the words of an American preacher, we may say that what Isaiah is among the books of the Bible, that May is among the months of the year. When we come out on it from a cruel and lingering winter to behold the glory of the forest and the graze of flowers to mark the delicate beauty of Primroses and daises bright, And everything that loves the light hope touches our hearts once more. If a hand lies fast in ours that threatened to slip, if we still find ourselves together on the narrow road that leads by the great precipice, it is with a graver and deeper joy that we turn over the Divine pages of the Book of the Prophet May. I. May is very fitly the season in which Christian workers meet to review their labours. Some of them come to tell of reaping as well as sowing. They are happy because they have seen the promise of the kingdom, because they have felt the flush and warmth of the approaching summer. For those to whom they carried the message the accepted day has risen. The Divine Spirit, almost before their very eyes, has renewed the souls of men. Their hearts are open to the teaching of the companies of prophets on the hill-sides and in the fields. But others receive it unreadily. They have sown in a gusty day. The clouds have been low in the sky. Nothing is apparent, nothing can be put into speech or print which does not speak of going back. It seems to them as if all were to end in misery, vanity, and enfeeblement. God rebukes them by His May. There are long winters in grace, but the renewal never fails. II. For the rest St. Paul urges them to be steadfast, to be always abounding in the work of the Lord, by turning their thoughts to the field of death. That above all others is in the charge of Christ. Yet of visible proof that it is so there is next to none. No missionary, however despondent, sees such irresponsiveness. But when the Hope of all the harvest fell into the ground and died, He knew what would come of it. He rose again, and thereby 'made the dying deathless'. St. Paul argues it out very calmly. What sense sees is to faith the seed changing. It is a redeemed thing as much as the soul that waits it in the cloister of the Church expectant. Therefore, looking at the iron rigour that holds and has held so long the field which the Lord has blessed! be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, and trusting in His prophecy. III. What is true on the great scale is equally true for the individual. Life in Christ is not history it is prophecy. If it were history it would be nothing, for what could the dim, vexed beginning of eternity count for when time was no more? But eternity is nothing but the unfolding and explaining of time. All that is not of Christ will pass; we go loosed from it as from our sins in the Blood of the Lamb. But how much remains! The companionship that made life a holy and happy thing was cut short just at the opening. The plans with which the eager heart teemed all came to nothing. What forces of thought and love we have seemed to spend in vain! Are there wounds that cannot be healed, losses that cannot be made good, griefs that cannot be forgotten? The answer is in the prophecy of May of everlasting spring and unwithering flowers. W. Robertson Nicoll, Ten Minute Sermons, p. 59. References. XXIV. 32. C. Silvester Home, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxix. 1906, p. 198. XXIV. 32, 33. D. Heagle, That Blessed Hope, p. 44. XXIV. 34-36. Bishop E. C. S. Gibson, The Old Testament in the New, p. 63. XXIV. 35. S. H. Kellogg, The Past a Prophecy of the Future, p. 237. H. P. Liddon, Sermons on Some Words of Christ, p. 1. C. Jerdan, Pastures of Tender Grass, p. 77. J. Orr, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lvii. p. 81. XXIV. 36. D. Heagle, That Blessed Hope, p. 44. Matthew 24:37 In his biography of William Morris, Mr. J. W. Mackail points out (II. pp. 144 f.) the poet's firm belief in a catastrophe impending over modern civilization, a sort of twilight of the gods, a dying before regeneration, a sudden and complete avalanche of barbarism leading to some re-birth of man. 'I have more faith,' said Morris once, 'than a grain of mustard seed in the future history of "civilization," which I know now is doomed to destruction, and probably before very long; what a joy it is to think of! and how often it consoles me to think of barbarism once more flooding the world, and real feelings and passions, however rudimentary, taking the place of our wretched hypocrisies. With this thought in my mind all the history of the past is lighted up and lives again to me. I used really to despair once because I thought what the idiots of our day call progress would go on perfecting itself; happily I know now that all that will have a sudden check sudden in appearance, I mean "as it was in the days of Noe".' References. XXIV. 37. A. N. Obbard, Plain Sermons, p. 53. XXIV. 39. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xiv. No. 823. Matthew 24:40 We are told that there shall be two in the field, that the one shall be taken and the other left. But we have yet to learn why, in our limited vision, the choice seems invariably to be mistaken. We have yet to learn why he who is doing good work is taken from the field, leaving there the man whose tastes are urban. H. Seton Merriman. I have read of a remarkable Welshman, of whom it was said, when the grave closed over him, that he could frame a harp and play it; build a ship and sail it; compose an ode and set it to music. A brave fellow, that son of Wales but I had once a brother who could do more and better than this, but the grave has closed over him, as over the gallant Welshman of yore; there are now but two that remember him the one who bore him, and the being who was nurtured at the same breast. He was taken, and I was left! Truly the ways of Providence are inscrutable. Borrow in * Lavengro. * References. XXIV. 40-42. 'Plain Sermons' by contributors to the Tracts for the Times, vol. iii. p. 49. Matthew 24:42 The art of life resembles the art of the wrestler rather than of the dancer, inasmuch as man must stand ready and steady to meet sudden and unlooked-for attacks. Marcus Aurelius. References. XXIV. 42. E. Aldom French, God's Message Through Modern Doubt, p. 225. 'Plain Sermons' by contributors to the Tracts for the Times, vol. vii. p. 277. XXIV. 42-44. T. B. Dover, Some Quiet Lenten Thoughts, p. 87. XXIV. 42-51. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 166. D. Fraser, Metaphors in the Gospels, p. 244. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlv. No. 2642. XXIV. 44. R. D. B. Rawnsley, Village Sermons (3rd Series), p. 1. W. Hay M. H. Aitken, Mission Sermons (2nd Series), p. 247. XXV. R. Winterbotham, The Kingdom of Heaven, p. 145. ** The Substance of the Kingdom The Divine Nature Matthew 25:1 The way by which a human soul born in sin becomes a kingdom of heaven, is the way of the New Birth, wherein God takes away our sin by the cleansing of the Precious Blood of Christ, and makes us by the power of His Holy Spirit partakers of the Divine nature. I. God being the germ of every true human character, if we want to know that true human nature is, we must know first what is the character of God, Who is its ideal, and the root out of which it grows. That character is summed up by St. John in the phrase 'God is love,' and that love is the mutual love of the Three Blessed Persons of the Undivided Trinity. God being what in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in all His works, we recognize Him to be, is the image in which you were formed, the type you are intended to grow up to. Nothing mean, sad, discouraging in all your experience, is what He made you for; as Christ was not made for the tortures of the Cross, but for the sacrifice, the love, the victory of the Cross. We are not necessarily wrong in having joy of any created good. The wrongness begins only when we begin to be satisfied with any created good, and stop in that which is the mere sketch and faintest outline of good, instead of going on through it to God Who is the substance of all good. II. And then God Himself, the Archetype, comes to you in the Word and Sacraments. And now the aspiration after holiness is no longer a vain longing; but your soul draws nigh to God, and is possessed by Him, and as you persevere in this prayer you learn how the dedicated soul may be conformed to God, and become God's kingdom. III. But who ever practically reaches this glory? Is not the essence and abiding characteristic of human life vanity misery? No, it has never been so absolutely. Every man bears within himself a reflection of the Divine goodness in his desire of good. And consider that you feed upon God in the Sacraments, not in order to possess Him for yourself alone. You are to interpret, to reflect God to all who live round you. This is the secret of the influence upon the human race of such a character as St. Francis of Assisi. In that homely, poor, and gentle lover we recognize the Eternal Love, and are kindled and inexpressibly cheered and enlightened. Our salvation is not in knowing all the finest moral distinctions, but in God Himself, Who comes in all the radiancy of His holiness to live, and build His Kingdom in us. G. Congreve, The Parable of the Ten Virgins, p. 11. ** The Expectancy of Faith ( advent Season ) Matthew 25:1 ** The typical company in the parable represents the vaster company of the kingdom of God, the number 'ten' being of no spiritual significance, but yet frequently used as denoting a typical company; the kingdom of God in the language of the Gospels meaning the visible Church of Christ. We understand therefore that these ten virgins are a representative company waiting for the coming of the heavenly Bridegroom, and looking forward to final beatitude in the home which our Lord has formed for His chosen ones. There are two points to consider: expectancy, as a distinguishing mark of the life of the Church on earth; secondly, the going forth to meet the Messiah, as the chosen state of life of the individual members of His Church. I. As to expectancy, our state should be a continual looking out for the dawn of the manifestation of Christ. The Christian mind is bent on the hope that we shall see the land that is far off, and follow in the triumphal march of the Bridegroom, and carry our standard safely in the midst of the glory and beauty of the mystical company. II. These virgins were going forth to meet the Bridegroom. Under this idea is contained the whole life of the individual members of the Mystical Body. It is a 'going forth' to meet Him as He comes; true life is a going onward and upward, an animating quickening of the soul which has such expectancy. Our souls are gifted in various degrees, all lawful callings are part of a Divine purpose to be carried on in His kingdom. Our Lord would have them carried out with energy and skill and varied powers. For this purpose our gifts are infinitely various; but in one respect all are alike. The virgins all had one purpose: all were waiting for the coming of the Bridegroom; all were longing to see Him; and the image of the Bridegroom ever dwelt in their minds. And all who are faithful bear that image in their soul as a perpetual power, an ever-prompting influence. We are so made as to form visions in our minds, and these have great influence over us. And such visions ever have practical teachings, telling us of duties to others; that each is but one of a company, with ever-constant calls of helpfulness, of relative duties, each demanding of us some effort for the forwarding of God's purpose, all and each acting together, even as He himself lived and lives for others, carrying on in heaven the work of love manifested on earth. T. T. Carter, The Spirit of Watchfulness, p. 8. References. XXV. 1. Henry Alford, Advent Sermons, p. 99. H. Scott Holland, Logic and Life, p. 305. E. Fowle, Plain Preaching to Poor People (2nd Series), p. 129. W. Lee, University Sermons, p. 124. XXV. 1-12. T. De Witt Talmage, Sermons, p. 24. Rayner Winterbotham, The Kingdom of Heaven, p. 25. XXV. 1-13. T. Guthrie, Parables of Our Lord, p. 166. Cosmo Gordon Lang, Thoughts on Some of the Parables of Jesus, p. 83. R. Stewart, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxvii. 1890, p. 392. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 175. B. W. Maturin, Practical Studies on the Parables of Our Lord, p. 138. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlv. No. 2618, vol. xlv. No. 2642. ** The Ten Virgins ( advent ) Matthew 25:2 ** I. Our Lord seems to be drawing attention to the combination of outward resemblances and inward differences in the lives of men: the similarity of circumstances which so often conceals dissimilarity of * characters. * 1. It is, for instance, an obvious fact that respectability often, indeed usually, tends to resemble goodness all the virgins had their lamps burning. You cannot at first tell, or perhaps even at last tell, which are the really good men, and which are the merely respectable ones. Yet in spite of resemblances between them, there is really a distinction as vital as we can conceive. For respectability is simply a regard for appearances a regard for man; goodness is a regard for realities a regard for God. 2. In apparent weaknesses there is also very frequently a resemblance 'They all slumbered and slept'. So calm is apt to look very much like indifference. But these superficial judgments count for very little. Absence of noise may mean absence of water, the dry and parched channel; or it may mean the stillness, the silence of a tide which 'moving seems asleep, too full for sound or foam'. But the teaching of our Lord is that 'whatsoever is covered shall be revealed'; that the secret distinctions of character, unobserved now, shall be made visible. In the parable of the Ten Virgins we see the truth illustrated. II. It is not in quiet and untroubled times, when the lamp of life seems to burn gaily without any effort of our own, while in peace and security men 'slumber and sleep' it is not in the 'seasons of calm weather' that the true man, the character of the man, is made manifest, but in the sudden awakening call the midnight cries the crises of life, that what has been 'hidden' is 'revealed'. These comings of the Bridegroom, these solemn crises, these revealing moments, are, according to our Lord, but the foreshadowing and premonition of one other greater than all; and the last judgment is to be the final revelation of character. III. Take two practical thoughts suggested by the subject: 1. The thought of the supreme value of character, and therefore the supreme value of the individual soul. One of our commonest dangers is that of always trying to judge men and women by groups or classes, i.e. by circumstances instead of character. 2. Though none may see the depths of our souls, yet there is One who even now is never deceived by appearances One who knows the true drift and tendency of our lives, who beholds us not only as we are, but as we are becoming as we are to be. He knows the Virgins who, even when they sleep, are ready. H. R. Gamble, The Ten Virgins, p. 3. Goodness Not Good Enough Matthew 25:2 These five foolish virgins were in some sense friends of the Bridegroom. And they stand here not exactly as representative of the base, but of the good, although there was something seriously the matter with their goodness that is the point. The goodness that is not good enough! What is that? Let us say you have here five foolish virgins, and they shall stand for five distinct types of defective goodness. I. Ecclesiasticism Without Righteousness. There is one great type of a goodness that is not good enough formalism without character. II. Morality Without Godliness. It is always an advantage for a man to be moral; but, beyond all, it is an infinite advantage for his morality to be founded upon the deep rock. In South Africa they sometimes come across yellow diamonds. They are really diamonds, but no king would ever put one of them into his crown. And there is many a man Today who is a yellow diamond. His is the morality of the surface, the morality of society, the morality of etiquette, but he has not been transformed in mind and spirit, and he does not walk in the fear of God, and, therefore, God will never know him in the day when He makes up His jewels. III. Sentiment Without Sacrifice. Take care of your poetry, but mind it is the poetry of life. For, if at the last our religion has been imagination, romance, poetry, æstheticism, it is the goodness that is not good enough, it is the light that fails. IV. Knowledge Without Obedience. A man never knows enough until he has cried 'God be merciful to me a sinner'. A man never knows enough until he knows that he is a new creature in Christ Jesus. A man is not saved by what he knows, but by what he brings to bear on his daily life and action. Thank God for your knowledge. It is a golden lamp. But mind there is in it the oil of grace, the light of truth, and that your life is a life of obedience and sacrifice. V. Enthusiasm Without Perseverance. Goodness is a conviction, a passion, a habit. And the light that you want is the light that does not fail; the light that will burn steadily on through the years, and brightest at the last. W. L. Watkinson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxvii. 1905, p. 36. References. XXV. 2. C. Gore, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lviii. 1900, p. 385. C. Silvester Home, ibid. vol. lxviii. 1905, p. 187. ** The Spirit of Preparation ( advent Season ) Matthew 25:2-4 Two great lines of thought are here brought before us: I. The Individuality of the Elect II. The Interior life of the Elect I. The Individuality;** the contrast between the company and the several virgin members of whom it is composed. The company has a life of its own, and moves on irrespective of its numbers, and is received into the open doors, following the Bridegroom, while yet certain members of that chosen company may have lost their place, not keeping true to the standard of the sacred fellowship. Here we have the representation, first of the Mystical Body, as a whole; secondly, of the members of that Body. The greatest wonder that we can believe is the continual existence of the Church, advancing on, as the Ark upon the waters, unassailable, sustained by higher powers. While this progress of the body continues ever, the individual, taken up into it may fail, as each is tried each shaping his own destiny, each standing or falling as the higher life prevails or dies. This truth is shown in the parable, certain of the virgins failing to hold their place in the mystic company. And here is one of the greatest difficulties of faith, how to realize the separateness of each separate soul. II. And all depends on the interior condition of the soul. All forms of external activity spring from the life growing within each showing its principles in deeds and words, the centre of each life ever giving out the powers of the individual soul. This truth appears in the parable as symbolized by the oil, which gives its power to the kindled lamp, for the oil is the inner source that feeds it. And this our Lord would bring out when He represents the foolish virgins as saying to the wise, 'Give us of your oil,' and the reply, 'Go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves'. For the interior life cannot be given by one individual to another. Of the oil, some have thought that it means one, some another, virtue; some have interpreted it as the Holy Spirit Himself. We may rather suppose that it represents both the Giver and the Gift. We cannot separate them. The Spirit goes forth in His Gift, and the Gift can live only as it abides in the Giver. The true spirit in us is kindled by the Holy Spirit according to the calling of God, through His indwelling, and each soul has an individual destiny, a special history. And this individuality depends on the foundations of the life within; the issues of life and death depending on what passes for good or evil within each soul. T. T. Carter, * The Spirit of Watchfulness. * Reference. XXV. 2-4. Henry Alford, Advent Sermons, p. 121. Matthew 25:4 Here lies the sole difference between the wise and the foolish: the wise had private additional store of oil hid away in their own little vessels, so that the lamp lighted for them may be trimmed and refilled by their own peculiar oil. The common inheritance of grace brought down to us by a catholic church this is the beginning of salvation. But this cannot carry us through, unless deep in our own secret heart of hearts we have stored up the hidden oil of expectant love... the thoughtful, anxious, careful love, that does not rest in its own vague impulses and shallow fancies, but makes itself ready with given grace of God. Canon Scott Holland. ** The Patient Waiting ( advent Season ) Matthew 25:5 ** There have been different interpretations of this verse. One ancient Father has spoken of it as 'the rest or repose of faith'. Let us consider what we may thus learn as to the cause of the failure of the foolish virgins. I. The repose of faith implies an imagery corresponding with one of the beautiful antiphons of the Advent season, where St. Paul refers to our mortal life as the night, 'The night is far spent, the day is at hand,' the night meaning this period of our mortal life. Another passage in the Canticles explains more tersely the cause of the failure of the unready virgins. The Bride says, 'I sleep, but my heart waketh' Within the slumber and the depth of sleep there may yet be the awakened heart, the earnest preparation for anticipatory joy. The heart may be thus far awake in sleep, the throbbing fullness of the light glowing within the soul implying the repose of faith. The absence of oil in the foolish virgins showed the loss of this tendency of the soul. II. There are, speaking generally, two causes of failure even among the faithful the want of a true foundation, the want of forethought. 1. It is needful to look closely at the foundations of one's life to see how far one's will is moved in conformity with the Divine call; how far the stability of one's inward resolves rests on faith unfailing and love unquenched. 2. There is the difficulty of waiting the need of patience. In a long illness, the first prostration seems not difficult to bear; let it continue, and the trial grows. It is the bearing of such continuous strain which is the test of patience. It is the same in all the trials of life, its burdens, its responsibilities with the questions of doubt and hopelessness. The real character is shown by the way in which one endures a lengthened period of such trial. And for such endurance we need forethought. III. We are told in this time of waiting to prepare to meet our God, to be patient, and to hope on, not to let the heart shrink back from what it has resolved We are fed with the food of immortality washed in the cleansing Blood. Our faithful prayer is never counted vain. We are surrounded with companions in the race, and each year sets before us examples with a halo of truest witness. But all will depend on the waking heart. We are all together, seemingly one, till the end comes, and then the distinction of one from another will be seen in that awful light. T. T. Carter, The Spirit of Watchfulness, p. 23. Of Discipline Matthew 25:5 Our Lord coming into the world taught us that the value of the human nature which He assumed is not the value of the bodily power, or of the bare intelligence, but primarily of the spirit, which loves and chooses the highest, which rules all the other powers, and presents them to God. So when the Divine Word took our nature, His first movement in it was the giving of its whole value to God by the offering of His will the faculty of loving and choosing the highest. I. Christ gives to each of His members, by the Sacraments, the virtue of His Sacrifice, of His free self-giving to the Father in love. By the Eternal Spirit He offered Himself, and He gives us the same power and means of offering ourselves; and this is the reason for the tarrying of the Bridegroom; He is giving us time to learn the one business of life discipline to train the human heart and will in the exercise of the grace of Christ, in the virtue of Sacrifice, in the self-giving to God. Naturally every fallen soul lives in itself, for itself. God saves it by giving to it a new nature. Christ Incarnate comes to be in it a new principle, a new life. But the will of each Christian has to assimilate that principle to give itself up to that new life; and that requires time time to learn to exercise its new movements, methods, mysteries, powers. II. God sows in us the seed of the life of His dear Son, and gives us opportunities of exerting it, so that it may grow in us. This heavenly life sets us on our feet looking up to heaven, giving us a new upward impulse, to start us on our way to heaven. And at our first movement in that way we find at once something that opposes difficulties within and without. Sometimes it is perplexing to a Christian to conceive why his way to God should be made so thorny, so dry and bare of sympathies and encouragements; at last he learns that those difficulties are not obstacles at all, but the very way and the only way for him to God; for it is those difficulties that teach him to look to God Himself as his end and to God, not to any created means, as his only power of attaining God. III. Our relation to God in Christ is the basis of Christian discipline. Acts of common courtesy need never be left to unreality; when they are done for Christ's sake they become discipline, they purify us from the selfishness of fallen nature, and nourish in us the nature of Christ on the throne of God. The testing of love by delay and disappointment is the supreme test. Every experience of weariness will awaken a loyal will to look up, expect, and prepare for the coming of the Bridegroom. G. Congreve, The Parable of the Ten Virgins, p. 88. References. XXV. 5. J. M. Neale, Sermons Preached in a Religious House, vol. ii. p. 608. XXV. 5-8. C. G. Lang, Church Times, vol. liii. 1905, p. 183. XXV. 5-9. Henry Alford, Advent Sermons, p. 143. XXV. 6. Henry Alford, Quebec Chapel Sermons, vol. ii. p. 93. Stopford A. Brooke, Short Sermons, p. 306. W. J. Knox-Little, Manchester Sermons, p. 105. The Cry of the Awakened Soul Matthew 25:8 That is the cry of the awakened soul as it rises to understand at a time of great need that all the resources that God has given it are wasted and spent And the pathos of the cry is this, that many of these men in times of need call to their fellow-men, as the virgins in the parable did, thinking that out of the abundance of their lives their own wasted resources can be repaired. I. The Cry. In many ways that cry reaches our ears Today. The man looks up at his friend and he says, 'You with your certainty of hope, you with your simplicity, you with your assurance, give me of that assurance, of that simplicity '. Or another says, 'I think of my own life harassed with its anxieties, oppressed with all its perplexities, and I ask you to give me of your calmness, of your peace'. Or we think again of some man who holds the faith of Jesus Christ in a narrow, in a hard, in an unloving spirit, and he comes to us and says, 'Give me of that power, and of that zeal; my faith has no power, my ideal no driving force. For the oil of the Spirit is being spent.' II. The Refusal. The pathos of it all is this, that this cry of our fellow-men must meet with a simple and blank refusal. For the cry is not from the men who do not believe, who have not been taught They look up to the enthusiasm of Christ's Church, and they say, 'This we once had; can you not give it us back?' And our Lord says, and the experience of all life goes to show, that this cannot be done. 'Go and buy for yourselves.' The faith of Jesus Christ is not a thing which a man can believe on the word of a friend. The peace of Jesus Christ can never be gained by the mere infection of another's peace. Only as we buy these things for ourselves shall we find the peace of God 'which passeth all understanding,' the oil of the Spirit which never faileth. III. What must the Church do? And so in the face of this cry which reaches us from many quarters let us ask ourselves what the Church has got to do. We of the Church have got to make the light that God has given us glow with such clear and distinct force that men shall realize that what is possible for us is possible also for them. Our human nature is meant to be a lamp through which the light of the Spirit shall gleam upon the darkness of the earth not the lurid light of passion or the chill disturbed flicker of selfishness, but the steady clear flame of the Holy Spirit What was it that stirred men as they watched the life of Jesus Christ on earth? It was a possibility which they had never suspected before the possibility of a pure and untainted humanity through which, as from a lamp, streamed out the light of God. And I, too, must make my lamp so transcendently pure that the man whose faith is dying will say, 'That which you have, tell me where I can get it, so that I may get it for myself'. References. XXV. 8. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 181. J. Henderson, Sermons, p. 311. A. 6. Mortimer, The Church's Lessons for the Christian Year, vol. iv. p. 214. Matthew 25:9 All experienced wrestlers with fate and fortune know well that success has often, at the critical time, depended upon some very trifling advantage which the slightest diminution of power would have lost to them. No one knows the full immensity of the difference between having power enough to make a little headway against obstacles, and just falling short of the power which is necessary at the time. In every great intellectual career there are situations like that of a steamer with a storm-wind directly against her and an iron-bound coast behind. If the engines are strong enough to gain an inch an hour she is safe, but if they lose there is no hope. P. G. Hamerton, The Intellectual Life, p. 22. Matthew 25:10 Compare Tennyson's well-known song, 'Late, late so late,' in 'Guinevere'. It is a matter of frequent remark, that bad systems are destroyed, not when they are at their worst, but when they are in the process of an attempted reform. Witness the French monarchy at the Revolution, compared with its state under Louis XV. The reason of this seems to be that the reform is forced on by a change in public opinion which goes forward at an accelerated rate, faster than the reform can be effected. If the improvement could be made freely from within, it might still be in time There is the same difference in the individual between a forced restitution which has no merit in it, and a genuine, spontaneous, repentance Some have concluded that it is better not to reform, since Providence and history seem against it; but the true lesson is, Reform in time; Providence and history have their 'Too late.' Dr. Ker, Thoughts for Heart and Life, p. 41. References. XXV. 10. H. P. Liddon, Advent in St. Paul's, p. 460. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 189. XXV. 10-13. Henry Alford, Advent Sermons, p. 166. XXV. 11. C. Perren, Revival Sermons in Outline, p. 288. XXV. 11-13. Gordon Calthrop, Penny Pulpit, vol. xii. No. 686, p. 161. XXV. 13. Stopford A. Brooke, Short Sermons, p. 299. Phillips Brooks, The Law of Growth, p. 39. F. Y. Leggatt, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxx. 1906, p. 280. The Use of Talents Matthew 25:14-15 Here is a parable of our blessed Lord's which has practically added a word to human language, and furnished a living protest against human self-sufficiency. A talented man is not so much the man who is largely equipped for self-display, as one to whom much is given, and of whom much will be required. I. Notice that this parable, although tending to the same end, is different to the parable of the Virgins, wherewith it is closely associated. There, we are allowed to see certain difficulties which beset those who wait for their Lord; here, we have to consider the responsibilities of those who work for Him. What a real lesson we should have learned if we could realize that life is a vocation, not a scramble for prizes, that we are called to God, not merely to work, that so much health, so much time, so much resource, so much wisdom, so much money, yes, so much ill-health, so much want of money, so to speak, so much distress, are all put into our hands by God for the development of His work. Then we should be able to understand that feeling which prompted Archbishop Benson to say to a friend, who was knocking off with his stick the luxuriant brambles which were running over the top of the green hedge in the country lane, 'Don't do that, it is breaking the third commandment'. For all the green things of the earth belong to God. And we do well to notice that the talents as they came from God were unequally distributed; once more the good things of this life are not a rich prize in which all ought to have an equal share, but one work has to be done by many agents, each equipped for the particular department which falls to his lot. True it is that each man receives his endowment according to his capacity. Some of these inequalities of capacity came from God Himself, some are brought about by human neglect, for some the man is himself responsible. II. We gather further from this parable that the talents which God distributes are not like precious curiosities to be kept in a museum and presented to Him again intact, but there is a mention of trading and bankers and interest, which all point to a continual and profitable investment of Divine endowments. There are many bankers ready to trade with the five talents and the two, and to develop them and even to double them, but not in the currency of heaven, or in schemes which the Lord when He comes will recognize. It will be a sad thing, if we find that the intellect which was given us that we might develop the world for God, and prepare the way for Christ, has been spent in rearing up the love of self in self-advancement. It is so hard to remember God, and to balance this sense of proprietorship which belongs to 'My own,' with the sense of responsibility which belongs to 'His goods'. Hence we see the practical value of religion, to warn us and remind us of an absent Master. III. But the main interest of the teaching of the parable centres after all on the man who had received one talent, and miserably failed in his duty of trading with it. We all know the careless possessor of one talent, who absolutely does no good in the world, who eats and drinks and does his monotonous drudgery without life or interest, who comes into the world unknown, who passes through it unnoticed, and dies undesired, angry with God, grumbling at circumstances, dissatisfied with himself. What little work he has done has ended in this, in sullenness, in gloom, in selfishness, in sensuality, in despair: he has been engaged all his life in burying his one talent. And when his Lord comes he stands empty and barehanded before Him. And yet what a gift it is, this one talent, which he so thanklessly misuses. What a privilege it is even to live at all, what a privilege to be a Christian, what a privilege to have opportunities of being useful to one single being in God's universe. W. C. E. Newbolt, Words of Exhortation, p. 181. Illustration. In building a great cathedral there is some master-mind, and then are employed variously endowed craftsmen, down to the day-labourer, all equally necessary to the completion of the design. We do not need artists to dig foundations, nor masons to do the work of carvers. Some have five talents, some have two, and some have one, but all work at one design. W. C. E. Newbolt, Words of Exhortation, p. 186. ** Useful Mediocrity ( The Parable of the Talents ) Matthew 25:14-30 ** Taking a man's talents to represent the sum of his abilities, opportunities, and privileges, let us see what we can learn from a consideration of the character and work of the man who had two talents. The servants who had one and five talents bestowed upon them could doubtless teach us much; each is a typical and representative character. But it will suffice now if we limit our meditation to the servant who was entrusted with two talents. He is the man who stands between the highest and the lowest. He was not so liberally dealt with as the man above him with five talents; but on the other hand, he has twice as much granted to him as the man below him with only one talent. This servant with the two talents stands as the representative of the mediocre man, the man whose abilities and opportunities are neither so many as some others enjoy, nor so few as multitudes have to be contented with. Such a man's character and work are worthy of study. Consider: I. The Numerousness of men with two talents. They constitute the majority of mankind. This is true as regards the possession of intellectual gifts. Men of distinct genius are few. Five talents in this respect have been granted but now and then, here and there. Shakespeare in literature, Raphael in art, Chrysostom in the pulpit, Newton in science, Edison in invention such as these are five-talented men, and how rarely such brilliant stars appear in the crowded firmament of life! For few may wield the power Whose spells uplift or thrill; The barrier, fixed yet fine, We may not cross at will. And on the other hand, among normal men and women, the one-talented are comparatively few. So again in regard to opportunities. Take, for example, opportunities of influencing others. A few people have wide scope and weighty chances. The popular preacher who attracts a congregation numbered by thousands; the statesman who, when he speaks, addresses a listening empire; the successful writer whose books march out of publishers' establishments in battalions such as these are men of five talents, so far as influence is concerned; and they are not a multitude. Contrasting with them are the people whose circle of associates is limited. The lonely settler in a new colony who scarce sees a neighbour's face once in a month; the sailor who can meet only the same dozen shipmates each day during a long voyage; the invalid imprisoned in the sickroom all such have but one talent in the way of influence. But the mass of mankind come under none of these categories. They are ordinary human beings, meeting with and influencing an average number of people; in this respect they have two talents. Take again the matter of advantages. We think naturally of the advantage of wealth, and the same truth holds good. Millionaires men of five talents in regard to wealth are rare. To most men Agur's desire has been granted; they have neither poverty nor riches. The great middle class, people of two talents in the matter of wealth, are the strength of the nation and of the Church. So in regard to the advantage of education. A small number are privileged to go through a university career, and not many nowadays are absolutely illiterate. Most people have just two talents, so far as educational advantages are concerned. And in every department and sphere of life the same truth can be demonstrated; two-talented men constitute by far the largest section of humanity. Consider: II. The Temptations of the two-talented man. Now, to test and try his servants was the evident purpose of the 'lord' who distributed the talents; and the testing for the man with two talents would come both from the servant above him, with five talents, and the servant below him with one. The two-talented servant would be tempted to be envious of the man with five talents. And it is this temptation to envy and covetousness to which the mediocre man is always exposed. He is tempted to murmur as he looks around him: 'If only I had A's intellectual gifts, what would I not do! If only I had B's opportunities! If only I had C's wealth! In a word, if only I had five talents instead of these contemptible two what a furore I would make in the world!' Now, all such cankering envy must be resolutely evicted from the mind of the two-talented man. The last commandment of the decalogue has an application for all who are thus moderately endowed. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's * talents * III. The Value of the man with two talents. Such verily are the backbone of the Church and society. Let the army of the two-talented, therefore, do their duty and exercise their gifts, even if they are conscious that theirs are only mediocre powers; for it would be disastrous, indeed, if such withdrew from service and hid their Lord's money. 'Occupy till I come,' is the Master's word. Herbert Windross, The Life Victorious, p. 97. References. XXV. 14, 15. Lyman Abbott, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlix. 1896, p. 99. Eugene Bersier, Sermons, p. 1. B. W. Randolph, Church Times, vol. liv. 1905, p. 188. XXV. 14, 30. C. Gordon Lang, Thoughts on Some of the Parables of Jesus, p. 103. B. W. Maturin, Practical Studies on the Parables of Our Lord, p. 156. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 195. G. Philip, Home in the World Beyond, p. 19. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlv. No. 2643. XXV. 16-18. Eugene Bersier, Sermons, p. 11. Matthew 25:18 When Sir Philip Sidney was frittering away his powers in vain dreams and court life, his noble old friend, Languet, strove to recall him to the responsibilities of statesmanship for which he was so singularly fitted. 'Think not that God endowed you with parts so excellent to the end that you should let them rot in leisure. Rather hold firmly that He requires more from you than from those to whom He has been less liberal of talents.... Nature has adorned you with the richest gifts of mind and body; fortune with noble blood and wealth and splendid family connexions; and you from your first boyhood have cultivated your intellect by those studies which are most helpful to men in their struggle after virtue. Will you then refuse your energies to your country, when it demands them? Will you bury that distinguished talent God has given you?' Matthew 25:19 The more we advance in knowledge, the more we shall come to judge men in the spirit of the parable of the talents; that is by the net result of their lives, by their essential unselfishness, by the degree in which they employ and the objects to which they direct their capacities and opportunities. W. E. H. Lecky. With all sublunary entities, this is the question of questions. What talent is born to you? How do you employ that? Carlyle. References. XXV. 19. C. Gore, Church Times, vol. xlii. 1899, p. 693; see also Christian World Pulpit, vol. lviii. 1900, p. 371. Matthew 25:20 Compare the fifth chapter of Law's * Serious Call. * The Fact of Faithfulness Matthew 25:21 According to the measurements of Jesus, we are face to face here with a test of character. It is in faithfulness that men are great; it is in unfaithfulness that they are weak. One of the latest critics of Shakespeare, Professor Bradley, insists upon the faithfulness of Shakespeare. It is the fidelity of Shakespeare, in a mind of extraordinary power, he says, that has really made Shakespeare what he is. I. Our Lord Recognizes that Faithfulness Calls for Courage. It is significant that the man who hid his talent said to his lord, 'I was afraid'. In trading there was a certain risk, as in all commerce, I suppose there is a certain risk, and the man with the one talent was unfaithful because he had not the courage for that venture. II. Our Lord Makes Faithfulness the Road to Power. 'Because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee a ruler over many things.' God's rewards grow out of the struggle that we wage, as the fruit of the autumn grows from the flower of spring. 'Because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things.' It is because one is the outflow of the other, as is the burn of the spring among the heather. It is because, as flower from the bud, influence blossoms from fidelity. III. Christ Associates Faithfulness With Joy. To the faithful servant came this benediction: 'Enter thou into the joy of Thy Lord'. It is not success and joy, it is not fame and joy; it is not these that are joined in our Lord's teaching, but faithfulness and joy. These are the bride and bridegroom and the marriage mystical of our Lord. Then look at the doom of the unfaithful servant; it is outer darkness and wailing and gnashing of teeth. A man who is unfaithful is always moving night-wards. He has been false to the light God gave him for his journey; and the man who has been unfaithful, when the day is done, what can he look for but remorse and tears? G. H. Morrison, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxiv. p. 373. The Gift of Rule Matthew 25:31 This is the word of Christ to the good and faithful servants who at last behold His face in righteousness. He does not say, 'I will give thee many things; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord'. The promise is, 'I will make thee ruler,' and the joy of our Lord is not in possessing, but in governing. I. It must be premised that the New Jerusalem that is, perfect blessedness lies beyond death. With many social reformers all that is needed would seem to be a steady, universal bien-être, always to be dependent and relied upon. But this could only become happiness if the affections were deadened. Christianity quickens them for the very purpose of revealing man's true nature of delivering him from a base serfdom to the actual and the material. Were it otherwise, his dignity would be ignobly misprized, for the measure of a man is the measure of an angel. Over against mere possession Christ sets the great idea of rulership. Take leisure, for example. We are in the thick of a righteous movement for shorter hours. But suppose the day is reduced to half an hour, what profit is there if the man is not ruler over his leisure? Multitudes possess leisure; very few of them rule it. The idler wakens to wonder how his day is to be got through, and the answer often comes from beneath. The general dullness and listlessness of men with no occupation has passed into a proverb. Even generous natures often become selfish under this trial. It will be an evil day if working men learn to despise labour. The great safeguard for nearly all of us is to be found in almost unrelaxed industry. It is pernicious also to despise certain forms of labour. Utopia itself will need scavengers. But 'I will make thee ruler over leisure' is a great promise to be perfectly fulfilled on high, where endless service means endless rest. II. What is to be sought is not possession but rulership, and that can be gained only by faithfulness over a few things. 'Faithful over a few things.' In a sense this describes truly the life which began in the manger and ended on the cross. It is still the schooling, and the only schooling, by which men learn to rule their own spirits and all kingdoms whose thrones they climb. The fulfilment of the promise takes various forms. We are familiar with it in this life. We see men go on from strength to strength, receiving more and more, and remaining unmastered by their possession. But before Christ all earthly life, even the most victorious, is but a passage from a 'few things' to a 'few things'. The distinctions we make here may but pain Him; but 'if that life is life, this is but a breath'. Inasmuch as no misdoing robs us of all, a man may begin faithfulness at the lowest point of poverty and shame, and be made ruler at last. Our God is the God of Resurrection, and He can revive men and nations of men from seemingly utter death. W. Robertson Nicoll, Ten Minute Sermons, p. 267. What Is the Joy of Our Lord? Matthew 25:21 We know what His sorrow was. 'How often would I have gathered thy children... and ye would not.' What was His joy? When in the end He welcomes those who have been faithful to their trust, He says, 'Well done... enter thou into the joy of thy Lord'. His praise has been generously bestowed through the failures of this life, and even in the humblest judgment the redeemed soul ever passed on itself, it has not been without a trembling consciousness of His broader love. Nor have His people even when they saw Him not been left without joy, joy unspeakable and full of glory. But He speaks of a joy after death to which they had hitherto been strangers, a joy into which they would enter as into a home, and which would fold itself around them. It was to be His own joy. Anything He did not share would be nothing to them. How poor the promise would be, 'He that overcometh shall inherit all things,' if it ended there. The possession of many things leaves the heart empty; how should the possession of all things enrich it? But when it goes on, 'And I will be his God, and he shall be My son,' the words fall upon the soul like a shower of strength. What then is that joy which is the last guerdon of the ransomed? He explains it Himself. 'I will make thee ruler over many things.' It is the joy of ruling. 'To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me on My throne.' In these and in many words like them, He answers a deep instinct and craving by imparting the sweet and wonderful secret of His purpose. I. It was His own joy in the world. When He leant back upon God and communed with His own heart, He said, 'The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into His hand'. Power is the special gift of love, and He had received it 'Thou sayest that I am a king.' For a certain misnamed kingship He did not seek. He would have none of it. When they sought to make Him a king by force, He departed into a mountain Himself alone. Rank and rule in this world He rejected; He would suffer neither men, nor even His twelve legions of angels, to crown Him on an earthly throne. The only kingdom He cared to rule over was a kingdom of kings, and He gives His subjects the promise of a throne. II. This joy of our Lord is reserved in its fullness for the other life. Here His people fight the battle within themselves. With the great simplicity of revelation, St. James tells us the source of all disquiet, from the meanest brawl to world-shaking war. 'From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence, even of the lusts that war in your members?' The soul is peaceless till the will rules every other power, and till that will is Christ within. The true kings unto God have known this so well that they have hardly asked for any other dominion. And so they have often for the time been obscure, and apparently without influence. They have been thwarted and enclosed. As McLeod Campbell said of his friend A. J. Scott, 'How mysteriously God seemed to be at the same time increasing his light and withholding from placing it on a candlestick'. But our Lord said, 'Your time is always ready; My time is not yet come.' III. The saints marvel when the kingdom comes to them. 'When saw we Thee an hungered, and gave Thee meat?' Yet in this way the old and perfect way which Christ has taught His own they arrive at their dominion. The meek shall inherit the earth. It must be so. Meekness wears everything else out, and is as meek at last in its triumph as when stripped and dispossessed. There is a magic in gentleness of which even the heathen dreamt when they imagined Osiris going forth to conquer the world, not with chariots and horses, but with music. Love which has not vaunted herself, has not sought her own; love which has borne all things, believed all things, hoped all things, must in the end inherit all things. The saints shall reign with Christ and be partakers of His kingly joy. Little as they may dwell on it, the thought passes often through their hearts like a song in the night For the promise means that one day their light will be all clear; that it will be set on high till its last ray travels to its period; that there will be nothing to limit or obscure its force. W. Robertson Nicoll, Ten Minute Sermons, p. 145. Matthew 25:21 'My idea of heaven,' said Tennyson, 'is the perpetual ministry of one soul to another.' In his Christmas paper for 1711 ( Spectator, No. 257), Addison closes a discussion on praise and fame with the reminder that God alone can fitly reward our virtues. Then he adds: 'Let the ambitious man therefore turn all his desire of fame this way; and, that he may prepare to himself a fame worthy of his ambition, let him consider that if he employs his abilities to the best advantage, the time will come when the Supreme Governor of the world, the great Judge of mankind, who sees every degree of perfection in others, and possesses all possible perfection in Himself, shall proclaim his work before men and angels, and pronounce to him in the presence of the whole creation that best and most significant of applauses: * Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into thy Master's joy.' * Macaulay describes a conversation he once had with Lady Holland, in which the word talents was mentioned. 'I said that it had first appeared in theological writing, that it was a metaphor taken from the parable in the New Testament, that it had gradually passed from the vocabulary of Divinity into common use. I challenged her to find it in any classical writer on general subjects before the Restoration, or even before the year 1700. I believe that I might safely have gone down later. She seemed surprised by this theory, never having, so far as I could judge, heard of the parable of the Talents. I did not tell her, though I might have done so, that a person who professes to be a critic in the delicacies of the English language ought to have the Bible at his fingers' ends.' References. XXV. 21. H. C. G. Moule, The Secret of the Presence, p. 194. J. H. Jowett, Meditations for Quiet Moments, p. 98. S. Martin, Comfort in Trouble, p. 215. J. Guinness Rogers, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xli. 1892, p. 65. G. G. Bradley, ibid. vol. lix. 1901, p. 68. J. M. Neale, Sermons Preached in Sackville College Chapel, vol. i. p. 301. T. Sadler, Sunday Thoughts, p. 165; Ch. New, The Baptism of the Spirit, p. 289. M. R. Vincent, God and Bread, p. 117. XXV. 22, 23. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iv. No. 175. The Divine Acceptance Matthew 25:23 I. In every period or crisis of life the imperative claims of God, of righteousness, of truth, are forced upon us. God calls us in a way that can only be answered in self-dedication and earnest work. Obedience is shown as the salvation of life. In self-surrender we find God and live. If our souls are awake, faithful, and loving, 'all that we experience is a communication' of God's will, which is His love for us, ever reaching out to draw us to Himself, to guide, to control us. Life under the cheering control of this love of God is full of powers for work, for sacrifice, for learning; it is full of a deeply contenting encouragement at every turn, in every development of life; for God's approval becomes at once the reason and the reward of what we try to do, a fact that sustains courage, a felt benediction that will keep us calm and steadfast in days of conflict. 'Apart from Me ye can do nothing.' All that we do is a part of the mighty working of the Incarnate life of Jesus. II. The call of God, obedience in self-dedication and in work, the sacrifice of self we cannot understand these or be ready for them, they will seem but a mistake, an illusion, a folly, unless the reality of the Divine acceptance be, as it were, their interpretation, their sanction, their inspiration. In other words, the love of God must satisfy the soul that it claims, must inspire the obedience that it commands, it must prepare and accept the sacrifice that it requires, it must fill the life that is emptied for its sake. And it does all this. For love is constituted the beginning and the end, the law and the interpretation, the principle and the fulfilment of life in relation to God. III. The great reality of love, to be felt and understood in all thought and work, through every act of faith and will, is the life of Jesus in us. If thus you live, realizing manifoldly the life of the Christ in you, all you do will bear healthfully on the lives of others; from you they will learn their needed lessons of truth; through your influence will be ministered grace which they have scarcely learned to desire or to ask. Therefore act towards them in the consciousness of the love of God, reflect the light in which you live, by letting the peace and the love of God rule in your hearts always. Without this consciousness of relation to Him life must be a failure. With it, life is glad, fruitful and blessed. G. Brett, Fellowship With God, p. 44. Matthew 25:23 The noblest thing a man can do is first humbly to receive, and then to go amongst others and give. I've not been able to give much. It's because I have received so little. And if there is anything in which I would be inclined to contradict Him, it would be if I heard Him say, 'Well done, good and faithful servant'. Dr. John Duncan. 'Youth,' says Mr. Stevenson in his essay on Old Mortality, 'cannot bear to have come for so little, and to go again so wholly. He cannot bear, above all, in that brief scene, to be still idle, and by way of cure, neglects the little that he has to do. The parable of the talents is the brief epitome of youth. To believe in immortality is one thing, but it is first needful to believe in life.' References. XXV. 23. H. E. Ryle, On Holy Scripture and Criticism, p. 139. Eugene Bersier, Sermons, p. 285. Why the Talent Was Buried Matthew 25:24-25 I. Consider the slander here and the truth that contradicts it. 'I knew Thee that Thou art an hard man,' says he, 'reaping where Thou hast not sown' (and he was standing with the unused talent in his hand all the while), 'and gathering where Thou hast not strawed.' That is to say, deep down in many a heart, that has never said as much to itself, there lies this black drop of gall a conception of the Divine character rather as demanding than as giving, a thought of Him as exacting. It is not difficult to understand why such a thought of God should rise in a heart which has no delight in Him nor in His service. There is a side to the truth as to God's relations to man which gives a colour of plausibility to the slander. Grave and stringent requirements are made by the Divine law upon each of us; and our consciences tell us that they have not been kept. Therefore, we seek to persuade ourselves that they are too severe. What is the truth that smites this slander to death? That God is perfect, pure, unmingled, infinite love. And what is love? The infinite desire to impart itself. The Cross of Christ is the answer to the slander, and the revelation of the giving God. II. Mark here the fear that dogs such a thought, and the love that casts out the fear. 'I was afraid!' If a man is not a fool, his emotions follow his thoughts, and his thoughts ought to shape his emotions. And wherever there is the twilight of uncertainty upon the great lesson that the Cross of Jesus Christ has taught us, there there will be, however masked and however modified by other thoughts, deep in the human heart a perhaps unspoken but not, therefore, ineffectual dread of God. Some of you remember the awful words in one of Shakespeare's plays: 'Now I, to comfort him, bid him he should not think of God. I hoped there was no need to trouble himself with any such thoughts yet.' What does that teach us? 'I knew Thee that Thou art an hard man; and I was afraid.' The only way to get perfect love that casts out fear is to be quite sure of the Father-love in heaven that begets it. And the only way to be sure of the Infinite love in the heavens that kindles some little spark of love in our hearts here is to go to Christ and learn the lesson that He reveals to us at His Cross. III. Mark the torpor of fear and the activity of love. 'I was afraid, and I went and hid Thy talent in the earth.' Fear paralyses service, cuts the nerves of activity, makes a man refuse obedience to God. Love moves to action, fear paralyses into indolence. A. Maclaren, The Unchanging Christ, p. 72. References. XXV. 24. J. T. Parr, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liv. 1898, p. 185. XXV. 24, 25. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 205. T. G. Selby, The Holy Spirit and Christian Privilege, p. 251. Stopford A. Brooke, Short Sermons, p. 182. XXV. 24, 25, 26. H. Scott Holland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. l. 1896, p. 168. XXV. 24-27. C. G. Lang, Church Times, vol. liii. 1905, p. 286. Matthew 25:25 You see I am dying, but I am not despondent; the Lord will set down that to my credit. I have bothered Him, the Most Gracious One, with jests only, never with moans and complaints!... Know this, not he is holy who hides himself from sin and lies calm. With cowardice you cannot defend yourself against sin; thus also says the parable of the Talents. Maxim Gorky, The Man who was Afraid, chap. xiii. Better to try all things and find all empty, than to try nothing and leave your life a blank. To do this is to commit the sin of him who buried his talent in a napkin despicable sluggard. Charlotte BrontË, Shirley, chap. xxiii. One of Dr. Johnson's own prayers in early life, as he began the second volume of his Dictionary, was 'O God, who hast hitherto supported me, enable me to proceed in this labour, and in the whole task of my present state; that when I shall render up at the last day an account of the talent committed to me, I may receive pardon, for the sake of Jesus Christ.' Unless the unsophisticated instincts of mankind are very far astray, our deepest gratitude is due not to the pure and sinless, but to the greatly daring and the strongly-doing not to the monk in his convent or the ascetic on his pillar, but to the warrior in a good cause, to the adventurer in a grand enterprise, to the labourer in a noble work. 'I cannot' (says Milton) 'praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue that never sallies out and sees its adversary, but slinks out of the race where the immortal garland is to be run for not without dust and heat.' A greater than Milton has comforted us by the assurance that much is forgiven to those who love much; that the active service of men (which is charity) covers a multitude of sins, and is more and loftier than creeds; and that the talent laid up in a white napkin and so scrupulously kept out of harm's way, reaps no praise and bears no fruit; while the talent that is made to fructify in commerce, in administration, or otherwise, earns wealth first and recompense and honour afterwards. W. Rathbone Greg. References. XXV. 25. J. H. Jowett, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlv. 1894, p. 120. 'Plain Sermons' by contributors to the Tracts for the Times, vol. ii. p. 181. Matthew 25:26 The meaning of the parable, heard with ears unbesotted, is this: ' You, among hard and unjust men, yet suffer their claim to the return of what they never gave; you suffer them to reap, where they have not strawed. But to me the Just Lord of your life whose is the breath in your nostrils, whose the fire in your blood, who gave you light and thought, and the fruit of earth and the dew of heaven to me, of all this gift, will you return no fruit but only the dust of your bodies, and the wreck of your souls?' Ruskin, Fors Clavigera, LIII. In R. L. Stevenson's address to the Samoan chiefs, on the occasion of the opening of the road they had made, out of gratitude to him, he referred to this parable of the Talents, asking them what they had done with their island, and reminding them that 'God has both sown and strawed for you here in Samoa; He has given you a rich soil, a splendid sun, copious rain; all is ready to your hand, half done, and I repeat to you that thing which is sure; if you do not occupy and use your country, others will. It will not continue to be yours and your children's if you occupy it for nothing. You and your children will in that case be cast out into outer darkness, where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth; for that is the law of God, which passeth not away. I who speak to you have seen these things. I have seen them with my eyes, these judgments of God.' After referring to Ireland and Hawaii, the speaker went on to urge the use of their opportunities. 'Now is the time for the true champions of Samoa to stand forth. And who is the true champion of Samoa? It is not the man who blackens his face, and cuts down trees, and kills pigs and wounded men. It is the man who makes roads, who plants good trees, who gathers harvests, and is a profitable servant before the Lord, using and improving that great talent that has been given him in trust.' References. XXV. 27. M. R. Vincent, Christian World Pulpit, vol. li. 1897, p. 236. XXV. 28, 29. H. Scott Holland, Christian World Pulpit, vol. 1. 1896, p. 184. The Law of the Life of Grace Matthew 25:29 'Unto him that hath, to him shall be given,' faith to the faithful, strength to the strong. I. When the parable of the Sower had been spoken, it seemed that the listening multitude had not quite understood it. Their spiritual faculties were not developed as they might have been, had they been duly exercised on the revelation that had already been given. And so, although the kingdom of God was among them, they saw it not Nor were they forced to see it. For God reveals Himself to men by degrees only as they are able to respond to His grace. The higher gift is only given to those by whom the lower gift has been used. Slowly must the secret be learnt, but it can be learnt still. 'To him that hath, to him is given.' Those who survive and profit by discipline are those by whom the discipline is gladly embraced. It is not only in the kingdom of nature, not only in the course of human society, that the adaptation of self to surroundings, the quick seizing of opportunity, the tenacious grasp of each new faculty as it is gained, are necessary conditions of growth, progress, survival; this is also true of the kingdom of grace. If we find within ourselves no response to the higher truths of the Christian creeds, it may well be because we have not appropriated or lived by the plain words of Jesus Christ. II. 'From strength to strength.' That is in our text too. For the Lord applied the words of the text, not only to the reception of spiritual truth, but to the use of opportunity in all the details of life. They concern practice as well as theory. The words follow the parable of the Sower; they also sum up the lesson of the parable of the Talents. There is such a thing as over-confidence in the spiritual life. But diffidence, too, may be a sin, if it be the source of neglect of duty. It was a saying of Archbishop Whately that the two things often go together. Most men are inclined to overestimate their own natural gifts, their talents, but at the same time to under-estimate their opportunities, their influence for good or for evil. Use of opportunity brings increased power; its neglect ends in loss of power. That is the law of the spiritual as of the physical world; and the parable of the Talents seems to warn us that the consequences of such use or neglect are not confined to this side of the grave. J. H. Bernard, Via Domini, p. 251. The Tenure of Truth Matthew 25:29 I. The first half of the verse asserts that unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance, or in other words that in the case of every man who has, his property shall not remain stationary, but certainly grow. As this is not a result that follows as a matter of course from the mere fact of possession, it is evident the solution of the saying depends on the sort of possession described by the word 'hath'. Everything is held by a tenure corresponding to itself. It is evident we cannot be said to have made a truth our own till we have made it part of ourselves Otherwise it remains separate from us, and our connexion with it is uncertain and precarious. A man whose sincerity is assumed or put on, and not an integral portion of himself, may very probably put it off, and act deceitfully under the pressure of some passing temptation. In order to bring about such an assimilation or fusion of one thing with another, there must be at least a potential likeness or congeniality of character between them. Religion is invested with a new character, because it is pervaded by a new purpose its purpose being to bring us into sympathy with Christ, and to make that sympathy so powerful and complete that it shall bring our whole lives into unison with His. The second characteristic of spiritual possession is that whatsoever a man has in this way he uses. This is plainly set forth in the parable to which my text is appended. The man who has the truth is the man who has made it one with himself, and gives evidence of this by acting it out or using it in his daily life. Anyone else has only the semblance of possession. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/expositors-dictionary/ Name and Surname Matthew 26:6 Why these surnames? We do not want them, we do not like them; but there they are. Why not say 'Simon,' and let his identification be established by other means than by recalling the loathsomeness of the disease? Why these expansions of names, why these fringes and attachments? Why not identify men by something better than leprosy, or evil deed, or red shame of any kind? We fall here upon a very profitable scene of investigation and instruction. There seems to be some policy in this way of naming men; this is no bare accident. I. Let us take instances. 'Matthew the publican.' Why remind a man that he was a publican or tax-gatherer? Why remind a man of days that he wants to forget? Is a man always to be reminded that he was once a blasphemer? He ought to remind himself of that; there may be some greatness and wealthy fortune in the very reminiscences that we would gladly get rid of. Remember the hole, recall the mire, set up an image of the pit in your gayest parlour, to remind you that you did not come down from heaven, though by the grace of God you may be going up into it. You were once Simon the leper; remember it, and be kind to all lepers; 'such were some of you'. You were once Matthew the publican, the hard-natured, close-fisted tax-gatherer, felt to be an oppressor in the neighbourhood; remember, and be gentle. The Lord was always talking thus to the people whom He made dear to His heart. He was saying to them every day almost, Remember thou also wast a stranger; bethink thee of the bondage days of old Egypt; recall the time when thou wouldst have been thankful for a mouthful of bread and a night's hospitable lodging; remember. There are men round thee to whom thou mayest show kindness for David's sake, for Jonathan's sake, for thy father's sake, for thy mother's sake, for auld lang syne's sake. The past will follow thee with name, and the intention of such pursuit is thy chastening, humbling; not a contemptuous humbling, but a stimulating and comforting humbling, so that thou mayest get rid of the old rags and put on the garments of duty. There must be a policy in this. II. Take another instance, 'Rahab the harlot'. Why torment the woman by such memories? Was it not enough to call her 'Rahab who received the spies'? Why is her sin to be even blackened and deepened and thrust in her face as a present-day memory and almost a present-day fact, so hot the breath, so damning the recollection? But this is the way; there must be a purpose in it. We cannot be satisfied until we find out the way into the heart of that purpose: always reminding a man that he was born blind, always refreshing his memory with the fact that once he had to beg his bread even at the beautiful gate of the temple; always reminding the soul that it was just as bad once as any other soul ever could be. Why these painful, shocking, heart-cutting reminiscences and reminders? She was saved by faith, yet she was Rahab the harlot. Again and again it is forced upon us that there must be some meaning in all this, that a certain process has not yet been completed. Regeneration has been completed, blessed be God, but resurrection has yet to begin; regeneration is completed, consummated, crowned by resurrection, the old foul body left with the worms, and the new body, that is to say, the heavenly and the spiritual, has assumed the wedding garment, made fit for the wedding feast. III. We must take the case in both its aspects. Simon the leper, Paul the Apostle, this is the woman out of whom the seven devils were cast. Oh, do not talk always about the seven devils, they are gone; she is the temple of the Holy Ghost. Do not torment yourselves by too morbid a reference to and brooding on the melancholy past. If we turn over a few pages of the New Testament we shall find that God gives His people a new name. He gives some of them a name which no man can read but the bearer thereof. Sometimes He will give us a name that will have no evil associations attaching to it. The name 'sinner' will be forgotten, and no man will say to another in the city celestial, Is not this he that sat and begged? No; in that great home city there shall be no such reminder, for the former things are passed away. Neither shall there be any limiting names. We take no leprous garment into heaven, our evil deeds we leave far behind us behind the back of God. Said the gracious Lord to His sinning but penitent Israel, 'I will cast thy transgressions behind Me,' and no line has been found that can measure the distance indicated by that word 'behind'. Then let us hope for liberation or redemption, full, complete. Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. Iv. p. 223. References. XXVI. 6, 7. A. G. Mortimer, The Church's Lessons for the Christian Year, part ii. p. 318. XXVI. 6-13. F. D. Maurice, Christmas Day and Other Sermons, p. 184. W. Landels, Christian World Pulpit, vol. li. 1897, p. 72. XXVI. 6-16. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 221. XXVI. 6-30. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xl. No. 2350. Matthew 26:7 The best part of a woman's love is worship; but it is hard to her to be sent away with her precious spikenard rejected, and her long tresses, too, that were let fall ready to soothe the wearied feet. George Eliot. When Mary anointed our Lord's feet, the act was a transient one; it was done for His burial: the holy feet which she anointed ceased soon after to walk on earth. Yet He declared that wheresoever His gospel was preached in the whole world, that act should also be told as a memorial of her. So has it ever been with what has been given to God, even though it were blindly and erringly. While all other things have perished, this has endured. Julius Hare. Matthew 26:8 There are more ways of doing good than almsgiving. All heavenly charity is not to be bound up in bags of flour.... And the form which God has given to the world we live in is in harmony with this judgment. The earth is not constructed merely on the principle of producing so much food for man's bodily wants. It has its cornfields, but it has also its wild-flowers on hill and moorland to give us the sense of a touching and simple beauty; it has its precipices, and wastes, and seas, to inspire us with a feeling of the sublime and infinite. The utilitarian looking on this side of things may say, and has said, 'To what purpose is this waste? It might have been given to the poor.' But the world was made by One who had in view not merely the physical wants of man but his intellectual and spiritual nature, and Who has constructed His dwelling-place so as to train that nature above the animal and earthly. The golden glory of the furze that brought tears to the eyes of Linnaeus is as true a gift of God as the joy of the harvest, and it is a most Christian endeavour to make the poor partakers of both. There is a 'life which is more than meat,' and herein lies part of the significance of this incident in the house of Bethany. Dr. John Ker, * Thoughts for Heart and Life. * References. XXVI. 8. G. H. Morrison, Flood-Tide, p. 92. F. R. M. Hitchcock, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liv. 1898, p. 324. J. A. Bain, Questions Answered by Christ, p. 81. T. Teignmouth Shore, The Life of the World to Come, p. 83. A. N. Obbard, Plain Sermons, p. 34. XXVI. 8, 9, 10. H. P. Liddon, Passion-Tide Sermons, p. 227. Matthew 26:8-10 We men are always so ready and anxious to keep women right, like the wretched creature Laertes in 'Hamlet,' who reads his sister such a lesson on her maidenly duties, but declines almost with contempt to listen to a word from her as to any co-relative obligations on his side! George Macdonald. References. XXVI. 10. A. W. Potts, School Sermons, p. 102. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxvi. No. 2126. Matthew 26:2 Who is the beggar? The beggar is a man forced by fate to remind us of Christ: he is a brother of Christ; he is the bell of the Lord, and he rings in life to rouse our conscience, to arouse the satiety of the flesh of man. He stands by the window and sings out: 'For the sake of Christ!' and by his singing he reminds us of Christ, of this holy commandment to help the neighbour. Maxim Gorky, The Man who was Afraid, chap. iv. He is rich who hath enough to be charitable; and it is hard to be so poor that a noble mind may not find a way to this price of goodness. 'He that giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord;' there is more rhetorick in that one sentence than in a library of sermons. Upon this motive only I cannot behold a beggar without relieving his necessities with my purse, or his soul with my prayers. These scenical and accidental differences between us cannot make me forget that common and untouched part of us both; there is under these centres and miserable outsides, those mutilate and semi bodies, a soul of the same alloy with our own, whose genealogy is God as well as ours, and in as fair a way to salvation as ourselves. Statists that labour to contrive a commonwealth without poverty take away the object of our charity; not understanding only the commonwealth of a Christian but forgetting the prophecy of Christ. Sir Thomas Browne ('The prophecy of Christ' being, of course, the above-quoted words, * the poor ye shall have always with you). * In Dreamthorp Alexander Smith observes that at Christmas 'there is more charity than at any other time. The heart warms as the frost increases. Poverty, scant clothing, and fireless grates come home at this season to the bosoms of the rich, and they give of their abundance. The Master's words, "The poor ye have always with you," wear at this season a deep significance.' References. XXVI. 12. James Vaughan, Fifty Sermons (9th Series), p. 301. XXVI. 12, 13. W. H. Hutchings, Sermon-Sketches, p. 100. XXVI. 13. W. E. Blomfield, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxviii. 1905, p. 24. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. vi. No. 286. XXVI. 14, 15. J. Wright, The Guarded Gate, p. 147. XXVI. 14-45. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. liii. No. 3033. The Betrayal Matthew 26:15 I. Three times, in the Gospel narrative, is Judas said to have been, in some special sense, the devil's instrument. And the first occasion was a year before the actual betrayal. 'Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?' What did it mean? Already, to the eye of Christ, there was seen the line of moral cleavage between the one and the eleven. Even in despondency, and almost despair, they are ready to fling away the cherished hope of ambition, of personal gain, and cling to Him they loved. And yet not all. One has in secret made a different choice. He is still in external union with them. But he had fought for his own hand, when he joined what he thought the winning side, and he will fight for his own hand now that he foresees its failure not openly, but secretly; in outward friendship and companionship, but with secret alienation of heart He was amongst the disciples, but, though perhaps they did not know it, he is no longer one of them. So the old sin of Paradise is repeated. The act, which at heart all sin is, the self-love which separates man from God and makes him try to live and stand alone. II. Twice, we are told, 'Satan entered into Judas,' and, in each case, the occasion was of some gracious act of love and condescension for the Lord he professed to serve (1) Once when, as Mary's loving hand poured precious ointment on the sacred feet, and He to Whom she ministered, accepted and interpreted her gift ('she did it for My burial'), and checked the words of him whose petty covetousness found fault with the 'waste'. Then, first, the treachery, which was hidden in the heart of Judas, took shape, and he bargained for his price: 'What will ye give me?' (2) Then, at the Last Supper, once more Satan entered into the traitor, and claimed him as his own. The Master had washed the traitor's feet Judas had heard his treachery foretold,' One of you shall betray Me,' as if in that last hour the appeal of love must be made; and he answered with the hypocritical 'Is it I?' Then came those awful words, which left the sinner to his sin, 'That thou doest, do quickly '. And he went out into the darkness. Then, in quick succession, we recall the garden meeting, the traitorous kiss, the remorseful 'I have sinned, for I have betrayed!' and the scornful 'See thou to that!' And Judas the traitor stood alone. And in his ears those words keep ringing, 'What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world?' What shall it profit? And forth he rushes into the darkness, to hide himself from himself, away across the Valley of Hinnom, to the Field of Blood. And that weird solitude witnessed the last act of him whom after-times look back upon as the hypocrite, the thief, the traitor, the suicide! III. And it almost seems as if, in our day, Christ was leading His Church through the same description of disappointment through which He led His disciples. We are told from outside that Christianity has failed. And, if we accept and apply the world's test of what failure is, we must admit that it is true. Christianity has not introduced a golden age. Have we, any of us, who are signed with the Cross, and have received the seal of the Lord, nay, who have been brought into closest, truest union with Him in the Sacrament of His love, been sometimes disquieted, sometimes despondent, at the failure of Christianity? If so, what then? For it is here that we come to the dividing of the ways, the line which separates the followers of the Crucified from those who would be Christians without the Cross. Christ has many open enemies; but it is amongst the baptized that the traitors are found, and the darkest treachery is that of those who have been brought very near their Lord. Therefore 'let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall'. Let us therefore fear. The beginning of treachery is that which we know so well, and fear so little unreality in religion; and the beginning of unreality is the separation of faith from life, or faith from thought. A faith which no longer shows itself in a holy life, a faith which we keep hidden away apart from all that appeals to our rational nature, is a faith to which we are already false which, when the occasion offers, we shall be ready to betray. Aubrey L. Moore, Some Aspects of Sin, p. 105. Illustration. 'Nowhere,' says St Bernard, 'are pilgrims in perfect safety. Not in heaven, for Lucifer fell from thence; not in Paradise, for Adam was driven from thence; much less in the world, since Judas perished in the school of Christ.' Aubrey L. Moore, Some Aspects of Sin, p. 115. References. XXVI. 15-17. E. B. Pusey, Parochial Sermons, vol. ii. p. 283. XXVI. 17-30. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 225. XXVI. 17-30. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xliv. No. 2595; vol. xlvi. No. 2699; vol. 1. No. 2865. Self-examination Matthew 26:20 Imagine the situation. The hour which they had so eagerly expected had come. The peace of evening had fallen round them. The joyful recollection of the annual festival had no doubt taken possession of the little party. They were alone with their Master, Who had reassured them of His love with the most touching signs, and although there hung over them the sense of an impending danger, yet at any rate tonight there was nothing to disturb them. There all were friends, and all were dear to Him, and He was with them. As they were eating, He said, 'Verily I say unto you, That one of you shall betray Me'. One of them! The disciples looked upon one another, doubting of whom He spoke. And they began to say unto Him, every one, 'Is it I, Lord? is it, surely it cannot be, I'. I. Was it Hard that such a Subject should be Mentioned at such a Time? 'One of you shall betray Me.' They would know the truth soon enough. Might they not be spared the intrusion of such a thought in that peaceful hour? Is that what we think as we hear the story once again? But surely this is all of a piece with our Lord's compassion for human souls. This is the last appeal to the man who was most conscious of guilt, to pause and consider before it became too late. Surely this is the kindness of the surgeon who cuts deep that he may save. It was not too late for Judas to repent. II. The Sweep of that Word Reached Further than the Conscience of Judas. They began to say unto Him, every one, 'Is it I, Lord?' It was a word which forced every one of them to search his conscience. A flood of light, as it were, is poured into the most secret recesses of their heart, and there they saw all the things which men are only too anxious to forget. There was that in them which did not make it so impossible, but that each of them might prove a traitor to his Lord. Do we not know those searching words of our Lord which every now and then spring up from the pages of the Gospel and tear through all the coverings that we wrap round our secret life and disposition, till they have laid bare those roots of evil which will ruin the whole nature if they are not exposed? Yes, the words flash out again and again, and haunt us. III. The Word of the Lord Forced the Disciples to Look Closely Within, and should not we ask ourselves serious questions? The first stage in our progress is to know ourselves. Judas the traitor refused to allow the light to penetrate his soul, and the darkness flooded it instead, and one has seen lives break up into bits because men and women would not deal faithfully with themselves, would not look at their faults or look for them. Do not let us put this aside as though it were a tedious task, or just a matter of obligation. It is a matter of life and death to us, that we should be always searching to see what there is within us, for the evil weeds grow quickly in the garden of our souls. It does not seem to me to matter-much what method of self-examination we pursue, so long as it is done, so long as it is honest, real, and painstaking. Let every one do what is best and most natural to them, but let no one stop until they get to the root of all that may be wrong with them, for remember that all the time our lives are open to the Lord Jesus. References. XXVI. 20-30. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. lii. No. 2982. XXVI. 22. C. Stanford, The Evening of the Lord's Ministry, p. 36. XXVI. 22, 26. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 232. Matthew 26:23 There can be no treason, where is not some trust. Bishop Hall. Matthew 26:24 At the close of his essay on The Civil Disabilities of the Jews, Macaulay protests against 'the practice of confounding prophecy with precept, of setting up predictions which are often obscure against a morality which is always clear. If actions are to be considered as just and good merely because they have been predicted, what action was ever more laudable than that crime which our bigots are now, at the end of eighteen centuries, urging us to avenge on the Jews, that crime which made the earth shake and blotted out the sun from heaven? The same reasoning which is now employed to vindicate the disabilities imposed on our Hebrew countrymen will equally vindicate the kiss of Judas and the judgement of Pilate. "The Son of Man goeth as it is written of him: but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed." And woe to those who, in any age or in any country, disobey His benevolent commands under pretence of accomplishing His predictions.' References. XXVI. 24. Hugh Black, University Sermons, p. 4. S. A. Tipple, The Admiring Guest, p. 182. W. H. Simcox, The Cessation of Prophecy, p. 269. H. P. Liddon, Passion-Tide Sermons, p. 210. Archer Butler, Sermons (1st Series), p. 75. Spurgeon, Sermon Notes on New Testament, p. 33. J. H. Thom, Laws of Life After the Mind of Christ (1st Series), p. 251. A. K. H. B., Graver Thoughts of a Country Parson, p. 268. New Outlines on New Testament, p. 47. Parker, Hidden Springs, p. 61; Inner Life of Christ, vol. iii. p. 11. In Christian World Pulpit, vol. i. p. 61 (Berg); vol. ii. p. 177 (Parker); vol. ii. p. 331 (Beecher); vol. v. p. 102 (Barfield); vol. viii. p. 37 (Hubbard); vol. viii. p. 305 (David Thomas, also in Pulpit Memorials, p. 417); vol. ii. p. 311 (Bantain); vol. xii. p. 394 (Beecher); vol. xv. p. 316 (Higgins); vol. xviii. p. 161 (Hird); vol. xx. p. 202 (Beecher); vol. xxvi. p. 102 (Tuck); vol. xxix. p. 90 (Beecher). Selections from Pusey, p. 326. Winterbotham, Sermons, p. 360. Aitken's Misson Sermons (2nd Series), p. 121. The Real Presence of Christ Jesus in the Holy Eucharist Matthew 26:26 There are two classes of difficulties which keep men from the Sacrament of the Altar. One class is intellectual and the other moral. The first is met by faith and the second by repentance. The one comes from want of appreciation of Divine mysteries and from the consequent absence of experimental self-surrender to those mysteries. The other comes from sin which, through self-indulgence, is unrepented of. I. Let us be sure that there is something mysterious about our Eucharist, whatever that mystery may be. Christ's words, which are repeated at every celebration, 'This is My Body' ' This is My Blood,' are undoubtedly mysterious, but yet quite patent of a literal sense, and as Hooker says, 'I hold it for a most infallible rule in expositions of Sacred Scripture that where a literal construction will stand, the farthest from the letter is commonly the worst'. The Primitive Church, again, witnesses to the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist St. Augustine says: 'It seemed good to the Holy Ghost that the Lord's Body should be the first food to enter the Christian's mouth, in order that due honour should be shown to so great a Sacrament, and this custom is observed throughout the world'. Again, the Church of England not only explicitly receives the testimony of the early Church as an authoritative interpretation of Scripture, but she also unmistakably declares her own belief in the Real Presence of her Lord. She speaks of Christ's Body being ' given, taken, and received,' of Its being 'verily and indeed taken and received,' where 'verily and indeed' point not to a logical certainty, but to a real presence and real communion: she speaks of 'holy mysteries,' of our 'eating the flesh of Christ and drinking His blood,' of Christ being 'veiled under the forms of bread and wine'. II. Some considerations drawn from allied truths may help us to accept more unreservedly, and to use more thankfully, the great gift associated with the altar. 1. In the first place, Sacraments are not isolated phenomena in the dispensation of the Spirit. Christianity is itself Sacramental. The Son of God took to Himself the whole of man's nature, and joined it to His own nature in indissoluble union. The two natures found their unity in the one Person of the Eternal Word. This is the Sacrament of the Incarnation, the mystery which reveals the most ancient of all mysteries, that of the Blessed Trinity. Throughout the earthly life of the Son of God the Godhead which was concealed within was ever manifesting forth its glory by words and deeds of power. But yet to most men the inward part of the Sacrament of the Incarnation was hidden. The Son of Man was known of every passer-by as one having no form nor comeliness; the Son of God was recognized by few. Others, however, found that virtue went out of Him at the touch of faith. Then, as now in the Sacrament of the Altar, to touch His outermost robe was to find His manhood beneath, and to realize that that manhood was the channel through which there flowed the power of the Godhead. Again, is not the mystical body of Christ, the Church, a great Sacrament? Its outward part is formed of all who are baptized into the name of the Blessed Trinity. Some are good and some are evil, and the evil is at all times so prevalent that the face of the Bride of Christ, like that of her Spouse, is so marred that, when men see it, there is no beauty in it that they should desire it. Yet is she holy because of the indwelling of the Spirit of holiness who is her life and soul. This is her 'inward part,' that with which she is anointed; but it is hidden, except for those whose eyes are open to spiritual realities. 2. A second truth which bears closely on the Sacrament of the Altar is that of the nature of our Lord's Resurrection Body. It is that spiritual Body, a Body 'invisible, indivisible,' and not subject to the laws of physics, which is now sacramentally present at our altars. The mode of its existence is beyond our ken, the laws according to which it works are not revealed to us in consciousness. It is a spiritual Body, and Christ's presence is, therefore, a spiritual presence. It is this spiritual nature of Christ's Body which enables it to be sacramentally present with us. 3. A third fact may be brought forward to help us to realize better the mysterious Presence of Christ. He took our human nature, when He was made man, in its entirety. Man, St. Paul says, consists of body, soul, and spirit. The Word of God, therefore, assumed each of these three. The spirit of man is that highest part of his being, of which the most that can be said is that it exists; beyond this we are in almost utter ignorance about it. The soul is that spiritual part of man in which the spirit manifests itself intellectually and morally. The body is in its essence, that is, when stripped of all accidents, the name given to a force, or collection of forces, which act as the power within our constitution, which lays hold of and moulds to its purposes the outside world of matter. There is a great difference between the organism of a living man and a corpse. 4. A fourth fact may be finally brought forward. All creatures live by external support. The angels have their nourishment directly through contemplation of the Word of God. Man is spoken of, it appears, as the food of the evil one, so far as he becomes like his tempter. To the one was said, 'Earth thou art,' and to the other, 'Earth shalt thou eat'. The bodily life of man, again, is supported from without by food taken within. But nothing that has not lived will serve as food for him. Either vegetable or animal life must be sacrificed for his needs. In other words, it is only a substance of kindred nature that will sustain man's bodily frame. Similarly, the food that is the support of man's soul is of kindred nature to it. 'The bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.' That is, it is the human nature of Christ Jesus which is given us in the Blessed Sacrament That nature is consubstantial with us and fitted, therefore, for the support of our souls. But that nature is united to the Divine, and hence in Holy Communion man approaches more nearly than anywhere else on earth to the Being of God Himself, and we realize in it something of St. Peter's assertion that we are made partakers of the Divine Nature. III. Such are one or two truths which throw sidelights on the mysterious Presence. But after all we can go but a short way towards comprehending it. A mystery it will still remain, and as a mystery faith will receive it. The true knowledge of Christ's presence comes from that experiment which faith makes in a sure trust in God's mercy. To have been with Jesus, to be conscious of the sweetness of His presence, to find Him as a guest within, to hold silent colloquy with Him, this is evidence that cannot be gainsaid. Even if He so manifested Himself but once, and the a withdrew for years, it would be testimony sufficient, the heart would stand up and answer 'I have felt; "My Beloved is mine and I am His; He feedeth among the lilies".' Such experience will not care to inquire too curiously into the mystery. It is dark with excess of light; the more earnestly we gaze the more are we dazzled. W. F. Cobb, Church Times, vol. xxviii. p. 304, 31 March, 1890. References. XXVI. 26. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xl. No. 2350. J. M. Neale, Sermons on the Blessed Sacrament, p. 179. XXVI. 26-28. W. C. Wheeler, Sermons and Addresses, p. 138. G. Salmon, Non-Miraculous Christianity, p. 174. XXVI. 26-30. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxviii. No. 2268. XXVI. 27, 28. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 243. XXVI. 28. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxiii. No. 1971; see also Twelve Sermons on the Atonement, p. 373. E. B. Pusey, The Holy Eucharist a Comfort to the Penitent, p. 1. XXVI. 29. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 252. XXVI. 30. J. Guinness Rogers, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liv. 1898, p. 280. B. D. Johns, Pulpit Notes, p. 145. C. J. Ridgeway, Plain Instructive Sermons on Holy Communion, p. 20. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. lii. No. 2982. XXVI. 31-35. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlviii. No. 2771. XXVI. 32. R. Winterbotham, Sermons Preached in Holy Trinity Church, Edinburgh, p. 241. Matthew 26:33 'Tis not the many oaths that make the truth, But the plain single vow, that is vowed true. Shakespeare. References. XXVI. 33. C. Wordsworth, Primary Witness to the Truth of the Gospel, p. 138. XXVI. 35. S. D. McConnell, A Year's Sermons, p. 67. XXVI. 35, 40. E. Griffith Jones, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lviii. 1900, p. 133. XXVI. 36. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xii. No. 693. J. Halsey, The Spirit of Truth, p. 133. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Sunday Sermonettes for a Year, p. 199. A. Whyte, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxiii. 1903, p. 375. C. Stanford, The Evening of the Lord's Ministry, p. 171. XXVI. 36-46. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xl. No. 2376. T. Binney, Sermons Preached in the King's Weigh-House Chapel, p. 150. J. Laidlaw, Studies in the Parables, p. 177. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 261. XXVI. 38. E. Fowle, Plain Preaching to Poor People (1st Series), p. 15. V. R. Lennard, Passion-Tide and Easter, p. 73. T. T. Carter, Lent Lectures, 1860-66, p. 115. W. P. Balfern, Glimpses of Jesus, p. 237. XXVI. 38-46. Selected Sermons of Schleiermacher, p. 38. Christ Shrinking From the Cross Matthew 26:39 Why did Jesus so shrink from His cross? The answer cannot be given in a single confident word or two. Only as we realize what Christ was, and is, and shall be; only as we understand what He came to be and to do; and only as we see the part which the Cross filled in His life, and has filled in the life of the race, shall we realize the elements of bitterness in the cup from which Jesus shrank. I. The first element in the cup was His Mortal Pain. Christ passed through His dying hours in complete self-control. He made His cross a place of counsel, of blessing, and prayer. But there was a peculiar horror at the death of the cross. It had for men of finely strung nature, and of sensitive organization, an almost unbearable agony. The scourging before the crucifixion, the driving in of the nails, the uplifting of the beam, the long, slow, fiery agony of the wounds, the horror of the thirst all of these were vividly realized by Jesus and bore in on His mind. 'He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross,' said the Apostle, recalling its mortal pain. II. The Loneliness of its Shame. The very thought of the cross brought a loneliness into Christ's spirit. He never made a movement towards it without finding Himself going forward alone. He saw that what men would desert Him for was its shame. There are three kinds of loneliness. There is the loneliness of solitude tonic, calming, strengthening. There is the loneliness of character. A man may find himself in a community, or in a society, or even in a home very greatly alone. Jesus knew both these lonelinesses. He sought the solitude of the seashore and of the mountain-top and of the olive garden. He accepted the loneliness of His character, saying even among His disciples, 'I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now'. But this third loneliness of shame He shrank from, as all men shrink from it. 'I was sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not,' said Jesus in His parable, declaring the loneliness of shame. 'I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with Me.' An element in the cup was the loneliness of its shame. III. Its Mental Anguish. The Cross of Christ shall never cease to be a tragedy. But we can see it now, in the light of centuries of Christian experience, Christian history and Christian thought, to be a splendid triumph. But was it all clear to Christ? He had, no doubt, an anticipation of such an issue throughout His whole ministry. But now, as He stands at the foot of the cross, and as He faces the actual deed, there is given Him a keen mental anguish. Was this the hour? Was this the way? Could this be the will of God? When we think that Christ always found it easy to know God's will we do greatly err. With us the greater difficulty is the doing of the will of God. With Christ the problem was to know that will. As soon as God's will became clear to Him He went forward to it with animation of spirit. Here in Gethsemane He suffered mental anguish both as to the knowledge of God's will and obedience to it When the light fell clearly on the path, and He saw the cross as the inevitable duty, the mental anguish is over. You can hear the calm of His spirit in His words, 'Rise up, let us be going'. IV. His Desolation of Soul. What causes desolation of soul? What gives us the sense that God is no longer near, no longer mindful, no longer loving? Why are all children natural believers and all older hearts prone to doubt? What gives desolation of soul is, in a single word sin. It may be, it commonly is, our own sin. But in a pure heart desolation of soul may be caused not only by one's own sin but by the sin of others. In this way the sin of man desolated the soul of Christ He was willing to be sundered from God, to have His name blotted out, to be accursed from God, to go out into the desolation of a forsaken soul, if He could redeem man from the desolation which is eternal. That was the agony of the garden. Out of it He passed in tranquillity to go to His cross. 'Let this cup pass from Me,' prayed Jesus. Yet He drank it.' W. M. Clow, The Cross in Christian Experience, p. 65. Gethsemane Matthew 26:39 I. To Christian hearts no name is so sacred as Gethsemane. In Gethsemane Jesus was in anguish. The heart is awed at the sight of the Son of God on His knees in the garden. This was the temptation of the life of Jesus. The cup of human guilt was held out to Him. He trembled to stretch out His hand to take the cup. He longed to avoid the ordeal. Having the redemptive love, Jesus saw that the cup was inevitable. To save, He must die. To find, He must lose. In His distress He prayed, and His prayer was a cry. 'O My Father! if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless: not as I will, but as Thou wilt.' A second time He prayed, and in the interval He had seen more clearly that the cup was unavoidable. 'O My Father! if this cup may not pass from Me, except I drink it, Thy will be done.' A third time He prayed, using the same words. That prayer stamps Jesus as the world's religious leader. It is religion epitomized. It is spirituality in a word. II. There are Gethsemanes in human life. Life for the most part is on the path of the commonplace, but, ever and anon, we pass into the garden of gloom. Death is the common gate into Gethsemane. Gethsemane may be a home where sickness lingers. Gethsemane may be a lonely life. Gethsemane may be a wilderness of impoverishment. Sometimes Gethsemane is long foreseen. Jesus had the prescience of His Gethsemane for years, and it is the sign of His high courage that He stepped forward to meet it. But sometimes we plunge into it unexpectedly. The soul is always alone in Gethsemane. Jesus was alone. All that the soul can do in Gethsemane is to pray. Jesus prayed. Prayers in Gethsemane are always broken. But those who have prayed in Gethsemane never doubt the blessedness of prayer. III. The most precious truth in Gethsemane is that of the Divine Fatherhood. 'O My Father!' was the cry of Jesus. The soul can only pray when God is known as Father. When we think of God as our Father, then we assume our true relationship. It is the filial He seeks in us. We can exercise every freedom in our speech with our Father. Jesus did. He showed His fear to His Father. 'If it be possible, let this cup pass from Me.' The intenser our assurance of His Fatherliness, the freer our confessions will be. True religion is the reverent acceptance of the Father's will. The deep religion of the soul of Jesus is shown in this. He was prepared to abide His Father's will. J. G. Bowran, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxii. 1907, p. 347. References. XXVI. 39. G. Tyrrell, Oil and Wine, p. 251. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year, vol. i. p. 260. E. L. Hull, Sermons Preached at King's Lynn (3rd Series), p. 58. W. Baker, Penny Pulpit, vol. xii. No. 707. p. 325. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xl. No. 2376; vol. xlvii. No. 2715. XXVI. 39-42. C. J. Vaughan, Last Words in the Parish Church of Doncaster, p. 165. XXVI. 40, 41. Mandell Creighton, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlv. 1894, p. 219. XXVI. 41. F. W. Farrar, Everyday Christian Life, p. 159. E. Meyrick Goulburn, Three Counsels of the Divine Master, vol. i. p. 133. XXVI. 43. A. F. W. Ingram, Addresses in Holy Week, 1902, p. 41. XXVI. 45. R. Rainy, Sojourning With God, p. 95. XXVI. 45, 46. J. Percival, Some Helps for School Life, p. 146. XXVI. 46. J. Halsey, The Spirit of Truth, p. 65. XXVI. 47. J. G. Stevenson, The Judges of Jesus, p. 11. James Moffatt, The Second Things of Life, p. 70. Judas Iscariot Matthew 26:49 We have all of us one human heart. The blackest criminal is a man of like passions with ourselves. His crime comes from the yielding to tendencies which are in us all, and his nature grows to be capable of it by slow degrees. We never need to remember this more than in thinking of that man who is gibbeted for ever as 'Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him'. I. Consider First His Gradual Downward Progress, and note: 1. How it illustrates the power of one sinful tendency to overgrow and destroy the whole soul. His fault was one the love of money. It grew and increased in his soul till it swallowed up everything. 2. The conflict of Divine love and human sinful will. Christ chose him for an Apostle not for his badness, but for what he might have been. He gave him all His teaching. At the last He tried to win him back, giving him the sop in loving familiarity, making a last appeal to his heart. Striking hard on conscience, by letting him see he was known, 'That thou doest,' and by urging him as a last request to do it 'at once'. Then the tenderness, the firmness, the absence of all rebuke, 'Friend, wherefore art thou come?' And so with us all. It is the awful mystery of human will that it can and does turn itself against all Divine appeals, and annihilates and thwarts the loving purposes and mercy of Jesus Christ. II. The Actual Crime. Remember that his knowledge of Christ's higher nature was dim and vague. He did not fully know what he was doing. This illustrates, (1) the essential character of all sin, as blinding a man to the true nature of what he is doing. (2) The real nature of all sin is preferring self to Christ. (3) The real aggravation of sin, ingratitude. The form may differ but the substance is the same. III. The End. Immediate remorse. 'I have sinned.' Judas goes to the priests, and flings down the money then his suicide. This brings out, (1) The unprofitableness of sin. Judas gets his reward, and with it a bitter conscience. (2) The remorse which leads to desperation. His crime was not unpardonable. Suppose he had gone to the cross, and cried there, 'I have sinned,' would He Who forgave them all, not have forgiven him? His condemnation was not his betrayal of Christ, but his own non-acceptance of pardon for his betrayal. So the last lesson is that the only thing which binds sin upon a man and leads to death is unbelief. And we who have betrayed, denied, crucified Christ, may have all pardoned. A. Maclaren. References. XXVI. 50. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 270. XXVI. 51-56. W. M. Taylor, The Miracles of Our Saviour, p. 426. Matthew 26:52 The grace of God shall never want champions, for by her own almighty power she makes them for herself. She requires hearts pure and disengaged; and she herself purifies and disengages them from worldly interests incompatible with the truths of the Gospel. Pascal. Reference. XXVI. 52. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, The Sheathed Sword, p. 14. Holy Angels (Feast of St. Michael and All Angels) Matthew 26:53 The unprayed prayer of the Lord Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane, is not only a standing marvel of self-sacrificing love, and an example of the voluntary endurance of educative pain, it is also a revelation that the earthly lives of God's children are enfolded by intelligences invisible, who, under the command of God, act as ministers and protectors. And this is true of all, because, 'as He is, so are we in this world'. I. Do not ask me to define an angel; I have never seen one. But every painstaking thinker knows that those forces in the universe, that never have been seen and never can be seen, are the mightiest. Christian history, apart from Christian legend, is as much a history of the angels as it is a history of God and man. The works of Christian writers teem with allusions to the angels. The monuments of Christian cities testify to the ever-existing realization of the office of the angels. The written Word from first to last is full of the holy angels. It begins with angels, and it ends with angels. II. This gaze into the spirit sphere on St. Michael's Day should help us to realize the true dignity of humanity, and stimulate us to lift our lives to the standard of our privileges. The inference is not the dignity of angels, but the dignity of men. These ethereal intelligences are our ministering attendants. Our fellowship is not with them, but with their Master; they are our ministers and His. It gives the real man the man who honours himself because he knows his essential nature is God's essential nature no pleasure to be highly praised by men; rather will self-knowledge turn such praise into gall for him. But he will honour himself, 'because of the angels'. And he will remember also that some of these heavenly beings are described as not having kept their first estate, and, therefore, that the common, coarse temptations of the flesh are not necessarily the most dangerous; and he will strive to guard himself against spiritual sins angels' sins self-love, self-will, love of praise, abuse of intellectual superiority, substitution of self for God. Moreover, he will shape his service according to the pattern of these ministering spirits, and when he prays, 'Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven,' he will see that his work for God possesses the characteristics of the angels' service, which are, (1) intellectual submission, together with intellectual aspiration 'they desire' to learn the mysteries. (2) Obedience. Amen! Alleluia! obedience before praise. (3) It is work consciously in the Divine presence, and, therefore, full of noble Godlike purpose, for they 'do always behold the face of My Father, which is in heaven'. III. The unprayed prayer in Gethsemane teaches us that our communion with angels is not to be direct, but by prayer to the Father. 'I can pray to My Father, and He shall give.' It provides the authority for the beautiful Collect for St. Michael's Day. We need the ministry of angels in life; we shall doubly need it in death. Basil Wilberforce, Following on to Know the Lord, p. 157. Illustration. I have stood, as have countless thousands, on the bridge which spans the Tiber by Hadrian's tomb in the City of Rome, and there the eye is at once arrested by a colossal statue of St. Michael, the Prince of the Angels, surmounting the aimed battlements of the Castle of St. Angelo. It is an impressive scene, calculated to promote that condition of mind in which holy sentiment comes to deepen faith. More than a thousand years ago, upon that memorable spot, there knelt in prayer and fasting one of Christendom's greatest bishops, pleading with God for the removal of the pestilence which was desolating the city that he loved, and there seemed to pass before his eyes, dim with fasting, weary with prayer and watching, a vision of the mighty Prince of the Angels, alighting on the summit of the tomb of Hadrian, and sheathing a blood-stained sword, and from that moment the pestilence was stayed. Basil Wilberforce, Following on to Know the Lord, p. 160. References. XXVI. 53. W. L. Watkinson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxiii. 1903, p. 136. S. Cox, Expositions, p. 362. XXVI. 53, 54. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxiii. No. 1955. The Desertion Matthew 26:56 I. Surely that appeal must be heard 'My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. Tarry ye here, and watch with Me!' But the disciples' eyes were heavy, and their hearts were sad, and hope had gone, and dull, helpless resignation had settled down upon their souls. And when the Master returned He found them sleeping. Yet there is no word of censure, only something of sadness may we not say, of disappointment? 'What, could ye not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.' Again, and a third time, He comes and finds them sleeping still. They have been tried, and failed. They could not watch. 'Sleep on now, and take your rest' It sounds almost like the echo of those words to Judas, 'What thou doest do quickly'. The moment of trial is past. It is all over. The only one of the twelve who was wakeful on that night was Judas the betrayer, who watched, but didn't love. The betrayer is near; and the disciples, who loved, but could not watch, saw their Master taken; and they who, in the strength of enthusiastic hope, once 'forsook all, and followed Him,' now, all in panic fear, 'forsook Him, and fled'. It was but for a little while. There was no thought of treachery or disloyalty in their hearts, only the cowardice and faintheartedness which comes of despondency and sloth. II. Can we not see here a true picture of ourselves? What of the cowardly, despondent, faint-hearted Christians? Are they few amongst ourselves? What of the slothful ones who cannot 'watch,' cannot 'endure hardness,' who have committed themselves to Christianity as if it were a sort of 'forlorn hope' for the world, but have not the heart to fight for it and believe in it as a conquering power? In our day there are few arguments more common in the mouth of the enemies of this faith than the reproach that Christianity is a failure. And has not it sometimes, even while we resented it and put it away from us, reacted on our belief, and made us sad and halfhearted and hopeless? III. And, on the other hand, faith and effort react on one another, as do despondency and sloth. Is not it so in the service of man? When we hear of all the misery and wretchedness and vice of some great city, it seems so hopeless, we are ready to fold our hands and let things go; but if, in some little corner of the great field of work, we bestir ourselves to do what little we may, is not it wonderful how, with that effort, faith and hope and love grow strong and strengthen one another? Surely sloth and unwillingness to make the effort, intellectual and moral, which is necessary for a real hold of truth, is largely to blame for what is vaguely called unbelief, in these days of ours. Can we better gather up our thoughts on this desertion of Christ than in those words of His to them in the garden, 'Watch and pray'? If the moral struggle is what it ever was for those who would live the Christlike life, the intellectual struggle was never keener than it is for us now. And we are quite wrong to suppose that the battle can be fought out for us. Every thinking man and woman must take his part or hers, must fight for Christ, or, like the slothful sleepers in the garden, look on while the traitor betrays, and the enemies assail the Master they claim to love. Aubrey L. Moore, Some Aspects of Sin, p. 117. Forsaking Christ Matthew 26:56 In a great piece of music a composer strikes the note in his prelude which is to be recurring and dominant the keynote of his message. This grave and saddening line is the keynote of the story of the day of the cross. It was a sign, as Jesus had foreteld, that His hour had come. It was His first step down into the waters of His baptism of sorrow. It was His first draught of the cup. To be forsaken by all turned His pie-vision of the cross into an experience. With the story of the garden before us, let us look into this forsaking of Christ. Let us see the reasons why men are disloyal to Him, and mark how we may be safeguarded against the sin. I. Men Forsake Christ Through Fear. We understand at a glance the fear of these men. They were Galilean fishermen and strangers in a large city. They were surprised at night in the depths of an olive garden. The sudden Roman faces, with Judas at their head, the flashing lamps and gleaming spears, the rough and insolent soldiery, Christ captive, submissive, seemingly helpless in the soldiers' hands, death menacing themselves, in the rude gestures of their assailants, shook their nerve and blanched their courage, and they forsook Him, and fled. II. Men Forsake Christ Through Weariness. These disciples were disloyal not only through fear, but their temptation assailed them in an hour of extreme weariness. They had walked as Passover pilgrims from Capernaum to Jerusalem. They were guests in strange homes, and that is always a straining experience. They had spent a week of unusual and exhausting excitement. Since they had entered Jerusalem with Jesus to the shouting of Hosanna they had lived out a full round of six long and eventful days. They had been stinted of rest and robbed of sleep. Even while they were witnesses of Christ's agony in the garden and listeners to His prayers they fell asleep in sheer weariness. It was when worn, spent, drained of energy both of mind and of body, that they forsook Him, and fled. We all understand these sad experiences. It was when we were weary, at the close of a long day, in our hour of failure, in the month when some great hope had been finally quenched, in the mood of discouragement and of despair, when the unexpected misfortune had overwhelmed us, as it overwhelmed the disciples in the garden, that we took that step, and did that deed, in which we forsook Christ, and fled. III. Men Forsake Christ Through Spiritual Reaction. Behind their fear and their weariness there lay a deeper cause of failure. That was spiritual reaction. We sometimes forget how intense had been the life which these men had lived, and how dazzling had been the light in which they had rejoiced. Transforming and illumining as had been their years of fellowship with Jesus, these last days in Jerusalem had brought them into a religious wonderland. They had companied with the Lord Jesus, and beheld His glory. They had heard the great parables spoken in the Temple. They had sat at Martha's feast in Bethany and looked on Lazarus risen from the dead. On the last day of the feast they had passed into the Holy of Holies. They had spent the early hours of the evening in the Upper Room, and at the supper table which Christian men and women consider their holiest memorial. They had listened to Jesus when He had unlocked His heart in counsel and in prophecy. All religious experiences are costly and exhausting. Every excitement exacts its toll of energy. The human spirit cannot sustain any rapture without times of relief. But the most exhausting of all emotion is an elating spiritual experience. It always has its after hours of dull and jaded mood. To have lived with Christ through this holy week must have set the spiritual fervour of these men of religious genius on fire. Then came the reaction of the night and the darkness, and the sudden peril of the garden, and then they forsook Him, and fled. IV. There are two counsels which may safeguard us against our forsaking Christ. 1. The first of these is to be found in that word with which Christ sought to safeguard His disciples against their hour of trial the word 'Watch'. 2. The second counsel we shall take from one who was loyal to Christ in a day when many were tempted to forsake Him. It is the counsel given as his message after the recital of the deeds of the cloud of witnesses who seldom faltered in their loyalty to God. That counsel is 'Looking unto Jesus'. W. M. Clow, The Day of the Cross, p. 57. Desertion Matthew 26:56 I. Whom? Not an enemy; nor a faithless leader; but their best friend. Sometimes we are justified in forsaking people; the fuller our acquaintance with them, the less desirable it appears. But the more Christ was known, the better He was loved. II. When? 1. At a time of peculiar peril and sorrow. 2. After many proofs of His Messiahship. 3. After receiving many favours. 4. After strong professions of attachment. 5. After expressing indignation at the treachery of another. III. Why? Because they were: 6. Timid. 7. Selfish. 8. Impulsive. 9. Unbelieving. See how one man influences another; all forsook Him. Let us take heed to our company. Let us take heed to ourselves. F. J. Austin, Seeds and Saplings, p. 41. Caiaphas Matthew 26:57 The leader of the Sadducees was Caiaphas. He was the High Priest that same that fateful year. The high priesthood had been the petty gift of all the foreign rulers of Judaea, bestowing it as their pleasure or their passion prompted. Caiaphas held the office for the long period of eighteen years, from the year a. d. 18 to the year a.d. 36. It was this High Priest and leader of the Sadducees who was the chief agent in the Crucifixion of Christ. Caiaphas stands out so clearly upon the page of Scripture that we cannot mistake his character. His unflinching and implacable enmity imprinted itself indelibly on the minds of the Apostles. In scene after scene he is distinctively drawn. We see him in the Council with the note of scorn in his speech, his easy mastery of the moods and fears of men, his bold, definite counsel. We see him in the interview with Jesus, rending his robes with histrionic fervour, in a finely simulated horror at the blasphemy of Christ. We see him playing his game with Pilate, and using that able Roman as his tool. We see him when Judas, torn with relentless remorse, bursts into the Council Chamber, turning away from the conscience-stricken man, dismissing the poor fool from his presence with a phrase. We see him, unchanged, when Peter and John stand before him, and he charges them to hold their peace. Who is this resolute, defiant, merciless man? He is the High Priest of God the holder of the holiest office in Judaism. What is he? An astute and unscrupulous diplomatist; a wily manager of men; a master of assemblies with a fitting gift of speech; a conceiver of bold and daring policies in the hour when others waver, and a man of unflinching will in carrying them out. How shall we describe this man of the holy office, and the crafty speech, and the diplomatic skill, in a single word? In one word, he is an ecclesiastic the type of all that long succession of men who have laid heavy burdens on every Church, and often thwarted the purpose of God. Let us look at Caiaphas, the ecclesiastic, in the clear light that beats upon him from the Word of God, so that we may not enter into his secret or come into his condemnation. I take three points of view I. The Ecclesiastic in his View of the Church. Caiaphas, the High Priest, was the virtual leader of the Jewish Church. What was the Church to Caiaphas? It was an institution on whose history he could have descanted with eloquence. It was an institution he must preserve in its present form at all hazard. It was an institution with certain offices and ceremonies, and buildings, and privileges, and powers. And it was an institution in which he and his fellows held certain station and authority, and power and emolument. Whatever endangered its supremacy, whatever threatened to lower its prestige, whatever assailed its security, must be ruthlessly destroyed. A new revelation might be dawning among men; a new learning might be disclosing more of the power and wisdom of God; new methods of science might be stirring men's minds; a new and holier spirit of compassion might be surging in men's hearts; and all these might have been craving for recognition and sympathy within the Church. It mattered nothing to Caiaphas, the ecclesiastic. The new wine would endanger the old bottle, and the old bottle was his precious thing. It gave him his place and his power, and it must be preserved. It needed only the cry in his ears: 'The Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation,' to rouse him to the strong, unflinching, merciless policy of the ecclesiastic. Now, what is the source of the ecclesiastic's view of the Church? It is simply the spirit of worldliness the spirit which prevails when faith in the unseen has died within the soul. II. The Ecclesiastic In his Attitude towards Doctrine. This man Caiaphas, although drawn with such almost unrelieved condemnation in the Word of God, must not be thought of as inhuman, or as a self-consciously evil or diabolic man. Louis XI, with all his cruel craft, had a conscience. Machiavelli, the prince of liars, had always his self-defence in readiness. Lord Chesterfield's letters seem to us so much polite villainy, and yet they were written in tender regard for the well-being of his son. And Caiaphas had men to respect him, perhaps to love him. Children climbed upon his knee, and he put his hand gently on their heads. There were some frailties to which he was not liable; there were many vices impossible to him. And you can believe that in all he did he was well persuaded in his own mind. The state of mind behind his policy, the reason that dictated his action, was his attitude towards doctrine. Towards doctrine, and towards any possible change in doctrine, Caiaphas did not keep an open, testing, discerning mind. He was as fixed as the ice of an Arctic winter, as unreceptive as the dead. III. The Ecclesiastic in his Conduct to Christ. This cool, cunning, crafty man saw in a flash that the watchful Roman governor would be only too glad to see in this popular clamour around Christ an outbreak of insurrection, and sweep away the Temple and its priesthood because unable to keep the peace. And with the passing of the Temple would pass Caiaphas and his pride. He stands up in the midst of the sacred and bewildered men, who already hear, in anticipation, the shouts of the populace proclaiming Christ as king, and with keen scorn he says 'Ye know nothing at all'; and then calmly proposes to take Jesus and to put Him to death. That is the decisive test of the ecclesiastic. The Church needs leaders. She needs men of wise counsel and prompt energy and determining speech. She needs men who will patiently and untiringly serve her tables. But the office they fill is full of giddy and dazing temptations. No class of men need more the continual reconsecration of aim and the fresh baptism of the Spirit. But these are gained only as men keep themselves in the faith and love of Jesus. The man to whom Christ is a name, or only an instrument of service, is a danger to the Church. But the man to whom He is Lord, in whose heart a deep devotion maintains its unquenched fire, may make mistakes, may seem to endanger sacred interests, but his blundering will be wiser than the cold prudence of the ecclesiastic. W. M. Clow, The Day of the Cross, p. 13. References. XXVI. 57. C. Stanford, The Evening of Our Lord's Ministry, p. 237. J. G. Stevenson, The Judges of Jesus, p. 83. XXVI. 57-62. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlii. No. 2473. XXVI. 57-68. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 286. XXVI. 59, 60. ' Plain Sermons' by contributors to the Tracts for the Times, vol. ix. p. 315. Matthew 26:60 In the fourth chapter of his History, Macaulay, after narrating the fearful punishment inflicted on Titus Oates, the detected informer, adds: 'Horrible as were the sufferings of Oates, they did not equal his crimes. The old law of England, which had been suffered to remain obsolete, treated the false witness, who had caused death by means of perjury, as a murderer. This was wise and righteous; for such a witness is, in truth, the worst of murderers. To the guilt of shedding innocent blood he has added the guilt of violating the most solemn engagements into which man can enter with his fellow-men, and of making institutions, to which it is desirable that the public should look with respect and confidence, instruments of frightful wrong and objects of general distrust. The pain produced by ordinary murder bears no proportion to the pain produced by the murder of which courts of justice are made the agents.' References. XXVI. 64. G. A. Chadwick, The Intellect and the Heart, p. 116. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxiii. No. 1364. Jesus Charged with Blasphemy Matthew 26:65 These horror-stricken judges, rending their garments in simulated grief and zeal, and that silent Prisoner, knowing that His life was the forfeit of His claims, yet saying no word of softening or explanation of them, may teach us much. They are witnesses to some of the central facts of the revelation of God in Christ. I. They witness to Christ's claims. The question that was proposed to Jesus,' Art Thou the Christ, the Son of the living God?' was suggested by the facts of His ministry, and not by anything that had come out in the course of this investigation. It was the summing up of the impression made on the ecclesiastical authorities of Judaism by His whole attitude and demeanour. He did claim a Divine prerogative; and either the claim must be admitted or the charge of blasphemy urged. He died because He declared that He was the Son of God. II. Note how we have here the witness that Jesus; Christ assented always to the loftiest meaning that men attached to His claims. I want to know whether that characteristic, which runs through all His life, and is inseparable from it can be vindicated on any ground except the ground that He was God manifest in the flesh. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/expositors-dictionary/ Pilate Matthew 27:2 The councils and kings, the orators and lawgivers of Rome, tower out in the backward look of history, when men nearer us in time are lost in the haze. But there is one Roman who shall outlive them all. He held only a petty post in an obscure corner of the Empire, but he sat as judge on Him who shall one day judge the world, and he delivered unto death the Prince of Life. The name of Pontius Pilate, the governor, shall be remembered when every other Roman name may be forgotten. Pilate, like all men of culture and thought, had ceased to believe in the cruel and licentious gods of Paganism. And with that disbelief had come the usual disheartening conviction that nothing in all the spiritual world could in certainty be known. For in the moment when a man's spiritual world has vanished like a dream or a mirage of the desert, when the credulities of a young and ardent youth have been proved to be false, when he sees the men around him living only for things seen, what is there left for him but a sad and melancholy mental despair? 'What is truth?' asked Pilate in the climax of his interview with Jesus, and Bacon tells us he jested. If he did jest, it was a bitter jest. It was the partly impatient, partly contemptuous, partly despairing word of a man who flings out a question to which he conceives there is no answer at all. And when we look at this well-read, widely thought, bewildered, and gloomy-minded man, we find in him the type of men common enough among us. For there is no word to describe Pilate but one, and that is 'agnostic'. It is Pilate, the agnostic, who stands face to face with Christ. I. Now let us look at the agnostic in the light of Christ. We see Pilate in three scenes. Mark them well, for they are the steps in an agnostic's progress away from God. We see him in the grey dawn roused from his rest to hear the denunciation of those scrupulous Jewish hypocrites, who will not enter his house lest they should be defiled. We see him with his Roman feeling for justice, refusing to do an act of summary wrong. And then we see him face to face with Jesus alone, and we cannot help a sigh that he did not know his Lord. For Christ's desire here, as always, is to lift all religious inquiry out of the heating and misleading arena of discussion and debate into the region of personal conduct and conviction. It is the attempt to lead the agnostic from his dialectic, to rouse the interest of his apathetic soul, and to make him face the realities of his own life. But it failed. Pilate is stung by the personal appeal, and the quick retort comes back, with contemptuous scorn, 'Am I a Jew?' But Jesus is love that will not let him go, and this clear voice, whose spell never men failed to feel, rang through Pilate's hall in words Church leaders have not yet fathomed, which spoke of that kingdom not of this world that kingdom not of the sword but of the truth. He offered to enrol Pilate as a governor in it. Mark, He does not proclaim Himself as the Son of God. That would have been too high for Pilate, and this Teacher ever stooped to the little ones. He offers Himself as one who came into the world that He might bear witness of the truth. He touched Pilate in his tenderest memories and holiest thoughts and took him back to the days of his youth, when he had dreamed his dreams, and seen his visions of unswerving justice, untainted honour, and ennobling purity. But the agnostic's habit has become too strong for him. It holds him as in a vice, and with the deep, unalterable conviction that Jesus is innocent, he puts his agnostic question, 'What is truth?' breaks off the interview, and passes out from the presence of Christ. When he went out it was the hour of dawn, but the night had begun to fall upon his soul. II. In the second scene we see Pilate, who has refused to make the question of his religious belief a personal one, become the man of shifts and devices. He goes out to propose Christ's release under a time-honoured custom of the Feast. But the shout for Barabbas teaches him that he has misunderstood the deep hatred felt for Jesus. A second device suggests itself to him. He will scourge Him aye, mark you! with that scourge of thongs tipped with lead, every one of which bit like a scorpion and mock Him, for surely, even their pity will be roused, and they will relent at the sight of the thorn-crowned Man, and their rage will be glutted at the sight. But he might as well have fought the blinding spray of a winter storm, as have opposed himself to these hoarse cries of 'Crucify Him! Crucify Him!' He hurries in to Jesus, anew impressed that He who could so rouse the passions of men, must be more than He seemed, and 'Whence art Thou?' he asks Him, as one might inquire at a spirit. But Pilate's question comes too late. Jesus will not answer. Truth which a man will not accept when it is offered to him, truth which a man will outrage by scourging and mocking, truth which a man will set at naught, that he may escape from a dilemma and avoid a duty, is always silent to such a question as Pilate's. III. The third scene is the dramatic moment of it all. It is Pilate poor, fear-driven, unmanned Pilate on the judgment seat, washing his hands in water, to declare his innocence, and so chloroform his soul. Ah, perhaps you think that no man could so deceive himself, that Pilate knew that he could have saved Christ if he only had bravely dared. No, that washing of the hands was no conscious mockery to Pilate. He doubtless went down to his house feeling himself justified, for he had reached the most abandoned state of the human soul. He was sinning against the Holy Ghost. The sweet mysteries of Christ were dark to him, and he was not asked to accept them. But because he would not be true, because he would not live out the truth he knew, because he allowed truth and innocence to pass to shame and to death, he also passed out of Christ's light, and bears an eternal shame. What hindered him? It was in one word, his interests. That, in many forms some as coarse and sordid as assailed Pilate, some as subtle and refined as seduce the man of wavering and bewildered mind among ourselves is the temptation of the agnostic. W. M. Clow, The Day of the Cross, p. 27. References. XXVII. 2. J. G. Stevenson, The Judges of Jesus, p. 153. XXVII. 3, 4. John Ker, Sermons, p. 282. XXVII. 3-5. E. M. Goulburn, Occasional Sermons, p. 139. E. B. Pusey, Parochial Sermons, vol. ii. p. 197. XXVII. 3-10. B. D. Johns, Pulpit Notes, p. 112. Judas's 'I Have Sinned' Matthew 27:4 The state and history of Judas have, as we humbly trust, through the infinite mercy of God, no exact parallel amongst ourselves. Judas, we must fear, had already passed into a reprobate state, when he said, 'I have sinned'. For years he had allowed, and systematically pursued, with a show of charity and piety, that sin which God calls the worst, and places the last, in the whole scale of wickedness. He had, probably, some secret hope that Christ might assert His power, and His sovereignty; and that he himself, after all, might have a high place in that temporal kingdom, which they all expected. I. The Cry of Despair Disappointed everywhere remorse and horror, as they are wont, taking the place of passion the evil spirit that had lured him on now became, first tormentor, and then instigator to despair. Driven by his evil conscience, Judas sought refuge everywhere, and found it nowhere. Not in his money what could that do? 'He cast down the thirty pieces of silver,' with perfect indifference, 'on the floor of the Temple;' and the coldblooded priests, to whom he looked in his misery, said, 'What is that to us? See thou to that.' Not, assuredly, in his own breast. Not in God: he had not sought it there, and though it was not too late to find it, he saw it was too late to seek. And Judas, 'departed, and went and hanged himself,' that he might go to his own place! II. A Heartless Acknowledgment What was the worth of his 'I have sinned' at such a time? The Greek word for 'sinned' is 'missing the mark'. It conveys a great deal of important and affecting teaching. But Judas meant probably only the literal, without the spiritual, signification of the word. 'I have made a mistake; I have missed the mark.' 'I have sinned, in that I have betrayed innocent blood.' III. No Touch of Spiritual Truth. His 'I have sinned' was only the acknowledgment of a worldly error. It stands for no repentance. It never touched one spiritual truth. References. XXVII. 4. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iii. No. 113. XXVII. 4, 24. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 299. Cox, 'The Son of Loss,' Expositions, vol. i. p. 348. French, 'Pontius Pilate,' Sermons New and Old, p. 134. 'Conscience,' Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iv. p. 554. John Ker, 'Judas and the Priests; the end of evil association,' Sermons (1st Series), p. 282. Parker, Ark of God, p. 54, and Inner Life of Christ, vol. iii. p. 238. Cox, 'A Day in Pilate's Life,' Expositor (2nd Series), vol. viii. p. 107. Jacox, Traits of Character, etc., p. 350. Kitto, Daily Bible Illustrations, vol. vii. p. 426. W. M. Taylor in Three Hundred Outlines on New Testament, p. 32; and see his Contrary Winds, p. 37. A. B. Evans, Sermons, p. 377. C. J. Vaughan, Sermons (1853), p. 81. Pusey, Sermons, vol. ii. p. 276. Simeon, Works, vol. xi. pp. 575, 583. Bishop Hacket, Sermons, p. 483. Bishop Fleetwood, Sermons, p. 444. Matthew 27:5 When an opponent at Gainsborough falsely accused George Fox of claiming to be the Messiah, the Quaker declares, 'I called the accuser Judas, and was moved to tell him that Judas's end would be his; and that that was the word of the Lord and of Christ, through me, to him. So the Lord's power came over all, and quieted the minds of the people, and they departed in peace. But this Judas went away, and shortly afterwards hanged himself, and a stake was driven into his grave.' References. XXVII. 5. C. Holland, Gleanings from a Ministry of Fifty Years, p. 287. XXVII. 7. H. J. Wilmot-Buxton, Sunday Sermonettes for a Year, p. 76. XXVII. 11. R. H. Heywood, Sermons and Addresses, p. 37. R. C. Trench, Sermons New and Old, p. 134. H. A. Smith, A Book of Lay Sermons, p. 3. XXVII. 11-26. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 310. The Two Wills Matthew 27:12-14 * ; Matthew 27:20-23 * Never was tragedy so awful or so swift as that which St. Matthew recounts in the chapter from which these verses are taken. And this is because the two elements of all tragedy, the Will of God and the Will of Man, are there combined and running to the same end. We have all been puzzled by the difficulty of reconciling these two: first, that God willed Christ's death, and, second, that man was guilty of that death. I. Nothing is clearer from the Gospel than this: that it was Christ's own will to die. He had long set His face steadfastly to Jerusalem. While others still deemed it impossible, His soul lay already under the shadow of the Cross. Some men make up their mind to die when they feel the stress of circumstance bearing in that direction. But Jesus felt no outward circumstance compelling Him to death. Because it was His Father's will He set His face to the Cross. He also declared why He must suffer. This was not for martyrdom alone. He had come to bear witness to the truth among a people who, as He pointed out, had with tragic consistency slain their prophets. Yet the burden of truth He brought from heaven was not the only burden He carried. He found another awaiting Him on earth in the sins of men; and this, though sinless Himself, He stooped to bear in all its weight... That is why He was so silent before the Jewish Council and with Pilate. It was not for Barabbas only He was silent. On that day Christ Jesus laid down His life for men. We do not know what happened to Barabbas. But if he changed, if he led a new life, and as an old legend has it, became a servant of God, it was because he understood the meaning of that silence in which Christ assented to His own death and so let him go free. We must feel what our pardon cost the love of God, and how much that love in Christ endured for us. Then shall there be born in us a penitence, a faith, a gratitude which will bind us to God, which will give us a hatred for sin, which will beget in us a power of holiness as nothing else can. II. The way in which human guilt is brought out in this chapter is very tragic. First there is Judas, the only one who accepted his guilt, and it overwhelmed him. The rest shirked their responsibility, and sought to pass it over to one another. But they could not, for the lesson of the chapter is that, where Christ is in question, every man must make decision for himself. It is significant that our Lord was slain by no mere drift of circumstance, but by the deliberate and confessed choice of men's wills, and that He was doomed to the cross not by the supreme Roman authority, but, before it could pass sentence, by the voice of the people. They stood outside the court, because on that day it was not lawful for them to enter Gentile precincts. But even so they did not escape, for the governor brought Christ out to them, and in the end every man of them became His judge. God will have every common man who has known Christ to come to a decision about Him. This was what Christ came into the world for. And we, to whom He has been presented all our lives, can, least of all, hope to escape. Nor let us fail to notice the hour in which the men of Jerusalem were called to give their decision. The supreme moment in the history of Christ with themselves was not when He came to them as the King in His beauty, but when He stood an equal alternative with Barabbas. It is not our attitude to our Lord in the easy hours of worship, which determines our true relation to Him. Our real heart for Him is shown, our true relation to Him is determined, far rather in those other, darker hours, when temptation is strong upon us; and we have to choose between Himself and our sin. G. A. Smith, The Forgiveness of Sins, p. 105. References. XXVII. 14. Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlv. 1894, p. 42. W. P. Balfern, Lessons from Jesus, p. 73. Barabbas Matthew 27:16 I. We need not go beyond the New Testament for the history and character of Barabbas. 1. His name is the first significant thing about him. He is Barabbas, 'the son of the father,' or master. His father was a teacher of the Jewish law, and an expounder of its precepts. He belonged to the religious aristocracy of the Jews. He had been trained in the traditions of Hebrew history, and had been taught that to be a member of the commonwealth of Israel was the proudest privilege a man could enjoy. His childhood and youth had been spent amid the influences of a home whose chief interests were the things of God, whose dominating ambition was the steadfast advancement of His kingdom. He was as nearly as possible in the position of a son of the manse. 2. The second significant thing which we are told about him is, that he had 'made insurrection,' or, as Luke more precisely puts it, 'was cast into prison for a certain sedition made in the city'. At the time of the entrance of Barabbas on his manhood, Jerusalem was seething with discontent The whole nation was palpitating with hope, and lifting up its long shadowed face with expectation that the time of the Deliverer was at hand. 'Art Thou He that should come, or do we look for another?' was John's message to Jesus; and when Jesus was found to be able to sway the multitudes with His words, and feed the hungry with bread, thousands flocked round Him, assured that the long-looked-for King had come. Hope deferred had made the heart sick, but the spirit of the unconquerable Hebrew could not be broken, and in the Holy City itself, and especially under the walls of the Temple, insurrection was continually being plotted, and sedition hatched. There was a fierce and defiant Home Rule party in Judæa, whose unresting aim was to drive the Roman garrison from the Holy Land. Their chosen name was that of Zealots, because of their unquenchable zeal for the restoration of the Jewish Dominion. Out of their ranks came one of Christ's disciples, Simon Zelotes, whom Jesus taught a wider truth and, a better way than his fiery heart had at first conceived. These Zealots were the Invincibles in the Jewish struggle, and it was they who, at the siege of Jerusalem, fought with so desperate a fury that they appalled the veteran and disciplined soldiers of Rome. In their stubborn courage they fell in heaps, defending the breaches in the walls. It was this band of Zealots which was ever fostering sedition and making insurrection in the city. Among their number was found young Barabbas, the son of the Master in Israel, eager to roll away the reproach of his people, hating the Roman rule with an implacable hatred, willing to do and dare anything, if only a Jewish king shall reign again in Jerusalem. Many looked with hope on the eager young face of Barabbas Zelotes. 3. The third significant thing we are told of him is, that he was a robber, and had committed murder in the insurrection. To the last he was no common thief or cut-purse, but a man who had chosen to intrigue and plot, and to take the sword against the Government of Rome. But from the first he had hated Rome more than he had feared God; he had more of the proud ambition of the partizan than the lowly spirit of holy waiting for God, and, at length, his defiant and regardless deeds made him a mark for a keen-eyed and long-armed Government. He was cast into prison, whence he expected to come only to die the traitor's death on the cross. 4. The fourth and only other thing we are told, is that, both by the priests and the people, he was preferred to Jesus. II. Now, as the Evangelists tell us the story of Barabbas; they focus our attention on one moment of his life. It is that dramatic moment in which Jesus and Barabbas pass out of Pilate's presence together, which is to them so full of pathetic suggestions. 1. The first thought in their minds, as in the mind of every one who knows the story, is the startling and amazing contrast of their fate. A man of genius and skill, in our generation, George Tin-worth, has worked out, in terra-cotta, the scene at this dramatic climax, with a discerning spiritual insight. From one door, passing before Pilate's judgment-seat, there issues Barabbas, smiling in exultation. The soldiers grasp him by the hand in rude congratulations. His friends seize him in transports of joy. The mob hails him with acclamation. By the other door, held by the hard grip of the callous soldiers, seeing no kindly face looking towards Him, confronted by the relentless hate of the infuriated multitude, there issues Jesus. In all the crowd there is only one discerning, pitying heart. The artist has placed, not very far from Christ's door, a woman with a little child in her arms, and she turns on Jesus as He passes her wondering and compassionate eyes. The woman with the child, alone of all the throng, sees whose is the victory and the unfading glory. That is a master touch. To this day men walk our streets, and sit in our high places, with the triumphant pride of Barabbas, and neither they themselves nor others know how completely they have failed. 2. The second thought which attracts us is how much Barabbas missed. We cannot help thinking of what might have been in the case of Barabbas. As we recall his radiant youth, his eager patriotism, his daring courage, his chivalrous devotion to Israel, we feel the soul of goodness that throbbed behind this man's life, his ardent abandonment to what he conceived to be the kingdom of God. This man, we see, might have been, and ought to have been, a disciple of Jesus. The very thing he so dimly and darkly saw, the thing he so fondly desired the revival of the ancient glory of Israel was being fulfilled by Jesus. 3. One other thought is plainly in the minds of the Evangelists. It is the madness and folly of the choice of the multitude. We can detect a note of pity for this befooled and blinded multitude, who chose a robber and murderer in preference to Jesus. We share this mingled amazement and sorrow. These Evangelists have caught something of the prayerful compassion of Jesus for those who did not know the time of their visitation. This multitude did not know whom they were rejecting, and did not know that they were closing the book of their history, fixing their eternal destiny, and quenching with their own breath their one hope of temporal peace and spiritual greatness, when they cried: 'Not this Man, but Barabbas!' But the crowd of condemning faces on which Jesus looks is larger than that which pronounced His doom in Jerusalem. W. M. Clow, The Day of the Cross, p. 85. Reference. XXVII. 16. Jesse Brett, The Soul's Escape, p. 28. Envy's Evil Work Matthew 27:18 That quiet, simple sentence in this condensed report of Christ's appearance before Pilate always arrests the mind. It is the statement by the evangelist of the inner judgment of Pilate. He had discerned the motives which lurked behind the air of justice on the part of the chief priests and elders. He knew the men with whom he had to deal. The sight of Christ, and the short interviews he had with Him, convinced him, not only of Christ's innocence, but of His spiritual majesty. But he was a man caught in the trap of his own past. Had his past been unstained, his action might have been different. He discerned the character of Christ He was awed and touched by His greatness. 'He knew that for envy they had delivered Him.' I. Let us first inquire what envy is. Envy must be distinguished from other passions which are sometimes confounded with it. There is a wise and commendable emulation which is far from envy. Envy must also be distinguished from jealousy, although the one word in common speech is often interchanged for the other. Jealousy is the child of love love that believes itself wronged, injured, robbed of its due. Envy is the child of hate. Envy does not long to run in the race and claim fellowship with those who excel. Envy does not seek the love and the well-being of the person envied. Envy is a gnawing hate, an inward grief, a wasting impatience of spirit, the souring of the heart, the distemper of the soul, 'a rottenness of the bones'. There is in the Chapel of the Arena, at Padua, a significant fresco, by Giotto, of 'Envy'. Giotto's representation is that of a man of mean, misshapen figure, with crouching shoulder, and craning neck. He stands in profile in the picture with lean cheek, sunken, averted eyes, one hand clutching a wallet of gold, the other stretched out with fingers shaped into claws. The ears are large, unshapely, distended. Out of the mouth there plays a serpent, whose fangs are striking Envy himself on the brow. Around the feet there leap up flames of fire. A master conception this of this passion of envy! Take one or two of the features. These large, distended ears are meant to signify that envy is on the alert for every babble of slander. The serpent in the mouth points to the poisonous insinuations, the fabricated stories which the tongue of envy is eager to tell. The hands, clawed like a vulture's, set forth the tearing motion and the clutching greed of the envious spirit; and the flames of fire round the feet mark the torture and despair in which envy lives a torture and despair which are of hell. When we look at Giotto's picture, and read the story of the trial before Pilate, we no longer wonder at the quiet sentence, 'He knew that for envy they had delivered Him'. We understand that envy is no excusable resentment, no trifling meanness of the spirit, no transient passion, but a deep-seated, over-mastering, indwelling spirit of evil, which reaches its final expression when it hales its victim to his cross. II. Let us now, in the second place, watch the * consequences of envy. * 1. Its simplest effect is to blind the mind; that is part of its confusion and evil work. 2. It also poisons the heart. As a poison strikes through the body and fevers the blood, so envy galls and fevers the heart. 3. The climax of evil consequence is reached when * envy crucifies Christ. * III. But let us consider the remedy for envy. Envy may often visit the heart without reaching the climax of its consequence. There is no one who has not had a touch of envy at times. The man of saintly character and assured faith has found the subtle passion slipping into his heart, in some unwatchful moment, and troubling his peace. In one of the most thoughtful and uplifting of the Psalms this experience is detailed, and the sin and its remedy are disclosed. 'My feet were almost gone, my steps had wellnigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.' And the Psalmist tells us the doubts that troubled his mind, and the darkness that fell upon his spirit. But he recovered. 'When I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I their end.' Standing in the sanctuary he was illumined, the vision of God was given him again; the baseness of the things he had envied was borne in upon him; the manner of his envious desire stood clearly forth, and in God's light he saw light clearly. W. M. Clow, The Day of the Cross, p. 71. Matthew 27:18 Another of Badman's sins, 'among the foulest villanies... rotting the very bones of him in whom it dwells,' was envy. Bunyan quotes Matthew 27:18 to show what he means: 'For he knew that for envy they had delivered Him'. It is a certain malignant hatred of good, the lowest conceivable depth of wickedness. Its root is ignorance. For this we are usually held not to be accountable, but to Bunyan, whether we are accountable or not, was not worth debate. It was 'ignorance' which preferred Barabbas to Jesus. Mark Rutherford, John Bunyan, pp. 183, 184. Reference. XXVII. 18. J. Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. ii. p. 156. Pilate's Wife Moral Influence of Women Matthew 27:19 Of Pilate's wife nothing is known but the bare fact, recorded by St. Matthew alone, that she interceded with her husband in favour of a prisoner who, for some reason unknown to us, had aroused her sympathetic interest. Tradition says that her name was Claudia Procula, and that she was a Jewish proselyte. The Greek Church has canonized her, and she ranks among its saints. The fact that this Roman lady felt so deeply about Jesus that she risked offending her husband by interposing in a matter which lay beyond her proper sphere is of many-sided interest. I. It serves to illustrate in an undesigned way the profound impression made by our Lord upon women in every case where they came under the spell of His influence. II. The incident may be used in illustration of the common remark that womanly instinct sometimes hits the mark while masculine calculation goes astray. So far as we know, the sole protest against the counsel and deed of those who forced on the tragedy of Calvary was the protest of a woman. J. W. Shepard, Light and Life, p. 72. Pilate's Wife Matthew 27:19 Every religion may be tested, ethically and practically, by its appeal to womanhood. That faith which outclasses every other in its power to meet the needs of woman, and uplift her to moral beauty, will stand every other test of the truth of God. When Christ came with His meekness and lowliness, His searching and uncompromising hostility to sin, His compassion for weakness, and His great cross of love and atonement, womanhood fell down at His feet in a surpassing loyalty, and Christ placed a crown on her head. It was a man of Macedonia whom Paul saw in his vision, but it was a woman who listened by the river-side, and first made response to Christ. And to this day the voice of Christ finds its clear echo in women's hearts, and both gentle and simple are found reaching their noblest and highest when sitting at His feet. It is then precisely what would have been expected, that amid the sad scenes of the tragedy of Christ's last day on earth, there should be told us this idyll of Pilate's wife. The story shines on the page like a strong gleam of sunshine on a winter day. It is a word of radiant prophecy in the record of a history laden with sorrow. I. The first thing I remark about Pilate's wife was the sorrow and shame of her life. There is no doubt but that a tender love subsisted between Pilate and his wife. This cruel and worldly man had this redeeming virtue left him, as such men sometimes have. The altar flame of love had not gone out. The proof of this mutual love lies in the fact that she accompanied him to Jerusalem. A Roman governor was forbidden by law to take his wife with him to his province, very much for the same reason as a ship captain is forbidden to take his wife to sea. That law could be broken only by a strong personal appeal. But in that imperial age, hastening with swift strides to an unspeakable corruption, husbands were only too willing to be freed from a wife's watchful eyes, and wives were as willing to be left to live their butterfly lives amid the gaieties of a profligate Roman world. But Pilate's wife was more than eager to face the loneliness of a life among an alien people. Love broke even a stern Roman law. But how far apart had these two drifted although their love still persisted. The young Pilate whom the woman had idealized, whose face had flitted through the dreams of her youth, whose career she had so hopefully anticipated, had deteriorated into this sordid, cruel, vengeful, murderous man. The women of Jerusalem who saw Pilate's wife looking out from her lattice, and caught the flash of the gems on her white hands, and marked the pride of her patrician face, and envied her ease and state, never guessed how wistfully she looked upon them, and how constant was this cloud of sorrow and of shame, because she knew herself to be the wife of a dishonourable man. II. The second thing I remark about Pilate's wife is her service to her husband. 'When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man.' It was a deed of singular daring. It was the last resource of a loving heart making one more appeal. To send a message with the attempt to sway the mind of the judge while he sat upon the seat of judgment was a punishable offence, and only the awfulness of the deed she saw about to be done could have moved her to it. Pilate may have smiled at her dream, but her words stung his conscience, and had there been any way of escape for this hardly pressed man, had he had courage to brave his fate, gladly would he have set Christ at liberty, and gone home to look with the eyes of a man, redeemed from his evil fate, in the face of her whose love had almost saved him. That is the highest service a wife can do for her husband to stand in the shadow while he faces public light; to be ever his counsellor, his helper, his gentle and yet unfaltering preacher of righteousness aye, to be his saviour is her noblest office. III. The third thing I remark about Pilate's wife is * her intercession for Christ. * And so to this day Pilate's wife walks at the head of all that long procession of nobly-born, and nobly-placed, and nobly-gifted women who do service for Christ. She leads the noble army of saintly martyrs and confessors. There follow in her train queens like Helena and St. Elizabeth of Hungary, women of generous hand like Lady Huntingdon, and of saintly wisdom like Lady Glenorchy; and those even greater and more devoted women, enshrined in the Book of Martyrs and the Scots' Worthies, true Ladies of the Covenant, who, when Christ, in His persecuted saints, walked again the way of weeping, cast aside their pride, placed no value on their rank, reckoned light the suffering, and stepped into the way with Him. Surely we shall not say too much when we believe that the name of Pilate's wife, though not written on this page, is written first on the roll of those women who laboured much in His Gospel, 'whose names are in the Book of Life'. W. M. Clow, The Day of the Cross, p. 99. References. XXVII. 19. G. Lorimer, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lvii. 1900, p. 243. J. G. Stevenson, The Judges of Jesus, p. 129. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxviii. No. 1647. Christ, a Perplexity Matthew 27:22 I. We may crucify the Saviour in many ways when we do not seem to be crucifying Him. That is the very subtlety of the devil's temptation. There would not seem to be any wickedness in not forgiving a man who had injured you very much and who had prayed for your pardon. If any soul has ever asked you to forgive him, that soul supplied you with the greatest opportunity of being a Christian that ever was supplied during your whole experience To plead for mercy and not to receive it, the case being between two human hearts, that would stab the Saviour with a sixth wound. There is another thing you can do with Christ: you can admire Him. Many persons admire Him, and get their livelihood out of Him: paint His portrait, surround His head with haloes, give His mother a nimbus, and give Himself as a Babe an aureole; all that you can do, but that is nothing. I have great fear of those who have not passed beyond the point of admiration. Jesus Christ came not to be admired, but to be believed, received, served. He is all, or nothing, and less than nothing. There is a third thing you can do: you can adore Jesus. Now you are coming to higher ground. You can fall down before Him, you can offer Him your gold and frankincense and myrrh, not of mere gold and material, but of real reverence and love and faith, so that He shall be fairest among ten thousand and altogether lovely; not in form, but in the poetry of His meaning, in the ideality of His desire. There is a fourth thing you can do: you can serve Him. What is 'to serve Him?' It is to suffer for Him. Do we serve Him? is His service a delight? if our lives were deprived of His service would they go down in music, in quality, in hope, in force? If you can say, Yes, then you are in very deed serving the Christ. II. There are three things you cannot do with Christ. 1. You cannot get rid of Him. Some men may think they have dismissed Him, but they have not. It is Christ's habit, as it always has been from resurrection time, to appear unto some in 'another form'. 2. You cannot mistake Him for some one else. That is curious. The uniqueness of Christ is one of the greatest arguments in Christian apologetics. There is none to compare with Him. 3. You cannot change the terms of discipleship. They are severe terms. He never admits anybody easily into His kingdom. What is the way into the kingdom? The Cross is the only way. What is the object of discipleship? The Cross is the object of discipleship. Can I not have some ornamental cross, some ivory crucifix, and place it on my breast and say, Behold my tribe and my Master? No, this must be a heart-born Christ, this must be a cross that throws its shadow, yet its light, over the whole life. 'If any man would be My disciple, let him take up his cross daily and follow Me.' Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. v. p. 184. Matthew 27:22 Last year about this time our Lord was, as it were, upon the Mount of Olives. He rode, as it were, triumphantly at the head of a small party to the market-cross of Rutherglen, and many cried 'Hosannah to the Son of David,' for a few days after. But since the 22nd of June, 1679, how many have cried out, 'Crucify Him, crucify Him, away with Him: we will have no more to do with Him. Christ is too dear a Lord for us. These field-meetings of His are too costly for us. We wish there had never been any of these field-meetings in Scotland!' From a Sermon by Richard Cameron References. XXVII. 22. S. H. Kellogg, The Past a Prophecy of the Future, p. 144. W. Howell Evans, Sermons for the Church's Year, p. 102. V. R. Lennard, Passion-Tide and Easter, p. 45. T. Teignmouth Shore, The Life of the World to Come, p. 125. R. Baldwin Brindley, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxviii. p. 136. David Purves, ibid. vol. lxx. 1906, p. 70. T. Waugh, The Cross and the Dice-Box, p. 201. C. Perren, Revival Sermons in Outline, p. 164. A. Goodrich, British Weekly Pulpit, vol. ii. p. 189. C. Stanford, The Evening of Our Lord's Ministry, p. 256. XXVII. 22-50. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxix. No. 2333. Pilate Washing His Hands Matthew 27:24 I. The first point to notice is the vain plea for wrongdoing. Pilate excused himself to himself on the ground that policy and self-defence forced him to his act. He could say 'I am innocent' because he said, 'I am obliged to connive at this crime'. Though in his case the plea is for a gigantic sin, and in our case it may be for a comparatively small one, the same sort of thing is being said by us continually. There is nothing necessary for a man which he can only get or keep by tampering with conscience. There are two things needful for us: God and righteousness; and there is no third. And in another way, the pleading of compulsion from without, as an excuse for evil, is evidently vain; because no man and no thing can force us to do wrong. We know, in each specific case, that, however strong the temptation may have been, we could have resisted it if we would, and that therefore the yielding to it was our act and ours only. II. Notice here the possibility of entire self-deception. This man had managed to persuade himself, on a very rotten plea, that he was entirely free from guilt in his act. And the fact that the man who did the most awful of crimes though perhaps he was not the most guilty could do it with the profession, to some extent sincere, of innocence, may teach us very solemn lessons. You can persuade yourself that almost any wrong thing is right, if only you desire to do so. Inclination can silence conscience. The rush of passion can silence conscience. The very stress of daily life tends to weaken the power of pronouncing moral judgment on the things that we are doing. We all have sins altogether unsuspected by ourselves. There are plenty of us that do just as Pilate who condemned himself in saying, 'I am innocent of the blood'. III. Notice how here we get an illustration of the impossibility of wriggling out of responsibility. It is very interesting to observe how the parties concerned the conspirators, if I may say so in this great tragedy try to shuffle the blame off their own shoulders and to place it on others. If there is anything a man's own, of which he cannot get rid, it is the burden of responsibility for his acts, and the inheritance of their consequences. IV. Note the contrast between present and future estimates of our acts. Pilate probably went back to Cæsarea after the feast, thinking that he had got well out of what threatened to be an awkward business; and in all likelihood he never thought any more, either about that strange Prisoner, or about that stormy session in the Hall of Judgment. We have not to measure his guilt. It depends upon his knowledge, and his knowledge was very slight. But, for all that, one cannot help thinking of the shock of surprise which struck him when he passed beyond life, and ceased to be a governor and a judge, and stood at the bar of the Man whom he had condemned. The same reversal of present and future estimates will come about with many of us. 'That fierce light which' flashes from the 'throne' will show the seaminess of many a life which looks fairly well by the candle-light of this present. A. Maclaren, The Wearied Christ, p. 222. References. XXVII. 24. A. F. Winnington Ingram, The Men Who Crucify Christ, p. 20. XXVII. 24, 25. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxviii. No. 1648. G. F. Browne, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxix. 1891, p. 184. H. Ward Beecher, Sermons (1st Series), p. 92. XXVII. 24-31. C. Stanford, The Evening of Our Lord's Ministry, p. 289. XXVII. 25. R. W. Hiley, A Year's Sermons, vol. i. p. 189. Father Bernard Vaughan, Society, Sin, and the Saviour, p. 155. Hugh Black, University Sermons, p. 212. XXVII. 26. W. P. Balfern, Lessons from Jesus, p. 210. XXVII. 27. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxix. No. 2333. XXVII. 27-54. Ibid. vol. xlviii. No. 2803; vol. 1. No. 2887. XXVII. 28. W. P. Balfern, Lessons from Jesus, p. 213. Matthew 27:29 It is so easy to be orthodox in creed and statement; so safe to rest in a merely traditionary belief, that many a decorous Christian fails to perceive the sure though invisible connexion between the life-confession and self-denial of a merely outward profession, and the broader form of denial by which all such profession is derided. Yet between Christ mocked and Christ rejected there is but a step; who shall say how easily it is taken, or how quickly we pass from the hollow homage, the 'Hail, Master!' which mocks our Lord, to the smiting and buffeting of open outrage? When Christ is invested with but the show of sovereignty, the reed placed in His hands will be quickly taken, as by the soldiers, to smite His head. This reed is nominal Christianity, a strange slip of a degenerate vine, beneath whose blighting shadow a poison-growth of unbelief never fails to root itself. Dora Greenwell. The whole history of Christianity shows that she is in far greater danger of being corrupted by the alliance of power than of being crushed by its opposition. Those who thrust temporal sovereignty upon her treat her as their prototypes treated her Author. They bow the knee, and spit upon her; they cry 'Hail,' and smite her on the cheek; they put a sceptre in her hand, but it is a fragile reed; they crown her, but it is with thorns; they cover with purple the wounds which their own hands have inflicted on her; and inscribe magnificent titles over the cross on which they have fixed her to perish in ignominy and pain. Macaulay on Southey's * Colloquies. * References. XXVII. 29. G. H. Morrison, The Return of the Angels, p. 34. W. H. Brookfield, Sermons, p. 216. C. Jerdan, Pastures of Tender Grass, p. 304. B. D. Johns, Pulpit Notes, p. 25. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xx. No. 1168; vol. xlix. No. 2824. Matthew 27:31 A month before his death, on 'Sabbath, 21st September,' says Dr. M'Crie, 'Knox began to preach in the Tolbooth Church, which was now fitted up for him. He chose for the subject of his discourses the account of our Saviour's crucifixion, as recorded in the twenty-seventh chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew, a theme upon which he often expressed a wish to close his ministry.' Reference. XXVII. 32. F. D. Huntington, Christian Believing and Living, p. 338. Matthew 27:33 That spiritual beauty and spiritual truth are in their nature communicable, and that they should be communicated, is a principle which lies at the root of every conceivable religion. Christ was crucified upon a hill, and not in a cavern, and the word Gospel itself involves the same idea as the ordinary name of a daily paper. G. K. Chesterton. References. XXVII. 33, 34. G. Body, The School of Calvary, p. 26. XXVII. 33-44. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. li. No. 2942. XXVII. 33-50. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXV1II. p. 317. The Unconscious Service of Christ Matthew 27:34 The drink offered to Jesus was a narcotic. It was offered in mercy and it was offered by those opposed to His doctrines. It was given by the Roman soldiers with a view to mitigate His pain. I. The act is deeply suggestive. It is an act of friendship performed by antagonists. We are in the habit of dividing the world into Christians and non-Christians. To which of the two classes did these Roman soldiers belong? They were certainly not followers of Jesus; but neither were they against Him. I am told that at the Day of Judgment those will be on the right hand who gave Him drink, and those on the left hand who did not. But here on earth, He has received drink from those apparently on the left hand. Roman soldiers have sought to assuage His sufferings! II. Is it not the same still? We are so fond of sharp divisions that we forget the intermediate shades; but God does not. There are men among us who at this hour are helping Jesus, and who yet profess to yield no allegiance but to Caesar. They are numbered among the legions, not among the saints. Yet, wherever the Son of Man is crucified, they are there. III. Wherever humanity is heavy-laden, wherever souls are sad, wherever bodies are burdened, wherever days are darkened, wherever man is mastered by the physical, you will find them there. In the den of poverty, by the couch of pain, at the bed of languishing on the track of fallenness, you will find them there. Where Noah combats the waters, where Abraham journeys homeless, where Jacob lies on a stair, where Joseph weeps in a dungeon, where Moses mopes in a desert, where Elijah hides in a cave, where Job pines in an infirmary, where the Son of Man fasts in a wilderness, you will find them there. They see not the vintage and the gold; but they bear the vinegar and the gall. G. Matheson, Messages of Hope, p. 249. The Endurance of Pain Matthew 27:34 In the reports of the Passion preserved for us in the Gospels, we are told that at three different times on that first Good Friday was a draught offered to our Lord; and if we read the narratives with care, we shall observe that these draughts were not only offered Him under entirely distinct circumstances, but that His attitude with reference to them was distinct in each case. I. Let us take first what St. John tells us. All things being now accomplished, we read that Jesus cried out in His agony that He was athirst; and some of the soldiers in tardy mercy took pity upon the patient Sufferer, and offered Him a draught of the sour wine provided for their own use. And Jesus received it, and crying out, 'It is finished,' bowed His head, and breathed out His spirit. 'All things were accomplished.' He had done that for which He had come. And so He no longer keeps back the cry, 'I thirst'. The lesson is this, that pain, as pain, is of no moral value at all. To suffer a useless pain that had no place in the economy of redemption; and it has no place in the life of redeemed humanity. When all things were accomplished, Jesus accepted the bracing draught. II. But yet pain of a sort, of a bitter sort, comes to us all. How are we to meet it? Let us carry our thoughts back to another and earlier scene at Calvary. 'And the soldiers,' says St. Luke, 'also mocked Him, coming to Him, and offering Him vinegar, and saying, If Thou be the King of the Jews, save Thyself. The wine-cup was offered in mockery to the King Who was in truth in their midst, though they knew it not. But He endured it all in patience and sadness. All things were not accomplished yet. It does not need that tragic story to teach us that there are some pains of life which are not in our power to evade. We had best endure them in silence. The cup of insult may be offered to us; it does not rest with us to say whether we shall accept or reject it. III. But the commonest pains of life are those which we at once ought to endure and which we could evade if we chose. As St. Mark has it, 'They gave Him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but He received it not'. 'When He had tasted thereof, He would not drink,' says St. Matthew. Why not? The Cross was to be endured with full consciousness. The cup which His Father had given Him He would drain to the dregs. All things were not yet accomplished. Philosophers have taught us that there are different kinds of fortitude. There is the fortitude which will endure without murmuring the pain that we cannot escape; but to endure pain that we may escape, if we will that is the true courage. This was the fortitude of the Divine King on the cross. And perhaps, without too curious prying into the purpose and manner of the Atonement, we may see in one direction at least that the conquest that has been achieved by the Gospel of Christ would not have been inspired by a Victim even a Divine Victim unconscious at the last. What is our lesson from this last act of self-denial of Jesus Christ? Is it not this, that to suffer pain which we may evade if we will, to endure unto the end, is often the most imperative of duties? In the ordinary affairs of business we often see a man lose all profit of his toil because he will not take the small additional pains which are needed to bring his machinery or his organization to perfection. The same is true in science, it is true in art, it is true in every department of human activity. A French proverb tells us that it is the first step which costs; but in truth the last step is as often the one which is critical. J. H. Bernard, Via Domini, p. 154. References. XXVII. 35. F. Case, Short Practical Sermons, p. 104. T. G. Selby, The Cross and the Dice-Box, p. 3. W. J. Dawson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlii. 1892, p. 349. ** The Words From the Cross ( good Friday ) Matthew 27:36 ** Jesus Christ's death on the cross was not only a sacrifice for our sins, but was also part of His great example. He there taught us how to suffer. Let us listen to the few words which came from those patient and holy lips, that we may learn something of the spirit in which, when our hour of suffering comes, we ought to take it. I. We may very possibly have to suffer through the fault of others; or, when we are suffering, it is possible that others may be hard or unkind to us. When those trials and temptations come, let us stop and think of Him Who was nailed to the cross. What were His first words when the nails had pierced His hands and feet, when the cross was set up, when the malice of His enemies had at length compassed what it sought, when the cup of agony was full? Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. Jesus forgave the murderers who crucified Him. Jesus made an excuse for their cruel malice. II. When we suffer, we generally think only of ourselves. We think that we have enough to bear without troubling ourselves about the wishes or sorrows of others. But watch Jesus Christ on the cross. Watch Him after that long morning of racking agony to nerve and to spirit. Wearied, worn, exhausted, dying, He sees His mother, and the disciple whom He loved. In His own bitter suffering, He sees how they are suffering; He thinks of them; He thinks of what would be a comfort and support to them. * Woman, behold thy Son!... Behold thy mother! * III. Nor did He think only of those who belonged to Him His mother and His disciples. There was a poor wretched criminal, a murderer and a robber, the outcast and the offscouring of society, hanging at His side, hung there to do Him greater dishonour to show Him to the world as worthy to die with the vilest malefactors. Yet, in the midst of His own torments, amid the jeers and brutal mockery of this miserable man's companion, He was willing to receive and be favourable to this poor creature's petition. How should we like, in moments of pain, in the hour of death, to be asked to consider the wants, and to minister to the comfort of an outcast, friendless soul, all its lifetime abandoned to hardened sin? We dare not answer for ourselves. We dare not think what we should do. But we know what the Redeemer did. We know that He did not grudge him words that the greatest saints would have hailed with rapture * Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise. * IV. To most of us, pain and sickness seem to bring a release from ordinary duties. We feel ourselves free from the obligations which lie on us in health. We think we need not be so strict. It is one of the great trials of suffering, that it makes us indifferent to what becomes of us, careless of our duties, and of other people who depend upon us. But in those times, think of Jesus Christ on the cross. He thought of fulfilling to the uttermost all that was appointed Him. It had been said of Him that He was to drink the vinegar, so He asked for it. He said, I thirst. He did not put it from Him as a needless, useless interruption in the midst of racking pain and faintness. He would not go till He could say, * It is finished. * V. There is one strange and awful sentence of those which He spoke on the cross which we must sometimes have wondered at. My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? Surely those are not the words of despair and distrust. What they fully mean, it would be dangerous to ask, for they are the words of the Incarnate Son of God in man's nature. But no more comforting words than they to our poor, weak, fainting nature, were spoken on the cross. On the cross Jesus Christ utters the same cry as His weak and fainting creatures. He takes David's words in the twenty-second Psalm and makes them His own; not to teach us to cry out against God; not to teach us to distrust God; not to encourage us to give way to hard thoughts of our Father in heaven; but to give us comfort, that if we have such feelings rushing into our minds sometimes, they need not be wrong ones, unless we make them so by our impatience and repining and want of faith. VI. Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit, and having said this, He gave up the ghost. There He has taught us how to die. Say what we will, death is an awful parting. We love life, and it is hard to take leave of it, hard to lay it down. But here is our lesson. Let these words of Jesus Christ ever be in our hearts while we are in health, that they may be ready to come to our lips when we are dying. We must learn to say them from our hearts, in the hours of pain and sickness, that we may learn to say them as Christ said them when the spirit is almost gone. 'Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.' R. W. Church, Village Sermons (2nd Series), p. 133. References. XXVII. 36. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII. -XXVIII. p. 325. Cosmo Gordon Lang, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lv. 1899, p. 209. J. Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. vii. p. 280. XXVII. 39, 40. W. C. Magee, Christ the Light of all Scripture, p. 165. XXVII. 40. H. Arnold Thomas, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxviii. 1890, p. 247. R. W. Hiley, A Year's Sermons, vol. iii. p. 136. XXVII. 41-43. R. Dalby, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xl. 1891, p. 221. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 332. The Alternatives Matthew 27:42 These are true words, but they were spoken by men who did not know how true they were. They describe the situation with exactness. I. Looking back over the life of Jesus, as it is set forth for us in the Gospels, we see that, at every stage of His life, at every new departure in His work, these two alternatives were somehow set before Him If He is to save Himself, He cannot do His work; if He is to do His work, He cannot save Himself. From the tempter at the outset of His ministry, from His mother and His brethren during the course of it, from His disciples and Peter as it drew near its close, from the chief priests, elders, and scribes while He hung on the cross, and from the thief, who desired Him to use His Messiahship for His own benefit and theirs, from friend and foe alike, came the suggestion that there was an easy, a less costly way of accomplishing His work. From first to last, from whosoever the suggestion came, Jesus resolutely and steadfastly set it aside. Nor was it merely from those who thus presented the alternative to Him that the thought came. In the agony of the garden He asked if it were possible for the cup to pass? 'Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from Me.' With strong crying and tears He asked if it were possible to find a less costly way of doing His work. II. We should miss the strength and comfort which should come to us from the devout study of our Lord's life, if we did not realize that all these suggestions which we have enumerated called Him to a real decision, and led Him to a greater victory. It was a real situation which always met Him, and at each step there was a possible parting of the ways, and He always had to make a real choice; and He chose the upward, thorny path which led to the agony of the garden and the death on the cross. III. In our way and in our measure, we are also ever called on to make a similar choice. To each of us a mission has been given, a task has been assigned, and a work has been given to do. Each of us has only one life to live, one place to fill, one work to do. It can only be accomplished if we have a clear vision, a pure heart, a good conscience, and a resolute will. J. Iverach, The Other Side of Greatness, p. 18. Matthew 27:42 Sauve qui peut , Bonaparte is said to have exclaimed at Waterloo, along with his routed army. At all events this was the rule by which he regulated his actions, in prosperity as well as in adversity. For what is Vole qui peut! but the counterpart of Sauve qui peut! ... What an awful and blessed contrast to this cry presents itself, when we think of Him of whom His enemies said, He saved others; Himself He cannot save! They knew not how true the first words were, or how indissolubly they were connected with the latter, how it is only by losing our life that we can either save others or ourselves. Julius Hare. References. XXVII. 42. J. W. Brown, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliii. 1893, p. 390. W. Scott Page, ibid. vol. lxii. 1902, p. 418. J. Baines, Twenty Sermons, p. 139. W. Hay M. H. Aitken, Mission Sermons (2nd Series), p. 169. C. W. Furse, Sermons Preached at Richmond, p. 32. XXVII. 43. C. E. Jefferson, The Character of Jesus, p. 135. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxiv. No. 2029. XXVII. 45. H. E. Manning, Sin and Its Consequences, p. 201. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxii. No. 1896. XXVII. 45, 46. Frederic Watson, The Seven Words from the Cross, p. 54. The Cry of Dereliction Matthew 27:46 What do these words mean? I. We cannot explain that cry as a momentary failing of human courage or human conviction. Every line of the Gospel forbids us to do so. Think of His Name and why He bore it. 'He shall be called Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.' He Who was 'in the form of God 'could not be happy in heaven while the cry of the world which He had created was beating upon His ears. He had spoken often and not in vain, through Prophets and Psalmists and holy men, and now the time had come for the last supreme appeal, the sovereign proof that what He bade His people be He was Himself. And therefore He went forth and took upon Him the form of a servant and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. He went forth and He went down. He could save; but only by going down, with His Divine Nature upon Him, into the very depths of the world; by getting under all the evil, and lifting it up with the strength of His own shoulders, and the suffering of His own body, soul, and spirit. II. Now how far did He go down? He had suffered whatever man can suffer, betrayal by a friend and disciple, denial by the chief of His Apostles, degrading insults and bodily anguish, such as we shrink from putting into words. And now at the last came those jeering priests. And He must have asked Himself, What are these men? and where are they? And beyond the indifference of the ignorant and careless, beyond the cowardice of timid friends, beyond the animal cruelty of rough soldiers, beyond and below all this, He must have seen and entered a lower depth still the mind of those who knew or ought to know, who had read their Bibles, who thought themselves the chosen people of God, and yet could crucify their Christ, and then could mock and jibe with the vilest; of the vile at the foot of the cross the mind of those who are in the outer darkness, hating the light. For one black moment He became as they, that He might be able to save even them. Then came that loud cry was it 'Father, into Thy hands I commit My Spirit'? was it 'It is finished'? a loud triumphant cry. God is the Father again, the horrible vision has passed, and the end has come. III. It is horrible; and yet it is the condition of power and success. For what is the horror? It is the sense of God's absence, the feeling of abandonment in the outer darkness. And who can feel that except those who know what God's presence means? Only those who have tasted of love, joy, and peace can understand what evil is. Others may see the outward symptoms of evil, the squalor, the vice, the hopelessness; they alone know the root of the disease, and therefore the way to cure it. Doctors tell us that you cannot cure symptoms. You can alleviate them, and it is a duty to do that, if you can do no more. But to cure you must get down to the cause, and is not that the absence of God? and can you make men understand that unless you know all that it means? Let this mind be in you, says St. Paul in the Epistle, which was in Jesus Christ Go down like Him and suffer and learn, in His name and in His strength. Charles Bigg, The Spirit of Christ in Common Life, p. 274. The Fourth Word From the Cross Matthew 27:46 I. We are told in the Bible that there was a great darkness over all the land, from the sixth hour till the ninth. And in the midst of this outward darkness it would seem that our Lord remained quite silent till at last He uttered these words, 'My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?' Why was this darkness? Was it to point out our Saviour as the Light of the world? When He was born at Bethlehem a bright star appears; when He dies the sun veils His face. Let us catch from it this certain truth, He was the true Light. Jesus is come to be a new light to man, a new revelation, a new force, a new light for men to walk by to God. This entry is longer than a Bible module can hold. The rest is at https://www.sermonindex.net/commentary/expositors-dictionary/ Matthew 28:1 Did you ever read Isaac Taylor's Saturday Evening? In 1842 B. Gregory introduced it to me. What it was all about I have forgotten, but not the deep tranquil impression made by it Light Which broods above the sunken sun, And dwells in heaven half the night.... Well, that was Isaac Taylor's Saturday evening, and this is mine; and for many years every Saturday evening I have felt just like that, 'In the beginning of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week'. My dawning is begun, like the Jews' dawning, the evening before... for the sense of benignity and regard, outgoing and unrestrained, is always very strong upon me, being like deep waters a tidal sway of affection 'of pure affection round earth's human shores'; and it is one of the most delicious feelings on earth. As Saturday evening is to the coming Sabbath, so is this feeling to the coming heaven. James Smetham. References. XXVIII. 1. R. M. Benson, The Life Beyond the Grave, p. 12. XXVIII. 1-10. T. A. Gurney, The Living Lord and the Opened Grave, p. 196. XXVIII. 1-15. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 350. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxix. No. 2323. XXVIII. 2. B. D. Johns, Pulpit Notes, p. 7. A. G. Mortimer, Jesus and the Resurrection, p. 82. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xv. No. 863. XXVIII. 2-5. R. M. Benson, The Life Beyond the Grave, p. 33. XXVIII. 4-6. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlviii. No. 2773. Seeking Jesus Matthew 28:5 How much more do the angels know? If they know anything, they may know something more; they may be better acquainted with us than we suppose. We must be of interest to them because we are of interest to their God. The angels are inquirers, students; they desire to look into the meaning of the blood. It is an angel who speaks in this most tender and imusical text. 'I know that ye seek Jesus.' This is in striking contrast to something that is also related nn the context to the great earthquake. Man is eever so helpless as in an earthquake. God keeps the arthquake for special occasions. The sturdiest man amongst us withers away when he feels the earth rocking. The angel answered and said unto the women, 'It is different with you, you have no need to fear' 'for I know that ye seek Jesus,' and they who seek Jesus need never tremble; earthquake, or no earthquake, their sanctuary is safe. I. The difference between the people who fear spiritual presences and the people who do not fear them and rather welcome them, is this: the one people seek the sepulchre, the other seek the Christ. There are many people who have no objection to the sepulchre, there are travellers who go long distances in order to see the sepulchre who would not move an inch to see the Saviour. Such men are lovers of form, special places, extraordinary ceremonies. To see the sepulchre is what they come for; they would be afraid if they saw Him who had lain in it but some three days ago. II. 'Fear not,' though you are seeking Christ at the wrong place, as these women were. We must have greater sympathy with people who are trying by some stumbling way to get at the right end. We have been too severe with the stumblers. They are just as good souls as we are, they may even be nearer heaven than those whose Christianity is a mere correctness. Christianity is not an exercise in conventional correctness. Some poor honest souls are going to the wrong place, but they are going for the right thing; they are orthodox. He who seeks truth with an honest soul and a clean heart is orthodox, though he does not believe a word that I believe, in its merely alphabetical or controversial sense. III. Our Christianity needs widening and deepening; we have all the earth part of it, but we want the firmament. No man was ever saved by correct notions. Man is more than a coat, man is more than a body. Man has a body, but he is a spirit. All this may be perverted by those who would pervert bread and water. We cannot always guard ourselves against the perverting spirit, it is a most mischievous and uncontrollable spirit; we must not therefore give way to those who would shut us up to our own little nutshell notions and say that there is nothing beyond. God has still more light, and we must find it, because to seek it is to obey an impulse Divine. IV. Some seek Christ as an ideal. Ideal is the favourite word of the ecclesiastical hour; in fact, it is the idol-word of the political hour as well. Some seek Christ as an ideal, a novelty in poetry, a variety in intellectual life. Jesus Christ is enrolled and honoured and invited to a very high place in the pantheon, and He is told that this seat, this throne of ivory, is His own. He is regarded as an ideal. What did the angel say? He spoke other language, he spoke in accordance with tragic facts; the air was still hot with the terrible tragedy, and the angel caught its spirit and expressed it in a word. He said, 'I know ye seek Jesus' yes, but what Jesus? the ideal, poetic, transcendental Jesus? No 'I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified'. That is His title; do not abbreviate it, do not corrupt it by excision; it will bleed to death if you do not give the full style, title, and address of the Son of God. 'Jesus, which was crucified ' the man in whose palms the nails were driven and on whose brow the thorns were enwreathed; I know the Christ you are seeking; you know Him by blood-marks. That is the Christ we have too much forgotten. We are admirers, but not believers. Drop your admiration, and get back to living faith in Him who was crucified. Crucifixion meant redemption. On the one side the crucifixion was a Jew's murder; on the other, a Divine expiation, a new illumination, of the will of God, a grand interpretation of the purpose of the creation of human nature. Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. vi. p. 194. References. XXVIII. 5, 6. F. W. Farrar, Expository Sermons on the New Testament, p. 38. XXVIII. 5-7. J. Grierson, Scenes and Interviews with the Risen Saviour, p. 11. XXVIII. 5-8. R. M. Benson, The Life Beyond the Grave, p. 63. XXVIII. 6. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. i. No. 18; vol. xviii. No. 1081. W. C. E. Newbolt, Church Times, vol. xlix. 1903, p. 512. I. Lloyd, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xli. 1892, p. 246. R. W. Dale, ibid. vol. lxviii. 1895, p. 230. A. L. Kemp, ibid. vol. lxvii. 1905, p. 233. J. M. Neale, Sermons Preached in Sackville College Chapel, vol. i. p. 313; see also Sermons for the Aged (3rd Series), p. 53. R. J. Campbell, New Theology Sermons, p. 17. T. T. Munger, The Freedom of Faith, p. 295. A. G. Mortimer, Jesus and the Resurrection, p. 109. J. Keble, Sermons on Various Occasions, p. 523. D. Rose, Christian World Pulpit, vol. i. p. 321. G. W. McCree, ibid. vol. xxxix. p. 314. Preacher's Monthly, vol. ix. p. 214; vol. x. 117. Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii. p. 562. Armitage, American Pulpit of the Day, vol. i. p. 251. XXVIII. 7. T. T. Munger, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxviii. p. 273. XXVIII. 8-10. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxix. No. 2323. ** Two Environments ( Preached on Easter Sunday Morning ) Matthew 28:9 ** Jesus had a way of meeting people unexpectedly. He has never abandoned that significant and blessed way. Jesus waylays men; Jesus watches the travellers, counts their footfalls, observes the whole manifestation of their personality when they are in grief and wonder and tender communication one with another; and at the right moment, for Jesus keeps all the moments, He joins them, faces them, suddenly encounters them, and asks them delicate and feeling questions. The appearances of Jesus Christ would seem to be always sudden, though they have been expected for centuries; for they have been foretold by the most elaborate and dignified prophecy. I. Shall we look at the environment of the Resurrection? What is that first object that you see? 'It is a garden; there is a tomb in it.' I do not speak of that, I reverse your sentence, retaining its history and enlarging its meaning. We could say moaningly and fretfully, almost, indeed, atheistically, There was a tomb in the garden. That is poor talk. How can you improve it? Easily, by almost inverting it: there was a garden round the tomb. That is better, the Gospel gleams in that nobler talk. In my lowest moods, in my saddest depression, I see only the tomb, and after some spirit has talked with me for a moment I lose sight of the tomb in the broader, lovelier view of the garden. Let the athiest say there was a tomb in the garden; I pray my God to help me to say there was a garden around the tomb. Is there anything in the environment of the resurrection to match the garden beauty and the garden fragrance? Yes. What is it? Morning: 'As it began to dawn'. It always begins to dawn when we are conscious of the presence and the blessing of the dear Lord. His coming means light, morning, something that has to grow, an increasing light, a gleam of the heavenly lightning that makes and seeks the eternal that it means. So far, then, the environment is right, garden and morning, how they match one another! what a duet is that! let them sing their music to the accompaniment of the spheres. Garden and morning what next? What we call spring, April, the time when the green blade is coming up or the little flower has fought its way through the frost and snow. When Christ rises all things rise; when Jesus comes up from the tomb there is no tomb, He has left it; now there is nothing but vernal beauty, vernal music thrills the responding air. A lovely environment, garden, morning, spring what more? Angels. A beautiful picture it is to see the angel of the Lord coming and thrusting back the little pebble that was rolled to the door of the tomb, and oh the subtle irony! oh the holy contempt! rolling back the stone and sitting on it! Marmion waved the fragment of his blade in sign of victory, a sign in its way and at the time pardonable, but there stands out one utterance and expression of victory grander than Marmion's waving of his blade. The angel of the Lord flicked away the stone with its red Roman seal, and having set it a few inches away sat upon it. It is then a right beautiful environment, and full of holy suggestion, and wet with a very gracious pathos, wet as with sacred teal's, such as might have dropped from heaven. Garden, morning, spring, angels; that is resurrection, resurging, coming back to flood and throne and final diadem. II. We do not see all the beauty of that environment until we contrast it with the environment of the birth. What do we see at the nativity of Christ? A manger, and no garden; night 'and there were shepherds keeping their flocks by night'. This Child is going to be born in the darkness, He may bring the light with Him, He has always done so, He will not fail at Bethlehem. A child always brings light with it; the darkness has notice to quit the moment the child cries. Manger, night, and what we call winter. We keep the Saviour's birthday when the snow is on the ground; the keener the frost, the more highly piled the snow, we say, This is true Christmas weather. Not resurrection weather; something has happened between the winter and the spring, something has taken place between the fall of that snow, the growing of that ice, and the breathing of that balmy breeze over Jerusalem. 'This same Jesus,' Jesus of the garden and the morning, of the spring and of the angels, was once the Jesus of the manger and the night and the winter. III. Look at the spiritual and ideal significance of these two environments, and especially the environment of the resurrection. What is the meaning of all this? The meaning is poetry, ideality, higher consciousness, a continually self-refining spirituality, a continually shedding off of the old and the poor and the mean that belongs to our own nature, and a constant rising into the true manhood. I belong to an ancestry, quoth one, who shot king after king on field after field. And I, quoth another, have no blood records in my family Higher far my proud pretensions rise, A child of parents passed into the skies. And if you have the gracious soul, the beautiful spirit, the very soul of charity and helpfulness to others, that is fame. All else may be but infamy. Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. I. p. 142. References. XXVIII. 9. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 360. J. Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. i. p. 142. XXVIII. 9, 10. J. Grierson, Scenes and Interviews with the Risen Saviour, p. 60. H. Ward Beecher, Sermons (4th Series), p. 144. R. M. Benson, The Life Beyond the Grave, p. 103. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlv. No. 2628. Matthew 28:10 In Thomas Boston's Memoirs for 9 December, 1710, the following entry occurs: 'This night I was in bad case. I find it is not easy for me to carry right, either with or without the cross. While I was walking up and down my closet in heaviness, my little daughter Jane, whom I had laid in bed, suddenly raising up herself said, She would tell me a note; and thus delivered herself: Mary Magdalen went to the sepulchre. She went back again with them to the sepulchre; but they would not believe that Christ was risen, till Mary Magdalen met Him; and He said to her, "Tell My brethren, they are My brethren yet". This she pronounced with a certain air of sweetness. It took me by the heart: "His brethren yet" (thought I); and may I think that Christ will own me as one of His brethren? It was to me as life from the dead.' O infinite mercy! How dost Thou raise their titles with Thyself! At first they were Thy servants, then disciples; a little before Thy death, they were Thy friends; now, after Thy resurrection, they were Thy brethren. O mercy without measure, why wilt Thou, how canst Thou, O Saviour, call them brethren, whom in their last parting, Thou foundest fugitives? Did they not run from Thee? And yet Thou sayest, 'Go, tell My brethren!' Bishop Hall. References. XXVIII. 10. F. E. Paget, Helps and Hindrances to the Christian Life, vol. i. p. 187. XXVIII. 11-16. C. S. Robinson, Sermons on Neglected Texts, p. 100. E. D. Solomon, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxi. p. 293. Parker, Inner Life of Christ, vol. iii. p. 276. A. Barry, Cheltenham College Sermons, p. 383. XXVIII. 11-20. G. Jackson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxi. 1902, p. 275. XXVIII. 16. R. Linklater, ibid. vol. lxxi. 1907, p. 408. XXVIII. 16, 17. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Matthew XVIII.-XXVIII. p. 369; see also After the Resurrection, p. 102. G. Grierson, Scenes and Interviews with the Risen Saviour, p. 234. XXVIII. 16-20. B. F. Westcott, The Revelation of the Risen Lord, p. 153. R. M. Benson, The Life Beyond the Grave, p. 596. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxix. No. 2330. A. G. Mortimer, Jesus and the Resurrection, p. 215. XXVIII. 17. J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons (9th Series), p. 167. A. M. Mackay, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xli. 1892, p. 253. XXVIII. 18. G. W. Kitchin, Christus Impecator, p. 18. A. F. Winnington Ingram, Lenten Mission, 1905, p. 28. W. T. Barber, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxi. 1902, p. 403. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlii. No. 2465. XXVIII. 18, 19. E. P. Liddon, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxvii. 1890, p. 11. R. J. Campbell, ibid. vol. lv. 1899, p. 273. C. Brown, ibid. vol. lxxi. 1907, p. 309; see also God and Man, p. 147. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. vii. No. 383. Optimism Matthew 28:19 I. Among the characteristics of Jesus' teaching which have passed into the higher consciousness of Christianity is an inextinguishable optimism. If He called apostles they were to disciple every creature, and if He died it was for a world. His generation might condemn Him, but they would see Him again on the clouds of heaven. He looks beyond His own land, and embraces a race in His plans. 1. This high spirit has passed into the soul of Christ's chief servants. The directors and pioneers, the martyrs and exemplars of our faith have no misgivings; the light of hope has ever been shining on their faces. They might be losing but their Commander was winning. The Cross might be surrounded with the smoke of battle, it was being carried forward to victory. 2. They were right in this conviction, but do not let us make any mistake about the nature of this triumph, else we shall be caught by delusions, and in the end be much discouraged. The kingdom of God will not come through organization but through inspiration. Its signs will not be the domination of a Church, but the regeneration of humanity. II. Have there been no grounds for optimism? Has the splendid hope of Christ been falsified? One may complain that the centuries have gone slowly, and that the chariot of righteousness has dragged upon the road. But Christ has been coming and conquering. We are apt to be pessimists, not because the kingdom of God is halting, but because it has not raced, not because the Gospel has failed to build up native churches in the ends of the earth with their own forms, literature, martyrs, but because every man has not yet believed the joyful sound. 1. There are two grounds for the unbounded optimism of our faith, and the first is God. How did such ideas come into the human mind? Where did the imagination of the Prophets and Apostles catch fire, where is the spring of the prayers and aspirations of the saints? Whence do all light and love come? Surely from God. 2. The other ground for optimism is Jesus Christ. Does it seem that the perfect life for the individual and for the race is too sublime: that it is a distant; and unattainable ideal? Christ lived as He taught. He bade men lose their lives and He lost His; He bade men trample the world under foot, and He trampled it; He commanded men to love, and He loved unto death. This He did as the forerunner of the race. Why not again with Christ as Captain? Only one institution in human society carries the dew of its youth; and through the conflict of the centuries still chants its morning song. It is the religion of Jesus. J. Watson (Ian Maclaren), The Inspiration of Our Faith, p. 37. References. XXVIII. 18-20. R. Rainy, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliii. 1893, p. 300. C. Gore, ibid. vol. lv. 1899, p. 248; vol. lvii. 1900, p. 283; vol. lxii. 1902, p. 6; see also Three Aspects of the Bible, p. 1. H. Hensley Henson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxii. 1902, p. 193. J. Foster, ibid. vol. lxviii. 1905, p. 67. Bishop Simpson's Sermons, p. 175. J. Grierson, Scenes and Interviews with the Risen Saviour, p. 247. H. P. Liddon, Easter in St. Paul's, vol. ii. p. 240. R. E. Hutton, The Crown of Christ, vol. ii. p. 153. W. J. Knox-Little, The Perfect Life, p. 289. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xx. No. 1200. The Authority of the King Matthew 28:19-20 I. Consider first, the deposit of the Church. The one truth emphasized in this phase of the Missionary Manifesto is that of the absolute authority of Christ; His supremacy and sovereignty; the fact that He shares the throne of empire with none. The word here translated 'authority' does not suggest power in the sense of energy or might. The first intention of the word is that of the power of choice that is, the right to choose. Its second intention is that of the power of enforcement that is, the right to insist upon obedience. The third intention is that of the power of government that is, the right to utter the final verdict and to pass sentence. Human choice must always be made in submission to a higher will, therefore it can never be said that man can have an absolute right and power of choice. Authority in the last analysis is the right to determine, enforce, and pass sentence. In these words Jesus, standing on the resurrection side of His grave, in the simplest language made the sublimest claim, when He thus declared Himself to be King by Divine right, and therefore absolute in His Kingship. The word admits of no qualification. The claim admits of no limitation. In that moment He claimed authority in the material, mental, and moral realms. The application of His claim to this world does by no means exhaust it. He swept the compass with a reach far wider, more spacious, and stupendous. Not only on earth, but in heaven is authority given to Him. The one phrase, 'in heaven and on earth,' includes the whole creation of God. It is manifest that He is excluded Who created, and Who puts all things under the feet of His King. It is equally manifest that all is included which comes within the scope of that comprehensive word, the creation of God. We may interpret this final claim of Jesus by the prayer He taught His disciples: 'Our Father Who art in the heavens. Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth.' His ministry of teaching having been completed, having accomplished His exodus and resurrection, at last He claimed authority in heaven and on earth, thus assuming the throne of empire over the whole creation of God, included in the terms of the prayer, and now defined in the words, 'in heaven and on earth'. II. The debt? It is clearly indicated as to its widest scope in the words 'disciple the nations'. The Church's responsibility as indicated by these words is that of the proclamation of the Lordship of Christ, the insistence upon the supremacy of his ethic in every nation, among all peoples. His messengers are charged to proclaim the fact of His Lordship, to announce to men everywhere that He is king. They are to pass through all nations proclaiming Him King upon the basis of His resurrection, and all that it involves. This means therefore, that the Church is to proclaim and insist upon His ethical standards; that His ideal of intellectual greatness is the knowledge of God; that His ideal of emotional function is to love God and our neighbour; that His ideal of volitional fulfilment is to seek first the kingdom of God. III. Finally, a brief word concerning the dynamic. If the Church is to fulfil this great responsibility, she must enter into the full meaning of the final words of the Lord: 'Lo, I am with you all the days, even unto the consummation of the age'. We must understand the meaning of the phrase 'end of the world'. Too often we think of it as some catastrophe or destruction of the earth. That is not the meaning of the words of which the Lord made use. The superior translation is undoubtedly 'consummation of the age'. The earth will continue long after the completion of this age. The promise is that of the abiding presence of the King through the present age. It is impossible to preach His Lordship prevailingly, save in living fellowship with Himself. We may discuss it and demonstrate it intellectually, but the demonstration will lack compelling power, save as the truth is proclaimed in living, personal comradeship with Him. In his phrase 'all the days,' is inferred mastery of circumstances, the inference vindicated, as we have seen, by His resurrection. The One Who through defeat proceeded to absolute victory accompanies His people, as in obedience to His command they go forth to proclaim His Kingship. In the words already dealt with, 'the consummation of the age,' His ultimate victory is implied. There was no fear of failure in the heart of the King. The age initiated by His first advent will be consummated at His second; and through all the toil He abides with His people, leading them in perpetual triumph as they abide in fellowship with Him. G. Campbell Morgan, The Missionary Manifesto, p. 27. References. XXVIII. 19. R. E. Hutton, The Crown of Christ, vol. ii. p. 225. W. A. Whitworth, Christian Thought on Present-Day Questions, p. 168. 'Plain Sermons' by contributors to the Tracts for the Times, vol. ix. p. 221. H. J. Van Dyke, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxix. 1891, p. 142. J. Guinness Rogers, ibid. vol. xl. 1891, p. 387. A. H. Bradford, ibid. vol. xli. 1892, p. 364. A. H. Rix, ibid. vol. xli. 1892, p. 376. John Clifford, ibid. vol. xliii. 1893, p. 264. James Culross, ibid. vol. xlvi. 1894, p. 19. H. Hensley Henson, ibid. vol. lx. 1901, p. 337. J. Agar Bert, ibid, vol. lxvi. 1904, p. 91. C. Silvester Home, ibid. vol. lxv. 1904, p. 360. G. A. Johnston Ross, ibid. vol. lxiii. 1903, p. 244. M. J. Stone-Wigg, ibid. vol. lxxiii. 1908, p. 408. Henry Alford, Sermons on Christian Doctrine, p. 319. F. B. Woodward, Sermons (2nd Series), p. 276; see also Selected Sermons, p. 136. G. Matheson, Voices of the Spirit, p. 95. A. G. Mortimer, Jesus and the Resurrection, p. 224. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year (2nd Series), vol. ii. p. 1. F. D. Huntington, Christian Believing and Living, p. 366. C. Holland, Gleanings from a Ministry of Fifty Years, p. 173. A. W. Potts, School Sermons, p. 305. Matthew 28:19-20 This idea, that the sense of Christ's presence is vouchsafed to obedience and service, is illustrated by Mr. Hutton's well-known phrase about 'the sacramental power of common everyday duty'. 'No one who does not go away, leaving all and going alone,' said Gilmour of Mongolia as he sailed from England, 'can feel the force of this promise; and when I begin to feel my heart threatening to go down, I betake myself to this companionship, and, thank God, I have felt the blessedness of this promise rushing over me repeatedly when I knelt down and spoke to Jesus as a present companion from whom I am sure to find sympathy.' References. XXVIII. 19, 20. F. D. Maurice, Lincoln's Inn Sermons, vol. iv. p. 29; see also Sermons, p. 33. The Abiding Presence Matthew 28:20 I. Such is the promise of the Lord Christ. It is exactly like Himself. It is like Him, first, because of its sublime, unhesitating self-assertion. He speaks and acts always as with an absolute certainty that to the salvation of the world, and of the soul, to the whole depth and range of human need its sin and its sorrow, its perplexity, its death He is necessary and He is adequate. Listen to this imperial Prince and Leader, who is so absolutely sure of Himself, and then, with hearts open and unreserving, make sure for yourselves of Him. The human soul that has come to know itself, its sin, its wants, its hunger and thirst, its true ideal, and then comes to look with worshipping desire towards Christ, finds Christ, in self-evidencing justness, the key to fit its lock, and thus knows Him with a knowledge as unshakable as our certainty of ourselves. And to know Him, what is it in its issues? It is the life eternal. It is heaven poured out into the necessities of time. II. Further, these words of our Lord are just like Him because what they promise is His personal presence with His followers. And this is just like the Lord Jesus Christ, because at every turn in the Gospel story you see Him as the leader who not only leads but also positively delights in the company of His followers. He haunts them through the Forty Days, week after week, in His new and wonderful life, till at last He ascends indeed out of their sight, but with a final positive promise to return in visible glory, and undertaking meanwhile to be with them all the days and all day long, in a mysterious unseen companionship, as intimate as possible, even to the end. Such is the heart of our Lord Jesus Christ towards us. We are entirely unworthy of Him; we are ignorant, we are far more sinful than we know, we are indeed a contrast to His pure glory. Yet such is His heart. 'His delights are with the sons of men.' As Creator of our nature, as Redeemer of our souls, He takes pleasure in us. There is no surer index of a perfect affection than the desire and purpose of perpetual company. And He says, 'I am with you, all the days and all day long'. III. The Christian life what is it at its heart? It is to know that we belong to the Christ of God, and to live that condition out. How shall it be lived? Who is sufficient for such a life? The answer, as I take it, is given us here, direct and clear: He is sufficient, be he man or boy, who uses his Lord as a living Presence all the days and all day long. H. C. G. Moule, Christ's Witness to the Life to Come, p. 135. The Real Presence Matthew 28:20 Jesus is here! If we could repeat these words with the reverent simplicity of little children, a new power of believing prayer would be kindled in the heart of the Church of England. I. We modern Christians explain the promise of the abiding presence of Jesus as a theological influence. The first disciples accepted it as a concrete fact, verified from day to day in a rich and living experience. II. Now it is just when we look at the life of the early Church that we see how simple was their belief in the real presence of their Lord. It was because they believed that Jesus was really with them still, that the brotherhood of which they were members became the home and temple of His Spirit, that the sacraments whereby it was welded into one were a ministration of the life and powers of the world to come. Jesus was there not merely the Spirit manifested through Him, but the very Lord who showed them His hands and His side. Jesus was there in the midst of the Church, guiding, controlling, inspiring, choosing His ministers, comforting His saints!, receiving His martyrs. This was the secret of the grand and simple faith of the early Christians. To them Jesus was no sentimental idea, no romantic abstraction of the mind which a warm and ardent fancy clothed with the attributes of a tender personality. III. What a majestic faith is here! It is the faith of children. But alas! our lot has fallen upon other days. We falter where they firmly trod. And yet no other faith is Christian. It is what the Church needs Today, the sure and certain conviction that Jesus is Himself here, that Christ is with us always even to the end of the days. J. G. Simpson, Christian Ideals, p. 309. The Presence That Never Faileth (Whitsunday) Matthew 28:20 It was the last promise that He gave to His disciples. And now we read them as the Saviour's legacy to the Church. For these words are unlimited in their application. Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the ages, even to the final consummation, when His purpose will be completed and the work of the Church done. I. This is substantially the truth which is brought before our minds Today, the truth which Whitsuntide recalls and emphasizes. The one Divine fact which underlies all the rest is this: that Christ on that day began to fulfil and prove His last promise. All that they saw and felt on that day and every day afterwards were manifestations of His presence. He had come again; He was in their midst; His spirit was in contact with theirs; His power rested upon them; He swayed them, in fact, more mightily than ever He had done during His life. Aforetime He had been outside their lives, a face to behold, a voice to hear, a master to follow. Now He was even nearer, He was within them; they were the temple in which He dwelt; He had become a part of their very nature, and in all they said and did they felt the movements of His spirit, and laboured and suffered with a power greater and Diviner than their own. II. This is the greatest of Christian facts. It is the truth which gives our faith all its substance and certainty and which inspires the believing heart with all its confidence and hopefulness. That which makes the Christian life is an undoubting belief in a present living mightily working Christ. His ministry was not for three years, but for all the ages. III. His unseen presence and power make the perpetual miracle of Church history and Christian life. It is a strange thing that since He vanished from the view of the disciples He has never been seen again by mortal eyes, never again, save by one man Paul. But there is a far stranger thing than that It is an infinitely more wonderful thing that He has done all His most wonderful works among men since His visible presence was taken away, and without showing Himself at all. Millions of men and women in every period of Christian history have been more moved and inspired by the unseen Christ than the most devoted of His disciples were moved and inspired by the sight of His bodily form. He is to the moral world what the vital forces are in the natural world. No one can see those vital forces or explain how they work. We can only see the results. They clothe the landscape with verdure, they cover the hedges with blossoms, they change ugliness into beauty, and waste places into gardens of delight. And thus the unseen Christ works in the moral world. Everywhere moral life springs into beauty where His visible hand has been. J. G. Greenhough, Christian Festivals and Anniversaries, p. 123. ** The Abiding Presence ( Ascension Day ) Matthew 28:20 ** To none whom we have known was it ever given to say, 'I am with you alway'. And one intention of their going, and of our going presently, is to make us turn from all that is dying and changing, to Him to Whom alone it belongs to say, 'Lo, I am with you alway'. The contrasts of this world are essential to the setting forth of the eternity of the Resurrection-life of Christ, and the value of His abiding presence. I. He spake these words after He had Himself passed through death, after He had proved and tasted the bitterness of separation. What joy to hear the voice of some lost dear one at our side once more, saying, 'I left you for a little while; it was needful that I should go; but now I am back again, to stay with you for ever!' Listen, then, to Him Whose love surpasseth every love: 'I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore'. 'Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.' But some man will say, 'Oh! that that presence were but visible! I cannot realize, or enjoy, an invisible presence.' Certainly. It does require strong exercise of faith; that other sense added to the natural faculties a gift of God to be prayed for and cherished. But that invisible presence once apprehended, it is more real, more precious, than a visible. For a visible must come and go, as Christ did in the flesh. We could not have it always; it is not in the compass of our present nature. But now, always and everywhere, we carry it along with us without the possibility of interruption, without the shadow of a change, because it is invisible: 'Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world'. After our Lord's Resurrection He never once showed Himself, or uttered a single word, to unbelievers; all that He said and did was for believers only. To His own people alone Christ spake during those forty days, and His last and best words were, 'Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world'. II. But observe the full meaning of the words more literally rendered. 'Lo, I am with you all the days, until the consummation of the age.' What force and beauty there is in those words, 'all the days'. They convey, before the mind of the Speaker, that 'all the days' lay ranged in order, to the end of time. To Him they were altogether but so many 'days'; and yet each 'day' was distinct and separate, with its own proper history, in His sight. And all along that line of 'days,' and around the 'days' of our fathers' lifetime and our own, and our children, and children's children, on each and on all the 'days' He saw the Changeless Presence in the midst of the changeable and changing that constant, lasting presence. 'Lo, I am with you all the days, unto the end of the world' (or, the consummation of the age). 'Amen.' We are always stepping out into an unknown future; but the foot cannot fall outside the presence of Jesus. III. As to the method and nature of that presence, it were better to leave it, as if some dear dying friend had said, in his last moments, 'I shall never be far from you: though you see me not, I shall be about your path and about your bed; and not a single day or night shall pass but I shall be with you there'. So simply did my Saviour say it, and so simply would I take His words. References. XXVIII. 20. W. Branscombe, A Book of Lay Sermons, p. 235. T. L. Cuyler, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lv. 1899, p. 167. A. Murray, ibid. vol. lxx. 1906, p. 62. E. L. Hull, Sermons Preached at King's Lynn (3rd Series), p. 168. H. C. G. Moule, Fordington Sermons, p. 46. G. A. Chadwick, Aids to Belief, p. 84. W. J. Knox-Little, The Perfect Life, p. 301. Henry Jellett, Sermons on Special and Festival Occasions, p. 123. George A. Gordon, Christian World Pulpit, lxxvii. p. 227.