Westminster Sermons Part 17

My friends, consider this; the key of the whole psalm; the gospel and good news, for the sake of which the psalm has been preserved in Holy Scripture, and handed down to us.

G.o.d is to be feared, because He is merciful. It is worth while to fear Him, because He is merciful, and of great kindness, and hateth nothing that He hath made; and willeth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live.

Superst.i.tious people, in all ages, heathens always, and sometimes, I am sorry to say, Christians likewise, have had a very different reason, an opposite reason, for fearing G.o.d.

They have said: Not--there is mercy: but there is anger with G.o.d: therefore shall He be feared. They have said--We must fear G.o.d, because He is wrathful, and terrible, and ready to punish; and is extreme to mark what is done amiss, and willeth the death of a sinner: and therefore they have not believed, when Holy Scripture told them, that G.o.d was love, and that G.o.d so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, and sent Him to visit the world in great humility, that the world through Him might be saved.

G.o.d has seemed to them only a proud, stern, and formidable being; a condemning judge, and not a merciful Father; and therefore, when they have found themselves in the deep of misery, they have cried out of it to saints, angels, the Virgin Mary; or even to sun, moon, and stars, and all the powers of nature; or even, again--what is more foolish still,--to astrologers, wizards, mediums, and quacks of every shape and hue; to any one and any thing, rather than to G.o.d.

But do not you do so, my friends. Fix it in your hearts and minds; and fix it now, before you fall into the deep, as most are apt to do before they die; lest, when the dark day comes, you have no time to learn in adversity the lesson which you should have learnt in prosperity. Fix in your hearts and minds the blessed Gospel and good news--"There is mercy with Thee, O G.o.d; therefore shall Thou be feared." There is mercy with Him, pity, tenderness, sympathy; a heart which can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; which knoweth what is in man; which despiseth not the work of His own hands; which remembereth our weak frame, and knoweth that we are but dust: else the spirit would fail before Him, and the souls which He has made. Think of G.o.d as that which He is--a compa.s.sionate G.o.d, a long-suffering G.o.d, a generous G.o.d, a magnanimous G.o.d, a truly royal G.o.d; in one word, a Perfect G.o.d; who causeth His sun to s.h.i.+ne on the evil and on the good, and sendeth His rain on the just and on the unjust; a G.o.d who cannot despise, cannot neglect, cannot lose His patience with any poor soul of man; who sets Himself against none but the insolent, the proud, the malicious, the mean, the wilfully stupid and ignorant and frivolous. Against those who exalt themselves, whether as terrible tyrants or merely contemptible boasters, He exalts Himself; and will shew them, sooner or later, whether He or they be the stronger; whether He or they be the wiser. But for the poor soul who is abased, who is down, and in the depth; who feels his own weakness, folly, ignorance, sinfulness, and out of that deep cries to G.o.d as a lost child crying after its father--even a lost lamb bleating after the ewe--of that poor soul, be his prayers never so confused, stupid and ill-expressed--of him it is written: "The Lord helpeth them that fall, and lifteth up all those that are down. He is nigh to all that call on Him, yea, to all that call upon Him faithfully. He will fulfil the desire of those that fear Him, He also will hear their cry and will help them."

Yes. To all such does G.o.d the Father, G.o.d who made heaven and earth, hold up, as it were, His only-begotten Son, Christ, hanging on the Cross for us; and say: Behold thy G.o.d. Behold the brightness of G.o.d's glory, and the express image of G.o.d's person. Behold what G.o.d gave for thee, even His only-begotten Son. Behold that in which G.o.d the Father was well pleased: in His Son; not condemning you, not destroying you, but humbling Himself, dying Himself awhile, that you may live for ever. Look; and by seeing the Son, see the Father also--your Father, and the Father of the spirits of all flesh; and know that His essence and His name is--Love.

Therefore, when you are in the deep of sorrow, whatever that depth may be, cry to G.o.d. To G.o.d Himself; and to none but G.o.d. If you can go to the pure fountain-head, why drink of the stream, which must have gathered something of defilement as it flows? If you can get light from the sun itself, why take lamp or candle in place of his clear rays? If you can go to G.o.d Himself, why go to any of G.o.d's creatures, however holy pure, and loving? Go to G.o.d, who is light of light, and life of life; the source of all light, the source of all life, all love, all goodness, all mercy. From Him all goodness flows. All goodness which ever has been, shall be, or can be, is His alone, the fruit of His Spirit. Go then to Him Himself. Out of the depth, however deep, cry unto G.o.d and G.o.d Himself. If David, the Jew of old, could do so, much more can we, who are baptized into Christ; much more can we, who have access by one Spirit to the Father; much more can we, who--if we know who we are and where we are--should come boldly to the throne of grace, to find mercy and grace to help us in the time of need.

Boldness. That is a bold word: but it is St Paul's, not mine. And by shewing that boldness, we shall shew that we indeed fear G.o.d. We shall shew that we reverence G.o.d. We shall shew that we trust G.o.d. For so, and so only, we shall obey G.o.d. If a sovereign or a sage should bid you come to him, would you shew reverence by staying away? Would you shew reverence by refusing his condescension? You may shew that you are afraid of him; that you do not trust him: but that is not to shew reverence, but irreverence.

If G.o.d calls, you are bound by reverence to come, however unworthy. If He bids you, you must obey, however much afraid. You must trust Him; you must take Him at His word; you must confide in His goodness, in His justice, in His wisdom: and since He bids you, go boldly to His throne, and find Him what He is, a gracious Lord.

My friends, to you, every one of you--however weak, however ignorant, ay, however sinful, if you desire to be delivered from those sins--this grace is given; liberty to cry out of the depth to G.o.d Himself, who made sun and stars, all heaven and earth; liberty to stand face to face with the Father of the spirits of all flesh, and cling to the one Being who can never fail nor change; even to the one immortal eternal G.o.d, of whom it is written, "Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Thy hands. They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure. They all shall wax old, like a garment, and as a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall be changed. But Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail."

But it is written again, "My soul waits for the Lord." Yes, if you can trust in the G.o.d who cannot change, you can afford to wait; you need not be impatient; as it is written--"Fret not thyself, lest thou be moved to do evil;" and again--"He that believeth shall not make haste." For G.o.d, in whom you trust, is not a man that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should repent. Hath He promised, and shall He not do it? His word is like the rain and dew, which fall from heaven, and return not to it again useless, but give seed to the sower and bread to the eater. So is every man that trusteth in Him. His kingdom, says the Lord, is as if a man should put seed into the ground, and sleep and wake, and the seed should grow up, he knoweth not how. So the seed which we sow--the seed of repentance, the seed of humility, the seed of sorrowful prayers for help--it too shall take root, and grow, and bring forth fruit, we know not how, in the good time of G.o.d, who cannot change. We may be sad; we may be weary; our eyes may wait and watch for the Lord as the Psalmist says; more than they that watch for the morning: but it must be as those who watch for the morning, for the morning which must and will come, for the sun which will surely rise, and the day which will surely dawn, and the Saviour who will surely deliver, and the G.o.d who is merciful in this--that He rewardeth every man according to his work.

"Oh trust in the Lord. For with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption; and He shall deliver His people from all their sins."

From their sins. Not merely from the punishment of their sins; not always from the punishment of their sins in this life: but, what is better far, from the sins themselves; from the sins which bring them into fresh and needless troubles; and which make the old troubles, which cannot now be escaped, intolerable.

From all their sins. Not only from the great sins, which, if persisted in, will surely destroy both body and soul in h.e.l.l: but from the little sins which do so easily beset us; from little bad habits, tempers, lazinesses, weaknesses, ignorances, which hamper and hinder us all every day when we try to do our duty. From all these will the Lord deliver us, by the blood of Christ, and by the inspiration of His Holy Spirit, that we may be able at last to say to children and friends, and all whom we love and leave behind us--

"Oh taste and see that the Lord is gracious. Blessed is the man that trusteth in Him."

Yes. This at least we may do--Trust in our G.o.d, and thank G.o.d that we may do it; for if men may not do that, then is that true of them which Homer said of old--that man is more miserable than all the beasts of the field. For the animals look neither forward nor back. They live but for the present moment; and pain and grief, being but for the moment, fall lightly upon them. But we--we who have the fearful power of looking back, and looking forward--we who can feel regret and remorse for the past, anxiety and terror for the future--to us at times life would be scarce worth having, if we had not a right to cry with all our hearts--

"O G.o.d, in Thee have I trusted, let me never be confounded."

SERMON XXIV. THE BLESSING AND THE CURSE.

Preached on Whit-Sunday.

DEUT. x.x.x. 19, 20.

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: that thou mayest love the Lord thy G.o.d, and that thou mayest obey His voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto Him: for He is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

These words, the book of Deuteronomy says, were spoken by Moses to all the Israelites shortly before his death. He had led them out of Egypt, and through the wilderness. They were in sight of the rich land of Canaan, where they were to settle and to dwell for many hundred years.

Moses, the book says, went over again with them all the Law, the admirable and divine Law, which they were to obey, and by which they were to govern and order themselves in the land of Canaan. He had told them that they owed all to G.o.d Himself; that G.o.d had delivered them out of slavery in Egypt; G.o.d had led them to the land of Canaan; G.o.d had given them just laws and right statutes, which if they kept, they would live long in their new home, and become a great and mighty nation. Then he calls heaven and earth to witness that he had set before them life and death, blessing and cursing. If they trusted in the one true G.o.d, and served Him, and lived as men should, who believed that a just and loving G.o.d cared for them, then they would live; then a blessing would come on them, and their children, on their flocks and herds, on their land and all in it. But if they forgot G.o.d, and began to wors.h.i.+p the sun, and the moon, and the stars, the earth and the weather, like the nations round them, then they would die; they would grow superst.i.tious, cowardly, lazy, and profligate, and therefore weak and miserable, like the wretched Canaanites whom they were going to drive out; and then they would die.

Their souls would die in them, and they would become less than men, and at last--as the Canaanites had become--worse than brutes, till their numbers would diminish, and they would be left, Moses says, few in number and at last perish out of the good land which G.o.d had given them.

So, he says, you know how to live, and you know how to die. Choose between them this day.

They knew the road to wealth, health, prosperity and order, peace and happiness, and life: and they knew the road to ruin, poverty, weakness, disease, shame and death.

They knew both roads; for G.o.d had set them before them.

And you know both roads; for G.o.d has set them before you.

Then he says--I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing.

He called heaven and earth to witness. That was no empty figure of speech. If you will recollect the story of the Israelites, you will see plainly enough what Moses meant.

The heaven would witness against them. The same stars which would look down on their freedom and prosperity in Canaan, had looked down on all their slavery and misery in Egypt, hundreds of years before. Those same stars had looked down on their simple forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, wandering with their flocks and herds out of the mountains of the far north. That heaven had seen G.o.d's mercies and care of them, for now five hundred years. Everything had changed round them: but those stars, that sun, that moon, were the same still, and would be the same for ever.

They were witnesses to them of the unchangeable G.o.d, those heavens above.

They would seem to say--Just as the heavens above you are the same, wherever you go, and whatever you are like, so is the G.o.d who dwells above the heaven; unchangeable, everlasting, faithful, and true, full of light and love; from whom comes down every good and perfect gift, in whom is neither variableness nor shadow of turning. Do you turn to Him continually, and as often as you turn away from Him: and you shall find Him still the same; governing you by unchangeable law, keeping His promise for ever.

And the earth would witness against them. That fair land of Canaan whither they were going, with its streams and wells spreading freshness and health around; its rich corn valleys, its uplands covered with vines, its sweet mountain pastures, a very garden of the Lord, cut off and defended from all the countries round by sandy deserts and dreary wildernesses; that land would be a witness to them, at their daily work, of G.o.d's love and mercy to their forefathers. The ruins of the old Canaanite cities would be a witness to them, and say--Because of their sins the Lord drove out these old heathens from before you. Copy their sins, and you will share their ruin. Do as they did, and you will surely die like them. G.o.d has given you life, here in this fair land of Canaan; beware how you choose death, as the Canaanites chose it. They died the death which comes by sin; and G.o.d has given you life, the life which is by righteousness. Be righteous men, and just, and G.o.d-fearing, if you wish to keep this land, you, and your children after you.

And now, my dear friends, if Moses could call heaven and earth to witness against those old Jews, that he had set before them life and death, a blessing and a curse, may we not do the same? Does not the heaven above our heads, and the earth beneath our feet, witness against us here? Do they not say to us--G.o.d has given you life and blessing. If you throw that away, and choose instead death and a curse; it is your own fault, not G.o.d's?

Look at the heaven above us. Does not that witness against us? Has it not seen, for now fifteen hundred years and more, G.o.d's goodness to us, and to our forefathers? All things have changed; language, manners, customs, religion. We have changed our place, as the Israelites did; and dwell in a different land from our forefathers: but that sky abides for ever. That same sun, that moon, those stars shone down upon our heathen forefathers, when the Lord chose them, and brought them out of the German forests into this good land of England, that they might learn to wors.h.i.+p no more the sun, and the moon, and the storm, and the thunder-cloud, but to wors.h.i.+p Him, the living G.o.d who made all heaven and earth. That sky looked down upon our forefathers, when the first missionaries baptized them into the Church of Christ, and England became a Christian land, and made a covenant with G.o.d and Christ for ever to walk in His laws which He has set before us. From that heaven, ever since, hath G.o.d been sending rain and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness, for a witness of His love and fostering care; prospering us, whensoever we have kept His laws, above all other nations upon earth. Shall not that heaven witness against us? Into that heaven ascended Christ the Lord, that He might fill all things with His power and His rule, and might send from thence on us His Holy Spirit, the Spirit whom we wors.h.i.+p this day, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. By that same Spirit, and by none other, have been thought all the n.o.ble thoughts which Englishmen ever thought. By that Spirit have been spoken all the n.o.ble words which Englishmen ever spoke. By that Spirit have been done all the n.o.ble deeds which Englishmen have ever done. To that Spirit we owe all that is truly n.o.ble, truly strong, truly stable, in our English life. It is He that has given us power to get wealth, to keep wealth, to use wealth. And if we begin to deny that, as we are inclined to do now-a- days; if we lay our grand success and prosperity to the account of our own cleverness, our own ability; if we say, as Moses warned the Israelites they would say, in the days of their success and prosperity, not--"It is G.o.d who has given us power to get wealth," but--"Mine arm, and the might of my hand, has gotten me this wealth;"--in plain words--If we begin to do what we are all too apt to do just now, to wors.h.i.+p our own brains instead of G.o.d: then the heaven above us will witness against us, this Whitsuntide above all seasons in the year; and say--Into heaven the Lord ascended who died for you on the Cross. From heaven He sent down gifts for you, and your forefathers, even while you were His enemies, that the Lord G.o.d might dwell among you. And behold, instead of thanking G.o.d, fearing G.o.d, and confessing that you are nothing, and G.o.d is all, you talk as if you were the arbiters of your own futures, the makers of your own gifts. Instead of giving G.o.d the glory, you take the glory to yourselves. Instead of declaring the glory of G.o.d, like the heavens, and shewing his handiwork, like the stars, you shew forth your own glory and boast of your own handiwork. Beware, and fear; as your forefathers feared, and lived, because they gave the glory to G.o.d.

And shall not the earth witness against us? Look round, when you go out of church, upon this n.o.ble English land. Why is it not, as many a land far richer in soil and climate is now, a desolate wilderness; the land lying waste, and few men left in it, and those who are left robbing and murdering each other, every man's hand against his fellow, till the wild beasts of the field increase upon them? In that miserable state now is many a n.o.ble land, once the very gardens of the world--Judaea, and almost all the East, which was once the very garden of the Lord, as thick with living men as a hive is with bees, and vast sheets both of North Africa, and of South and of North America. Why is not England thus? Why, but because the Lord set before our forefathers life and death, blessing and cursing; and our forefathers chose life, and lived; and it was well with them in the land which G.o.d gave to them, because they chose blessing, and G.o.d blessed them accordingly? In spite of many mistakes and shortcomings--for they were sinful mortal men, as we are--they chose life and a blessing; and clave unto the Lord their G.o.d, and kept His covenant; and they left behind, for us their children, these churches, these cathedrals, for an everlasting sign that the Lord was with us, as He had been with them, and would be with our children after us.

Ah, my friends, while we look round us over the face of this good land, and see everywhere the churches pointing up to heaven, each amid towns and villages which have never seen war or famine for now long centuries, all thriving and improving year by year, and which never for 800 years have been trodden by the foot of an invading enemy, one ought to feel, if one has a thoughtful and G.o.d-fearing heart--Verily G.o.d has set before us life and blessing, and prospered us above all nations upon earth; and if we do not cleave to Him, we shall shew ourselves fools above all nations upon earth.

And then when one reads the history of England; when one thinks over the history of any one city, even one country parish; above all, when one looks into the history of one's own foolish heart: one sees how often, though G.o.d has given us freely life and blessing, we have been on the point of choosing death and the curse instead; of saying--We will go our own way and not G.o.d's way. The land is ours, not G.o.d's; the houses are our own, not G.o.d's; our souls are our own, not G.o.d's. We are masters, and who is master over us? That is the way to choose death, and the curse, shame and poverty and ruin, my friends; and how often we have been on the point of choosing it. What has saved us? What has kept us from it? Certainly not our own righteousness, nor our own wisdom, nor our own faith. After reading the history of England; or after recollecting our own lives--the less we say of them the better.

What has kept us from ruin so long? We are all day long forgetting the n.o.ble things which G.o.d did for our forefathers. Why does not G.o.d in return remember our sins, and the sins of our forefathers? Why is He not angry with us for ever? Why, in spite of all our shortcomings and backslidings, are we prospering here this day?

I know not, my friends, unless it be for this one reason, That into that heaven which witnesses against us, the merciful and loving Christ is ascended; that He is ever making intercession for us, a High-priest who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; and that He has received gifts for men, even for His enemies--as we have too often been--that the Lord G.o.d might dwell among us. Yes. He ascended on high that He might send down His Holy Spirit; and that Spirit is among us, working patiently and lovingly in many hearts--would that I could say in all--giving men right judgments; putting good desires into their hearts; and enabling them to put them into good practice.

The Holy Spirit is the life of England, and of the Church of England, and of every man, whether he belongs to the Church or not, who loves the good, and desires to do it, and to see it done. And those in whom the Holy Spirit dwells, are the salt of England, which keeps it from decay.

They are those who have chosen life and blessing, and found them. Oh may G.o.d increase their number more and more; till all know Him from the least unto the greatest; and the land be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.

And then shall all days be Whit-Sundays; and the Name of the Father be hallowed indeed, and His kingdom come, and His will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

SERMON XXV. THE SILENCE OF FAITH.

PSALM Cx.x.xI.

Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me. Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child. Let Israel hope in the Lord from henceforth and for ever.