The Good News of God. Charles Kingsley

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СКАЧАТЬ a love grounded on experience.  They can point back to so many blessings which the Lord gave them unexpectedly; to so many sorrows which the Lord gave them strength to bear, though they seemed at first sight past bearing; to so many disappointments which seemed ill luck at the time, and yet which turned out good for them in the end.  And so comes a deep, reasonable love to their Heavenly Father.  Now they have tasted that the Lord is gracious.  Now they can say, with the Samaritans, ‘Now we believe, not because of thy saying, but because we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.’  And when sadness and affliction come on them, as it must come, they can look back, and so get strength to look forward.  They can say with David, ‘I will go on in the strength of the Lord God.  I will make mention only of his righteousness.  Oh my God, thou hast taught me from my youth up until now; hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.  Now also, when I am old and grey-headed, oh Lord, forsake me not, till I have showed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to those whom I leave behind me.’

      And so, by remembering what God has been to them, they can face what is coming.  ‘They will not be afraid of evil tidings,’ as David says; ‘for their heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.’

      And when old age comes, and brings weakness and sickness, and low spirits, still they have comfort.  They can say with David again, ‘I have been young, and now am old, but never saw I the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging their bread.’

      Oh my dear friends, young people especially—there are many things which you may long for which you cannot have: much happiness which is not within your reach.  But this you can have, if you will but long for it: this happiness is within your reach, if you will but put out your hand and take it.—The everlasting unfailing comfort of loving God, and of knowing that God loves you.  Oh choose that now at once.  Choose God’s ways which are pleasantness, and God’s paths which are peace; and then in your old age, whether you become rich or poor, whether you are left alone, or go down to your grave in peace with children and grandchildren to close your eyes, you will still have the one great reward, the true reward, the everlasting reward which Moses promised the old Israelites.  You will have reason to love God, who has carried you safe through life, and will carry you safe through death, and to say with all his saints and martyrs, ‘Many things I know not; and many things I have lost: but this I know.—I know in whom I have believed; and this I cannot lose; even God himself, whose name is faithful and true.’

      SERMON X

      THE RACE OF LIFE

John i. 26

      There standeth one among you whom ye know not.

      This is a solemn text.  It warns us, and yet it comforts us.  It tells us that there is a person standing among us so great, that John the Baptist, the greatest of the prophets, was not worthy to unloose his shoes’ latchet.

      Some of you know who he is.  Some of you, perhaps, do not.  If you know him, you will be glad to be reminded of him to-day.  If you do not know him, I will tell you who he is.

      Only bear this in mind, that whether you know him or not, he is standing among us.  We have not driven him away, and cannot drive him away.  Our not seeing him will not prevent his seeing us.  He is always near us; ready, if we ask him, as the Collect bids us, to ‘come among us, and with great might succour us.’

      For, my friends, this is the meaning of the text, as far as it has to do with us.  The noble Collect for to-day tells this, and explains to us what we are to think of the Epistle and the Gospel.

      The Epistle tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ is at hand, and that therefore we are to fret about nothing, but make our requests known to him.  The Gospel tells us that he stands among us.  The Collect tells us what we are to do, because he is at hand, because he stands among us.

      And what are we to do?

      Recollect my friends, what John the Baptist said, according to St. Matthew, after the words in the text—‘He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.’

      The Collect asks him to do that—the first half of it at least.  To baptize us with the Holy Ghost, lest he should need to baptize us with fire.

      For the Collect says, we have all a race to run.  We have all a journey to make through life.  We have all so to get through this world, that we shall inherit the world to come; so to pass through the things of time (as one of the Collects says) that we finally lose not the things eternal.  God has given each of us our powers and character, marked out for each of us our path in life, set each of us our duty to do.

      But how shall we make the proper use of our powers?

      How shall we keep to our path in life?

      How shall we do our duty faithfully?

      In short, so as St. Paul puts it—How shall we run our race, so as not to lose, but to win it?

      For the Collect says—and we ought to have found it out for ourselves before now—Our sins and wickedness hinder us sorely in running the race which is set before us.

      Our sins and wickedness.  The Collect speaks of these as two different things; and I believe rightly, for the New Testament speaks of them as two different things.  Sin, in the New Testament, means strictly what we call “failings,” “defects” a missing the mark, a falling short; as it is written—All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God, that is, of the likeness of a perfect man. 1

      Thus, stupidity, laziness, cowardice, bad temper, greediness after pleasure—these are strictly speaking what the New Testament calls sins.  Wickedness—iniquity—seem to be harder words, and to mean worse offences.  They mean the evil things which a man does, not out of the weakness of his mortal nature, but out of his own wicked will, and what the Bible calls the naughtiness of his heart.  So wickedness means, not merely open crimes which are punishable by the law, but all which comes out of a man’s own wilfulness and perverseness—injustice (which is the first meaning of iniquity), cunning, falsehood, covetousness, pride, self-conceit, tyranny, cruelty—these seem to be what the Scripture calls wickedness.  Of course one cannot draw the line exactly, in any matters so puzzling as questions about our own souls must always be: but on the whole.  I think you will find this rule not far wrong—

      That all which comes from the weakness of a man’s soul, is sin: all which comes from abusing its strength, is wickedness.  All which drags a man down, and makes him more like a brute animal, is sin: all which puffs him up, and makes him more like a devil, is wickedness.  It is as well to bear this in mind, because a man may have a great horror of sin, and be hard enough, and too hard upon poor sinners; and yet all the time he may be thoroughly, and to his heart’s core, a wicked man.  The Pharisees of old were so.  So they are now.  Take you care that you be not like to them.  Keep clear of sin: but keep clear of wickedness likewise.

      For, says the Collect, both will hinder you in your race: perhaps cause you to break down in it, and never reach the goal at all.

      Sin will hinder you, by dragging you back.

      Wickedness will hinder you, by putting you altogether out of the right road.

      If a man be laden with sins; stupid, lazy, careless, over fond of pleasure;—much more, if he be given up to enjoying himself in bad ways, about which we all know too well—then he is like a man who starts in a race, weak, crippled, over-weighted, or not caring whether he wins or loses; and who therefore lags behind, or grows tired, or looks round, and wants to stop and amuse himself, instead of pushing on stoutly and bravely.  And therefore St. Paul bids us lay aside every СКАЧАТЬ