Parochial and Plain Sermons

,[/TTIIEW V. 1.. ":l'e are the light of the world. A cil 9 that is set on an bill cannot be hid."

UR Saviour gives us a command, in this passage of His Sermon on the lount, fo manifest out reliçious profession belote all men. "Ye are the liht of the wodd," IIe says fo IIis disciples; "A city that is set on a bill cannot be bid.:Neither do men light a cndle and put if under a bushel, but on a candlestick; md if giveth light unto all that are in the bouse. Let your light so shine belote men, that they may sec your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Yet presently He says, "When thou doest altos... wben thou prayest.., when ye fast.., appear not unto men... but unto thy Father which is in secretS." How are these commands to be reconciled? how are we af once to 2rofess ourselves Christians, and yet bide out Christian words, deeds, and self-denials? I will now attempt fo answer this question; that is, fo explain how we may be witnesses fo the world for God, and yet without pretension, or affectation, or rudo and iMecent ostentation. 1. Now, first, much mig'ht be said on that mode of witnessing" Christ which eonsists in conformiug" fo tlis Church. He who simply did what the Church bids him do (if he did no more), would witness a good confession fo the world, and one which cannot be hid; and at the same rime, with very llttle, if any, personal display. He does only wlmt he is told fo do; he takes no responsibility on himself, q'he Apostles and Mart.yrs who founded the Church, the Saints in all ages who bave adorned it, the Heads of it now alive, all these take ri'oto him the weight of lais profession, and bear the blame (so to cM1 it) of sceming" ostentations. I do hot say that irrelig'ious men will hot call sueh an one boastful, or austere, or a hypocrite; that is hot the question. The question is, whcther in God'« j udgment he de«er'es the censure; wheflaer he is hot as Christ would have him, reall and l,'ci# (whatever the world may sa.y) joining" lmmility to a bold outward profession; whether he is not, in thus acting, preaehing" Christ without hurting' his own pureness, g'entleness, and modesty of ehara.eter. If indeed a man stands forth on hic own.round, deelaring" himself as an individual a witness for Christ, then indeed he i« grieving" and disturbing" the ealm spirit given us by God. But God's merciful providence has saved us thls temptation, and forbidden us to adroit it. Ite bids us unite tog'ether in one, and to shelter out personal profession under the authority of the general body. Thus, while we show ourselves as lights to the world far

154 Profcssiou wilhottt Oslc[a[iot.

more effectively than if we glimmered separately in the lone wildernesswithout communication with others, at the sune rime we do so with far greatcr secresy and humility. Therefore if is, that the Church does so many things for us, appoints Fasts and Feasts, rimes of public prayer, the ordcr of thc sacramcnts, the services of dcvotion at marriages and deaths, and all accompanied by a fixed form of sound words; in oMer (I s:y) fo remove fi'om us individ«ally the burden of a high profession, of implying" great things of ourselves by inventin for ourselves solemn 1)raycrs and pr;fises,a task far above t.he generality of Christians, fo say the ]east, a task which humble men will shrink from, lest they prove hypocrites, and which will hurt those who do mdertake if, by ma.king. them rude-spirite(] and profane. ] ara desirous of speaking on this subject as a mat.ter of.practice; for ] am sure, that if we wish really and in fact to spread the knowledge of the Truth, we shall do so far more powerfully as well as purely, by keeping,together, than by wit.nessing" one by one. Men are fo be seen adopting" all kinds of st.range ways of giving glory (as they t.hink) to God. If" they would but follow the Church; corne tog'ether in prayer on Sundys and Saints' days, nay, every day; honour the rubric by keeping" to it obediently, and conformin their families to the slirit of the Pra.yer Book, I say that on the whole they would practically do vastly more good than by trying, new religious plans, fbunding,new religious societies, or striking" out new religious views. I put out of account the greater blessing" they might expect to find in the way of duty, which is the first consideration.

i. One way of professing" without display has been mentioned;—obeying, the Church. Nov in the next place, consider how great a profession, and Fer a profession how unconscious and modest, arises from the mere ordinary manner in which any strict Christian lives. Let this thought be a satisfaction to uneasy minds which fear lest they are hot confessing" Christ, yet dread fo display. Your li/è displays Christ without your intendin it. You cammt hclp it. Your words and deeds wi]l show on the long" run (as it is said), where your treasure is, and your heart. Out of the abundance of your heart your mouth speaketh words "seasoned with salt." We sometimes find men who aire at doing" their duty in the common course of lire, surfirised to hear that they are ridiculed, and called hard names by careless or worldly pcrsons. This is as it should be; it is as it should be, that thcy are surfirised af if. If a private Christian sers out with e.r_lectig to make a disturbance in the world, the fear is, lest he be hot so huml)le-minded as he should be. But those who go on quietly in the way of obedience, aud yet are detected by the keen eye of the jealous, self-condemning-, yet proud world, and who, on discovering" their situation, first shrink from it and are distrest, then look to see if they bave done aug'ht wrong'ly, and after all are sorry for it, and but slowly and very timidly (if at all) learn to rejoice in it, these are Christ's flock. These are they who follow Him who was meek and lowly of heart, His elect, in whom He secs His own image reflected. Consider how such men show forth their lig'ht in a wicked world, yet unconsciously, hIoses came down from the mourir, and "wist hOt that the skin of lais face shone » as one who lmd held intercourse with God. But "vhen Aaron and all the ehildrcn of Israel saw Moses, beho]d, the skin of his fice shone; and they were afraid fo corne nigh him ." Who tan esfimate the power of out separate words spoken in season t ttow many of thcm are recollected and cherished by this person or that, whi«h e bave forgotten, and bear ff'uit] ttow do out good deeds excite o[he's fo rivah T in  good cause, as the Anels perceive thoug'h we do no] Ilow are men thiaking" of us we never hcard of, or saw but once, and in lhr countries unknownt Let us for  moment view this pleasing, side of our doing's, as well as the sad prospeet of our evil communications. Doubtless, out prayers and altos are rising" as a sweet sacrifice, pleasing, to God'; and plcasing" fo Him, hot only as an office of devotion, but of eharity towards ail men. Out businesses and out amusements, our joys and out sorrows, out opilfiOnS, fastes, studies, views and prineiples, are drawn oe way, heavenward. ]3e we high or ]ow, in out place we e,n serve, and in eonsequenee gorify, Him who died for us. "" A litt]e maid," who was "" brought away captive out of the land of Israel, and waited on Naaman's wife ," pointed out to the great, eaptain of the hos of the king" of Syria the means of reeovery ff'oto his leprosy, and "his sere'aMs'" spoke g'ooà words to him aflerwards, and broug'ht him baek fo his reason when ho would have rejeeted the mode of cure whieh the prophet preseribed. Tlfis may quiet impatient minds,

Profcssiolz without Ostcztation. 157 and console t.he over-serupulous conscience. "Wait. on God and be doing" g'ood,",nd you must, you c,nnot but be showing" your light before men as  city on a hill. 3. St.ill i is quite truc t.hat there are eircumstanees under which, Christian is bound openly t.o express lais opinion on relig'ious subjects and mat.ters; and t.his is the real difficulty, viz. how fo do so without display. As  man's place in soeiety is here or thêre, so if. is more or less his duty to speak his nfind freely. We must never countenanee sin and error. Now the more obvious and modest way of discountenancing" evil is by silence, and by separat.ing" from if.; for example, we are bound fo keep aloof ff'oin dêliberate and open sinners. St. Paul expressly tells us, " hOt fo keep eompany, if anv man that is called a brother (i. e.  Christian) be  fornicat.or, or covetous, or an idolater, or  taller, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one, no hot fo eat. ." And St. John gives us the like advice with respect fo hereries. "If there colne any unto you, and bring hot this doctrine (i.e. the truc doctrine of Christ), receive him hOt into your house, neither bid him God speed; for he th,t biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds*ee." It is plain that such eonduct on our part requires no great display, ibr if is but eonforming" to the rules of the Chureh; though it is often dif[ieult to know on what occasions we oug, ht fo adopt if., whieh is another qnestion. A more diffieult duty is tht of passing" judgment (as a Christian is often bound to do) on events of the da.y and public men. If beeomes his duty, in proportion as he has station and influence in the eommunity, in order that he may persuade oflers to think as he does. Above all, clergymen are bound to form and pronounce an opinion. If is sometimes said, in familiar language, t.hat a. clergTman should bave nothing to do with politics. This is truc, if if be meant tiret he should hot aire at secular objects, should hot side with a political party as sueh, should hot be ambitious of popular applause, or the ihvour of great men, should not take pleasure and lose rime in business of this world, should hot be eovetous. But if it means that he should not express an opinion and exert an influence one way rather than another, if is plainly unscript.ural. Did hot the Apostles, with all their reverenee for the temporal power, whether Jewish or Roman, and all their separation ff'oto worldly ambition, did t.hey hot still denounee their rulers as wieked men, who had erueified and slain the Lord's Christ'? and would they have been as a eity on a hill if fley had hot donc so? ]d r, indeed, this world's eoneerns eould be altogether disjoined from those of Christ's Kingdom, then indeed all Christians (laymen as well as elergy) should abstain ff'oto the thought of temporal affairs, and ]et the worthless world pass down the st.ream of events t.ill if perishes; but if (as is the case) what happens in tatiots must affeet fle cause of reli.¢io,t in those nations, sinee the Church may be sedueed and eorrupted by the world, and in the world there are myriads of souls

Profession withoztt Ostczztatioz. x 59 fo be eonverted and saved, and sinee a Christian nation is bound to heeome part of the Chureh, therefore it is our duty to stand as  beaeon on a hill, to ery a.loud nd spare not., to lift up out voiee like  trumpet, and show the people their trnsgression, and the bouse of;leob their sins . And ail this may be done without injury to our Christian g'entleness and humbleness, though it is diffieult fo do it. We need not be,qno'y nor use contentious words, and yet may firmly g'ive our opinion, in propooEion as we have the means of forming one, and be zealous towards God in all active g-ood service, and serupulously and pointedly keep,qloof from the b:d men vhose evil arts ve fear. Another and still more difficult duty is tha.t of personally rebuking those we meet with in the intercourse of life who sin in word or dccd, and testifying before them in Christ's naine; that is, it is difficult at once to be unassuming and zeal6us in such cases. e know if is a plain and repeated precept of Christ to tell others-of their faults for charity's sake; but how is this to be done without seeming, nay, without being arrogant and severe? There are persons who are anxiçus to do their duty to the full, who fear that they are deficient in this particular branch of it, and defitient from a. blameable backwardness, a.nd the dread of giving offence; yet, on the other hand, they feel the painfulness of rebuking another, and (fo use a common word) the awkwardness of it. Such persons nmst consider that, though to rebuke is a duty, it is hot a duty belonging` ai once fo all men; and the perplexity whieh is felt about if often arises ff'oto the very impropriety of attempting" if in the partieular case. If is improper, as a eneral rule, in tbe young- fo witness belote the old, otherwise than by their silence. Still more improper is if in inferiors fo rebulce their superiors; for instance, a ehild bis parent, of course; or, private person his natural and divinely-appointed governour. When we assume a character nt suifed to us, of course we feel awkward; and a]though we may have done so in honesty and zeal (however ill-tutored), and so God may in mercy accept our service, still IIe, ai the saine rime, rebules us by our very feeling of perl»lexity and shame. As for such as rudelv blame another, and that a superi3r, and feel no pain ai doing so, I have nothing to say fo such men, except to express my earnest desire that thcy may be led into a more Christian ff'ame of mind. Thev do hot even feel the difficulty of witnessing for God without display. If is to be considered, too, that to do the part of a witness for the trufh, to warn and rebuke, is hot an elemenfary dufy of a Christian. I mean, that our dufies corne in a cerfain order, some before others, and that this is hOt one of the first of them. Our first duties are to repent and believe. If would be strange, indeed, for a man, who ha(] just begun to think of religion, to set up for "some great one," to assume he was a saint and a witness, and to exhort others fo turn to God. This is evident.:But as time goes on, and his religious character becomes foned, fhen, while he goes on to perfection in all his duties, he takes Ul)On himself» in the

Profession withdz«t Ostentztion. 16 I number of these, o witness for od by word of mouth. I is diffleul to say wlen a man bas leave openly fo rebule oLhers; eertainly no belote he bas eonsiderable humiliy; the tes of whieh ma.y be he absence of a feeling- of riumph in doing" i,, a eonseiousness tha he is no better by nature than the person he witnesses beibre, and that his actual sins are such as fo deserve a severe rebuke were they known to the world; a love towards the person reproved, and a willîngness to submit fo deserved censure in his turn. In all this I am speaking" of laymen. It is a clergyman's duty to rebule by vlrtuc of his office. And then, after all, supposing" it be clearly our duty fo manifest our religious profession in this pointed way before another, in order to do so modestly we raust do so kindly and cheerfully, as gently as we can; doing it as little as we cin he]p; not maldng" matters worse than they are, or showing, our whole Christian stature (or what we think to be such), when we need but put out a hand (so fo say) or give a g]ance. And above all (as I bave already said), actin as if we thought, nay, really thinkin, that it may be the offeder's turn some day fo rebuke us; not puttlng ourselves above him, feeling" our great imperfections, and desirous he should rebuke us, should occasion require it, and in prospect thanking him; acting, that is, in the spirit in which you warn a man in walking, ag'ainst rugged ground, which may cause him a fall, thinking him bound by your friendly conduct fo do the like favour to you. As to grave occasions of witnessing Christ, they will seldom occur, except a man thrust himself into societ3T wherc he never ought fo bave becn,

 6 Profcssioz withoett Ostcntatiou. by neleeting the rule, " Corne ye ou, and be separate;",nd then he has seareely he righç fo rebuke, having eommitted the first fault himself. This is another cause of our pcrplexity in witnesslng Christ before thc world. We make friends of the sinful, and thcn they have thc advant,ge over us. To conc]ude.—The question is offert raised, whether a mn can do his duty simply and quietly, without bein thought ostentatious by the world. Il is no great malter fo himself whether he is thought so or hot, if he bas hot provoked the opinion. As  general rule,:[ would say the Church itself is always hated and ealumniated by the world, as being in duty bound to make a bold prothssion. But whether individual members of the Church are so treated, dcpends on various circumstanees in the case of each. There are persons, who, though ve T strict nd conscientious Christians, re yet praised by the world. These are such, as having grcat mee]ness and humility, are hot so prominent in station or so practically connected with the world as fo offend il.:Men admire religion, while they can gaze on il as  l»icture. They think il lovely in books: and as long as they can look upon Christians at a distance, they speak well of them. The Jews in Christ's lime built the scptflchres of the prophets whom their fathers killed; then they themselves killed the Just One. They "reverenced " the Son of God before He came, but when their passions and interests were stirred by Itis coming, then they said, '" This is tire Heir; corne, let us kill Him, and the inheritance shall be ours ." Thus Christians in active lire thwarfin, (as they do) the pride and selfishness of the world, are disliked by the world, and ha.ve "all naanner of evil sa.id against them falsely foi" Christ's sake 1.,, Still, evcn under these circumstances, though they must hot shrink fi'om the a,tack on a personal accourir., if is still their duty to shelter thelnselves, as hr as they ean, under the naine and authority of the ttoly Church; fo keep to its ordinances and rules; and, if they are called to surfer for the Church, rather fo be drawn forward fo the suffering- in the eommon course of duty, fimn boldly fo take upon them the task of detnding-it. Thcre is no cowardice in this. Some men are placed in posts of danger, and fo these danger cornes in the way of duty; but others must hot intrude into their honourable office. Thus in thc first ag'e of the Gospel, out Lord told ttis followers fo flce from city fo city, when persecuted; and even the heads of the Church, the early persecutions, instead of exposing" themselves to the ftu'y of the heathen, did their utmost fo avoid if. We are a suffering" people fi'om the first; but vhile, on the one hand, we do hot defend ourselves illeg'ally, we do hot court suffe6ng" on tle other. We must witness and orify God, as lihts on g"ood report; but the evil and the good report is hot so much of out own making" as the natural consequence of our Christian profession. Who can tell God's will concerning- this tumultuous wodd, or how tic will dispose of it? tic is tossing- it hither and thither in His fury, and in its agitation He

 64 tvfessioz without Ostetcttiou. troubles lIis own peop]e also. On|y, this we know for out eomfor. Out lig'h shall never go down; Chris se if upon  bill, and hell shall no prevail ag'ains i. OEhe Chnreh will witness on o the las for he OEruth, chained indeed fo this world, its evil partner, but ever foretelling" ifs ruin, thoug'h hOt believed, and in the end promised a far different recompense. For in the end the Lord Omnipotent shall rein'n, when the marriag'e of the Lamb shall corne ai lêngth, and His wife shall make herself ready; and fo her shall be granted "fine linen, clean md white; for the fine ]inen is the rig'hteousness of saints l. '' True and rlghteous are Ilis judgments; He shall cast death and hell into the lake of tire, and avenge His own elect which cry day and night unto Him! "Blessed are they which are called unto the marrlage supper of the Lamb.":May ail we be in the number, confessing" Christ in this wodd, that He may confess us ]»efore His Father in the last day!