THE YOKE OF CHRIST.
HESE words, which are brought before us in the Gospel of to-day's festival , are also found in the address ruade to us upon Ash Wednesday, in which we are told hat if we "return unto Him who is he mercififl Receiver of all true penitent sinners, if we will take His easy yol;e and light burden upon us, to follow Him in lowliness, patience, and charity; this, if we do, Christ will deliver us from the curse of the law, and from the ex, reine malediction which shall light upon them that shall be set on he left hand." A few days since we wcre upon a Fast-day called to take on us Christ's yoke,,-md now on a Festival of an Apostle the call is repeaed. Preached on SL Matthias's day during Lent.
And with a particular fitness if occurs, now as often, that we eelebrate the feast of St.:Matthias, during Lent; for if there be an Apostle who above the test may be taken fo remind us of the duty of mortification, it is he. Out Lord, when asked why His disciples did hot fast, said, they eould hot fast while He was with them, but that the tilne would eomc, whcn the Bridegroom should be taken away ri'oin thcm, and then should they fast in those days. That rime w,s now corne, when St. Matthias was chosen fo be an Apostle. Christ ]lad g'one away. Peace and joy the Apostles had abundanIly, more so than when IIe was with them; but for that vcry reason, it was hot such a joy " as the world giveth." If was His own joy which arose out of pain and chastisement. This was the joy which St. lIatthias received whên he was ruade an Apostlc. He nêver had beên an Apostle undêr age. He had indeed been with our:Lord, but hot as an Apostlc. The rest had beên chosen (as it were) as children; they had been hêirs of the king'dom, while undêr tutors and governors, and, though Apostlês, had not understood thêir calling', had had ambitious thouhts or dcsirês after riches, and were indulged for a while, ere new ruade, with the o]d wine, lest the bottles should burst. But St. Matthias came into his inhêritance at once. He took upon hin af once, upon his election, the l:ower and the penalty of the Apostolate. No dreams of earthly prosperity could flit around that throne, which was rêarêd over the grave of one who had been tried and had thllen, and under the immediate shadow of the cross of Him whom he had bctrayed. lVcll, then, does St. Matthias rcpcat to us on this day our Lord's words, "Takc My yoke upon you, and leam of Me," for ho had takcn if on him from thc first. I[is Pastoral Staff had over bèen a crosier. IIe had had no yonth. IIe had borne the yoke in his youth. He cntcred at once upon his long Lent, and he rejoiced in it. Thc exhort.'tion, then, which out Saviour gives in day's Gospel, and of whieh St. Matthias's bistory rcminds us, is aL thc present season most suitab]c. Our Saviour says, "Comc unto Me," and thcn Ho adds, "Takc 2[y yoke upon you, and learn of Me.'" Thus He tïrst calls us to IIim, and ncxt shows us the way. "Corne unto [e," IIc says, "and I will give you rest;" and then adds, "Take My yoke upon you, and ye shall flnd rest for your souls." Hc told the Apostles that they must come to Him, but did hOt af once tell them the way; Ho told them they must bear a yoke, but did hot at once tell flmm what if was. St. Pcter, in consequcncc, inquircd about if on one occasion, and was bid to n'ait awhi]e, and he should know of it more plainly. Our Lord had said, "Whither I go, thou canst hot follow [e now, but thou shalt follow Me afterwaMs." "Ye shall seek:Me," He said, "and whither I go ye cannot come. '' John xii. 36. 33.
He spoke of IIis yoke, the way of tIis cross, as St. Peter round when af length, after IIis resurrection, he was told plainly what should befall him. "Vhen thou wast young, '' said our Lord fo him, by thc lake of Tibcrias, when thou wast a child in the faith, and hadst thine own way, "thou g'irdedst thysclf, and walkedst whither thou wouldest," as just before St. Peter had girt his fisher's coat unto him, and cast himself into the sea; "but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thce, and carry thec whither thou wouldest not. '' And thcn IIe added, "Follow Me." St. Peter, indeed, was called upon literally to take Christ's yoke upon him, fo learn of Him and walk in His ways; but what he underwent in fulness, all Christ's measure, in some way place, our Lord speaks will corne after ]Ie, let disciples must share in their or other. Again, in another more expressly; "If any man him dcny himself, and take np his cross, and follow Me =." Here we have the words of the text emphatically repeated. To corne to Christ, is to corne after Hiln; fo take up our cross, is to take upon us His yoke; and though He calls this au easy yoke, yet it is easy because it is His yoke, and He makes if easy; still if does not cease fo be, yoke, and it is troublesome and distressing, because it is a yoke. Let us set it down then, as a first principle in reli- John xxl. 18. Matt. xv]. 2.
o6 The Fa]e« of Christ. gion, th,{ ail of us mus eome fo Crist, in 8ome or ofim', through things na{urally unpleasan {o us may be even hrongh bodily suffering, sueh Aposles endured, or i may be nothing more tlmn subduing of our natural infirmities and the sacrifice of out natural wishes; i may be pain greater or pain less, on a publie stage or a private ont; but, till the words "yoke" and " cross" ean stand for something p]easant, the bearing of out yoke and cross is something not pleasunt; and though test is promised as out reward, yet the way to test must lie through diseomfmoE and distress of heart. This I say mus be taken as a first prineiple in religion; it eoneerns us ail, it eoneerns young and old, rieh and poor, ail of whom are apt to eonsider ita valid reason for disregurding and speaking against a religious litb, that if is so strict and dist.asteful. They shrink ff'oto religion as something gloomy, or frightful, or dull, or intrusive, or exorbitant. And, alas, sometimes if is attempted to lead them to religion by making it appear hot diffieult and severe. Severe truths are put aside religion is ruade fo eonsist in a worldly seeurity, or ngain in a heated enthusiastie state of mind. But this is a deeeit. I do hot of course mean, far from it, that religion is hot full of JW and peaee also; " My yoke," says Christ, " is easy, and My burden is light:" but graee mukes it so; in itself it is oevere, and any fonn of doctrine whieh teaehes otherwise forgets tha
Th« Io/«« of ChrisL lO 7 Christ calls us fo lits yoke, and t.hat tlmt yoke is a {2ross. If you eall Lo mind some of i.he i.raii.s of tllat speeial religious eharaefer o whieh we are ealled, you will readily understand how both if, and the discipline by which if is formed in us, are hot naturally pleasant to us. That charoeter is described in i.he text as meekness and lowliness; for we are told fo " lcarn" of IIim who was " mcek and lowly in heart." The saine character is presented fo us af greatcr length in our Saviour's sermon on the Mount, in which scvcn notes of a. Christian are given to us, in themselves of a painfid and humblig character, but joythl, because they are blcssed by Ilim. He mentions, first, " the poor in spirit;" this is denoted in the text, under the word " lowly in heart;"—secondly, those "that mourn;'" and this surely is their peculiarity who are bearing on their shoulders the yoke of Christ;thirdly, "the meek;'" and these too are spoken of in the text, when He bids us tobe like Himself who "is mcek;"—fourthly, those wbich do "hunger and thirst after righteousness;" and what righteousness, but that which Christ's Cross wrought oui., and whieh becomes out righteousness when we take on us the yoke of the Cross? Fifthly, " the mercifid;" and as the Cross is in itself the work of infinite mercy, so when we l)ear if, if makes us merciful. Sixthly, "the pure in heart;" and this is the very benefit w]fich the Cross first does fo us when marked on
e8 ïr/e Yo/e of C/rz'sl. out foïehead when infauts, fo sever us fi-om the world, the flesh, and the devil, fo eireumeise us from the firsç Adam, and to nmke us pure as IIe is lmre. Seventhly, «the peaee-makers," and,as tic "ruade peaee by the blood of ]Iis Cross," so do we beeome peaee-malers after tIis pattcrn. And, lastly, aftcr all seven, He adds, those "which arc persccuted for rig, hteonsness' sakc;" which is nothin z but the Cross itsclf, and the truest form of I[is yke, spokeu of last of all, after mention has bcen ruade of ifs fruits. Such is thc charactcr of which the text speaks. A man who is poor in spirit, meck, pnre in hcart, merciful, peace-makin$, pcnitcnt, and eager after rightcousness, is truly (accordiu. fo a term in current use) a mortified man. IIc is of a character which does o plcase us by n`ature even to see, and much lcss fo imitate. We do no evcn `approve or love the charactcr itself, till we bave somc portign of the grace of God. We do hot like the look of mortification till wc re used to it, and a.ssociate pleasantthoughts with if. "And when we shall see IIim, there is no beauty, tha we should désire Him," says the Prophe. To whom has some picture of sain or doctor of the Church any charm at firs sig'ht? Vho does hot prcfer thc ruddy glow of hcalth and brightness of thc eyes? " IIe hath no form nor comeliness," as his Lord and Master before him. And as we do no like the look of saintliness, neither do we like the lire. Vhen Christ first announced His destined sufferins, Peter
The oeo/,'e ol c Christ. 0 9 took Him and beg'an to rebuke IIim, sayin, " from Thee, Lord, this shall hot be unto The." llere was the feeling of one who was as yet a mere ehild in grace; " When he was a child, he spake as a child, he understood as child, he though as a ehild," belote he had "become a man and had pu away childish things." This is St. Paul's langtmge, writing fo the Corinflfiaus, and he thcre furnishes us with anofler descrip- Lion, under file naine of charity, of flm same hcvenly Lemper of miud in whieh Chrisian manhood consists, and which out Lord had already described in the sermon on the Moun; He says, "Though I spcak with the tongues of men and of angels, and bave no charity, I ara become as souuding brass, or tinkling cymbal." And flien. He describes i as suffering long, kind, envying no, vauuting hot, behavin seeml-, unselfish, rejoicin in file truth, slow fo be provoked, bcaring ail thiugs and hoping ail. And with this agrees St. James's account of wisdom, that itis "pure, peaceable, gentle, easy tobe entreated, full of mercy and good fi'uits, without partiality and without hypocrisyk'" In all these passages, one and the saine character is described acceptable to God, uuacceptable fo mn; unacceptable to man both in itself, and because it involves change, and that a painful one, in one shape or other. othing short of suffering, except in rare cases makes James lU. 17.
us wha. we should be; gentle instead of harsh, meek instead of violent., eoneediug" instead of arrog'ant, lowly instead of proud, pure-hearted instead of sensual, sensitive of sin instead of earnal. This is the espeeial objee whieh is set belote us, o beeome holy as He who bas ealled us is ho]y, and fo discipline and ehasten ourselves in order that we may bccome so; and we may be quite sure, tlmf. uuless we cbasten ourselves, God will chasten us. If we judge ourselves, through Ilis mercy we shall hot. be judged of Ilim; if we do hot afflict ourselves in light things, IIe will atllict us in heavyfing's; if we do hot set about chalging ourselves by gentle measures, He will ehauge us by severe remcdies. "I refi'ain my soul," says David, «and keep if low, like as a child that is weaned ri-oto his mother." « I keep under my body, and bring if into subjection," says St. Paul., Of course Satan will y fo turn all our attempts fo his own purposes. He will try fo make us think too much of ourselves for what we do; he would tain make us despise others; he 411 try to ensnare us in other ways. Of course he turns all things fo evil, as far as he tan; M1 out crosses may beeome tempfations: illness, affliction, bereavement, pain, loss of worldly prospects, anxiety, all may be instruments of evil; so likewise may all methods of self-chastisement, but they ought hot to be, and need hot. And their leg'itimate effeet, throug'h the grace of the Holy Spirit, is to make us like Him who suffered all pain, physieal and moral, sin exeepted, in ifs fulness.
Thc I"o,'e of Chris[. I We know what His character was; how grave.and subdued His speech, His manner, Ilis acts; wha cahuuess, self-possession, tenderness, and endurance; how He resisted evil; how He turned IIis eheek fo the smiter; how He blessed when perseeuted; how He resigned Himself to His God and Father, how He suffered silently, and opened hot His mouth, when accused maliciously. AlasI soit is; not only does the world hot imitate such a retaper of mind as this; but, if the truth must be spoken, if dcspises if. As regards, indeed, our Lord's instance itsclf, the force of education, habit, custom, fear of each othcr, and some remaining awe, keep the wodd from reflectin upon the notes of character which the Gospcls ascribe to Him, but in Ilis followers, if does discern thcm, if undcrstands and if condcmns them. Vc are bidden lcnd and give, asking for nothing agajn; rcvcng'e hot oursel-es; give out cloak when out coat is taken; offer the left check when the rig'ht is smittcn; surfer without compla.int; accourir persons better than they are; keep from bittcr words; pray only whcn others wod be impatient fo act; deny ourselves for the sake of others; lire contend with what we are; preserve an ignorance of sin and of the wodd: what is all this, but a character of mind which the wodd scorns and ridices even more than if butes? a character which seems fo court insult, because if endures if? Is not this vhat men of the world would say of such a one? "Such a man is unfit for life; he has no eye for any rhino; he does hot know the diiïbrence between good and evil; he is rame and spiritlcss, he is simple and dull, and a fit 1)rey for the spoilcr or defi'auder; he is cowardly and narrowminded, unmanly, fccble, superstitious, and, dreamer,'" with many othcr words more contemptuous and more fiuniliar thau would bc bccoming to use in Church. Yet such is thc character of which Christ gave us the pattern; such was the character of kpostles; snch the eharacter which has ever conquercd the world. "In much patience, in afflictions, in nccessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in watchings, in fisting's, by pureness, by knowh'dge, by lon-sufferin, by kindness» by the Itoly Ghost, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by thc power of God, by the arlnour of righteousness on the right hand and on thc left, by honour,nd dishonour, by evil report nd good report, as deceivers and yet true, as chastened and hot killed, as sorrowful yet alway rejoicing";"theoe are the weal»ons of our warfare, "which are not earnal, but mighty through God fo the pulling down of strong holds. '' These arc despised by the world, but thcy havc subdued the world.:Nay, though they seem most unmanly, they in the event bave proved most heroic. For the heroical character springs out of them. tIe who has thrown himself out of this world a.lone ean overcome it ho who bas eut himself looe of i, alone eannot be touchecl by 2 C»r. ri. 4—10; x. 4.
Tac Yv2e of C/rist. 113 i; he alone eau be eour.geous, who does hot fear if; he alone firm, who is no moved by if; he alone severe with if, who does hot love if. Despair makes men bold, and so if is tha he who bas nothing fo hope from the world, bas nothing fo fenr from if. He who bas really tasted of the true Cross, ean taste no bitterer pain, no keener joy. I bave been trying fo urge on you, my Lreflren, tiret the takin of" Christ's yoke, and learning of Him, is something very distinct and speeial, and very unlike any other service and charaeter. If is the result of' a change from a state of' nature, a change so great as fo be ealled a dea.th or even a crucifixion of" our natural state. Never allov yourselves, my brethren, to fancy t.hat the true Christian charaeter tan coalesee with this world's charaeter, or is the wofld's eharaeter improved— merelv a superior kind of' worldly eharacter. No, if is a new eharaeter; or, as St. Paul words it, "a new ereation." Spealdng of the Cross of Christ, he says, " God fol'bid that I should glory, save in the Cross of out Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is erueified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither eireumcision availeth any thing, nor uneireumeision, but a new ereature ." If is a new eharaeter, and if is one; if is ever one and the saine. If is,,or one in Apostles, and another in the Christian of this day;not one in the high, another in the low; one in I Gal. vi. 14, 15. [vi1] I rieh, nother in poor; one in Euglishmn, another in foreigner; one in man, another in woman. Where Christ is put on, St. Paul tells us, there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, male nor female, but all are one in Christ Jesus 1. Vhat Lazarus is, tllat must Dives bccome; what Apostles were, that must each of us be. The high in this world think it snitable in them to show a certain pridc and self-confidcnce; the wealthy claim dcference on account of their wealth; kings and princes thiuk themselves above instruction fi'om any; men in the middle ranks considcr it enoug,'h to be decent and respectable, and deem sauctity superfluous in them; the poor think fo be saved by their poverty;—but to one and all Christ speaks, " Corne uuto Me," " Learn of he." There is but one Cross and one character of mind formed by it; and nothing can be fnrther from it than those tempers and dispositions in which the greater part of men called Christians lire. To bave one's own way, to follov one's om tastes, to please one's self, to bave things to one's mind, not tobe thwarted, to indulge in the comforts of lire, to do little for God, fo think of tIim now and then indeed, but fo live fo this world; to aire at things of this world; to jtdge of things by our own accidental judgment, be if bettcr or worse; to measure religious mon, to decide upon right or vrong in religion, by our favourite fancy; to take a pride in forming and maintaining our own opinion; to stand Gal. iii. 28.
T]lC J/]'C 0.] c C]l?'i$t. I I S upon our rights; to fear the hard words and eold looks of men, to be afraid of being too religions, to dread sil- ularity; to leave out hearts and minds, our thoughts, words, and actions, fo take eare of themselves:—this, on one side or the other, ia this measure or that, is the sort of eharaeter whieh the multitude, even of what are ealled respectable men, exemplify; and no wonder, this being the case, that they speak against those who bave, or strive fo have, a more serious view of religion, and whose mode of living condcmas them. If thcre be but one character of heart that ca.n plcase God, both of these contrary characters cannot pleasc Him, one or the othcr does not; if the easy religion is right, the strict religion is wrong; if strict religion is right, easy religion is wring. Let us hot deceive ourselves; there are not two ways of salvatioll—, broad and a narrow. The world, which chooses the broad way, in consequencc hates and spurns the narrow way; and in turn oui ]31essed Lord, who has chosen for us tlm narrow vay, hatês, scorns, spurns, denounces, the broad way. Surely tte does so; He hates the broad way as entirely as the world hates the narrow way; and if we are persuaded to take part with the world, we take pal against Him. ' When St. leter said, "Be ii iar from Thee, Lirdi" being shocled af the notice that his Lord should surfer, what was His answer? Did He thank him for his zeal? Did He, af least, let ii pass in silence? He answered» "Get thee behind hic, Satan» for thon m an offence unto Me; for thou savourest not the thing's that be of God, but those that be of men ." And in like manner to the corrupt clmrch of Laodicea tte says, ":Bec,use thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will cast thee out of My mouth. Bccause thou sayest,:I ara rich, and incrcased with ffoods, and have need of nothinff; and knowest hot, that thou art wretched and miserablc, and poor, and blind, and naked; I counsel thce fo buy of Me gold tricd in the tire, that thou mayest bc rich, and whlte raiment, that thou mayest be clothed; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that. thou m,ycst see." And then IIc adds: "As many as I love, I rebuke a.nd chasten;" that is, He purs on them His yoke; "Be zealous therefore and repent "." To conclude. If Almighty God moves any of us, so that we bave high thoughts; if from rcading Scripture or holy books we find that we can embrace views above the world; if if is given us to recognize the glory of Christ's kingdom, fo discern ifs spiritual nature, fo admire the lire of saints, and fo desirc to imitate it; if we fcel and undcrstand that it is good to bear the yoke in out youth, good to be in trouble, g'ood to be poor, good to be in low estate, good fo be despised; if in imagination we put ourselves at the feet of those mortified meu of old rime, who, after St. Paul's pattern, died daily, and knew no one after the ftesh; if we feel all this, and are conscious we feel it; let us not boastwhy? Matt. xvi. 23. lev. iii. 1619.
because of a surety such feelings are a pledge to us that God will in some way or other give them exercise. IIe gives them to us that IIe may use them. IIe gives us the opportunity of using them. Dare not to indulge in high thoughts; be cautions of thcm, and refrain; they are the shadows of coming trials; they are not g'iven for nothin; they arc given for an end; that cnd is coming. My brethrcn, courir the cost; nevcr docs God givc fidth but Ho trics if; ncvcr does IIc implant thc wish fo sit on IIis right hand and on IIis left, but IIe fultils it by makin, us wash out breflren's feet. 0 fearful imag'inations, which are sure fo bc rcalized! 0 dangerous wishcs, whieh are hcard and forthwith answered! Only may God retaper things fo us, that noflfing nmy bc bcyond out strength!