Parochial and Plain Sermons

IIEN we consider the Old Testament as written by divine inspiration, and preserved, beyond the time of its own Dispensation, for us Christians,—as acknowledged and delivered over to us by Christ Himself, and pronounced by St. Paul to be "profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness,"l—ve ought hot surely to read any portion of if with indifference, nay, without great and anxious interest. " Lord, vhat vflt Thou have me to do 7." is the sort of incluiry which spontaneously arises in the serious mind. Christ and tlis Apostle cannot bave put the Law and the l'rophets into out hands for nothing. I would this thought were more careftflly weighed than if eommonly is. We 13rofess indeed to revere the Old Testament; yet, for some reason or other, af least one eonsiderable pmoE of it, the historical, is regarded by the mass, even of men who think about religion, as merely  2 [rim. iii. 16.

histofical, as a relation of facts, as antiquities;not in its divine characters, not in its practical bearings, hot in reference to themselves. The notion that God speaks in it to them personally, the question, " lVhat does Ho say?" "What must I do?" does not occur to them. They consider that the Old Testament concerns them only as far as it can be ruade typica.1 of one or two of fle great Christian doctrines; they do hot considcr if in its fulness, and in its literal sense, as a collection of deep moral lessons, such as are hot vouchsafed in the New, though St. Paul expressly says flat it is "profitable for instruction in righteousness." If the Old Testament history generally be intended as a permanent instruction to the Church, nmch more, one voùd think, must such prominent and remarkable passages in it as the history of Balaam. Yet I suspect a very eat number of readers carry off little more fi-ona it than the impression of the miracle which occurs in it, the speaking of his ass. And hot unfrequently they talk more lightly on the subject than is expedient. Yet I think some very solemn and startling lessons may be dra.m from the history, some of which I shall now attempt to set before you. Xqmt is it which the chapters in question psent to us? The first and most general account of 13alaam would be this;—that he was a very enfinent person in his age and countw, that he was courted and ga.ined by the enemies of Israel, and that he promoted  wicked cause in a very wicked way; th,t, when he could do nothing else for it, he counselled the Ioabites to employ their women as means of seducing the chosen people into idolatry; and t.hat he fell in battle in the war whieh ensued. These are the ehief points, the prominent features of his hisory as viewed a a distance; and repulsive indeed hey are. He took on him he oce of a temper, whieh is espeeially the Devil's once. Bu Satan himself does no seem so habeful near as a a distance; and when we look ino Balaam's hisory closely, we shall find points of eharaeer whieh may weH ineres those who do no eonsider his begilming and his end. Let us then approach hiln more nem'ly, and foge for a moment the smmnm T accotmt of him, which I have just bcen giving. Now firsg he was blessed with God's espeeial favour. You will ask at once, How eonld so bad a man be in God's favour  but I wish you to put aside reasonings, and eontelnplate faets. I say he was espeeially favoured by God; God has a store of favours in His treurehouse, and of various kinds,some for a rime, some for ever,solne implying llis approbation, others hot. He showers favours even on the bad. He makes His sun to rise on the unjust as well as on the just. Ne wNeth hot the death of a sinner. He is sNd to have loved the young ruler, whose heart, notwithstanding, was upon the wofld. IIis loving-merey extends over all His works. How IIe separates in IIis own dine thought, kindness frmn approbation, time from eternity, what He does from what IIe foresees, we know not and need not inquire. At present He is loving to aH men, as if He did hot foresee tiret some are tobe saints, others reprobates to all eternity. He dispenses His favours variously, gifN, graees, rewards, faeulties, eireumstees being in- definitely diversified, nor admitting of discrimination or numbering on our part. ]3alaam, I say, was in His favour; hot indeed for his holiness' sake, not for ever; but in a certain sense, according to His inscrutable purpose,—who chooses whom tic will choose, and exalts whom He will exalt, without destroying man's secret responsibilities or His own governance, and the triumph of truth and holiness, and IIis own strict impartiality in the end. Balaam was favoured in an especial wa.y above the mere heathen. Not only had he the grant of inspirtion, and the knowledge of God's will, an insight into the truths of morality, clear ind enlarged, such as even we Christians cannot surpass; but he was even admitted to conscious intercourse with God, such as we Christians have hot. In our Sunda.y Services, you may recollect, we read the chapters which relate to this intercourse; and we do not read those which record the darker passages of his histo W. Now, do you hot think that most persons, who know only so much of him as our Sunday lessons contain, forma very mild judgment about him? They sec him indeed to be on the wrong side, but still view him as a prophet of God. Such a judgment is hot incorrect as far as it goes; and I appeal to it, if it be what I think it is, as a testimony how highly Balaam was in God's favour. But,gain, ]3alaam was, in the ordina.ry and commonlyreceived sense of the word, without strainiag its me,ning st all, a very coscicntious man. That this is so, will be plain ri'oto some parts of his conduct and some speeches of his, of which I proceed to remind you; and which will show also his enlightened and admh'able view of moral and religions obligal:ion. qaen ]3alak sent fo him to call hiln fo curse Israel, he did hot make up his mind for himself, as many a man might do, or according to the suggestions of avarice and ambition. No, he brought the marrer before Goal in prayer. He.p,ra.cd before he did what he did, as a religions man ought fo do. Next, when God forbade his going, he af once, as he ought, positively refused to go. "Get you int.o your land," he said, "for the Lord refuseth to give me leave to go wigh you." Balak sent again a more pressing message and more lucrative offers, and Balaam was even lnore decidêd t]lan before. "If Balak," he said, "would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cmmot go beyond the word of the Lord my God, fo do less or more." Afterwm'ds God gave him leave fo go. "If the men corne fo call thee, fise up, and go with them. ''9- Then, and hot fil1 then, he wenk Almighty God added, "'et the word which I shall say unto thee, that shalt thon do." Now, in t.he next place, observe how st.rictly he obeyed this command. When he first met Balak, he said, in the words of the text, "Lo I mn COlne unto thee; bave I now any power af all to say any thing? the word tbat God putteth in my mont.h, l:hat shall I speak." Again, when he w abou to prophesy, he said, "Whatsoever He showeth me I will tell thee;" and he did so, in spire of ]3alak's disappointment and mortification fo hear him bless Israêl. When Balak shmved his impatience, he only replied cahnly, "l\Iust I hot take heed fo si)eak that which the Lord bath put in my mouth?" Again he  lgumb, xxii.  lqumb, xxiii.

Oel¢czce w'/,oi!/_..oe. 2 3 w nee,  ia the proyhe rm1 md erene] nwered, "old no  hee, in, ]I t.]m he or yeYet, b, h  mu do?"  hh' hne he prophesied blessing; and 1]ow Balk's anger was kindled, and he smote his hands together, and bade him depart to his place. But Balaam was hot thereby moved froln his duty. "The wrath of a king is as messengers of deth. '' Balak might have instanfly revenged himself upon the prophet; but Balaam, hot satisfied with blessing Israel, proceeded, as a prophet should, to deliver himself of what remained of the prophetic burden, by foretelling more pointedly flmn before, destruction to Moab and tire other enemies of the chosen people. He preced his prophecy with these unacceptable words," Spake I hot also unto thy messengers which thou sent.est unto me, saying, If Balak would give me his bouse flfll of silver and old, I cannot go beyond the commandment of the Lord, to do either good or bad of mhm own mind? but wht the Lord saith, that wi I speak. And now behohl, I go unto my people; corne, therefore, and I wi adertise thee wlmt this people shall do to fly people in the latter days." After devering his conscience, he "rose up, and went and returned to his place."  this surely expresses the conduct and the feelings of a high-principled, honourable, conscientious man. Balm, I say, ws certainly such, in that very sense in which we commonly use those words. He said, and he did; he protçssed, and he acted according to his professions. There is no inconsistency in word and deed. He  Prov. vi. 1.

though, after all, there is something shocking in such a notion. Nay, itis not natural even that ordinarily honourable men should suddenly change; but however this may be said,—it may be said ho fell away; but, I presmne, it cauot be said that ho was other than a high-principled man (in the language of the world) whcï he so spoke and acte& But now the strange thing is, t.hat st this very rime, chilc he so spoke and acted, he seems, as in one sense to be in God's fawatr, so in anothcr and higher fo be tmder ltis displeasure. If this be so, the supposition that he fell away will hot be in point; the difficulty it proposes to solve will remain; for it will turn out that he was displeasing to God aii«l his many excellences. The passage I have in mind is this, as you will easily suppose. " God's auget was kindled, because he went" with the princes of Moab, "and the Angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him." Afterwards, when Goal opened his eyes, "he saw tlle Angel of the Lord stauding in the wa.y, and his sword drawn in his hand"... "And Balaam said, I have siucd, for I knew hot that thou stoodest in the way against me; now, therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again." You observe ]3alaam said, "I have siimed," tho,gh he avers he did hot l«zow that God was his adversary. What makes the whole transactiou the more strange is this,—that Ahnighty Goal had said before, "Il' the lnen corne to call thee, fise up, and go with them;" and that when tlalaam offered to go back again, the Angel repeated, " Go with the men." And afterwm'ds we find in the midst of his heathen enchantments

"God met Balaam," and "put a word in his mouth;" and afterwards "the Spirit of God came unto him." Smmning up then what has been said, we seem, ia P, alaam's history, fo have the following relnarkable case, that is, remarkable according to our customary judglnent of things: a man divinely favoured, visited, influenced, guided, protected, elninently honoured, illuminated,— a man possessed of an enlightened sense of duty, and of moral and religious acquirements, educated, high-minded, conscientious, h,mom'a.ble, firm; ad yet on the side of (od's enemies, personally under God's displeasure, and in the end (if we go on fo that) the dii'ect instrument of Satall, and having his portion with the unbelievers. I do hot think I have materia.lly overstated any part of this description; but if it be correct Olfly in substance, it certainly is most fearful, after allowiag for incidental exaggeration,—most fearful to every one of us, the more fearful the more we are conscious to ourselves in the lnain of purity of intention in whtt we do, and conscientious adherence fo our sense of duty. And now if is natural to ask, what is the ncanit of this startling exhibition of God's ways? Is it real]y possible that. a conscientious and religious man shotfld be found among the enemies of God, lay, should b'e personally displeasing to ltinl, and that ai the very rime God was visiting him with extraordinary favour? AVhat a mystery is this! Surely, if this be so, Revelation bas added fo our perplexities, hot a'elieved them! What instruction, what profit, what coection, what doctx'ine is the in such portions of inspired Scripture? In answering this difficulty, I observe in the first l»lace, that it certiafly is impossible, quite impossible, that t really conscientious mtn should be displeasing fo God; tt the saine rime itis possible tobe gcnerallg conscientious, or what the world calls honourable and highpriucipled, yet to be destitute of tht religious fetr a.nd strictness, which God calls conscieutiousness, but which the world calls superstition or narrowness of mind. And bearing this in mind, we shall, perhaps, have a solution of out perplexities concerning ]3,alaam. And here I would make a remark: that when a passage of Scripture, descriptive of God's dealings with lnan, is obscure or perplexing, it is a.s well to ask ourselves whether this lnay hot be owing fo some insensibility, in ourselves or in our age, to certain peculiarities of the Divine law or government therein involved. Thus, to those who do hot understand the nature and history of religious truth, out Lord's assertion about sending a sword on earth is an obscurity. To those who consider sin a light evil, the doctrine of eternal t,unishment is a difficulty. In like manner the history of the flood, of the call of Abrahaln, of the plagues of Egypt, of the wandering in the desert, of the judgment on Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and a multitude of other occurrences, may be insuperable diffictflties, except to certain states and terapers of anind, to which, on the contrary, they will seeln quite natural and obvious. I consider that the history of J3alatln is a striking illustration of this remark. Those whose hearts, like Jositfll's, are "tender," scrupulous, sensitive in religious matters, will see with clearness and certint.y what the real state of the case was as regards him; on the other hand, our difficulties about it, if we have tlleln, are a presumption that the age we lire in has hot the key to a certain elass of Divine providences, is defieient in a certain class of religions prineiples, ideas, and sensibflities. Let it be considered thon whether the foowing renmrks may hOt tend to lessen out perplexit.y. BMamn obeyed God from a sense of ifs being right fo do so, but hot from a dcsi'c to l)lcase Hi, no from ri'af ami love. lle had oher ends, ailns, wishes of his own, disincL from God's will and purpose, and he would have effeeted these if he eould, tlis endeavonr was, no fo i,lease God, bu o lflease self without displeasing God; to pursne his own ends as far as was eonsisteng with his duty. In a word, he did hot give his hearL fo God, buL obeyed Him, as a man nmy obey hmnan law, or observe the usages of soeiey or his eonntry, as something extenml o hilnself, because he knows he ough to do so, from a sor of rational good sense, a conviction of ils propriet.y, expedieney, or eomforL, as the case may be. You wi observe he,wikcd to go wiLh Balak's messengel, only he fel he ot«yht ot o go; and the problem whieh he atempLed o solve was how o go and ye nog offend God. IIe was quite resolved he codd any how ae religionsly and eonseieniously; he was oo honourable a mai1 o break any of his engagemen; if he had given his word, iL was saered; if he had duties, they were imperaLive: he had a eharaeLer to maintain, and an inward sense of propriegy fo saLisfy; bu he would have given he world o bave goL rid of his duLies; and Lhe question was, how o do so wihou violence; and he did noL eare abouL walking on the very brink of transgression, so tha

Ohcdi«nce wi{hout Love. "9 he eould keep ri'oto talling over. Aeeordingly he was not content with ascertoin,ig God's will, but he attempted to changc it. He inquired of Him u sccond tinc, and this was fo tempt Ilim. Hence, while God bade him go, His anger was ldndled against him because he went. This surely is no uncommon character; rather, it is the common case even with the more respect,ble and praiseworthy portion of the community. I say plainly, and without fear of contradiction, though it is a serious thing to say, that the aire of most men esteclned conscicntious and rèligious, or who are what is called honoumble, upright men, is, to all al)pearance, hot how to please God, but how to please themselves without displeasing Him. I say confidently,—that is, if we may judge of men in general by what we see,—that they lnke this world the first ol-,ject in their minds, and use religion as a corrective, u restraint, upo too nuch attachment to fle world. They think that religion is a negative thing, a sort of moderate love of the world, a moderate luxury, a moderate avarice,  moderate nfl»ition, and  modemte selfishness. You see this in numberless ways. You see it in the course of trade, of public life, of licrature, in all matters where lnen bave objects to pursue. ,y you see it in religious exeoEions; of which it too commonly happens th,t the chief aire is, to attin ay how a certain definite end, religious indeed, but of lnun's own choosing; not, to pleuse God, and ncxt, if possible, to attain it; not, fo attuin if religious]y, or hot af all. This surely is so plain that itis scarcely necessary fo en]arge upon it. Men do hot take for the object towards

3o Ocd[czce wit/ozt Loz;e. which fley act, God's will, but certain maxims, rules, or measures, right perhaps as far as they go, but defective because they adroit of being subjected fo certain other ulthnte ends, which are hot religious. Men are just, honest, uprigh, trustworfly; but al1 flis hot from the love and fear of God, but from a mere feeling of obligation tobe so, and in subjection fo certain world]y objects. And thus they are what is popularly called moral, without being religious. Such vas ]3alaam. He was in a popular sense a strictly mortl, honoural,le, conscientious man; that he was not so in a heavenly and true sense is plain, if hot from the considerations here insisted on, at lcast ri-oto his after histow, vhich (we may 1)resume) l_,rought to light his secret defect, in whatever it consisted. And here we see why he spoke so much and so vauntingly of his determination to follow God's direction. He ruade a eat 2oit of following it; ls end was hot to please God, but fo keep straight with Him. He who loves does hot act from calculation or reasoning; he does not in his cool moments reflect upon or talk of 'hat he is doing, as if it 'ere a reat sacrifice.:S[uch less does he pride himself on it; but this is what ]3alaam seems to have done. I have been observing that lus defect lay in this, that he had hot a single eye towards God's will, but was ruled by other objects. ]3ut moreove, r, this evil heart of unbelief showed itself in a peculiar way, to xvhich it is necessary to draw your attention, and to xvhich I alluded just now in saying that the diiïiculties of Scriptm-e often arose from the defective moral condition of out hearts.

lVhy did Ahnighty God give ]alaam leave to go to ]3alak, and then was angTy with him for going? I suppose for this reason, because his asking twice was teml)t.ing God. God is a jealous God. Simmrs as we are, nay as creatm'es of His hauds, we may hot safely intrude upon Him, and make free with Him. We nmy hot dare to do tiret, which we should hot dare to do with an earthly superior, which we should be punished, for instance, for atteml)ting in the case of a king or noble of this world. To rush into His presence, to address tIim familiarly, to urge Him, to strive to make our duty lie in one direction when it lies in another, to handle rudely and practise upon His holy word, to trifle with t«-uth, to treat conscience lightly, to take liberties (as it may be called) with any thing that is God's, all iTeverence, profaneness, unscrupulousness, wantonness, is represented in Scripture hot only as a sin, but as felt, noticed, quickly returned on God's paloE (if I nmy date use such hulnan words of the Almighty and All-holy God, without transessing the rtfle I ara nyself laying down,—but He vouchsafes in Scripture to represent Himself to us in that only way in which we can attain to the knowledge of Him), I say all in-everence towards God is represented as being jealously and instantly and fearfully noticed and visited, as friend or stranger among lnen might resent an insult shown him. This should be carefully considered; we are apt to act towards God and the things of God as towards a mere system, a law, a naine, a religion, a principle, hot as against a Person, a living, watchful, present, prompt and 10owerful Eye and Arm. That all this is a great error, is plain to all who study Scripture; as is sufficiently shown by the death of that nnfltitude of persons for looking into the ark—tbe death of tle Prophet by the lion, who was sent fo Jeroboam from Judab, and did hot minutely obey the instructions given hiln—the slmtg'hter of the children at Bethel by the bears, for mocking Elisha—the exclusion of Moses from the promised land, for smiting the rock twice—md the judglnent on Ananias and Sapphira.:Now Balm.m's fault seems to have been of this lmture. God told him distinctly hot to go to Balak. He was rash enough t ask a second rime, and God as a punishment gave him leave to ally himself with ltis enemies, and fo take part against ttis people. With this presumptuousness and love of self in his innermost heart, his prudence, firmness, wisdoln, illumination, and general conscientiousness, availed him nothing. A number of reflections crowd upon the mind on the review of this awful history, as I nmy well call if; and with a brief notice of some of these I shall conclude. 1. First, we see how little we can depend, in judging of right and wrong, on the apparent excellence and bigh character of individuals. There is a right and a wrong in matters of conduct, in spite of the world; but it is the world's aire and Satan's aire to take our minds off from the indelible distinctions of things, and to fix our thoughts upon man, to make us the slaves of man, to nmke us dependent on his opinion, his patronage, his honour, lfis smiles, and his frowns. But if Scripture is fo be our guide, if is quite plain that the most conscientious, religious, high-principled, honourable men (I use the words in their ordinary, hot in their Scripture sense), may be on the side of evfl, may be Satan's instruments in eursiug, if that were possible, and af least in sedncing and enfeebling the people of Goal. For in the wofld's judgment, even when most refined, a person is conscientious and consistent, who acts up fo his standard, «ltatever that is, hot he only who aires af taking the highest standard. This is the world's highest flight; but in its ordinary judgment, a man is conscientious and consistent, who is only inconsistent and goes against conscience in any extremity, when hardly beset, and when he nmst cut the knot or remain in present diçfieulties. That is, le is thought fo obey conscience, who only dis,beys it when if is a praise and merit fo obey if. This, alas! is the way with some of the most honourable of mere men of the world, nay of the mass of (so called) respectable men. They never tell untruths, or break their word, or profane the Lord's day, or are dishonest in trade, or falsify their principles, or insult religion, except in ve13: great straits or great emergencies, when driven into a corner; and then perhaps they force themselves, as Saul did when he offered sacrifice instead of Samuel;—they force themselves, and (as it were) undergo their sin as  sort of unpleasant self-denial or penance, being ashamed of it all the while, getthg it over as quickly as they can, shutting their eyes and leaping blindfold, and then forgetting if, as something which is bitter fo think about. And if memory is ever roused and annoys flmm, they console themselves that after all they have only gone against theh" conscience now and then. This is their view of themselves and of each other, taken at advantage; and if any one corne across them who h lived more out of the world than themselves, and has a v] c truer sense of right and wrong, and who fasteus on some one point in them, which fo his mind is a token and warning fo himself agMnst them, such a one seems of course narrow-minded and overstrict in his notions. For instance; supposing some such man had fallen in with Balaam, and had been privy fo the history of his tempting (lod, if is clear that Balaam's general correctness, his nobleness of demeanour, and his enlightened view of duty, wouhl hot have availed one jot or tittle fo overconle such a man's repugnance fo him. He would bave been startled and alarmed, and would bave kept af a distance, and in consequence he would bave been called by thc warhl uncharitable and bigote& 2. A second rcttcction which rises in the mind bas relation fo the wonderful secret providence of God, while all things seem fo e-o on according to the course of this world. Balaam did hot see the Angel, yet the Angel went out against him as an adversary, tfe had no open denunciation of God's wrath directed against him. He had sinned, and nothing happened outwardly, but wrath was abroad and in his path. l'h/s again is a very serious and awful thought. God's arm is not shortened. What happened to IIalaam is as if it took lolaee yesterday. God is what He ever was; we sin as man has ever sinned. We sin without being aware of it. God is out enelny without out being aware of it; and when the blmv falls, we turn out thoughts to the ereature, we illtreat our ass, we lay the blame on eiremnstanees of this world, instead of turning fo Him. " Lord, when Thy hand is lifted up, they will hot see; but they shall see," in the next world if hot here, "and be ashamed for their

O&dience wiLhout Love. 35 emoE aç çhe people; yea the tire of Thine enemies shall devom" them."6 3. Here too is a serious refleetion, if we had ,ime to pursue it, that when we have beguu an evil course, we cannot retrace our steps. Balaam was foreed to go wit.h the men; he offered to draw baek—he was hot allowed —yet God's wrath followed him. This is what cornes of eonmfitt.ing ourselves t.o an evil line of eonduet; and we sec daily instances of it in out experience of lire. Men get entangled, and are bound hand and foot in nuadvisable courses. They make imprudent nmrriages or eonnexions; they place themselves in dangerous sit, nations; they engage in unprofitable or hm'mfld undertakings. Too offert iudeed they do no diseern their evil pligh; bu when t.hey do, they eanuot draw baek. God seems to say, " Go with the men." They are in bondage, and they mus make the best of it; being the slave of the ereaure, without eeasing to be the responsible servants of God; under His displeasure, yet bound to aet as if they could please Him. Ail this is very fearfifl. 4. Last.ly, I will bu say his in addition,—God gives us warnings now and then, but does hot repeat them. Balaam's sin eonsisted in hot aet.ing upon what was told him once for cil In iike manner, you, my brethren, now hear wllat you nlay never hear again, and what perehance in its sttbstanee is the word of God. You may never hear it again, though with your outwal'd ears you hear it a hundred rimes, beeause you may be impressed v«it, h it now, but never may again. You may  lsaiah x_xvi. 11.

be impressed with it now, and the impression may die away; and some rime hence, if you ever think about if, you my then speak of if thus,—that the view stck you at the rime, but somehow the more you thought about it, the less you liked or valued it. True; this may be so, and it nay arise, as you think, from the doctrine I have been setting before you hot being true and scriptural; but it tory also arise from your having heard God's voice and hot obeyed if. If may be that you have become blind, hot the doctrine been disproved. llcwarc of trifling with your conscience. If is often said that sec, md thoughts are best; so they are in matters of judgment, but hot in matters of conscience. In matters of duty first thoughts are commonly best—they have more iu them of the voice of God. May He give you grace so to hear what has been said, as you will wish to have heard, when life is over; to hear in a practical way, with a desire to profit by it, to learn God's wil], and to do if!