SERMON IV.
IIE l'arable of the Grett Supper, from which these words are taken, is round tlso lu St. Matthew's Gosl)c], with tlfis es];,ecial addition, that of the guests thu.s brought in by force, one wts round hot having on a wedding garment, who in consequence was hot simply dismissed us unworthy, but condemned to pmishment. "Friend, hov ctmest thou in hither, hot htving a wedding garment? and he was speecMess. Then said the king to the servants, ]ind him hand and foot, and take him away, and ctst him into outer darkuess: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth; for many are callcd but few tre chosen. ''- "Friend, how camest thou in hithcr?" You mty supi)ose he might lmve tnswered, "I wts forced in;" but our Saiour says, "And he was speechless," and prolmunces his everlasting punishment. Surely, there is something very awfttl and startling in the doctrine thus contained in the larable. It wofld This Sermon was hot originally written for a Parish.: ]Iatt. xxii. 12-14.
seem fi'om thence that we are compelled to accept of religions advantages, for the use of which we are answerable, for the misuse of which we slmll be condemned. We are compelled to become Christians, yet this compulsion is not taken into account when the day of reckoning cornes. The saine doctrine is implied in the parable of the talents. The servant who hid his lord's talent, seems to have had solne such thoughts about fairness and justice, as the natural man so often indulges in now,—some idea of being quits and even with him, if he left his gift alone,—as if he cofld wash his hands (as it is said) of the whole business, and venture neither the gain nor the loss; feeling that it was a delicate matter that was put upon brin, that there was great risk of failing, that his lord was an austere kind of man, haM to please, having his own views of right and duty, and unreasonable; and that, consequently, it was safest to keep aloof, to bave no cares on any score, and so escape the danger. But here again this selfish reasoner is met by the saine stern necessity, so to c,all it. The law of his nature is urged upon him, by the Creator of that law; a sort of uncontrollable destiny is represented as encompassing him; the destiny of accountableness, the fate of being free, the unalienable prerogative of choosing between life and death, the inevitable prospect of heaven and hell_ " Out of thine servant. — own mouth will I j udge thee, thon wicked " " Cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness. '' And so again of Judas our Lord says, " Woe unto that man by whom the Son o1 man is betrayed. It had Luke xix. 22. ]XIatt. xxv. 30.
54 AccoEtaice of" beeu good for that mau if he had hot been born." Yet he was born, he was suffered to betl"ay, and he -as condemned. The saine is the doctrine of the Old Testament; as, for example, lu the nemorable words in the prophet Ezekiel, in which Almighty God says to the Israelites, "That which cometh into your mind sha no be at all, that ye say, We wi be as the heathen, as the faes of the countries, to serve wood and stone; As I lire, saith the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out ann, and with fury poured out, will I rulc over you..... And I wN cause you to pass undcr the rod, and I wfll bring you into the bond of the COVellat." 5 ow, before proeeeding to observe upon this very solemn and ceoEain truth (ceain if Scripture is true), I wofld entreat you to consider who it is who has propounded it in the parable in question. It is our Lord Crist. Here, as in other places, He bas hot left to His " servants,He bas taken upou Himself (what may be caHed) the respousibility, I might even say the oum, of declariug startling doctrines. Consider then His words and works, as displayed in the Gospels. Is Ne hot the author of a religion which we every day hear called, and most truly called, nfld, beneficent, charitable, and cheering? Is hot His om character, as the common voice of all men proclaims, nmst meek, gentle, considerate, and loving? Can any one read the historv of His life and death without being himself convinced of the trnth of this universal judgment? much more, Ez. xx. 32-37.
teli,ious Privilces Co»ulso3,. 55 ean any one in any degree enter into the depths of he gracions doctrine of he Aonemen, His expiation of sin on he Cross, withouL possessing a elear assurance haL here is nohing in the whole world hag ean be done for us which He has no done and wl hOt do? Ye He if is who leaves us under this bond. By His sighs and tears then, by His tosome wanderings, by His earlleSt speeches, by His agony and death, by all Ite has done, all He bas sufired, He seems fo cntreat us to bave confidence in lIim; He condescends fo entreat us fo take on t«'ust the trutl and the equity of His words, when He declares tllat we are compelled to receive God's mercies, yet 1)unished for the misuse of them. Now I shaH enlarge somewhat upon the general state of the case, and then show how Christians are especiaHy interested in 1. In the firs place, consider what first of all presents itself to out thoughts, out birth into the world. Allow that this is a world of enjoent, yet unquestionably it is a wofld of care and pn also. Most men wfll judge that the pain on the whole exceeds the enjoyment on the whole. But, whether this be so or hot wifl most men, even if there be o man in the whole world who thinks so, that is enough for my ppose. It is enough for my purpose, if Olfly there be one person to be round, who fl6nks sickness, disappointment, anxiety, affliction, suflçring, fear, to be such grievous ills, that he had rather not have been born. If this be the sentiment only of one man, flat one man, it is plain, is, as regards his very existence, what the Christian relatively to his new birth, an unwilling recipient of a gift. We are not a.sked, whether we will choose this world, efore we are born into if. We a.re brought under file yoke of it, whether we will or no; since we p]ainly cannot choose or hot choose before the power of choice is bestowed on us, this gift of a mortal nature. This is oue of the thoughts which fo the pride of reflecting but irreligious minds is sometimes a stumling block. Arrogant, impatient, rebellious hearts, finding themselves possessed of this gift of life and reason, fight against what they cannot undo—they tm'n it against itselt; and argue against it ly means of if. They beat and lweak thcmselves fl'uitlessly against the destiny to which they are chained; and since they cannot anmfl their creation, they think to revenge themselves by blaspht, mously rising against their Creator. " Why ara I ruade? why cannot I annihilate myself? why must I surfer?" Such as these are the questions with which they fatigue themselves; sometimes even rushing out of life by self-inflicted violence, from the frantic hope that perchance t.hey bave power over their own being. And when they have committed that fatal deed, and find themselves, as assuredly they do, still sentient, conscious, independent beings, with their own thoughts and wills and tastes a.nd j udgments, who can imagite the horror that possesses them in that their new state of existence? the horror of findiug themseh'es without bodies, without any thing to touch, any thing to turn upon, and ï'eak their fury upon, with nothing but themselves,without bodies, yet living, living without aught of power over the 1)rinciple of their life, which rests upon the will of Itiln alone, who called them into being, and whom they have blasphemed! Or sometimes this wmt of resignation takes another turn. l[any there are who, without thus rising against the will of God, yet will hot adroit that itis their duty to serve Hiln,«der that dispensation, whatever itis, to which He has chosen to subject them, that they are accountable for what they do, and must brhg forth from withh, by the power of their will, what may duly respçnd to the circumstances in which they stand. Accordingly, they dcliberately and on principle suft-br themselves to be borne down the stream of lire passively, by whatever happens fo them. ])oes temptation corne to theln? they yield fo it; does danger? they are cowards; inducements to virtue? they are virtuous; is religion in fashion? they take up a profession; in no case entering into the simple and momentous truth, that the circumstances which corne upon them, are matters external both fo their own choice and their responsibility,—are but conditions appointed by Ahnighty Goal, under xvlfich they final themselves placed (why, it boots hot to inquire), and which it is their wisdom fo take as such, to take, use, and improve. I have noticed these instances of want of resignation, hot for their own sake, but in order fo illustrate, by the contrast, that law of our birth, of which I ara speaking, riz., that we are brought, -ithout our consent being asked, into a eert.ain state of things, into a life of suffering, and of moral discipline; and a imperatively required to obey God,endcr it, as if we had brought ourselves into if, on t.he pain of fearful eonsequences, if we do hot.
58 A cccptcmce a./" 2. Such is our condition as men; it is the saine as Christians. For instance, we are hot allowed to 'ow up before choosing our religion. We as little choose our religion as we choose tobe born. Itis donc for us without Ollr having part in it. We are baptized in infancy. Our sponsors promise for us. Now considering how great on the one hand the privileges of Baptism are, and on the other how ga'eat the risk of resisting and abusing tbem, this is a very serious thought. St. Paul's words about the danger of quenching the gift of grace are decisive" If is impossible (he says) for those who were once enlightened, and lmve tasted of the heavenly gift, a.nd were paoEakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to corne, if they shall fa away, to renew them again mto repentance. '' Now I can fancy a person saying, who had fallen into sin, " 0 tbat I had never been baptized 0 that I did hot incur this great isk 0 that the one Baptism once flpl-died for the remission of sins were yet to corne 0 that I had hot alredy had that cleansing once for a, and were quit of the necessity of striving continuaEy to keep myself in the state into which I lmve been brought!" But this cannot be; we are Christians flore our emqiest years, we can decline neither the great privfiege nor the responsibility of it; and, instead of shrinking from the responsibility, rather we nmst comfort ourselves with the privilege, with the contemplation of the fulness of the aid given us to help us in all onr trials; and, thus encouraged, ve must go on to co-operate with God manfly. Heb. ri. 4-6.
So again with respect to out education. We are brought up as Christians. We may hot, we camot stand aloof, and say we will keep out judganent unbiassed, and decide for ourselves. We find ourselves Cltristians; ald our duty is, hOt fo consider what we should do if we were hot Christians,—not to go about dispu¢.ing, sifting the evidence for Christianity, weighing this side or that, —but to act upon the rules given us, till we have reaso to think them wrong, and fo bring home to oursel-es thc truth of them, as we go on, by acting Ul)On them,—by their fruits on ourselves. Heathens indeed may be bound to go into the questiou of evidences, but our duty is to use the talents of which we find ourselves possessed, and fo essay their genuitleness by deeds, hot by arguments. These are instances (such as I proposed to give) of out being forced into the possession of certain advantages or disadvantages, and being obliged to act up to this our state, to co-operte with it, according to the inward power givet us, instead of drawing back fronl it. ¥ou sec how parallel the Christian meflod is to that of n,ture. God al)points us by nature to be the sons of sinfnl Adam, responsible beings, with never-d34ng souls, by force, as it were; and by means of the Church, in like manner, He ves us the Sacrament of the new birth, and educates us in right principles, whether we will or no. 3. But this comlmlsion ot the par of the Church is still more urgent and extensive thmt I have yet mentioned, and it may be right therefore to give a few additional instances of it, it order to impress upol your mitlds tlte principle on which it is founded.
60 M ccqSz'ace of First, then, I wili instance the remarkable fact, that (as it appears) whole households werc baptized by the Apostles, which must include slaves as weH as children. It wou]d seem that grown persons, if dependent on the toaster of the bouse, were, on his conversion, ruade partkers of his privileges and his duties. This was so ordcred in the ç)hI Testament, in the case of Abra.ham, whose circumcision was followcd, by divine command, by the circumcision of his servants with him; "all the men of bis house, born in the house, and bought with money of the stranger." v Ia like manner we read in the Acts, tht when Lydi was converted, hot only she hcrself ws baptized, but, ahnost as a »attcr of corsc (for such is the impressi3n conveyed by the sacred narrative), "her household" 8 was baptized also. Again, when the jailor at Hfilippi is baptized, it is hot oMy ho, but "he and all his stra.ightway." Again, in the first Epistle to t. Paul speaks of having ba.ptized the the Corinthias, " household of Stephanas." 9 The circumstances and conditions requisite for this procedure, and the mitations 1,y which it was guarded, need hot here be considered; I wish mere]y to point out the princip]e involved in the procedure itse. Another remarkable instance of the force which 'as put upon men by the early Church, w be found in the then existing tsage of bringing such as had the necessary gifts to ordination, wifl,out asking their consent. The primitive Christians looked upon Ordination very differet]y (alas for ourselves ) very differently from this age. Now the ministerial oce is often regarded as Gen. xvii. 2î. s Acts xvi. 15, 33. 9 1 Cor. i. 16.
_profcssion of this world,—a provision, a livelihood; it is associated in men's minds with a comparatively easy, or af least hot a troubled life,—with respectability and comfort, a competency, a position in society. Alas tbr us! we feel none of those terrors about if, which ruade the eafly Christians flee from if! But in their eyes (putting aside the risk of undertaking if in times of persecution) if was so solenm a function, that the holier a man was, the less inclined he felt fo undertake if. They felt that it was in some sort fo incur the responsibility of other men, and fo be put in trust with their salvation; they Mt if was scarcely possible to engage in if, without the risk of being besprinlded with the blood of ruined souls. They understood somewhat of St. Paul's language when he said that necessity was laid upon him, and woe fo him unless he preached the Gospel. In consequence they shrank from the work, as though (to use a weak sinfilitude) they had been bid dire down for pearls af the bottom of the sea, or scale some precipitous and dizzy cliff. True, they knew that abundance of heavenly aid wotfld be given them, according fo their need; but they knew also, that even if any part of the work was fo be their own, though they were only called on to co-operate with God, that was in such a case fera'- ftfl undertaking enough: So they literally fled away in many instances, when they were called to the sa.cred office; and the Church as literally took them by force, and (after the precedent of St. Paurs own convesion) laid necessity upon them. Once more, consider the conduct of the Church from the very first rime any civil countenance was extended
6 cccltazce of towards it, and you will bave fresh instance of this constraining principle of which I speak. Wlmt are national conversions, such as took place in the middle ages, Men kings submitted to tire Gospel and the people followed, but going out into the highways and bedgds, and eompelling men fo eome in? And though we ean eoneeive cases in whieh this urgeney was un- sely, over-strongly, unseasonably, or too extensively applied, yet the prineiple of itis no other than that of the Baptism of households mentioned in the Aets. Again, what was it but this religious and elmritable tbree (so to eall it) whid once guarded the truc doctrine xxqth state penMties, and ruade a man think twiee and thriee before he rashly uttered any light words, or promulgated any heterodox tenet? a publie duty, whieh is now altogether negleeted, from the abuse of it in certain rimes and places, and the proneness of men on a re-action to nm from one extreme into another. 4. And now let me notice, in conclusion, tire light which the law of Prodence I bave been explaining casts upon the circumstances and mode in wlfich one other ordinance of the Church is administered,I nean Confirmation. Though in some respects individual Christians are Mways under the constraining power of the Church, yet as lire goes on, they are more and more withdrawn tom it; and, compm'ed xvith what they were in chfldhood, they nmy at a certain rime be caed ri'ce men. They enjoy no longer, at least in the saine sense as before, the iMvilege and mercy of being dependent. Cormation is the last act on the part of the Church before she l»arts with them. She blesses flem, and sends them out from the home of their youth to seek their fortunes in the world. She ends ber constraint of them by a 1)lessing; she blesses them by force and lets them go. They are sent to receive if by their friends; they submit, and are then set free. 0 my brethren, both young and old, this is an awfnl thought,—a most affecting thought, indeed, to those who witness a Confirmation, but a lnOSt awfnl thought to those who take part in if. You who bave the care of young peol)le, see toit that you bring them tobe confirmed; ]et hot the rime slip by; let thcm hot get too old. Why? because then you camot bring them; the rime of constraint is 1)assed; they are their own masters, tut you will say that you may perhaps still have influence with your children and del)endents, and can get them to corne, though they be 1)ast age. 0 but what if we be hot willing to receive them? So perchance it may be. I mean, that when a man or wolnan is own, much more is re([uired of them than before, and they less likely tobe able to answer if. \'Vhen persons are young, before their minds are formed, ere they have sttllied their baptismal robe, and contracted bad habits, this is the rime for Confirmation, which conveys to them grace whereby they may 1)erform that "good work" which taptism has begun in them. tut when they bave gone into the world,—whatever their age be, for if varies in different persons,when thev bave begun the war with world, flesh, and devil, when their minds are now grown into some determinate shape, and much moe when they have wilfully sinned in any oss way, are they likely to be fitly prepared for Confirmation, even if they are persuaded to offer themselves?
6 4.,4ccc;b/a«cc of When a grown person con»es coldly, and indifferently, and merely because his friends senti him to us, can we, ministers of Christ, receive him? Can we receive, as if being in. mere negative state, one who, as being of mature years, ought to be nmture in lais religious principles,lso? Beware, then, all who have the care of the young, lest you let slip the rime of bringing them for God's grace, when you can bring them, for it will hot rcturn. Bring them while their healoEs are tender: they may escape from you, and you may hOt be able to recla.im them. On the other hand, the sanie considerations corne home with greater tbrce to the young themselves: it is their own concern. They who are of an age fo be confirmed should corne fo be confirmed af once, lest they get too old to be confined,I mean lest they be first confirmed i another way, a vay which will keep them from this holy confirmation, lest they receive that miserable confirmation, which those bave who nsh into sin,the touch of this infectious world, 8nd the imposition of the devil's hand upon thenl. You do hot know yourselves, my brethren; you cannot answer for yourselves; you cammt trust your own promises about yourselves; you do hot know what will become of you, unless you receive the gifts of grace wlcn they are offeïed. They are, as it were, ïorced upon you now. If you put them from you, doubtless you tan in this case overcome that force, you tan be stronger than God's mercy. You may put off this holy ordinance, because you do hOt at present like a strict religious life,—because you take no interest in your eternal prospects. Alas! for what you ka»ow, you will be taking a step never o be retrieved. This blessed means of grace, perchance would change yvur heart and will, and make you lvve God's service. But the seasolt once los will never return. Year after year lnay 1,ass, and you will be further and further from God. Perhaps you will rush into open and wilflfi sin: perhaps hot; but. still without loving G,d a all the more. Your heart nmy be upon tire worhl; you may pass through lire in a c,Ad, unbelieving, lmrrow sl,irit, with no high aires, u, love ,f things invisil,le, m» h,ve of Christ yotu-Saviour. This will be the cnd of your refusing the loving COlnl,ulsi,,n,ff Almighty God:—s];very to this worhl, and to the god of this world. God save us all, young and ol,], from this, through Jesus Christ.