Parochial and Plain Sermons

LUKE xvii. 10. " When ye shall haz done all those things which are commanded you, say, II'e are unlgrofitable servants; we bave done that which, was out duty to do.'"

F, when we have done all, we are unprofitable, what are we when we have but a part? and then again, what are we, if that part itself be defective, and defiled with evil? There is no sort of question then, that ff reason is tobe judge, there can be no boasting towards God even on the part of His most matured saints and exactest servants. Therë can, I say, be no boasting, because whatever we do is the fruit of His grace, and because we do very little, and because, in spite of His grace, what we dois infected with sin, and because even if we did all, we should be doing no more than we are bound to do. I cannot conceive any one who fairly gave his mind to consider the marrer, whatever weight he might give to this or that consideration in particular, however disposed he might be fo exalt lfis natural powers, or his actual services, hot coming after all to this conclusion,— to this conclusion in the judgment of reason. And yet, it will be said, there are many persons in t«liance oz Obscrvaccs. 67 the world who are well pleased with what they are and what they do, who are weH satisfied with themselves, who fl6nk flmmselves in so fair a way tbr attaining heaven, tbat fley need hot give themselves any extraordinary trouble about it; who are what is commonly caHed self-rigqateous, h'ow self-righteous necessarily who are callcd so, because there is among us much unfair and harsh judging of the feclings and motives of others; but still after ail there  a state of mind which is self-righteous,I mean a state of mind in which a person has no serious fears of future judgment, and is well satisfied with himselE Certainly; but this is no objection to what I have been saying, you wiH final this to arise from persons 9wt thinking of God. Wlmt I said just now was, that no one who thinks seriously of Almighty God and himself, can pride himself on his services; but this is what men in genera.1 eannot bring themselves steadily to do. 8elf-rigqteous men are men who lire to the world, and do hot think of Goal. They do hot t.lfink of judgment as sure to eome one day or another. They have no fears for the fltture, beeause they have no prospeet about the future. They are contented with the present, and with themselves, beeanse they lire in what is visible and tangible, and do hot measure themseh'es by what is unseen and spiritual. " They, measuring themselves by themselves, and eomparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. for hot he tha eommendeth himself is approved, but. whom the Lord commendeth. '' Worhy men are seFrighteous nen.  2 Cor. x. 12, 18.

Another class of self-righteous men are they who do hot believe in the Divinity and Atonement of Christ. These men, again, do hot reay measure themselves by a hcavenly standard and l>y God's judgment; they measure themselves merely by their own cmscience, and their conscience is dark and blind. They have low and narr,w views of duty. Once mrc, meu who fasten their minds on any particular o]eet of religion short of (lod, beeome sclf-righteous, for they narrmv the field f duty, and make this,lject the measurc of it. fiente, whether men make benev,,lent schemes and exertious to be the whole of their religi,m, or cerem, mial observances,,)r maintenance,f truc doctrine,,r obedience to any other portion of (od's law, they are insensibly led to be satisfied with their own doings, both because of the vivid consciousness which this prominent ol,ject creates in them, that religi,,n is their chief empl,»yment, and becanse of the persuasion which readily cornes on them that they dulv act up to if. Such was the case of the Pharisee in the parahle. And if this is tnle in the case of objects and bservances good in themselves, much nmre will it happen when men place their religion in such things as are hot so;flm main fault in all cases being this, that the persons in question, instead of thinking anxiously of God raid His law, think only of a portion of it, which they have of thelnselves set apart, and make if a sort of ido]. On the whole, then, what I have said is true, tbat in spire f the existence of self-righteous men in fact, no one can really think himself meritorious in God's sight, who cornes seriously to consider hilnself and Goal, apparent exceptions being those cases in which persons do hot think duly of either. This I consider fo be the real state çf the case; however, the popular view of spiritual pride or self-righteousness is this, that those men are sel[:righteous, or in great da.nger of being so, who corne often to Church, and are diligent in their moral duties. 'ow this is le point on which I consider that there is a great deal of unfair and uncharitalle judgment mmmg us, pers,ms leing said t,o be satisfied with themselves w]to are really hot so. l[owever, out business is, when the world 1,lames and shmders us, hot fo be vexed at it, lmt rather fo eonsider whether there is any ibundation for it, any t.ruth at lottom, though there be exaggeration and lnistake. I eonceive a person may ahvays gain good to his own soul, gain instruction and useful suggestimis, by the mistakes of the world about him. Now then let us eonsider, ff'oto this hint given us 1,y ignorant and prejudieed men, whether we, who are blessed so frequently as we are with the ordilmnees of the Gospel, with the privege of Prayer and Holy Collllllllllion, are or are hot in any speeial danger of spiritual pride, or as of late years it has been caed, self-rigteousness. h'ow of course there is a danger of persons beeoming self-satisfied, in being regular and exelnlfla T in devotional exereises; there is danger, which others have hot, of their so attending fo them as fo foie'et that they have other duties to attend fo. I mean the danger, of which I was just lmW speaking, of having their attention drawn off from other dut.ies by their very-attention fo this duty in partieular. And what is 8I.ill lnost likely of aH, persons who are regular in their devotions may be visited with passing thoughts every now and then, that they are thereby better than other 1)eople; and these occasional thoughts may secretly tend to make them self-satisfied, without their being aware of it, till they have a latent habit of selï-conceit and contempt of others. Such cases certailfly are possible or probable; in none of theln do persons actually rely on their merit,,,r boastfiflly plead their services in God's sight; but still those services do sceln fo be a snare fo them, leading some of them to f,,rget how far they are from perfect.i,lt oit the whole, and how nmeh they sin; leading others fo forget that they have other duties also fo do; and encouraging others again in a quiet, unobtnsive selfeoml,lacency, while they still aeknowledge themselves to be simers. What is donc statedly forces itself upon the mind, impresses the melnory and imagination, and seems fo be a sd)slildc for other duties; and what is eontained iii definite outward aets has a completeness and tangible fonn about it, which is likely fo satisfj the mind. I do lmt deny then there is some danger, lest persons who are frequent in devotional services should be as the Pharisees,—do nothing else, and be well eontented that they do so much. Aceordingly you may hear ill-natured pêrsons, or seoffers, say severe things against those are strict in their religious observances, as if in other respeets they were vorse than others, or were hyl)oefitieal. Ai1 this is but the lanmge of the world, and hot fo be believed; still I do hot deny that persons who are frequent in prayers and other religious exereises should be jealous over themselves, and hot take for lcl@iozts Obscm,aJzccs. 7  granted hey are going on right, paricularly sinee their very srieness is a eall on hem for a more exaeg observance of heir oher duies. Bu all t, his is quine a different marrer, from sueh danger being au objectio fo observing devotional duties. If there is a danger, let it be watehed and prevented, but let hot the observance be omitted: there are few things whieh are hot dangêrous.:kll things may be perverted and abused. The great lesson se before us in the Gospel is to use the wodd wit, hou abusitg ig, and in ]ike manner fo use Ood's me'cics without abusing them. If fl'equent attendanee a he Lord's Table or af pra)-ers leads, unless we are watehfu], to spiritual pride, out duty is o bc watehful, no fo omit attendance. However, I do hot hink, after all, tha there is any very great danger to a serious mind in the t't'eluent use of these great privileges. Indeed, if vere a strange thing fo say hat the simple performance of wha God has told us fo do ca do harm o any but those who have not the love of God in their hearts, and to sueh persons ail hings are harlnful; lh«, perverg every thing into evil. If is impossible (prised be God!) t.ha earnes and humble mi_uds should derive any thing from Christ's ordinanees but those high and ineffable blessings whieh are lodged in them. Christ's gifts are hot snaa'es, but mereies. Lel us then see how this danger, which I have allowed o exis in devotional observances, is eounteraeted in t, he case of serious minds. 1. Now, first, the evil in question (supposing ig to exist) is singtdm'ly adapt, ed fo be its ow corrective. It cm only do us injury when we do hot know ifs exist.- ence. When a man knows and feels l.be int.rusion ot' self-satisfied and self-complacent thoughts, lmre is somet.hing at once to humble him and destroy that complaeeney. To know of a weakness is always huml,ling; now humilit.y is the very graee needed here. To know we are passionate, or slothful, or severe, is indeed the first step towards removing such defects, hut d,)es hot directlv tend to remove them. Knowledge of our indolence dt)es ntt encc, urage s to exertitm, but induces desl»ondenee; but to know we are self-satisfied is a direct 1,1mv to self-satisfimtion. There is nt satisfaction in 1,erceiving that we are self-satisfied. No one tan he self-righteous ",vh,» knows and laments his proud thoughts; 1,ut a persan may 1,e slothfll who knows and laments that he is sltthflfl. Here then is one great safeguard against our priding ourselves on out observances. Evil thoughts do us no hm'm, if reeognized, if repelled, if protested against by the indignatiou and self-reproach of the mind. If is when we do hot. discern them, wben we adroit them, wben we cherish t.lem, that they ripen intt principles. And if this is true of all lad thoughts, much more is it of tlmse now spoken of, which lmmble us on tbeir detection as much as they elate us on their first entranee. I do hot deny that t.he intrusion of sucb vain and tbolish thoughts takes off t¥om the comfin't of our devotion, when they occur; but that is anotber matter. The question is hot about comfi»rt, but about mischief. I is no good reason for gixring over devot.ional exercises, that we have hot ail the colnfort froln them which we might have. 2. But again, if religious persons are troub!ed witl ness, I think it is only when they a,re young i their religion, ami that the trial will wear off; ami that ffr maly reasons. I would hot ideed speak with undue decision on such a poilit,—every one has his partieular temptatios; yet oe shouhl hardly thik that a,y but mimls very young in the ihith, minds to whom religion was a new thig, wouhl pride t.hemselves o their perfirmances or rest upo them,I mean, would even have the temptation to do so; for surely if does ,t require much keemess of spiritual sight fo see how verv far our  ". best is ff-oto what it shouhl be. _atlsfactOli with our own doings, as I have said, arises ff'oto fixig the mind on some onc iart of our duty, instead of attemltilg the whole of it. hl proportion as we mwrow the field of out duties, we become alle to compass them. Men who pursue only this duty or ofly that duty, are i danger of self-righteousess;zealot.s, bigots, devotees, men of the worhl, sectarians, are for his rea.son seli:righteous. For the saine rea.son, persos begimfing a religious course are self-righteous, though they ofte think themselves just the reverse. They consider, perhal,s, a.ll religion to lie in confessing themselves sinners, a.d having warm feelings concernig their redemption and justification, in havig wht they consider faith; nd, as all this is fulfilled in them, they corne to think they have attained and re sure of heven; and all because they have s very contrcted  notion of the range of God's commalidments, of the rounds of tht ladder which reaches from earth to heven. And in the saine way, I adroit that religious persons who for one reason or another are led to begin a greater strictness than hitherto in their devotional observances, in attending prayers or the Lord's Supper, or in fasting, or in ahnsgiving, are, on beginning, in some danger of becoming self-satistied; for the saine reason,—as fixing their minds on one certain portion of their duty and becolning excited about it; and this the more, inasnmch as the observances in question are somethil N definite and precise, and on the «)ther hand are evidently neglectcd by others. But t.he remedy of t.he evil is t,bvious, and one which, since it will surely be applied by every religious person, beeause he is religious, will, under t_lod's grace, effect in no 1,_mg rime a cure. Try fo do your «hole duty, and you will soon cease to be well-pleased with your religious state. If you are in earnest, you will try to add to)'our faith virtue; and the more you eflect, the less will you seem to)-ourself to do. On the other hand, attend prayer and the Holy Eucharist without eorresponding strictness in other matters; and it is plain what will follow, from t-he nature of the lmman mind, without going to more solemn eonsiderat, ions. The more you neglect your daily, dolnestie, relative, temporal, duties, the more you will prize yourself on your (I cannot eall theln religious, your) formal, cerelnonial observances. Thus it is 1,1aih that self-sat.isfaction is the feeling cither of t beginner, or of a very defective and negligent Christian. 3. But this is hot ali. Certainly this objection, that devotional practices, such as prayer, ftsting, and eomnmnicating, tend to self-righteousness, is t.lte objection of those, or at least is just what the objection of those would be, who never attempted theln. Men speak as if if was the easiest thing in the world to fast and pray, and do austerities, and as if such courses were the lnost seductive, easiest, pleasantest, methods of attaining heaven. I do hOt deny that there are certain states of society, certain ages and countries, in which they are lnuch easier thm in others; but this is true of ail duties. We, for instance, of this day, find manliness and candor as easy as some eastern nations lnight find fating and meditation. But that is not the question. We are what we are,—Englishlnen; and for us who are active in our habits and social in our tempers, fasting and lneditation have no such great attractions, and are of no such easy obsel'allce. When then an objector fears lest such observances should make him self-righteous, were he to attempt theln, I do think he is over-anxious, overconfident in his own power to fulfil them; he trusts too much in his own strength already, raid, depend on it, to attenlpt them would make him less self-righteous, not more so. He need hOt be so very fearful of being too good; he nmy assure hilnself that the snlailest of his Lord's COlmnandments are to a spiritual lnind solenln, aMuous, and inexhaustible. Is it an easy tllillg to pray? It is easy to wait for a rush of feelings, and tllen to let our petitions be borne upon them; and never fo attempt the duty tiil then; but it is not af all easy fo be in tl.e habit day after day and honr after hour, in all frames of mind, and under ail outward eireumstances, to bring before God a ealm, eoileeted, awakened souk It is not at ail easy to keep the mind from wandering in prayer, to keep out ail intrusive thoughts about other things. It

76 2c[ia¢zce is hot af ail easy o realize wha we are about, who is lefore us, what we are seeking, and wha out stat.e is. IL is noç a all easy o flm»w off the world and go undersand ha God and Chris hear us, ha Saints and Angels are standing by us, and the devil desiring to have us. What indeed  after all meant, by asserthg that rcgular and stated prayers are dangerous to a sensitive and serious mind  They are dangerous to the blind and fin'mal; but so all things are; but where is the really serious mind that will say it is easy fo take delight in stated prayer, fo attend to if duly  Is hot af he best mr dclight in if transient, and our attention irregular  Is all this satisfactory and elating? And so again of austerities; there may be persons so constituted by nature as to take pleasure in modifications for their own sake, and to be alle to practise them adequately; and lhcy certainly arc in danger of practisiug them fi»r their own sakes, not through faith, and of becolning spiritually proud in consequence: but surely if is idle to speak of this as an ordinary danger. And so again a religious mind has a perpetual source of humiliation from this consciousness also, riz., hov far his actal condct i thc u, orld falls short of the profession which his devotimal observances involve. If is ms-irin- not an elating reflection, not a pleasant, hot an " 1 to think that you are making a profession vhich you must in some measure dishonour by your daily imperfections. There is nothing flattering and soothing in the thought tiret you are inviting the world to criticise you, and preparfig if fo expect more than if will find; fo say nothing of the more bitter feelings which the professions and the vows of obedience, nmde in Church and broken in the world, cost you when thought of in God's sight. Alas! is it at all a comfort to add to the catalogue of those sins which we nmst answer for in the Last Day? yet this we must do, or at least run the risk of it, if we attempt those services which some persons would persuade us necessarily tend to self-righteousness. 4. But, after all, what is this shrinking fmm responsibility, which fears to be obedient lest it shouhl fail, lut cowardice and ingratitude? What is it but the very eonduet of the Israelites, who, when Almighty God ].,ade them elmounter their enemies and so gain Canaan, feal'ed the sons of Anak, beeause they wcre gia.nts? To fear to do our duty lest we should beeolne self-righteous in doil N it, is to be wiser thal God; it is to distrust Him; it is to do and to feel like the unprotïtable servant who hid his Lord's talent, and then laid the charge of his sloth on his Lord, as being a hard and austere man. At best we are unprofitable servants when we have done ai1; but if we are but unprofitMle when we do out best to be profitable, what, are we, when we fear to do out best, but Ulworthy to be His sea-ants at all? No!to fcar the conseucnces of obedience is to be worldly-wise, and to go by reason when we are bid go by faith. Let us date to do His con» mandlnents, leaving to }Iiln fo bring us tlu'ongh, wllo has imposed them. Let us risk dangers which eallnot in truth be realized, however they threaten, sinee He has bid us risk theln, and will protect us in them. Let us bear, what probably will befal us, the assaults of Satan, the sins of infirmity, the remains of the old

7 8 ]eliazce oz Adam, involunt, ary mist, akes, the smart.ing of out wounds, and the dejeet, ion and desolateness ensuing, if it be His will. He has promised t,o lead us safely heavenward, in spire of all things being against tts; He will keep us from all wilïul sin: but the infirmit.ies whieh beset us, out ignoranees, waywardnesses, weaknesses, and miseoneeptions, these He stiil ordains should try us and humhle us, shç, uld more in us vexation of spirit and self-abasement., and should bring us day by day to the ri»or of Ilis Çross for pardon. Let us t,hen emnpose ourselves, and bear a firm and eourageous heart. Let us steel ourselves, not against self-reproaeh and self-hat.red, but against unmanly fear. Let us feel what we really are,—simers at.tempting great t,hings, and sueeeeding af besg only so far as fo show that we do at, telnpt t, hem. Let us simply obey God's will, whatever may befall; whether if tend fo elate us or t,o depress us, what is that fo us? He ean turn ail thhgs fo our et.ernal good. He ean bless and sanetify even our inflrmit, ies. He ean lovingly ehastise us, if we be puffed up, and He ean eheer us when we despond. He ean and will exalt us the more we affliet ourselves; and we shall aftliet ourselves the more, in true hmnbleness of mind, the more we really obey Him. Blessed are t.hey who in any marrer do His wiil; and they are thriee blessed who, in what they are doing, are also interesting themselves, as in the ease Mieh bas been under out eonsiderat, ion, in His speeial saeramental promises. Blessed indeed are they, who, while obeying God, are seeking Christ; who, while they do a dut, y, reeeive a privilege; wlo eommemorate IIis death because He bids them, and while they do so gain the virt,ue of it in t,he very eommelnorat,ioli; who live in ttim, both in t.he thought of Him and t,he possession of Him; who glory in Him who died for them, and was buried, and rose again, and now lires in their heart,s; who are willing fo t, ake t,heir part with Hinl, in suffering as in joy; who willingly assoeiat,e t,hemselves in that Mysterious Comnmnion whieh He offers theln, and whieb, thotgl if brings glory in the end, brings suffering and afftiet,ion af, present,,—which makes t, hem at present, in a speeial way heirs of tears and pain and disappointment, and reproaeh, heirs of speeial t, rials whieh may corne upon tsllelll t,hough they lire iii t,he most peaeeful t,imes, which anay corne withou t,he world perceiving t,hat, they differ in t,heir lo from ot,her men, t,rials whieh work for them a far more exeeeding and et,ernal weight of glory, and whieh in the presen world are reeompensed by the faih, humiliy, pat,ienee, and gentleness result.ing from them.