Parochial and Plain Sermons

I1EN out Lord was.leaving t[is Apostles, and they were sorrowfld, IIe consoled theln by the prmnise of another Guide and Teacher, on whom they might rely instead of Him, and who should be more to thcm even t.han He had been. He promised them the Third Person in the E,er-blessed Trinity, the Holy Ghost, tl)e Spirit of Himself and of His Father, who should eome invisibly, and with the greater power and eolnfort, inasmueh as He was invisible; so that tlis 1,resenee would be more real and eflïeaeious by how mueh it was more eeret and inscrutable. At the saine rime this new and most graeious Colnforter, while bringing a higher blessedness, would hot in any degree obscure or hide what had gone before. Though He did more for the Apostles than Crist had done, He would hot throw into the shade and supersede Him hom He sueeeeded. How eould that be? who eould eome greater or holier than the Son of God? who eould obscure t.he Lord of glory? how eould the Holy Ghost, who was one with the Son, and the Spirit proceeding from the Son, do otherwise than manifcst the Son, while manifestig Himself? how could tic fail to illuminate the mercies and perfections of IIiln, whose dcath upon the Cross opelmd a. way for l[imself, the Holy Ghost, to be gmcious to lnan also? Accordingly, though it was expedient that the Son should «,,o away, in order that the Colnfi, rter might Colne, we did hot lose the sight of the Son in the 1,rcsence of the Colnforter. On the contrary, Christ CXlWessly ammunced fo the Apostles concerning Him, in thc words of the text, "tIe shall glwify Me." Now these words lead us first fo consider in what special way the l loly Ghost gives glory to the Son of (od; and next to inquire whether there is hot in this appointment some trace of a general 1,nw of Divine Providence, which is observed, as in Scripture, so in the world's affairs. The special way in which God the Holy Ghost gave glory fo God the Son, seems to h,nve been His revealing l[im as the 0nly-l,egot, ten Sm of the Father, who had al,peared as the Son of ma.n. 0ur Saviour said most ldainly, that He was the Son of God; but it is one tlling to declare the who]e truth, another to receive it. 0ur Saviour said all th,nt need be said, but, His Apostles understood ]Iim hot. Nay, qen they ruade confession, and that in faith, and by the secret grace of God, and therefiwe a.cceptflly to Christ, still they understood hot fully vlmt theysaid. St. t'eter acknowledged Him as the Christ, the Son of God. So did the centurion who was present at His crucifixion. I)id that centmqon, when he said, "Truly, this was the Son of God," understand his own words?

Surely hot. Nor did St.. Peter, though he sp,ke, hot through flesh and blood, but by the revelatin of the Father. Had he mderst.ood, eould he so s(on after, when out Lord spoke of llis passion whieh lav 1,etbre Him, ha.ve presmned to "take ltim, and begin to rebuke IIim?" Crtainly he did hot understand t.hat out Lord, as being the Son of God, was hot the ereature of (l,d, but the Eternal -Word, the Only-begotten S,m of the Father, one witlt Him in substance, distinct, in l'erson. And when we h.ok into mr Savit.ur's ctmduct in the days of t[is ttesh, we find that, He 1,urposely eoneealed that knowledge, whieh yet l[e gave; as if intending it sho:tld be enjoyed, but hot at once; as if Itis words were to stand, but to wait awhile ftr their intm]n'etatim:; as if reserving t.hen: for His eoming, who at once was to bring Christ and His words int.o the light. Thus when the young ruler came to Him, and said," (food Master," He showed Itimself more desirous of eon'eeting him than of revealing IIimself, desirous rather to makc him weigh his words, than Himself to aceept them. At another time, when He had so fa.r diselosed Himself that the Jews aeeused Him of blasphemy, in that Ite, beh:g a man, ruade Himself God, Nf from repeating and.insist.ing on the sacred Truth whieh they rejeeted, He invalidated the terres in which He had emveyed it, by intimating t.hat even the prophets of the Old Testament were ealled gods as well as He. And when He stood before Pilate, He re%sed t.o bear witness to Himself, or sa.v what He was, or whenee He came. Thus He was among them "as he that serveth." Apparently, it was hot till after His resm'reetion, and especially after His ascension, when the H,-,ly Ghost deseended, l,ha.t the Apostles understood who had been with t.hem. When all was over thcy knew it, hot at the t, ine. Now here we see, I t, hink, t, he trace of a general principlc, which cornes befm'e us again and again both in Seripnre and in the world, that God's presenee is hot discerned a.t the rime when itis upon us, but afterwards, when we louk back llpOll what is gone and over. I hr Sa¥i,»ur's hist,-a'y itself will supply instances in evidence of the existence of this remarkable law. St. l'hilip, fir instance, when he asked o see ghe Ahnighty Father, litle understood the privilege he had already so lmg mioyed; aeeordingly, out Lord answered, " llave I been so long t.ime with yon, and yet hasL thou nv knmvn Me, Philip " Again, on anoflmr oeeasion, He said o S. l'eter, "XX'ha I du thou knowest hot now, bu thon shal know hereatter. Again, " These things understood noL His disciples ai the first; but when desus was glorified, then rememhêred tley t.ha these things were written of Him, and that they had done tlese things unto Him. '' And in like manner while IIe talked with the two disciples going fo Emmaus, their eyes were hdden t.hag t.hey did hOt know tIim. When they reeognized Him, a once He vanished oug of tiroir signet.. çh,', "fley said one o another, id nog our heart burn within us, while He talked witlt us by tle way " Snch oo are the foHowing, taken from the Old Testament. daeob, when he fled from lis brother, "lighed x John xiii. î.  John xii. 16.  Luke xxiv. 3.

bz _Rcc»bralce. 257 upon a cerf.aih place, and tarried ghere all nighg, beeause the sun was se." In his sleep he saw the vision of Angels, and the Lord above ghem. Aeeordingly when he awaked oug of his sleep, he said, « Surely the Lord is in this place, and I l«mw it hot. And ho was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this 1,lace  This is none othcr but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. '' Again, afler wrestling all night with the Augel, hot knowing who it was, and askiug after I[is naine, then af length "Jaeob called the nmne of the 1,lace Peniel; I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. '' So again, after the Angel had departed from Gideon, who had treated IIim like a man, then, aud hot t then, he discovered who had been with him, and he said, "Alas, O Lord God; for because I have seen an Angel of the Lord face to face. '' And so in like ruminer, after tire Angel had departed from Manoah and his wife, then, and hot till then, they diseovered Him. Then "they fell on their faces to the ground..... And Imoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, beeause we have seen God. '' Such is God's rule in Scriptm'e, to dispense His blessings, silently and seeretly; so that we do hot discern them at the time, exeept by faith, afterwards only. Of which, as. I have said, we have two special hst.ances in the very outline of the Gospel history; the mission of out Saviour, who was hot understood t.ill afterwards to be the Son of God Most High, and the mission of the Holy Ghost, whieh was stfll more laden with spiritual a Gen. xviii. 11-17.  Gen. xxxii, g0.  Judges vi. 22. r Ib. xiii. 20, 22. IV] R

 5  C/risl benefi,s, and is sill more secret. Flesh nd blood could no diseern he Son of God, even when He n'ough visible mmeles; the numl man siI1 less discerns the flhgs of the Spiri of God; ye in the nex wofld all shaI1 be condelnned, fi)r not believing here what i w never given them fo see. Thus the presence of God is like l[is gh»ry as if appered fo Moses; He said, "Thou canst hot see my face.... and lire;" but He passed by, and Noses saw that glory, as if retired, which he might hot see in front, or in passing; he saw if, and he ackno Icdged it, and "madc baste and bowed his head toward the carth, and worshippcd. ''s Now considt,r how parallel this is to what takes place in the providences of daily lire. Events happen to us pleasant or painfifl; we do hot know at the time the memting of them, we do hot see Gvd's hand in them. If indced we hure faith, we confess what we do hot see, and take aH that happens as His; but whether we wfll aceept it in faith or hot, eertainly flwre is no other way of a.eeepthg it. We see nothing. We see hot why things corne, or whither they tend. Jaeob eried out on one oeeasim, "Ail these things are agafist me;" certainly so they seemed to be. One son ruade away wifl by the test, another  prison in a foreign land, a thfid demanded;" [e have ye bereavcd of my chfidren; Joseph is hot, and Simeon is hot, and ye w take Benjamin away: all these thiugs are against me." Yet all these things wcre wofldng for good. Or pursue the fortunes of the favourite and holy yout, h who was the first taken from him; sold by his brethren to strangers, s Exod. xiii. 20; xxxiv. 8. 9 Gen. xlii. 86.

carried into Egypt, tempted by a very perilous temptation, overeoming it but hot rewarded, thrown into prison, the iron entering into his soul, waiting there till the Lord should be gracious, and "look down from heaven;" but waiting—why? and how long? I is said again and agNn in the sacred narrative, "The Lord was with Joseph;" but do you think he sava the rime any tokens of God? any tokens, excep so far as by faith he realized them, in fifith he saw them? llis faith was it, s own reward; whieh to the eye of reason was no reward ai al], fir fa.ih forsooth did but j udge of things by that stmdard whieh if had originally set up, and pronounce that Joseph was halpy beeause he ought fo be so. Thus though the Lord was with him, apparently al] things were against him. Ye aftervards he sav, what was so myserious ai the rime;—" God did send me before you," he said to his brethren, " fo preserve lire..... It was hot you that sent me hither, but God; and He hath ruade me a father fo l'haraoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of EgypC' XVondefful providence hdeed, which is so silent, yet so efficaeious, so constant, so unerring! This is what bafttes tlle power of Satan. He cannot discen the Hand of God in what goes on; and though he would fain meet it and encounter it, in his mad and blasphemous rebellion against heaven, he cannot find if. Crafty and penerating as he is, yet his thousand eyes and his many instruments avail him nothing against the majestie serene silence, the holy iluperturbable eahn whieh reigns through the providences of God. Crafty and experienced as he is, he appears like a child or a fool, like one nmde

.',6o Christ 3[as«if csted sporl of, whose daily bread is bul failure and mockery, h,fore the deep and secre wisdoln of Lhe Divine Counsels. He lnakes a gness here, or does a bold ac Lhere, lm all in t.he da.rk, lit knew no of Gal,riel's COlning, and the miraculous conception of the Virgin,  or what was meant, l»y tha lI,ly Thing whi« was fo be lOrll, being ealled the S,m of (lod. l[e t.ried fo Mil IIiln, and he ruade martyrs of the innocent ehildren; he telnl»ted the L,ml of a.ll wit, h hunger and with alnbitious pr(»speets; he sifted the Al«stles, and got n,me but. one who already 1,we his mwa naine, and had leell already given over as a devil, lit rose agains his I lod in his full srengt.h, in tht. h,mr and lower of darkness, and then he seelned to eonquer; but. with his utmos effort, and as his grea- es aehievement., he did no mare than "whasoever Thy hand and Thy eounsel deermined before tobe done. ''2 He hrought ino the wafld the very salvation whieh he feared and hated. He aeeolnplished the Atonelneng of tha wofld, whnse lnisery tte was plott.ing. Wonderfiflly silent., yeg resist.less eaurse of God's providenee  "Verily, Th,-»u art, a (lori tha hidesg Thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour;" and if PvPn devils, sagaeious as they are, spil'its by nat, ure and experieneed in evil, eanno detec His hand, while He works, hOW ean we hope to see it exeep l»y tha way whieh the devils ealmO ake, by a loving fait.h? how ean we see i exeep afterwards as a reward to out faih, beholding the eloud of glory in the distance, whieh when presen was too rare and impalpable for mort.al sense? And so, again, in a number of ogher occurrences, no  Vid. Ignat. ad Eph. 19. = Aets iv. 28.

striking, not grievous, hot pleasant, but ordinary, we are able afterwards fo discern that He has been with us, and, like Moses, fo worship Him. Let a person who trusts he is on the whole serving God acceptably, look back upon his past life, and he will find how critical were moments and acts, which af the rime seemed the most indifferent: as for instance, the school he was sent fo as a child, the occasion of his falling in with those persons who have m)st benefited him, the accidents which determined his calling or prospects whatever they were. God's hand is ever over His own, and He leads them tbrward by a way they know hot of. The utmost they can dois to believe, what they cannot see now, what they shall see hereafter; and as believing, fo act together with God towards it. And hence perchance itis, that years that are past bear in retrospect so much of fragrance with them, though at the rime perhaps we saw little in them fo take pleasure in; or rather we did hot, could hot realize that we u,ere receiving pleasure, though we received if. We received pleasure, because we were in the presence of (lod, but we knew. it not; we knew hot what-«;e received; we did hot bring home to ourselves or reflect upon the l?leasm-e we were receiving; but afterwaMs, when enjoyment is past, reflection cornes in. We feel af the rime; we recognize and reason afterwards. Such, I say, is the sweetness and softness with which days long passed away fall upon the memory, and strike us. The most ordinary years, when we seemed to be living for not.hing, these shine forth to us in their very regularity and orderly course. What was sameness at the rime, is now stability;

what was dulness, is now a soothing ca.hn; what seemed unprofitab]e, has now its treasure in itse]f; wlmt was but monotony, is now harmony; all is pleasing and comfortable, and we regard it all vith affection.:Nay, even sorrowfifl times (which at first sight is wonderfifl)are thus softened and illumi,mted afterwards: yet why should they hot be so, since then, more tban at other times, o,r ]»rd is present, when He seems leaving His own fo des,lateness and orphanhood? The planting of Christ's Cross in the heart is sharp and trying; but the sta.Wly trce rears itself aloft, and has fait bronches and rich ff,dt, and is go-d to 1,,,k Ul,On. And if all this be true, even of s,d or of ordilmry times, nuch more does if hohl good of seaso,, of religious obedience and comfort. Such are the feelil,gS with which men often look back on their cbildhood, when any accident brings if vividly before theln. Some relie or token of that early thne, some spot, or some book, or a word, or a scent, or a sound, brings them back in menory fo the iîrst years of their discipleship, and they then see, vlmt they could hot know at the rime, that God's presence went up 'ith them and gave them rest.:N,y, even now perhaps they are ul, a},le fo discern fidly what it was which n, ade that ri,ne so bright and gl,)rious. They are fifll of tender, affectionate tho,ghts towards those first years, but they do hot k,,ow why. They think it is those very years which they year,, after, whereas if is the presence of God which, as they now see, was then over them, vhich aftracts them. They think that they regret the past, when they are but longing after the future. If is hot that they wotfld be children again, but that they would be Angels

çn c»ec»zbrazcc.  63 and would see Goal; they would be immortel beings, crowned wih marnfl, robed in whie, nd wifl plms in heir hnds, before Uis throne. What happons in fle fortunes of individuals, happens also to the Church. Its pleasant times are pleasaut in memory. We camot know who are great aud who are little, what rimes are serious and what are their effects, till afterwards. Then we make much of the abçde, and the goings out aud the comings in of those who in their day lived familiarly wifl us, aud seemed like other men. Then we g'ather up thê recollection of what they did here, and what they said there. Then their pemecutors, however powerful, are hot l«mwn or spoken of, except by way of settiug off thcir achievements and triumphs in the Gospel. "Kings of fle earth, and the great men, and rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men," who in their day so magnified themselves, so ravaged uud deformed the Church, that if could hot be seen except by tçnifl, then are fi)und in nowise fo have infringed the continuity of its ouflines, which shine out clear and glorious, and even more delicate and teuder for the very attempt to obterate them. If needs very litfle study of history to prove how really this is the case; how little schism and divis.ions aud disorders and troubles and fears and persecutions and scatterings and flreatenings interfere wifl tire glory of Christ Mystical, as looked upon ufterwards, flcugh af the time they ahnost hid if. Great Saints, great events, great privileges, like the everlasting mountains, grow as we recede from them. And if is a sort of instinct, felt by the multitude, that they really are in possession of that wlfich they neither or a! but too la, a ïeçlin om over hm la om- ove'. believe that Christ is v«ith ns; hut after an inter-cal a sweetness breathes from them, as from Itis garments, "of m)n'fl, aloes, and cassia." Such is the memory of many OE Holy Communion in Church, of Holy Coinmunions solenmized af a sick-bed, of Ba-ptisms assisted in, of Confirmation, of Matrice, of Ordination; nay, Services vhich at the time we could hot enjoy, from sickness, from agitation, from restlessness,—Services which af the time, in spite of our belief in their blcssedness, yet troublcd our wa.yward hearts,—Services which we were tempted fo think long, feared beforehand, nay, and wished over when they were performing (als! that we shodd be so blind and dead to our highest good), yet aft-erwoErds are full of God. We corne, like Jacob, in the darl, and lie down with a stone for our pillow; but when we rise again, and call to mind what has passed, we re- eollect we have seen a vision of Angels, and the Lord m«mifested through them, ad we are lcd to cry out, "How drexdful is this place! This is no»te olhcr than the bouse of God, and this is the gate of heavelL" To conclude. Let us profit by what every dxy and hour teaches us, as it flies. Wh,t is dark while it is meeting us, reflects the Sun of RighteousleSS when itis past. Let us profit by this in future, so fitr as this, to have fiilh i u,hat we ca.llllOt see. The vorhl scellS fo go on as usmfl. There is u«t.hing of heaven in the fitce of society; in the nevs of the day there is nothing of heaven; in the faces of the many, or of the great, or of the rich, or of the 1)usy, there is nothing of heaven; in the words of the eloquent, or the deeds of the powerM1, or the counsels of the wise, or the resolves of the lordly, or the pomps of the wealthy, there is nothing of heaven. And yet the Ever-blessed Spirit of God is here; the Presence of the Eternal,qon, ten tilnes more glorious, more powerful t.han when He trod the earth ilt oar flesh, is with us. Let us ever bear in mind this divine tmth, —the more secret God's hand is, the more powerflfl— the more silent., the more awful. We are under the avful lnilfistration of the Spirit, against whom whoso speaks, hazards more than can be reckoned up; whom whoso grieves, loses lnore of blessing and glory than can be fathomed. The Lord was with Josel)h, and the Lord vas with David, and the Lord, in the days of His flesh, was with His Apostles; but now, He is with us il the S1)irit. And inasmuch as the Divine Spirit is more than flesh and blood; inaslnuch as the risen and glorified Saviour is more powerM1 th,n when He was in t.he form

66 Christ [aeoE«stcd, .c. of a servant; inasmue as the Eternal Word, spiritualizing His own ma.nhood, has nmre of virtue for us, and grace, and blessing, and lire, than when concealed in if, a.nd subject to temptation and pain; inasmuch as faith is more blessed than sight.; by so much more are we now more highly privileged, ha.ve more tit.le tobe called kings and priests unto God, even than the disciples who saw and touched llim. fie who glorified Christ, imparts Him thus glorified to us. If IIe could work miracles in the da.ys of tlis flesh, how lnuch nlore eau He work miracles now? and if l[is visible miracles were flfll of power, h,w much more 1 Iis miracles invisible? Let us beg of Him grace wherewith to enter into the depth of our privileges,—to enjoy what we possess,—to believe in, to use, to improve, to gl,ry in out present gifts as "melnlers of Christ, children of God, and inheritors of the kingdom of heaven."