SERMON XXII.
MXRK xiii. 33. " Take ye heed, watch and Tray; for ye lnow hot wn the rime is.'"
UR Saviour gave this varning vhen He was leaving this world,—leaving it, that is, as far as His visible t)resence is concerned. He looked forward to the many hundred years which were to pass before He calne agah. He knew His own purpose and His Father's purl)ose gradually to leave the world to itself, gradually to withdraw froln it the tokens of His gracious presence. He contemplated, as contemplating all things, the neglect of Him which would spread even among his professed followers; the daring disobedience, and the loud words, which would be ventured agailtst Him and His Father by many wholn He had regenerated: and the coldness, cowardice, and tolemnce of error which would be dist)layed by others, who did hot go so far as to speak or to act against Him. He foresaw the state of the world and the Church, as we see it this day, when His prolonged absence has ruade it 1)ractically thought, that He never will corne back in visible 10resence; and in the
3 2o 1.Hatchh,Z text, He mereifidly whispers into out ears, hot to trust in vhat we see, hot fo shm'e in la geneml unbelief, no t.o be earried way by the wodd, but o " take heed, watch, pray," and h}ok ou tbr Ilis coming. Surely this graciois warning should be ever in our thoughts, being so preeise, so solemn, so earnes. He ftret,ohl I Ils firs COlUing, ye l le ook tlis Church by surprise whcn 1 Ie came; much more will 1 Ie eome suddenly the sec,ml rime, and overtake lnen, now thag lle has mcasm'ed,m the interval bcfore i, as then lle did, lcl out watehfllhmss to the keeping of fifith and love. Let. us thon consider this mosg sorious question, whieh concerns evory one of us so nem'ly;Whag ig is go watch tbr qn'ist? IIe says, "llç¢lch ye therefore, for ye know no when lle Master of t,lle house eometh; a even, or a£ midnight., or a£ the eock-crowing, or in the lnOrlfing; les eoming suddenly He find you sleeping. And wha I sav nnto you, I say unto all, ll¢tch. ''2 And again, " If the goodlnan of the house had known what hour the thief would eolne, lle would have lcachcd, and not have suffered his house to be broken t,hrough. '' A like warning is given elsewhere both by out Lord aud by I[is Al»ostles. For instance; we have the parable of the Ton Vilgins, rive of whom vere wise and rive foolish; on whom tbe 1,ridegn'OOln, a.ft.er tarrying ealne suddenly, and rive were ri_rond without oil. On which our Lord says, " Içttch therefi)re, for ye know neither the day nor the hourwhereil the Son of man eometh. ''« Again He says, "Take heed to yourselves, lest a.t any time your hearts a àpt,ue?r«. z Luke xfi. 89. a latt. xxv. 18.
be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this lire, and so that day corne upon you unawares; for as a snare shall if corne on all them that dwell on the rime of the whole earth. Watdt. ye therefore, and pray Mways, that ye lny be accounted wrthy fo escape all these things that shall corne fo pass, and to stand before the Son of man.,'» n like lnnner He upbraided Peter thus: " Simm, sleepest thou couldest no thou OEt,at«h one hour " In like ruminer St. Paul in his Epistle to the Rolnans. "Now it is high rime to awake out of sleep..... The night is far spent, the day is af hand. ''v Again," ltch ye, stand fast in the fifith, quit you like lnen, be strt,ng. ''8 " Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of tlis lnight; put on the whole annour of God, that ye lnay be able tt, stand against the wiles of the devil;.... that ye may be able fo withstand in the ev day, and having done all fo stand. '' "Let us hot sleep as do others, but let let us.watc]t and be sober. '' In like lnauuer St. Peter, "The end of all things is af hand; be ye therefore sober, and.wat«h unto prayer." "Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversa the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. ''s And St. John, "Behold I corne as a thief; blessed is he that icatð and keepeth his garments. '' Now I eonsider this word u, atching, first used by out Lord, then by the favoured Disciple, then by the two great Apostles, Peter and Parti, is a remarkable word; remarkable because the idea is hot so obvious as might Luke i. 36. gIark xiv. 37. Bore. MiL 11, 12. s 1 Cor. xvi. lg. Eph. ri. 10-1g. 1 Thess. v. 6. 1 Pet. iv. 7, vare, v. 8. Rev. x4. 15. i] x appear at first sight, and next because they all inculcate it. We m'e hot siml,ly to believe, but to watch; hot simp]y to love, but to watch; hot simply to obey, but to wat.ch; to vatch fir what? for that grcat e'ent, Christ's coming. Whether then we consider what is the obvious meaning of t.he word, or the Ol,ject towards which if direct.s us, we seem fo ste a special duty enjoined on us, such as does hot naturally corne into out minds. Most of us have a gcneraI idea what is meant by bclieving, fca.ring, h,ring, and obeying; but perhaps we do hot c mtmnplat.c or apprehend what is meant by watching. And I conceive it is ,ne of the main points, which, in a 1,racticM way, will be round to separate the true and perfect servants f God from the nnfititude called Christians; from those who are, I do hot say false and reprobate, but who are such that we cammt speak nluch a.bout them, nor can fornl any notion what will become of them. And in saying this, do hot understand me as saying, whieh [ do hot., that we tan tell for certain who are the perfect, and who the doulle-minded or incomplete Christians; or t.hat those who discourse and insist upon these suljects are necessarily on the right side of the line. I ara lmt speaking of two cha'actcrs, the truc and consistent ehamcter, and the inconsistent; and these I say will be fi,und in no slight degree discrinfinated and distinguished by this one nmrk,—true Christians, whoever they are, watch, and inconsistent Cristians do not. Now what is watching? I coneeive it may be explained as foilows:—Do you know the feeling in matters of this lire, of expecting a friend, expect.ing him to corne, md he delays? Do you
II'a/chfz. 3 2 3 knoxv wha i is to be in unpleasan eompany, and to wish ibr the t.ime to pass a.way, and the hour trike when you ma.y be af libery? Do you know what if is to be in anxiet,y les something should happen whieh may happen or ma.y hot, or to be in suspense abou some important event, which anakes your hear bea when you are reminded of i, and of which you think the first thing in the morning? Io you know vh it is to bave a friend in a distant country, to expec news of him, a.nd t,o wonder from day to da.y wlmt he is noxv doing, a.nd whether he is well? Do you know wlmt i is so to lire upon a person who is preseng with you, t,hag your eyes follov his, fla. you read his soul, th you see ail its changes in his eounenance, t,ha you anticipare his wishes, that you smfle in his smile, and are sad in his sa.dness, and are downcas when he is vexed, and rtjoiee in his suceesses? To waeh for Christ is a feeling such as all these; as far as feelings of this world are fi to shadow ou those of another. He wn.ches for Chris who has a sensitive, eager, apprehensive mind; who is awa.ke, alive, quick-sighted, zealous in seeking and honou6ng Him; who looks out tbr Him in ail t.hat happens, and who would hot be surprised,who would hot be over-agitated or overwhehned, if he found that He was confing af once. And he wa.tches «ilh Christ, who, whfle he looks on to çle future, looks back on the past, and does hot so eontemplate what his Saviour has purchased for him, as to forger what He bas suflçred for him. He watches with Christ, who ever commemorates and renews in his own person Christ's Cross and Agony, and gladly ta.kes up
3:4 lYa[c/zizzg. that mantle of affliction which Christ wore here, and lef behind Him when he aseended. And hence in Episfles, ofea as the insl)ired wriers show fleir desire fl)r His second coming, as offert do they show their mem,ry of His firs, and never lose sigh¢ of l[is Cntcifixion in His esurrection. Thus if S. Paul reminds the Ronrons that tbey "wait fir the redeml,tion of the _oty at the Last ])y, he also says, " If so be t]mt we s«'" with Hi», tbat we muy be also glorified together." If he speaks to the Corinthians of "waiting for the coming of our L,rd Jesus Christ," he also speaks of "always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lrd Jesus, that the lire also of Jesus might be nmde manifest in our body." If to the Philippians of "the power of His esm]ectmn," he adds at once a,nd the fdlowshi2 of His s«èrings, l_,eing ruade conformable unto His death." If he consoles the Colossians with the hope when Christ sha a I l»ear, of their al)l»earg with Hin] in lory, he has already declred tlmt he "fil[s /bat t,hi«h 'eai of thc aictions of Christ his flesh fi»r His body's ske, which is the Church. '' Thus the thought of what Christ is, nust hot obterate from the mind the thought of what He was; and faith is always sorrowing with Him while it rejoices. And the saine union of Ol, posite thoughts is iml»ressed on us in Holy Communion, in which we see Christ's death and resurrection together, af one and the saine time; we conmenmrate the one, we rejoice in the other; we make an offerg, and we gain a blessing. om. viii. 17-23. 1 Cor. i. 7. 2 Cor. iv. 10. Phil. iii. 10. Col. fil 4; i. t.
l5/chiz. 325 This tben is to watch; to be detached from wlmt is present, and to live in what is unseen; to live in the thought of Christ as He came once, and as I[e will eome again; t« desire His second coming, ri'mn out afict.ionate and grateful reniembranee t" His first. And this it is, in whieh we shall final t.hat men in general are wanting. They are indeed without faith and h,ve also; but at least they profess ta have these graees, nor is it easy to eonvince them t.hat they have hot. Fr tbey consider they have faith, if they do but own tlmt tbe Bible came ri'oto God, or that they trust wlmlly in Christ fir salvation; and they eonsider they have love if they oley some of the most obvions of God's emnmandments. ve and faith they think they have; but surely they do hot even faney tiret they wateh. Wlmt is meant by watching, and how if. is a duty, they have no dêfinite idea; and thus it aeeidentally happens that watehing is a suitalle test of a ('hristian,'in that it is that partieular property of faith and love, whieh, essential as it is, men of this worhl do hot even profess; that partieular property, which is the lire or energy of faith and love, the way in whieh thith and love, if genuine, show themselves. It is easy to exemplify what I lnem, ri'oto the experienee whieh we all have of lire. Many men indeed are open revilers of religion, or at least openly disobey its laws; but let us eonsider those who are of a nmre sober and conscientious cast of mind. They have a nnmber of good qnalities, and are in a certain sense and np to a certain point religious; but they do hot wateh. Their notion of religion is briefly tlUs: loving Goal indeed, but loving this world too; hot only doing their
3 o_ 6 lVatchhz. &ty, but finding their chief and highes yood, in that sate of life o whid i has pleased God h call hem, rest.ing in i, taking i as their port.ion. They serve God, and hey seek t[im; lm hey look on the presen wofld as if i were he eernal, no a lnere empra T, seene of t.heir dut.ies and ln'ivileges, and never conteml»late the prospect of being separated ff'mn it. Itis hot that they finget ;od, or d) nt lire by prineiple, or folet t.hat the goods of this wm'hl a.re I[is gift; lmt. they love them for their )wn sake more tlltn f,l' the sake »f the Giver, and reckon »lt their remaining, as if they had t.hnt permanence which their duties and religious privileges have. They do hot underst.aml that they are called to be strangers and pilgrims upon t.he earth, and that their worhlly lot and worldly goods are a sort of accident of their existence, and that they really have no property, though human law guarantees pl'qerty to theln. Accordingly, they set their heart upon their goods, be t.hey grèat or little, hot wit.hout a sense of religion the while, lmt still idolat.rously. çhis is their fault,an ident.it'ing God with this world, and therefi»re an idolat Dtowards this world; and so they are rid of the trouble of lo,)king out fir their (;od, fir they think they have fouml ]lim in t.he goods of this wm'hl. While, then, t.hey are really praiseworthy in lnany parts of their conduet, bene'olent, charitable, kind, neighb, mrly, ami usefll in their generation, nay, constant perhaps in t.he ordinary religious duties which custom has established, and while t.hey display lnuch right and antiable feèling, and much correctness in opinion, and are even in the way fo imD'ove in character and conduct as tilne goes
ioea tc/b 3 2 7 on, correct nmch that is amiss, g%in greater command over themselves, mature in judgment, and are much looked up to in consequence; yet stfll i is l)l:tin that they h»ve this world, would be loti, to leave it, and wish t,o have more of its good t, bings. They like wealth, and dist.inction, and crcdit, and influence. Thcy may improve in conduct, but hot in aires; hey advance, but they do not mourir; they are m,,ving on a h,w lcvcl, and were they to lnOVe on for centuries, w,.uhl never rise al,»ve the a.tlaosphere of this W,,l'hh " l vill stand Ul,,n my watch, and set me Ul»,n the ttwer, and will watch to sec what tic will say Ul,t,o me, and xvha.t I shall auswer when 1 ara reproved. ''s This is the temper of mind which they have hot; and when we reflect how rarely itis tbund among pr,,tçssing Chl'isial,S, we shM1 sec why our Lord is so urgen in enfi,rcing it;—as if He said, "I aih hot war,ing you, Mv tbHowers, against open apostasy; that will hot be; but I fi)resee that very few will keep awake aud watch while I ara away. Blessed are the serva.nts who do so; tbw will open to me inmcdialcly, when I knock. They will have SOlnething to do first; they will have to get ready. They will have to recover 5-,»m the surprise and confusion which overtake them ou the first news of My coming, and will need tilne to collect themselves, and summon about them their better thoughts and affections. They feel themselves Yery weH off as they are; and wish to serve God as they are. They are satisfied to remain on earth; they do hot wish to more; they do hot wish to change." Vithout denying, then, to these persons the pra.ise of Hab. ii. 1.
many religious habits and practices, I would say that they want the tender a.nd sensitive heart which hangs on the thougqt of Christ, and lires in His hwe. The breath of the world has a peculiar power in what may be called rusting the soul. The mirror within them, instead of reflecting back the Son of God their qaviour, bas becorne dira and dicoloured; and hence, though (to use a common expression) they ha.ve a good deal ofgood in them, if is ouly in them, it is hot through them, around theln, and upon them. Au evil trust is on them: they think with the world; they are full .f the worhl's notions and modes of speaki,g; they al,peal to the world, and bave a sort of reverence fi,r what the world will say. There is a want of na.t.ura.lness, simplicity, aud chihllike teachableness in theln. It is difiieult fo touch them, or (what may be called) get af them, and to persuade theln to a straightforward course in religion. They start off when you least expect it: they have reservations, lnale distinctions, take exceptions, indulge in refiuements, in questions where there are really but two sides, a right and a xa'ong. Their religious feelings do hot flow forth easily, at rimes when they ought fo flow; either they are diffident, and can sa.y nothing, or else they are affected aud strained in their lnode of conversing. And as a rust preys itpOli metal and eats into if, so does this worldly spirit penetrate more and more deeply into the sonl which once,-tdlnits it.. And this is one great end, as it would appear, of atflictions, riz., fo rub away and clear off these outward defilements, and to keep the soul in a mea.sure of ifs baptislnal purity and brightness. 1Vow, it cannot surely be doubted that nmltitudes in the Church are such as I have been descri]ing, and that they would hot, could hot, af once welcolne out Lord on His coming. We cmmot, indeed, apply what has been said to this or that individual; lmt on the whole, viewing t.he multitude, one eammt be mist, aken. There may be except, ions; but after Ml conceivalle deduct.ions, a laNe body must remain thus doul)le-minded, thus attcnpl;ing t nuire things inemnpatilfle. This we might le sure of; t, hougl, C,l,rist had said nothing on the suljec; l»u i is a mos aflcting and solemn thought, hat l[e bas acually called our attention t, this very dang(,r, the danger of a worldly religiousness, for so i mav l»e eElled, though i is religi,,usness; this mixgure of religion and unbelief, which serves God indeed, bu loves he Nshions, he dist.incions, he pleasures, he comfors of this life,which feels a sat.isNcion in being prosperous in eircumstmmes, likes pomps and vanities, is part.Jouira" abon food, rMment,, house, Nrniture, and domesic matters, cours gTea people, and aires a having a position in sociey. He warns Ilis disciples of he danger of having heir nfinds drawn off ff'oto the of Him, by whaver cause; He warns them againsg all exciements, all alluremens of this world; He solenmly warns them hag the world will no be prepared fi»r His coming, and tenderly inreas of hem no o ake tiroir portion wih the world. He warns ghem by the instance of ghe rich man whose soul was requimd, of he servang who ae and drank, and of he foolish virgins. He cornes, hey will one and all wan ime; t, heir head will be conNsed, gheir eyes will swim, gheir gongue falger, their mbs t.oter, as men who m'e suddenly awakened. They will no ail once eollec. their sense nd fieult, ies. 0 ferfifi t,hmght, t, he lridal train is sweeping ly,Aels are thcre,the just, nade perfic are there,little children, and holy teachers, and whiterol,ed sailts, and martyrs wahed in 1,1ood; the marriage of t.he Laml is Cmle, a,d llis wit hath ruade herself ready. She bas already attired hersclf: while we have 1,een sleeping, she has been rOldlig; she has bcen addin jewel to jcwcl, ami gl'ace to grace; she bas becn gatherig in hç'r ç'l,osel oles,,me by,lle, alld has been excercisiug thcm in holiness, and lmrit)'ing them fir her Lord; aml ow hcr marriage hour is corne. The hly Jerusalç, m is dcsccndig, aml a loud volte procla.ims, " Behold, the bridcgroom cometh; go ye out fo meet ][im!" ]m we, alas are but da.zzled with the ]daze of light, and neither welcome the sound, or oley it,and all what? what shall we hve gained then? what will this world bave then done for us? wrctched, deceixfing world xvhich will then be burned up, unallc hot only o profit us, but t,o save itsel£ Misemble bout, indeed, wl that be, xvhen the fu consciousness breaks on us of wht we will hot believe now, riz., that we are at present serving the world. We trifle with out conscience now; we deceive out better judgment; we repel the hints of those who tell us that we are joining omelves to this perishing world. We will t, aste a little of its pleasms, and follow ils ways, ad thid i no harm, so t.hat we do hot alt, ogether neglcct religion. I mean, we allow ourselves to covet wha we have re»t,, to boast in what we ha.ve, to look down on those who have less; or we allow ourselves o profcss whut we do hot try to practise, to argue fl,r the sake of victory, and to debate when we should 1oe obeying; and we pride ourselves on out reasoning powers, and think ourseh-es enlightened, and despise those who had less t.o say for themselves, and set forth and defend out own theories; or we are over-anxious, fretfltl, and care-worn about worldly matters, spiteful, envious, jealous, diseontented, a.nd evil-natm'ed: in one or other way we take out portion with this worhl, and we will hot believe that we do. We olost.inately refuse t.o believe it; we know we are hot alt.ogether irreligious, and we 1,ersuade om'selves that we are religious. \Ve learn t,o think it is possible tobe too religious; we have taught ourselves that there is nothing high or deep in religion, no great exereise of our affections, no great faod fi)r our thoughts, 11o great work for our exertions. \Ve go on in a self-satisfied or a self-eoneeited way, no looking out of oursekes, hot standing like soldiers on the watch in the dark night; but we kindle out own tire, and delight ourselves in t.he sparks of it. This is out st.ate, or something ]ike t, his, and the Day will deelare it; the Iay is at hand, and t.he Day will seareh out hiarts, and bring it home even to ourselves, that we have been eheating ourselves with words, and have hot served Christ, as t.he Pedeemer of the soul claires, but with a meagre, partial, worldly service, and withont really eontemplating Him who is above and apart Dom this world. Year passes after ye:tr silently; Christ's eoming is ever nearer than it was. 0 that., as He cornes hem'er earth, we may approaeh nearer heaven! 0, my brethren, pray Him to give you the heart to seek Him in sineerity.
Pray Hinl to make you in earnest. You bave one work only, fo bear your cross after Him. Resolve in tIis st.rength t.o do so. Resolve tobe no longer beguiled by "shadows of religion," by xvords, or by disputings, or by notions, or by high professions, or by excuses, or by the worhl's promises or threats, l'ray Him to give you what Scripture calls "an honest and good heart," or "a perfect heart," and, without waiting, 1,egin at once to,,bey Ilim with the 1,est heart you have. Any obedienee is better than n,,ne,a.ny pr,fession which is disjoined ti'om obcdiencc, is a more pretence and deeeit. Any religim which dt, es llllt 1,ring you nearer to Goal is of the wofld. Ytm have to seek I[is face; obedienee is the «mly way (,f seeking IIim. Ail your duties are obediences. If you are t) believe the truths He bas revealed, to rcgulate yourselves by His precepts, t.o be frequent in His ordinances, to adhere to His Church and people, why is it, exeept because H« h bid you? and to do what I[e l»ids is to obey Him, and to ohey Hiln is to approaeh Hiln. Every aet of obedienee is an approach,an approach to Him who is hot. far off, though He seelns so, but close behind this visible sereen f t.hings which hides Him front us. He is behind this material framework; earth and sky are but a veil goiug between Him and us; the day will corne when tic will rend that veil, and show Himself to us. And then, according as we have waited for Him, will He recompense us. If we have foNotten Him, He will hot knoxv us; but "blessed are those sewants whom the Lord, when He eometh, shall find watching..... He shall gird Himself, and make them sit down to meat, and will COlne forth and sewe them. And if He shall corne in the second watch, or corne in the third wtch,,nd find them so, blesse dare those servants. '' May this be the portion of every one of us! Itis hard fo att,in it; but itis woeful to rail. Lire is short; death is certain; and the world fo corne is everlasting.