Parochial and Plain Sermons

UP, ELY it is our duty ever to look off ourselves, and to look unto Jesus, that is, to shnn the contemplation of our own feelings, emotions, frame and state of mind, as if that were the main business of religion, and to leave these mainly to be secured in their fruits. Some remarks were made yesterday upon this "more excellent" and Scriptural way of conducting ourselves, as it has ever been received in the Church; now let us consider the merits of the rule for holy living, which the fashion of this day would substitute for it. Instead of looking off to Jesus, and thinldng little of ourselves, it is at present thought necessary, among the mixed multitude of religionists, to examine the heart with a view of ascertaining whether it is in a spiritual state or no. A spiritual frame of mind is considered to be one in which the heinousness of sin is perceived, our utter wortlflessncss, the impossibility of our saving ourselves,the necessity of some Saviour, the sufficiency of our Lord Jesus Christ to be that Saviour, the unbounded riches of His love, the excellence and glory of Hi.s work of Atonement, the freencss and fulness of His grace, the high privilege of communion xvith Him in prayer, and the desirableness of xvalking with Him in all holy and loving obedience; all of them solemn truths, too solemn to be lightly mentioned, but our hearty reception of which is scarcely ascertainable by a direct inspection of our feelings. Moreover, if one doctrine must be selected above the rest as containing the essence of the truths, which (according to this system) are thus vividly understood by the spiritual Christian, it is that of the necessity of renouncing our own righteousness for the righteoushess provided by our Lord and S,viour; which is considered, not as an elementary and simple principle (as it really is), but as rarely and hardly acknowledged by any nmn, especially repugnant to a certai-n (so-called) pride of heart, which is supposed to run through the whole race of Adam, and to lead every man insti.nctively to insist even before God on the-proper merit of his good deeds; so that, to trust in Christ, is not merely the work of the Holy Spirit (as all good in our souls is), but is the especial and critical event which marks a man, as issuing from darkness, and sealed unto the privileges and inheritance of the sons of God. In other words, the doctrine of Justification by Faith is accounted to be the one cardinal point of the Gospel; and it is in vain to admit it readily as a clear Scripture truth (which it is), and to attempt to go on unto perfection: the very wish to pass forward is interpreted into a wish to pass over it, and the test of believing it at all, is in fact to insist upon no doctrine but it. And this peculiar mode of inculcating that great d,ctrine of the Gospel is a proof (if proof were wanting) that the persons who adopt it are not solicitous even about it on its own score merely, considered as (what is called) a dogma, but as ascertaining and securing (as they hope) a certain state of heart. For, not content with the simple admission of it on the part of another, they proceed to divide faith into its kinds, living and dead, and to urge against him, that the Truth may be held in a carnal and unrenewed mind, and that men may speak without real feeIings and convictions. Thus it is clear they do uot contend for the doctrine of Justifieat.ion as a truth external to the nfind, or article of faith, any more than for the doctrine of the Trinity. On the other hand, since they use the same language about dead and living faith, however exemplm 3" the life and conduct be of the individual under their review, they as plainly show that neither are the fruits of righte.ousness in their system an evidence of spiritualmindedness, but that a something is to be sought for in the frame of mind itself. All this is not stated at present by way of objection, but in order to settle accurately what they mean to maintNn. So now we have the two views of doctrine clearly before us:- the ancient and universal teaching of the Church, which insists on the Objects and fruits of faith, and eon.siders the spiritual character of that. faith itself sufficiently secured, if these are as they should be; and the method, now in esteem, of attempting instead to secure directly and primarily that "mind of the Spirit," which may savingly receive the truths, and fulfil the obedience of the Gospel. That such a spiritual temper is indispensable, is agreed on all hands. The simple,luestion is, whether it is formed by the lloly Spirit immediatcly acting upon our 1hinds, or, on the other hand, by our own particular acts (whether of faith or,)hedieuce), 1,rmnpted, guided, and prospered by IIim; whether it is ascertainable otherwise than by its fruits; whether such fl'ames of mind as are directly ascertainable and profess to be spiritual, are not rather a delusion, a mere excitement, capricious feeling', fanatic fancy, and the like.—So nmch then by way of explanation. I. Now, in the first place, this modern system certainly does disparage the revealed doctrines of the ospel, however its more moderate advocates may shrink from admitting it. Considering a certain state f heart to be the main thing to be aimed at, they avowedly make the "truth as it is in Jesus," the definite Creed of the Church, secondary in their teaching and lm)fession. They will defend themselves indeed from tim appearance of undervaluing it, by maintaining that the existence of right religious affections is a security tbr sound views of doctrine. And this is abstractedly true;—but not true in the use they make of it: for they unhappily conceive *hat they can ascertain in each other the presence of these affections; and when they find men possessed of them (as they conceive), yet not altogether orthodox in their belief, then they rela): a little, and argue that an adlnission of (what they call)the strict and technical niceties of

168 laslcr Christ is God, another deny His pre-existence, yet each have received the Truth according to the peculiar constitution of his own lnind, the Scripture doctrine having no real independent substantive meaning. Thus the system under consideration te.ds legitimately to obli- rate the great Objects brought to light in the Gospel, aml to darken what l called yesterday the eye of faith,— to throw us back into the vagueness of lleathenism, wlwn men only felt after the Divine lq'esence, and thus to frustrate the design of Christ's Incarnation, so!hr as it is a manifestation of the Unseen Creator. '2. On the other hand, the necessity of obedience in order to salvation does not suffer less froln the upholders of this modern system than the articles of the Creed. They argue, and truly, that if faith is living, works must follow; but mistaking a following in order of conccptio for a following i order of time, they conclude that faith ever comes first, and works afterwards; and therefore, that faith must ill'St be secured, and that, by some means in which works have no share. Thus, instead of viewing works as the concomitant development and evidence, and instrumental cause, as well as the subsequent result of faith, they lay all the stress upon the direct creation, in their minds, of faith and spiritual-mindedlmss, which they consider to consist in certain emotions and desh-es, because they can form abstractedly no better or truer notion of those qualities. Then, instead of being "careflfl to maintain good works," they proceed to take it for granted, that since they have attained faith (as they consider), works will follow without their trouble as a matter of course. Thus the

 70 Easter Tetesday. (as they maintain) or (as we should say) perversely understood? If then the omanists have added to the Word of God, is it not undeniable that there is a school of religionists among us who have taken from it? 4. I would remark, that the immediate tendency of these opinions is to undervalue ordinances as well as doctrines. The same argument evidently applies; for, if the renewed state of heart is (as it is supposed) attained, what matter whether Sacraments have or have not beeu administered? The notion of invisible grace aud invisible privileges is, on this supposition, altogether superseded; that of comnmnion with Christ is limited to the mere exercise of the affections in t,ra)er and nwditation,—to sensible effects; and he who considers he has already gained this one essential gift of grace (as he calls it), may plausibly inquire, after the fashion of the day, why he need wait upon ordinances which he has anticipated in his religious attainments, —which are but means to an end, which he has not to seek, even if they be not outward forms altogether, aud whether Christ will not accept at the last day all who believe, without inquiring if they were members,,f the Chute, h, or were eoufirmed, or were baptized, or received the llessiug of mere men who are "earthen vessels." 5. The f,rcgoing renmrks go to show the utterly unevangelical character of the system in question; unevange]ic in the full sense of the word, whether by the Gospel be meant the inspired document of it, or the doctrines brought to fight through it, or the Sacramental Institutions which are the gift of it, or the theolog-y which interprets it, or the Covenant which is the basis of ik A few words shall now be added, to show the inherent mischief of the system as such; which I conceive to lie in its necessarily involving a continual self-contemplation and reference to self, in all departments of conduct, tie who aims at attaining sound doctrine or righ practice, more or less looks out of himself; whereas, in labouring after a certain frame of mind, there is an habitual reflex action of the mind upon itself. That this is really involved in the modern systen, is evident from the very doctrine principally insisted on by it; for, as if it were not enough for a man to look up simply to Christ for salvation, it is declared to be necessary that he should be able to recognise this in himself, that he should define his own state of mind, confess he is justified by faith alone, and explain what is meant by that confession.:Now, the truest obedience is indisputably that which is done from lo e of God, without narrowly measuring the magnitude or nature of the sacrifice involved in it. He who has learned to give names to his thoughts and deeds, to appraise them as if for the market, to attach to each its dne measure of COlnmendation or usefulness, will soon nvoluntarily corrupt his motives by pride or selfishness. A sort of self-atprobation will insinuate itself into his mind: so snbfle as not at once to be recognised by himself,—an habitual quiet self-esteem, leading him to prefer his own views to those of others, and a secret, if not avowed persuasion, that he is in a different state from the generality of those around him. This is an incidental, these effects of them two centuries since in the history of the English P, ranch of the Church; for what we know, a more fearful triumph is still in store for them. But, however that m;ty be, let not the watchmen of Jerusalem ftfl to give timely warning of the approaching enemy, or to acquit themselves of all cowardice or compliance as regards it. Let them prefer the Old Commandment, as it has been from the beginning, to any novelties of man, recollecting Christ's words, "Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame." 

HEBREWS xii. 12. " Lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees."

HE chief points of St. Mark's history are these:- first, that lie was sisters-son" to Barnabas, aud taken with him and St. Paul on their first apostolical journey; next, that after a short time he deserted them and returned to Jerusalem; then, that after an interval, he was St. Peter's assistant at Rome, and como posed his Gospel there principally from the accounts which lie received from that Apostle; lastly, that he was sent by him to Alexandria, in Egypt, where he founded one of the strictest and most powerful churches of the primitive times. The points of colorfast in his history are as follows: that first lie abandoned the cause of the Gospel as soon as danger appeared; afterwards, he proved himself, not merely an ordinary Christian, but a most resolute and exact servant of God, founding and ruling that strictest Church of Alexandria

And the inst'zemct of this change was, as it appears, the influence of St. Peter, a fit restorer of a timid and backsliding disciple. The cncotragcmct which we derive from these circumstances in St. l[ark's history, is, that the feeblest mnong ns may through God's grace become strong. And the varnig to be drawn from it is, to distrust onrs,lves; and again, not to despise weak breflLren, or to despair of them, but to bear their burdens and help them forward, if so be we may restore them. Now, let us attent.ively eousider fle subject thus brought before us. Some men are naturally impetuous and active; others love quiet and readily yield. The over-earnest must be sobered, and the indolent must be roused. The history of Moses supplies us vith an instance of a proud and rash pirit, tamed down to an extreme gentleness of deportment. In the greatness of the change wrought in him, when from a fierce, though honest, avenger of his brethren, he became the meekest of men on the earth, he evidences tile power of faith, the influence of the Spirit on the heart. St. Mark's history affn'ds a specimen of tile other, and still rarer change, from timidity to bohlness. Difficult as it is to subdue the more violent passions, yet I believe it to be still more difficult to overcome a tendeney to sloth, cowardice, and despondency. These evil dispositions cling about a man, und weigh him down. They are minute chains, binding him on every side to the earth, so that he eannot even turn himself or make an effort to rise. It would seem as if right principles had yet to surmount difficulties, and succeed witlout previous practice. Elthusiasm certainly does wonders in this way; just as men of weakly frames will sometimes from extreme excitement inflict blows of incredible power. And sometimes eagerness sets us on beginning to exert ourselves; and, the first obstacles being thus removed, we go on as a matter of course with comparatively small labour. _All this, being from time to time witnessed, impresses us with a conviction, unknown to ,Ul'selves, that a sanguine temper is the main condition of success in any work. And when, in ottr lonely imaginings, we fancy ourselves taking a stremous l,art in some great undertaking, or when we really see others playing the man, so very easy does heroism seem to be, that we cannot admit the possibility of our failing, should circumstances call us to,_t. Peter thought that he could any difficult duty. preserve his integrity, because he wished to do so; and he fell, from ignorance of the difficulty of doing what he wished. In St. Mark's history, however, we have no evidence of self-confidence; rather, we may discern in it the state of multitudes at the present day, who proceed through life with a certain sense of religion on their minds, vho have been brought up well and know the Truth, who acquit themselves respectably while danger is at a distance, bu disgrace their profession when brought into any unexpected trial. His mother was woman of influence among the Christians at Jerusalem; his mother's brother, Barnabas, was an eminent Apostle. Doubtless he had received a religious education,; and, as being the friend of Apostles and in the bosom of the pure Chm'ch of Christ, he had the best models of sanctity before his eyes, the clearest teaching, the fullest influences of grace. I[e was shielded from temptation. The time came when his real proficiency in faith and obedience v'as to be tried. Paul and Barnabas were sent forth to 1,reach to the Heathen; and they took Mark with them as an attendant. First they sailed to Cyprus, the native place of Barnabas: they travelled about it, and then crossed over to the maiu laud. This seems to have been their first entrance upon an unknown country. Iark was discouraged at the prospect of danger, and returned to Jerusalem. NOR', who does not see that such a character as this, such a trial, and such a fall, belong to other days, besides those of the Apostles? Or rather, to put the question to us more closely, who will deny that there are mtfltitudes in the Church at present, who have no evidence to themselves of more than that passive faith and virtue, which in Iark's ease proved so unequal even to a slight trial? Who has not some misgivings of heart, lest, in times such as these, when Christian firmness is so little tried, his own loyalt to his,qaviour's cause be perchance no truer or firmer than that of tle sister's-son of a great Apostle? When the Church is at peace, as it has long been in this country, when public order is preserved in the community, and the righti of person and property secured, there is extreme danger lest we judge ourselves by what is without us, not by what is within. We take for granted we are Christians, because we have been taught aright, and are regular in our attendance upon the Christian ordinances. ]3ut, great prNilege and duty as it is to use the means (,f grace, reading and prayer are not enough; nor, by themselves will they ever make us real Christians. They will give us right knowledge and good feelings, but not firn faith and resolute obedience. Christians, such as Mark, will abound in a prosperous Chumh; and, shouhl trouble come, they will be unprepared for it. They have so long been accustomed to external peace that they do not like to be persuaded that danger is at hand. They settle it in their imagination that they are to live and dic undisturbed. They look at the world's events, as they express it, cheerfully, and argue themselves into self-deception. ext, they make concessions, to fulfil their own predictions and wishes; and surr(,uder the Christian cause, that unbelievers may not commit themselves to an open attack upon it. Some of them are men of cultivated and refined taste; and these shrink fi'om the rough life of pilgrims, to which they are called, as something strange and extravagant. The)" consider those who take a simpler view of the duties and prospects of fhe Church to be enthusiastic, rash, and intemperate, or perverse-minded. To speak plainly, a state of persecution is not (what is tamiliarly called) their city, tent; they cannot breathe in it. Alas how different from the Apostle, who had learned in whatsoever state he was, therewith to be content, and who was all things to all men. If then there be times when we have gTown thus torpid from long security, and are tempted to prefer the treasures of Egypt to the reproach of Christ, what can we do, what ought we to do, but to building up the Church in the strictness and zeal of those who despise this life except as it leads to another. Lastly, let us not, from an excited fmcy and a vain longing after the glories of other days, forget the advantages which we have.:No need to h,ve the troubles of Apostles in order to attain their faith. Even in the quietest times we m.ny rise to high holiness, if we improve the means given us. Tt'ials come when we forget mercies,to remind us of them, and to fit us to enjoy ad u.se them suitably.