SERMON I.
IIE season of humiliation, which l)recedes Eastel'. lasts for forty days, in mcmory of our Lord's longthst in the wilderncss. Acco-diugly on this day, th(' fivst Sunday il Lent, wc read the Gospel which give. ]a account of if; and lu thc Collcct wc 1)ray IIim, for out sakes çasted fo'ty dvs,and f()-ty uihts, to 1,1ess t,ur abstinence to the ood of out souls and bodies. We fast by way of peniteucc, and in order fo sui)duc th(. llesh. Out Saviour had m, need of iisting for cithe- l»Url)osc. His fisting was unlikc ours, as in its intcnsity, so in its ol)ject. And l)attern is set belote us; and we contilme the tilne of thstingtill, in numl»er of days, we havc cquallcd IIis. There is a reason Ibr this;iu truth, we must nothing except with IIim il out eye. As IIe if is, through whom alone we bave the power fo do auy good rhino, so unless we do iL for Ilim iL is not good. From Him our obedienee eomes, towards Him iL nmst look. He sa.ys, "Without Me ve ean do nothing 1.,, No work is good without graee and without love. St. Paul gave up all thin's " to he round in Christ, hot ha.vin his own ri'hteousness whieh is of the law, but the righteousness which is ffom God upon faith Then only are out righteousnesses acceptable when flev are donc, not in a le,al way, but in Christ throuçh faith. Vain were all the deeds of fixe Law, heeause they were hot attended by ihe power of the Spirit. They were the merc atteml)ts of unaided nature to fidfil wha¢ if ought indeed, hut was hot able to ihlfil. None but the blind and carnal, or those who were in utter ignorance, could find aught in them to rcjoice in. Vhat. were all thc rig'hteousnesses of the Law, what its deeds, even when more thau ordinaD-, its ahns and fastin's, its disfiguring of faces and affticting of souls; what was all this but dust and dross, a pitififl earthly service, a miserah]e hopeless penauec, so far as the grace and the 1)resence of Christ were absent? Thc Jcws might humble themselves, but they did hot fise in the spirit, while thcy fell down in the flcsh; they might afttict themselves, but if did hot turn to their salvation/ thcy mig'ht sorrow, but hot as always rcjoieing; the outward man mig'ht l)erish, but thc inward man was hot renewed day by day. They had the burden and heat of the day, and the yoke of tire Law, but if did hOt "work out for them a far more exceeding and eternal weig, ht of glory."
But God hath reserved some better thing, for us. This is what if is fo bc ont of Christ's little ones,—to be able to do what the Jews thought they could do, and could hOt; fo have tiret within us through which we cau do all things; to be possessed by His preseuce as out life, our strength, out merit, out hopc, out crmm; fo bccomc in wonderfifl way Ilis mcmbers, the instrmnents, visible rotin, or sacramental sig'n, of the One Invisible Ever-Present Son of (lod, mystieally rciterating" in eaeh of us ail the aets of Ilis earthly life, IIis birth, consecration, thsting', temptation, conflicts, victories, sutlbrings, agony, passion, death, resurreetion, and aseensi,m; —I[e being all in all,—we, vith as little power in ourselves, as little excellence or merit, as the water Baptism, or the bread and wine in IIoly Conlmunion; vet strong in the Lord and in *le power of Ilis might. These are the thoughts vith whieh wc eelebrated Christmas a«d Epiphany, these are the thoughts whieh mus aeeompany us through Lent. Yes, even in ouv penitential exereises, when we eould leas have hoped to find a pattern in Him,Christ has g'one belote us fo sanetitg them fo us. He bas b!essed fasting as a means of graee, in that He has fas{ed; and thsting is only acceptable when i is doue for His sake. Penitenee is meve tbrmality, or mere remorse, unlcss doue in love. If we çast, without mfiting ourselves iu heart fo Christ, imitating Him, and pra.ying tha would make out thsting His own, would assoeiatc with His own, and eomnmnieate fo if the virtue of His own, so t.hat we may be in Him, and tIe in us; we fas as Jews, no us Chlsfians. Well then, lu the 8ervices of this first Sunday, do wê place the thought of Him belote us, whose graee must be within us, lest in our ehastisements we beat the air and humble onrselvês in vain. Now in many ways the examl)le of Christ may be ronde a comfort and eneonragement fo us af thls season of the year. And, first of all, it will be well fo insist on the circumstanee, that onr Lord did thus retire from the world, as confirming fo ns the like duty, as çar as we ean observe if. This I[e did specially in the instance befi)re us, before Ilis entering upon les own ministrv; but if is hot the onlv inst:mee reeorded. Before He chose His Apostles, Hê observed the saine preparation. "' If came fo pass in those davs tbat IIe went out into a mountain to pray, and eontinucd all night in prayer fo God t." Prayer through the nig'ht was a self-ehastisement of the smne kind as fisting. On another oeççasion, after sending away the multitndes, "' Ite went up into a mountain apart to pray ;" and on lhis occasion also, He seems to have remained there through great 1,art of /he nig, ht. Again, amid tbe exeitement eaused by His miracles, "In the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed ." Considering that out Lord is the pattern of human natnre in its pertbetion, surely we cannot doubt that sueh instances of strict devotion are intended for out imitation, if we would be perfeet. But the duty is plaeed beyond doubt by finding similar instances in the case of t.he most eminent of tlis serv.'mts. St. Paul, i the Epistle for t.his day, mentions among" other suffel'ing's, that he and his brethren were "in watehings, in fistings," and in: later ehapter, that he was " in fitstings o['ten." St. Peter retired fo Joppa, fo the house of ont Simon, a. tanner, on the sea-shore, and there fisted and prayed.)[oses and Lhjah both were supported lhroug'h miraeu- 1,ms fists, of" the salue length as out Lord's.)[oses, ideed, aU two separate rimes; as he tt.lls us himscll) " Thus I f[.ll down bcl)re the Lord, as at tht, first, firty days and t?rty nig'hts; ] did ncither car. lread nor drifl( water ." ]çlijah, having" becn tbd by an Angel, "went. in the streng'th of that. meat fi»rty days and tbrty nig'hts ." i)aniel, ag.ain, "set his face unto the Lord his God, fo scel by 1)rayer and supplieations, with fistiug', and sa«l- «loth, and ashes." Ag'ain, at. alother film,, he says, " In those days, 1 Dauicl was mourning" thl'ee weeks. I ate no pleasant, bread, neithcr came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neithcr did I anoiut myselft all, lill three whole weel¢s were flfltilled. '' These arc instances of fastings afler the similitude of C, hrist. Next I observe, that out Saviour's fast was but introduet,rv fo IIis temptation. I[e went into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil, but betbre He was tcmpted l[e ihsted. Nor, as is worth notice, was this a mere preparation for the eontlict, but if was the cause o' the conflict in good measure. Instead of ifs simply arnfing IIim against mptation, if. is plain, that in the first instance, lIis retirement and abstinence exposed lIim fo if.
Fasting was the primary occasion of if. "When He ha.d fasted forty days and fortv lfights, He was afterwards an hungered;" and then the tempter came, bidding Ilim turn the stones into bread. Salan nmde use of 1Us fast against IIimsclf. And this is sinularly the case with Chrlstians now, who endeavour to imitate Ilim; and if is well they should know if, tbr else they will be diseouraged when they practise abstinences. It is eommonlv said, that fasting is intended fo make us better Christians, fo sober us, aud to lring ns more entirely af. Christ's feel in faith and hmnility, q'his is truc, viewinff matters on t.he whole. On the whole, and at last, this effect will be produced, but it is hot at ail certain that. it. will fifllow af once. On the eontrary, sueh moloEifieations have af the rime verv various etTects on difl['rent persons, and are fo be «,:Scl-ved, hot fl'om their visible benefits, lm f;'om faith in the XVord of God. 8ome men, indeed, are subdued by fasting nnd brought af once nearer to God; but others find if, however slight, seareely more t.hnn an occasion oI" temptation, l:or instance, if is sometimes even-made au objection fo ihsting, as if if were a reason for noç praetislng it, tha.t, if makes a r, aan irritable and ill-temlïered. I eonfess if oftên may do this. Again, wha very often follows fl'om i is, a feebleness whieh deprives hiln of lais eonmmnd over lfis bodily aets, feelings, and expressions. Thus i makes hi,h seem, for instance, fo be out of telnper when he is hot.; I lnean, beeause his tongue, lais lips, nay his brain, are hot in lais power. He does lml use the words he wishes fo use, nor the aeeenl and tone. He Seems sharp when ho is not; and the eonsciousness of this, and the reaetion of that eonseiousness upon his mind, is a temptat.ion, and aetually makes him irritable, partieularly if people misunderstand him, and think him what. he is uot. Ag'ain, weakness of body may deprive him of selfcommand in other wavs; perhaps, he eannot he]p smiling or laughin', when he ou.ht fo be seous, which is evidentlv a lnOS distl-essin" and humblin rial; or when wrong, thoughts prescnt hemselvcs, his mind eannot throw thelu o[, auy nore than il" iL were some dcad t.hin, and hot spiri; but. they then make an impression on him which ho is hot able fo resist. Or aain, weakness of body ol'ten hinders him ff'oto fixin his mind on his prayers, instead of lnaking him pray more fcrvently; or açain, weakness o[" body is often attended with languor and listlcssness, and stronR'ly tempts a man fo sloth. Ye, I have hOt mentioned the mos distressing of he effeets which lnay follow fl'om even he moderate exereise of this grea.t Chrisian duty. Itis undeniably a means of temptation, and I say so, lest persons should be surprised, and dcspond when they d iL so. And the mereififl Lord knows that so i is ff'oto experienee; and thdt IIe has experieneed and thus knows iL, as Seripture records, is to us a though full of eomfort. I do hOt mean to say, God forbid, hat aughL of sinful infirmity sullied His immaeulate soul; bu i is plain ff'oto the saered history, that in His case, as in ours, ihstin opened the way to temptation. And, perhaps, this is t.he t.ruest view of sueh exereises, tha in somc wonderful unknown way they Opell the next world for ood and evil upon us, and are an introduction
8 F, rséiltga Sourcc of Tria[. o somewha6 ot" an extraordinal:v couflict with the powers of evil. Stories are afloat. (whether themselves truc or hot. matters hot, they show what the volte of mankind thinks liZ'e( fo be truc), of hermits in deserts bein" assaulted by Safari in strange ways, ye6 resistin the,.vil one, and ehasin him away, ater out Lord's pattern, and in Ilis stren'th; and, I suppose, if we knew the secret histm T of men's minds in any ag'e, wc should final /his (af lcast, I thiuk I ara hot theorizi),viz, a rcmarkable union in the case of those who bv God's bave ruade advanccs in holy things (whatever be thc,.ase where men have not), a ration on the one hand of tcmptations oFcrcd fo the mind, and on thc othcr, of the mind's hot bein a/rected bv thcm, hot consenting fo them, even in momentarv acts of the will, but simply hating them, and l'eceiving" no harm ri'oto them. Af let, I eau eom-eive this—nnd so fro" po'sons are evidently broughL into fellowship and eonformity wlth Christ.'s temptation, who wns tempted, SeL without sin. LeL iL noL fllen dlstress Christians, even if thev find themselves exposed fo flmughts ri'oto whieh tl W turn with nbhorrenee and ten'or. Rather let sueh a trlnl bring belote their thoughts,,ith something of vivldness and distinetness, the eondeseension of the Son God. For if iL be a trial fo us ereatures and sinners t,) have thoughts nlien fl'om out hearts presented fo us, whaL musL bave been tlae suflring fo tlie Eternnl Word, God of God, and LighL of Light, Holy and True, to ]rave bn so subjeeted to Satnn, thaL he eould infliet every misery on Him shorL of sinning? Certainly iL is a Lrial to us to have motives and fedings imputed to us
F«stig a Saurcc of "_Fs';«L 9 before men, by the accuser of the bretbre, vhieh we ne.ver entertained; if is a. trial fo bave ideas 8ecrelly suggested within, ff'oto which we shrink; it. is a trial fo us tbr Satm fo 1,e nlh,wed so fo mix his own thoughts with Ollr8, that we tbel gui]ty cvcn when we are hot; nay, fo be able la se o tire out irrafional nafnre, till in some sense we really sin against, ont will: but. bas re,t, One gone belote us more nwlhl in Ilis trial, more 'lorious i Iris vietory? l le was lempted in all points "like as we are, ye without sin." Surely here 1o% Chris's temptation speaks emnfi,rt, and em'ouragemen fo This fhml is, perhnps, a. truer view of lhe eonsequenees of fasting, than is eommonly taken. 0t" course, i i, always, tmder God's grnee, n. spiritual beneIi fo out hearts eventually, and improves them,through t[im who worketh nll in all; and if. off en is a. sensible benefit. to us a the lime. Still if, is often otherwise; offert if but, inereases the exeitability and suseeptibility of out hearts; in nll cases if is therefore fo be viewed, ehiefly as an tqslroaeA to God an approach to the powers oç heavenyes, and fo the powers of hell. And in thi poin of view there is something verv awfifl in if. For what we know, Christ,'s temptatic, n is bu the flflness of tha.t, whieh, in ifs degree, and neeordin to out infirmlries and eon'uptions, takes place in =fil tlis servants who seek Itim. And if so, this surelv was a strong reason for the Chureh's assoeiating out season of humiliation with Chris's sojonrn in the wilderness, tha we might no be lef fo our own thoughts, and, us i were, "with the wild beasts," and thereupon despond when we aiet
I 0 Faslh¢a Sozrce of T'[al. ourselves; bu might feel tla we are wha we reallv re, no bondmen of 8atnn, and ehildren of wrah, hopelessly çroanin under our burden, eonfesing i, nnd eryin m*L "0 wreehed mm!" bu simmrs indeed, and inners nffliein flemselves, and doin penanee for sin; bu withal God's ehildren, h whom repentanee s fi-nitfid, nnd who, while t.hey abase themseh'es are exalted, and at the very t.ime that. thev,re throwing themselves at the foot of the Cross, are still Christ's soldiers, sword in hand, fig'hting a. generons warfitre, nnd knowing that they have that. in theln, and npon them, whieh devils h'elnble af., and tlee. And this is another point whieh ealls for distinct notice in the history of our Saviour's fasting" and temptation, riz. the vieto whieh attended it. IIe had three temptations, and thriee He eonquered,—nt: the last: He said, " Gel: thee behind Me, Satan;" on whieh "the devil lenveth Him." OEhis eonfliet: and vieIorv in the world unseen, is intimated in other passag'es of Seripture. The most remm'kable of these is what: out Lord says with referenee to the demoniae, whom His Apostles eonld hot cure. IIe had just deseended from the Mount of '£ransfig'nration, where, let if be observed, IIe seems fo have gone up with His fitvoured Apostles to pass the nig'ld: in prayer. IIe ealne down al'ter tha¢ communion with the unseen world, and east: oui the unelean spirit, and then He said, "This kind ean eome forth bv nothing but by prayer and fasting ," whieh is noflfing less t.han a plain deelaration tha¢ such exereises givc the soul power over the unsecn world; nor can any suflàcient. rcason be assigncd for confining if to file first ages of the Gospel. And I think thcre is cnongh cvidcnce, even in what may be known afterwards of the etFeets of such exercises Ulon persons now (hOt fo ]mve reeourse fo history), fo show that these exercises are God's instruments for givlng the Christian a high and royal power:ff»ove and over his fellows. And sinee prayer is hot on]v the weapon, ever neeessary and snre, in our eonfliet with the powers ofevil, deliverance flore evil is ever implied as the ohjeet, of prayer, it follows tlat all texts whatever whieh speak of out addressing and prevailing" on Almighty God, with prayer and fa.sing, do, in fie, deelare this eonflie and promise this vietorv over the evil one. Thns in the parable, the imlOoEunafe widow, who represents the Chureh in prayer, is hot only earnes ç;[ God, but «ya/;««t ber adversarv. ".Avenge me of mine adversary," she says; and our "adversary" is " the devil, who, like. roarin lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devonr; whom resist," adds St. Pete; "stedfast in the faith." Le it be observed that, in tlis parable, e'ereranee in prayer is eeeially reeommendcd to us. Anti this is part of the lesson taught us by the long" eontinuanee of the Lent fast.,that we are hot fo g'ain our wishes by one da set apart for hnmiliation, or by one prayer, however fervent, bttt by "eontinuing instant in prayer." This too is sig'nified fo us in the aeeount of Iaeob's eonfliet. He, like our 8aviour, was oeeupied in it trouy the night. Vho i was whom he was permitted to meet in thag solitary season, we are hot told; but IIe with whom he vrestled, gave him strengfl, fo wrestle, and at last ]cft a tokcn on him, as if to show fl, ut he had prewfiled only by thc condescension of Ilim over whom he prevailed. So strengthencd, he pcrsevered till tlle morning broke, and asked a blessing; and I[e whom he asked did Mess him, ivin him a. llçV naine, in memor.}- of his sueeess. "Thy naine shall l,c callcd no more.hwob, but Isracl; for as a prince hast Ihou p,wer with God and wi/h mon, and hast prevailed ." In like manner, Moses passed ont of his fi,rty days' fast in confession and intercession for the peol,le, vho had raised le zolden ealf. " Thus I f«ll down 1,efbre le Lord tbrty days and fi,rty nights, as I t.ll d,,wn at file first; beeause the Lord had said IIe wouhl destroy you. I prayed therefore unto ihe Lord, and said, O Lord God, desiroy.not Thy people and Thine inheritance, which Thou hast r«lcemed throug Thy zreatness, which Thou hast brought forth out of Egypt with:t mighty hand'." Again, boh of Daniel's re-,.ordcd fas ended in a blessing. IIis first was inter-,.,.ssory fi»r his eople, and the propheey of the seveny weêks was given him. The second was also rewarded with prophetieal disclosures; and what is remarkable, it seems fo bave had an inlluenee (if I may use sueh a word) upon the unsecn world, ti'om the rime he beg'an it." The Angel said, FearnoL Daniel, for#'om d«d that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyselfbetbre fly God, thy words were heard, and 1-a»z corne for fly words L" He came aL the end, but he prepared to g'o at the beffinning'. But more flmn this, the Anel proeeeds, " BuL the prinoe ot" the kinffdom of Persi withstood me olle and tweMv days;" just Ihc rime durinxwhieh 1)mfiel had been lrayin—"but h», Michael, one of the chier princes, came fo hclp 11o, alld I remained there with the kinxs of Peria." An Anel came to Daniel upon his fast; so oo in Lord's instance, Angels came and ministered unto 1 and so we too may we]l believe, and take cmn[brt in ]te thought, that even now, Angels are espeeially sent those wh,, thus seek God. Not ])aniel only, l,ut ]ljah too was, durin his fitst, strentht'ned by an Anel; an Ang'el appeared fo Corndms, whih. he was thstin, and in prayer; and I do rea}}y think, thaL there is enouh in w}mt reliious persons mav see around them, fo serve to eonfirm this hope thus thered from the vord o1" God. He shall give His Anels charge over OEhee, to keep Thce in all Thy ways I;" and the devil knows of this promise, for he used it in that very hour of teml,tation. He knows fldl well what out power is, and what is his own weakness. So we have nothing fo bar while we remain within the shadow of the throne of the Ahnigty. "A thousand shal} fa!l beside Thee, and ten thousand af Thy right hand, but i shall hot eome nigh Thee." While we are round in Christ, we are partakers of Ilis seeuritv. IIe bas broken the power of Satan; He gone " upon the lion and adder, the young lion and the dragon hath He trod under His feet;" and heneeforth evil spirits, instead of having" power o-er us, tremble and are afii'ighted a every truc Christian. They know he bas t.hat in hiln whieh lnakes him their toaster; that he ma35 if he will, l:mgh them to seorn, and pu them fo flight.. They know this well, and bear i in mind, in nll their assaults upon him; sin alone gives them power over hiln; and their grea ol@et, is, fo lnake him sin, and heretbre fo surprise him into sin, knowing they have no other way of overeoming him. They try to seare him by the appearanee of dang'er, and so fo surprise hiln; or they approaeh stealthily and eovertly to seduee him, and so to SUlqrise hiln. Bu exeep by taking him a unnwares, they tan do nothing. Therefore le us be, lnv brethren, "'no ignoran of their deviee;" and as knowing them, le us wateh, fas, and proEv, le us keep close uuder the wing's of he Almighty, that He nlay be out shicld and buekler. Let us pray Hiln fo make known fo us His will,to teaeh us out thults,to take ff-oto us whatever nlay oflnd Him, and fo lead us in the way everlastin. And during" this sacred season, let us look upon ourselves as on the [ount. with Hinlwit.hin the veilhid with Himnot out. of Him, or apart ff'oto Him, in whose presence alone is lire, but with and in Hinllearniu of His Law with [oses, or" His attributes with Eijah, of His counsels with Daniellearning" fo repenGlearnin to confess and fo amend—learnin His love and His fearunlearnin ourselves, and growing up unto Him who is out Head.