Parochial and Plain Sermons

llERE was c,ne occasion when «,ur Saviour suid, " The hour eometh, wheu ve shall neither in this lnountain, nor ver at Jerusalem, worship the Father. The h(,,r eometh, when the rue worshippers shall w«,rship the Father lu spirit and in ruth." Did we take Hese words l,v themselves, we ni'lt eonsider thev implied, that, nnder the Gospel, there would be no,,utward t,,kens of reliion, no rites and ordinanees at:fil, uo pul,li(" ser¥iees, no aSSelnl»ling's of ourselves t«,gcHwr, ami, cspcchdly, no sacred buildings. Such an inference, howcvcr, would be a 'reat crror, if it were onlv for lhis reason, thal if has never hecn received. never acted on in any age of the Chmx.h; so fiw from it, that I suppose there are few indeed 1,ut would shrink fl'Olll the ve W mention of if, and nme at ail wh,, eould be round fo testifv that thev had adol,ted if in their own case, yet had n,t suffered ri'mn if in lu,int «,f inward devotion fo (;od's service. That emmot he the truc sense of Seripture, whieh never hns been fidfilled, whieh ever bas been contradieted and disobevêd; fi,r (od's word shall n,,t, rem-n unto Ilim v,id, l,ut shall aeeomplish His pleasure and pr,,sper in llis pnrpose. Out Saviour did #ot sav fa fhe Salnavilan -Olllllll thal there slmuld 1,e no pl:ees and building's fi}r worship mder the (ospel, beea,,e Ile has ml 1,r«mght il pass, beea,,e such ever have been, aL all times and all eonntries, and amid all diflbrenees of faith. And the saine reasons whieh lead us fo believe tlmt relig.ious edifiees are a Christian ordinanee, thoug'h so ve W little is said abouL them in Seripture, will nlso shmv ihnL il is right and pious t«} make them emhlring, and stately, and lnagnifieent,, and ornamental; so that out Saviour's deelaration, when IIe foretold le destruction of the Temple af Jmasalem, was hot that fhere shonld nevm" be anv other house builL fo Ilis hononr, ],uf rather thal there shou]d be m:my honses; thnt thev should built, noL merelv af Jerusalem, or at Gerizim, but everv where; what was under the Imw a h,eal ordinanee, being heneefbrth a Catholie privilege, allowed hot here and there, but wherever was the Spirit and the Truth. The glory of the Gospel is hot the abogilio» of rites, their diaaemi»a6on; hot their absence, but their living and effieaeious presenee through the graee of Christ. Aeeording]y, sueh passages as the text, thoug4 spoken in the rimes of the Law are fulfilled even af this da.y, and, as we trust, among" ourselves. The Jewish Tt.mple, ideed, of which the Psalmist spolie i the first instant.e, has corne to nou'ht.; but he bas a meaning" stil], aml a oble oe, as si'itYig the ('hrlstian institutio «d" Clmr«hes. " I[e buil llis saneuary like hi'h palaees, ]il;e the earth whR'h ]Ie haO estab]ished t»r exer." I[ow mueh more st'l;h']y ad tid]y is this aeeomp]ished in out limes than i lhose of the Law! llich and "exeeedi" mag'filical " as was So]omo's Temple, and built a the immediate commad of (iod, it is hot ]n-esumptuous sm'el" {o s)" that ('hristia Temp]es ha'e as fir sur- }assed it in size, beaut)', and costliness, s in di'ine 'ifls and privilt.ges, as in spirit and in truth. " IIe built [[is sanctuary like hi'h pa]accs;" 1,«& through this very countr',compare its palaces xith ifs Cathedra]s md Churelcs, even in their present state of disadvantage, and sav whether these words are hot more than aecom- ]dished; so that.the pa]aees of E']and should rather, by way of" honorer, be eompared to t]e Cathedrals, than the (?athedrals to the palaees..kml ri'htl" so; for out firs duty is towards out Lord and His Chureh, ad out second towards out earthly $overeig'n. knd still more stril;ingly has the promise of permanence been fldfilled fo us. For wlmt were the vears of o]omon's Temple? Four htmdred. Yhat. of the second Temple? Six hundred. These were long periods, eertain]y; yet is it plain t.hat the Chureh of Christ ean more than equal them, md tlmt i a great number of cases. Nay, there are Christian Temples in some parts of the world, whieh bave lasted as mueh as fourteen hundred years. Sure]y,

7c Cospc! P«Z«cc.,'.:73 thm, when ChrM multipled IIs serd palaces, He also gave them an extended ge, brhl'hl lae] mlder the Gospel t]e davs of the Antediluvan patriarehs. The times are reversed, nd a more vigorous lire has }een infiscd among" us thau at the first, and the reign of Christ and I[is saints has hegun lonff sinee, and the Apostles fill their thrones in Ilis Temples. "t[e hath built IIis sanehmrv like high palaees, like the earfl whieh He hath estallished for evcr." 8tability and permanence are, perhal)S, the espeeial ideas which a Chureh hring l»efi)re the mind. It represents, indeed, the beauty, the loçtiness, the ealmness, the mysteT, and the sauetity of relig'ion also, and that in manv ways; still, I will say, more than all these, it represents to us ifs eternity. Itis the witness of IIim who is the beinning and the ending', the firs and the last; it is the token and emblem of "Jesus Christ, the saine yesterday, to-day, and for ever;" if is the pledge of One, who has said, " I will never leave thee nor forsake thee," but "even fo your old affe I ara He, and even to hoar hairs I will earry you." Ail ye who take part in the buildinff of a Chureh, know that you hure been admitted fo the truest svmbol of G od's eternity. You have built what may be destiued to bave no end hut in Christ's eoming. Cast your thouhts baek on the t.ime when our aneient buildins were first rear. Consider the Churehes all around us; how many generations bave past sinee stone was 1)u npon stone ill the whole edifiee was finished[ OEhe first movers and instruments çf its ereetion, the minds that planned it, and the lilnbs tha wrought at it, the pious hands that eontributed to

74 Thc Gospcl P«hccs. if, and the lmly lips that eonseerated if, have long, lon ago, been aken away; yet we benefit by their good deed. Does i{. hot seem a ve o" strang'e thing that cee should be tbd, and h,dg'ed, and elot.hed in spiritual things, by persons we never saxv «»r heard o[; and who never saw us» or eould think of us, hundreds of vears ago? Does if hot seem st.range *hat men shouhl be able, hot merely by aeting m others, n,t ly a eontimed inthenee ean'ied,m throug'h many minds in a long succession, but by one simple and direct aet, to e,»me into contact with us, and ns if with tbeir,»wh hand la benefit us, who live centre'les la{er? What a visible, palpable speeimen this, ot" the communion of sain{s What a privilege thus o be immediatelv interested in the deeds of out forefathers and what a eall on us, in like manner, fo reaeh out oto" own hands towards out posterity  Freely we have reeeived; let us freely give. Let us hot be slaek to do what out fathers have done; to do a work, the fi'uits of whieh we eammt see, beeause tlley are too vas fo be seen. If if were told us, that a word of ours, uttered by the mou{h, should take, as if welv, eonsistenee, and float and continue in tbe air, and impart adviee or eomfort to men who were fo live rive hundred years to emne, it wmld be an inspiring fllought; and what but lhi i,,ur ve W privilege, in {lle lenve granted us to multiply the One 'Femple of God ail over the earth, unto ail lime? If is {o make out deeds lire; if is {o hold felh»wship wi*h the future. See what a noble prineiple faith is. Faith alone lengthens a man's existence, and makes him, in his own feelin, lire in the future and in t.he past. klen of this vorld are full of plans of the day. Even in religion they are ever eoveting immediate resnlts, and will do not.hing af all, mdess they eau do every thing,—eau have their own way, choose their methods, and see the end. But the Christian throws himself fearless]v upon the future, because he believes in tIim whieh is, and whieh was, and which is to eolne. IIe eau endure fo be one of an everlasting eolnpaly while in this worhl, as well as in the next. IIe is content fo begin, and break off; fo do his part, and no more; fo set al»out what others must aeeoml»lish; to sow where others lnust reap. None has finished his work, and ent if short in righteousness but IIe who is One. Ve, IIis lnembers, who have but a portion of IIis fltlness, exeeute but a. part ot" His purpose. One lays the foundation, and another bni]ds thereupon; one levels the lnOUlltahl, and another "brings forth the headstone with shoutings." 'rhus xvere ont Churehes raised. One age would build a Chaneel, and another a Nave, and a third wonld add a Chapel, and a fourth a Shrine, and a fifth a 8pire. By little and little the work of trace went forward; and they eould afford fo take rime about if, and be af pains fo do it best, who had a promise that the,ates of hell should not prevail against it. Powers of le earth fise and fall; revolutions eolne in course; great familles appear, and are swept away; wise lnen are in high phmes, and walk mnid the sparks whieh they have kindled. They,léel that they are short-lived, and thev determine to make the most of their rime. OEhey gras 1, and push forwards, they are busy and feverish, hot only from the feebleness and waywardness of their nature,

but from the conviction of their reason, that they have but a short rime. " Out rime is short," sav they; "let us buy and sell, and plaut and lmild, and marry ves, and frire in marriage, and eat and drink, for to-morrow we die." Poor worms of the earth, if is too truc of t.hem! Their aihs and desires, their instruments, their goods, their lodies, their souls, are all perishable. In the words of t.he vise man, " as soon as fhey are born, they bin to draw fo an endS, '' they begin fo die. Thcir growth and proress, their suecesses, are but the tirst stages of corruption and dissolution. Poor ehildren of rime, what are lhey? They h'iumph over religion in their day; they insult ifs ordinanees and its ministers; they tyrannize in ifs Temples, showing themselves that they are gods. They carry awav its massive stones fo their own houses, and trick themselves out with ifs jewels. They build up their families by rapine and sacrilege; they are wanton when they are hot eovetous; and, when satiated with pillage, they nmtilate and defile what they do not destroy. But, afler al], how speaks the Psalmist? " I bave said, Ye are gods, and ye are ail the ehildren of the Most Hig-hest. But ye shall die like men, and fidl like one of the princes." "" The proud bave robbed, they bave slept their sleep, and all the men whose hands were mighty have round nothn. Fret hot thyself beeause of the ungodly; neither be thou envious against the evil-doers; for thev shall soon be cut down like the grass, and be withered even as the green herb. I myself have sn the ungodly in great power, and flourishing like a. gl'een bay tl'eej I went by, and lo, he was gone; I sought him, hut his place eould no where be t,und. '' Vfe fise in the nlorning, and, behold, they are all dead eorpses. Ïhe storm bas passed, the morning has broken, the E.a:vptians are east on the sea-shore, (lod's Taberna.ele is still standing'. As though no violence had been in the nig'ht, no assaults of Satan raid Antiehrist, no arm «,f firee, no envious or eovetous eye, they remain, those l,)ly places, where tlley were; for the Church abides tbr everlnore, and her _l'clnplcs, in their deep fimndaIiOllS, md their arching" heig'hts, m'e her ilnag'e and lnali|bstation. I have said that the s«wred edifices which we see around us, and in which we worship, relnind us of their builders, though they lived so long ago; but in truth they relnind us of a tilne tir earlier even than theirs. Do we suppose that the very buildel'S of these shrines were all in all in their buikling? Could anv lnen whatever, did they but will if., af allV tilne, build what they have built? is a Cathedral the ofi;pring of a. randoln thoug'ht, a thing fo will and to aecomplish at out pleasure? or rather, were not those builders merely the sueeessors and the children of others long" betl)re theln, who lnade them what they were, and cnabled them, under God, fo do Wol'ks whieh if was hot given fo cvcry olie to do, but only to the sons of sueh fitthers? Surely the Churehes whieh we inherit are hot the purehase of wealth nor the ercation of genius, thcy are the fruits of mart.yrdoln. They eome of high deeds and sufferings,

"-7 8 Thc Go«l la[accs. as lon before lheir Vel'y building  as we are after if. Their foundatins are laid Vel'y deep, even in the preaehiug of Apostles, ami the eont,ssiou of Baisers, and the firs victories of the ospel in our land. Ail that is so noble iu their architceturc, ail that captivates the eye and makes ifs wnv t, the heart, is ot a human imag'inati(m, but  divine ift, a moral result,:t spiritu:d work. q'he Cross is over planted in hazard ad suflbrin, mad is watercd with tcars and I,l,od. No where docs if t:ke roof and l»ear tYuit, execp ifs ]rcaehin. bc with self del6al. If is t.asS, il,local, fi»r the ruling" powers fo make: deerec, aud set rcli'i-n ou big'h, and cxtcnd ifs range, and hcrald its uame; but they eamao l»lant if, thev can l»u impose if. The Chm'cla almae eau plant the Chureh. q'he Chureh:donc ean fotmd ber sees, and inelose herself within walls. Noue ]»ut saintl" men, mortified men, lweaehers of righteousness, aud coufcssors fi»r the truth, ean trente a. home for the trtdh in auv land. Thus tlae Temples of (;od are witlml the monuments of lIis Sfiuts, md we call tht.m by their names while we con- I heur simplicitv, grandeur, secratcthemtollisg.lou-. " '" _ solidity, clevation, g'race, and exuberanee o' ornament, do but briig" fo rt, mt.mbrmce the patience nnd purity, thc courn'ç., mctq<uess, and 'rea charit3", tht, hcIvenlv nbctins, the a<.t.ivitv in wcll-d.in, the faith and rcsig'natiou, oç mt, u wh,» thçmst.lves did l.ut worhip in naouutains, and in dcscrts, and in caves nnd dens oi" the earth. Thev labourcd, but hot in vailb for.ther men cntered into their labours; and, as if bv natural conscqucnce, ai len'th their word prospere<1 after them, and ruade itsclf a honae, even these sacred palaces lu which it has so long. dwelt, and whieh are still vouchsafcd to us, in token, as we trust, that thev toc» are still with us who spoke Ihat word, and, with them, Ilis Prcsence, who gave thcm race te» spcak if. 0 happy they, who, in a sorrowfid tiret, avail thcmselves of this bond of communion with thc Saints of old and with the ['nivol'sal Chul'ch 0 wise and dutithl, who, when the WOlqd has l-»bbed them of so lnueh, set the more account upon what remains Ve have not lost a.ll, while we have the dwelling'-places of out tbrefathers; while we ean repair those which are broken down, and lmihl upon the ohl tbmulat.ions, and propagate them upon new sites  IIappy they, who when they enter within their holv lilnits, enter in hem't into the c-urt of heaven And me»st, unhalTy, who, while they have eyes fo admire, admire them only for their beauty's sake, and the skill tbev exbibit; who reg'ard them as works of art, hot fruits of groee; bow down belote their material fiwlns, instead of worshipping "in spirit and in truth;" connt their stones, and measure their spaces, but discern in them no tokens of the invisible, no cmmns of truth, no lessons of wisdom, fo guide them forward in the way heavenward In heaven is the substance, of which here below we are vouchsafed the image; aml thither, if we be worthy, we shall at leng'th attain. There is the holv Jerusalem, whose lig'ht is like unto a. stone most preeious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; and whose wall is great and high, with twelve gares, and an Ang'el at each; whose glory is the Lord God Ahnighty, and the Lamb is the light thereof.