Parochial and Plain Sermons

bail us as brothcrs, after all there is a Judge who trieth the hearts and the reins. ]Ic lnows out rcal state; have wc carnestly besought IIim fo teach us the knowlcdge of our own hcarts?:If we have not, that ver3" omission is a presumption against us. Though our praise were throughout the Church, we may be sure Itc sccs sins without number in us, sins dccp and heinous, of which we have no idca. If man secs so much evil in human nature, what must God sce? ":If our heart condcmn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things." Not acls alone of sln does He set down against us daily, of which we know nothing, but the thoug;hts of the heart too. The stirrings of pride, vanity, covetousness, impurity, discontent, rcsentment, these succccd cach othcr through the day in momentarv emotions, and are known to:IIim. VV'e know them not; but how nmch does it concern us fo know them! 2. Thls consider,tion is suggested by the first view of the subject. Now reflect upon the actual disclosures of out hidden we,kness, which accidents occasion. Pcter followed Christ boldly, and suspected not his own heart, till it betrayed him in the hour of temptatlon, and lcd him fo deny his Lord. David lived years of happy obedience while he was in private lire. What calm, clear-sighted faith is manifested in his ansm-er to Saul about Goliath-.—" The Lord that delivered me out of the pav of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine ." Nay, not only in retired lire, i severe trial, under ill usage from aul, he continued faithful to his God;  1 Sam. xvii. 37.

46 Secrel Fatlts. years and years did he g'o on, fortifying lais heart, and learning" the t.ar of the Lord; 3et power and wea|th weakened lais faith, and for a season overeame him. There was a rime when a prophet could retort upon him, " Thou art the man TM whom thou condemnest. He had kel»t his principles i words, but lost .hem in lais heart. Hezekiah is another instance of a rcligious man bear,_'ng" trouble well, but ibr  season falling" back under the temptation of prospcrity; and thkt, after extraordinary mercies had been vouchsafed fo him . And if these hings be so in the case of the fvoured saints of God, wht (may we suppose) is our own real spiritual state in His sight? It is a serious thought. The warning to be deduced from it is this:—Never fo think we have a due knowledge of ourselves till we have been exposed to various kinds of temptations, and tried on every side. Int.egrity on one side of out character is no voucher for integrity on another. We cannot tell how we should act if brought under temptations different ri'oto those which we lmve hitherto experienced. This thought should keep us humble. We are sinners, but we do hot know how great. He alone knows who died for our sins. 3. Thus much we cannot but allow  that we do hot know ourselves in those respects in which we have hot been tried. But farther than this; What if we do hot know ourselves even where we ]tare been tried, and bund fifithful? It is a remarkable circumstance whieh has been often observed, that if we look to some of the most eminent saints of Scripture, we shall find their x 2 Sain. xii. 7. u 2 Kings xx. 12—19.

reeorded errors fo bave oceurred in those parts of their duty in which each had had most trial, and generally showed obedience most perfect. 'aithftl Abraham through want of faith dcnicd his wife. Ioses, the neekest of men, was excluded from the land of promise for a passionate word. The wisdo»z of Solomon was seduced fo bow dowrt fo idols. Barnabas aain, the son o.f cotsol«tiot, had a sharp content.ton with St. Paul. If then men, who knev themselves better thau we doubtless know ourselves, had so much of hiddcn intlrmity about them, even in those parts of their character which were most ri'ce ri'oto blame, what are we to thinl¢ of ourselves? and if our very virtues be so defiled with imperfection, what must be the unknowlt multiplied circumstances of evil which aggravate the guilt of out sins? This is a third presumption against us. 4.. Think of this too. No one begins fo examine himself, and fo pray fo knov himself (with David in the text), but he finds within him an abundance of faults which belote were either entirely or ahnost entirely unknown to him. That this is so, we learn from the written lives of good men, and our own experience of others. And hence if is th.t the best men are_ever the most humble; for, having a higher standard of excellence in their minds than others have, and knov;ing-themselves better, they see somewhat of the breadth and depth of their own sinful nature, and are shocked and frig'htened af themselves. The generality of men cannot understand this; and if af rimes the habitual self-condemnation of rcligious luen breaks out into wolxls, they think it arises from affectation, or from a strang'e distempered

4 8 çec'ct state of mlnd, or from aeeidental melanelmly and disquiet, lVhereas the confession of a good man • g'ainst himself, is,'eally a witncss againsg all thoughtless persons who hear if, and a eall on them fo examine their own hearts. Doubtless the more we examine ourselves, the more imperfeet and ignorant we shall find oursel,es tobe. 5. But leg a man persevere in prayer and watehfulness to the day of his death, yet le will never get to the bottom of his heart. Thoug'h he know more and more of himself as he beeomes more conselentlous and earnest, still the full nanifestation of the secrets tlwre lodged, is reserved for auother world. And at the last day 'lio ean tell the affright and horror of a man who lived fo himself on earth, indulglng his own evil will, followin his own chance notions of truth and filsehood, shunning the cross and the reproaeh of Christ, when lais eyes are af lent b opened belote the throne of God, and all his innumerable sins, his habitual neg'leeL of God, his abuse of his talents, his misapplieation and waste of time, and the orig'inal unexplored sinfulness of his nature, are brought elearly and fully to his view? Nay, even to the truc servants of Christ, the prospeet is awful. "The rig.hteous," we are told, "will scareely be. saved. '' Then will the g-ood man undergo the full sig'ht of his sins, wlieh on earth he was labouring- to obtain, and partly suceeeded in obtaining', though lire was not long enough fo learn and subdue them all. Doubt.less we musL ail endure thaL tierce and terrlf3"in  vision of out real selves, that last fiery trial of the soul  before its t 1 Pet. iv. 18.  1 Cor. iii.

aceeptanee, a spiritual ag'ony and second death t. ail who are not then supported by the strength of Him who died to bring them safe through it, and in whom on earth they have believed.

My brethren, I appeal to your reason whether these presumptions are hot in their substance fair and just. And if so, next I appeal to your consciences, whether they are new to you; for if you lmve hot even thought about your real state, nor even know how little you know of yourselves, how can you in good earnest be purifying" yourselves for the next world, or be walkin in the narrow way? And yet how many are the chances that a number of those who now hear me bave no sufficient knowledge of themselves, or sense of their ignorance, and are in peril of their souls! Christ's ministers cannot tell who are, and who are hOt, the truc elect: but when the diflïculties in the way of knowing" yourselves aright are considered, if becomes a most serious and immediate question for each of you fo entertain, whether or hot he is living a lire of self-deceit, and thinking far more comfortably of his spiritual state than he bas any rig'ht to do. 'or call to mind the impediments that are in the way of your knowing" yourselves, or feeling" your ignorance, and then judge. l. 'irst of all, self-knowledge does hot corne as a marrer of course; if implies an effort and a work. As well may we suppose, that the knowledg, e of the languag'es cornes by nature, as that acquaintance with out own heart is natural. Now the very effort of steadily

5 ° Scczel Fctztlts. refleeting, is itself painful to many men; hot fo spea.k of the difficulty of reflecting" corrcctly. To ask ourselves wy we do this or that, to take account of the principles conscience which govcra us, and see whether we act for " ' sake or from some lower inducement, is painfid. We are busy in the world, and what lcisure rime we have we readily devote fo a less severe and wearisome employment. . And then cornes i our self-love. We ]wpe ¢he best; this savcs us the trouble of cxaminng. Self-love answers for our safety. Wc thinl it sufficicnt caution to allow for certain possible unknown fitults af the utmost, and fo ta.le ¢hem inlo ¢he reckoning when we balance our account with our conscience: whereas, if the truth were known to us, we should find we had nothing but debts, and those greater than we can conceive, and ever increasing. 3. And this favourable judgment of ourselves will especially prevail, if we bave the misfortune o bave uninterrupted health and high spirits, and domestic comibrt. Health of body and mind is a great blessing', if we can bear it; but unless chastened by watchings and fastings , it will commonly seduce a man into ¢he notion that he is much better than he really is. Resistance to our acting' rightly, whe¢her it proceed from within or without, tries out principle; but when things go smoothly, and we have but fo wish, and we can pertbrm, we cannot ¢ell how far we do or do not act from a sense of duty. When a man's spirits are big, h, he is pleased with every thing'; and with himself especlally. He ean act 'ith vig'our ad promptness, and he mistakes  2 Cor. xi. 27.

çecrct F¢tlls. 5  this mere eonstitutional energ'y for streng-th of faith. He is eheerful a.nd eontented and he mistakes this tbr Christian peaee. And, if happy in his tamily, he mistakes mere natural affection fi»r Christia.n benevolenee, a.nd the eonfirmed retaper of Christian love. In short, he is in a dream, ri'oto whieh nothing eould have saved hiln exeep deep humilit35 and nothingwill ordinarily reoeue him exeep sharp affliction. Other aecidental circumstanccs m fi'equently causes of a similar selt2deeeit. While we remain in retirement ri'oto the vorld, we do not know ourselves; or ater any great mercy or trial, whieh has affeeted us much, and given  tempora W strong impulse fo out obcdience; or when we are in keen pursuit of some good object, which excites the mind, and for  rime deadens it fo temptation. Under such circumstances we a.re readv fo hink far too wel[ of ourselves. The wofld is away; or, at least, we are insensible toits seductions; and we mistake out merely tempora W tranquillity, or our over-wrought vour of mind, on the one hand fo" Christian peace, on the other for Christian zeal. 4. Next we must consider the force of habit. Co» science t first warns us a.gainst sin; but if we disregard it, it soon ceases fo upbraid us; and thus sins, once known, in rime become secret sins. If sccms then (and it is a startling reflection), that the more g-uilty we re, the less we know it; for the oftener we sin, the less we are distressed at it. I think many of us may, on reflection, rccollect instances, in our experienee of ourselves, of our gradually foetting things fo be wrong whieh once shocked us. Such is the force of habit. By

5 2 Sccrct _aztlts. if (for instance) men contrive fo allow thernselves in rations kinds of dishonesty. OEhey bring" themselves to affirm what is uutrue, or what they are hot sure is truc, in the course of business. OEhcy overreach and cheat; and still more are they likely to çall into low and selfish ways without thcir observing if, and all the while to continue careful in their attcndance on the Christian ordinances, and bear about them a form of religion. Or, again, they will lire in scli'-indu]gent habits; eat and drink more than is right; display u needless pomp and splendour in their domestic arrangements, without any misgiving; much less do thcy think of simplicity of manners and abstinence as Christian duties. Now we cannot suppose they alvays thought their present mode of living to be justifiable, for o[hers arc still struck with its impropriety; and what others now feel, doubtless they once felt themse]ves.:But such is the force of habit. So again, to take as a third instance, the duty of stated private prayer; at first if is omitted with compunction, but soon with idifference.:But if is hot the lcss a sin because we do hot feel if o be such. Habit bas ruade if a secret sin. 5. To the force of habit must bc added that of custom. Every age bas its own wrong ways; and these bave such influence, that even good men, from living in the world, a.re unconsciously misled by them. At one rime a iïerce persecutin hatred of those who erred in Christian doctrine has prevailcd; a* another, an odious over-ist.;mation,)f wealth and the means of wealth; af another an irrcligious veneration of the mere intellectual powers; a:nother, a laxity of mora.s  at another, disregard of the

S«c rd _Fa? t lts. 53 forms znd discipline of the Church. The most reliffious men, unless they are espeeially watchful, will feel the sway of the fashion of their age; and surfer fl'om it, as Lot in wieked Sodom, though uneonseiously. Yet their ignorance of the nfisehief does hot change the nature of their sin;sin it still is, only eustom makes i secret sin. 6. Now what is out chier guide amid the evil and sedueing euStolns of the world?—obviously, the Bible. "The world passeth away, but the word of the Lord endureth for everl. '' How mueh extended, then, and streng/theued, neeessarily must be this secret dominion of sin over us, when we eonsider how litt|e we read Seripture! Out conscience gets eorrupfed, kfrue; but the words of truth, thouh effaeed ff'oto out rainds, remain in Scripture, bright in their eternal youth and purity. ]'et, we do hot study Seripture fo stir up and refl'esh out minds. Ask yourselves, lny brethren, what do you know of the Bble? Is there any one pmoE of it you hve read carefully, and as a whole? One of the Gospels, for instance? Do you know very mueh more of vour Saviour's works and words than you lmve heard read in ehureh? Ha.ve you eompared His precepts, or St. Paul's, or any other Apostle's, with your own daily eonduet, and pra.yed and endeavoured to ae upon them? If you hve, so lai" is wel]; go on to do so. If you bave not, if is plain you do not possess, for you have hot songht to possess, an adequate notion of that pert?ct Christian character which it is your duty to aire af, nor an ade-

54 Secret Fat[ts. quate notion of your,qetual sinfifl state; you are in the number of those who "corne hot to the light, les heir deeds should be reproved."

These renmrks may serve fo impress upon us the difficulty of knowing ourselves aright, and the consequent danger fo which we are exposed, of speaking l)eace fo our souls, when thcre is no 1)eace. M,q.ny things are ag,qinst us; this is plain. Yet is uot our flturc prize worth a stvuggle? Is it hot worth present discomfort and pain to accomplish an escape ti-om the tire that noyer shall be quenchcd? Can we endure the thought of goin¢ 4 down to the grave with a load of sins on our head unknown and unrepented of? Can we content ourselvcs with such an unreal faith in Christ, as in no sutïàcient measure includes selfabasement, or thankfulness, or the desire or effort fo be holy? for how can we feel our need of His hell% or our dependence on Him, or our debt fo Him, or the nature of tIis gift to us, unless we know ourselves? How can we in any sense be said to have that "mlnd of Christ," to which the Apostle exhorts us, if we cannot follow Him to the height above, or the depth 1)eneath; if we do hot in some measure dscern the cause md meaning of His sorrows, but regard the wor]d, and man, and the system of Providence, in a lig, ht different ri'oto that which His words and acts supply? If you receive revealed truth merely through the eyes and ears, you believe words, hot thin8-s; you deceive yourselves. You may conceive yourselves sound in faith, but you know nothing in any truc way. Obedience to God's commandments, which implies knowledg'e of sin and of holiness, and the desire and endcavour to plcase Ilim, this is the only practical iutcrpreter of Scripture doctrine. Without self-knowledge you have no foot in vourselves personally; you may endure for a rime, but under affliction or persecution your faith will hot lt. This is why many in this ag (and in every ag) becorne infidels, heretics, schismaties, disloynl despisers of the Church. They cast off the form of truth, because if never h been to them more than a form. They edure not, because they nevcr have tasted tha the Lord is g'racious; and they never have had experience of Itis power and love, beeause they have never known tbeir own weakness and need. This may be the ri, turc condition of some of us, if we ha.rden out hearts to-day, o2ostas ff. Some day, evcn in this vorld, we may be round openly among the enemies of God and of His Church. But, even should we be spared this prescrit shame, what will it ultimately profit a man to profess without understandin? to say he has faith, when he has hot works *? In that case we shall remain in the heavenly vineyard, stunted plants, without the principle of growth in us, barr.en; and, in the end, we shall be put to shame before Christ and the holy Ang-els, "as trees of withering fi.uits, tvice dead, plucked up by the roots," even though we die in outward communion with the Church. To think of these things, and to be a|armed, is the

5 6 çecrct 'atlts. first step towards acceptable obedience; fo be af case, is to be unsafe. We must know what the evil of sln is hereafter, if we do hot Iearn if here. God g.ive us ail g'raee fo choose the pain of.wesent repentanee before the wrath to come l