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November
2, 1862 (Twenty-first Pentecost)
On the Gospel of the Day—
[The Parable of the Servant who Owed Ten Thousand Talents—Matt.
xviii.]
I consider this parable, and the other passages
of our Lord's teaching which are parallel to it, of a very awful
character. I think all of us will say so who seriously turn their
minds to consider them. (Go through it.)
It is introduced by a question of St. Peter,
which itself may be viewed in connection with another declaration of
our Lord's on the same subject, which is recorded in the 17th of St.
Luke, vv. 3-5 [Note 1] (Quote.)
Apparently in allusion to this, or in some connection with it, St.
Peter asked: 'Lord, how often,' etc. Matt. xviii. 21-22 [Note
2]. {179}
In the same way in the sermon on the mount, Matt.
v. 22-24 [Note 3]. And He has
introduced it as one of the seven petitions of His own prayer, which
is the first element and type of all our devotions, and which we say
every day. Forgiveness of injuries then bound up in the very idea of
prayer in the evangelical law; and our Lord in a passage in St. Mark
seems distinctly to say so; for after speaking of the faith which will
move mountains, He proceeds, Mark xi. 25-26, 'And when you shall stand
to pray, forgive, if you have ought against any man: that your Father
also who is in heaven may forgive you your sins. But if you will not
forgive, neither will your Father that is in heaven forgive you your
sins.'
Now this great Christian precept is often
expressed in these two words: viz. that when injury is done to us, it
is our duty to forgive and forget. Let us dwell upon these.
Now, at first sight, we shall all of us allow
that it is a very beautiful precept, especially when we are young,
when our hearts are light and open, and our tempers generous; we shall
on the one hand think it admirable and great, and, not having had to
practise it in fact, we shall be drawn to it, think it easy, and
resolve to observe it as life goes on. I {180} can fancy young people
drawing before their minds pictures of injuries done them, of their
forgiving the injuries, and returning good for evil. And when they
read accounts of men who have done so, and instances of generosity,
magnanimity, patience and nobleness in this respect, they are greatly
moved and filled with a love of the virtue. Nor is it only a beautiful
precept, it is of a most useful and expedient character too. Every one
must confess who turns his mind to the subject, that the world would
go on far better, that all men would be happier, if this precept was
universally observed. For what is a greater or wider scourge of man
than war, dissensions and litigation? and though these miseries arise
in a great measure from covetousness (James iv.), they arise still
more from passion, from a sense of injuries, from a fierce
determination to retaliate, from a thirst for revenge. James iv. 1-2,
'From whence are wars and contentions among you? ... you covet, and
have not; you kill, and envy, and cannot obtain.'
To forgive and forget, then, is (1) at first
sight a beautiful, an admirable precept, and (2) one which on long
experience leads to the greatest benefit to mankind. All men are
interested in its recognition and observance; yet it will be found not
at all easy in fact, but a very difficult precept, one which is but
rarely obeyed and very partially, where it is not altogether
neglected; and further, one to which many plausible objections may be
made, and many arguments in favour of a contrary course, which become
formidable when they are brought to defend that unwillingness to obey
it; and the difficulty of {181} obeying it, which in matter of fact
will be found in human nature.
Now I will first set down what I conceive the
precept to be, and next consider how the objection to it arises.
(I was interrupted, or I meant to have written
a sketch of a whole sermon. I have forgotten now my arrangement. I put
down some isolated [topoi].) (1) Not to forgive is even
contrary to justice, a higher kind of justice than natural
justice, for we should do as it has been done by Almighty God to us.
(2) Forgetting, yes, as God forgets, for He forgets by putting aside,
behind His back, our sins. (3) We should put aside also, for a reason
special to us, for the thinking of injury is a temptation to
avenge it. (On distrust necessarily remaining after forgiveness [Note
4].) (4) Mere emotion is not revenge. (5) Though we must put aside
the injury, we must not put aside the injurer, for that would be
hatred—this the cardo of the difficulty of the precept. (6)
On being obliged to speak to persons with whom we have
quarrelled. This has exceptions, e.g. if they are likely
to tempt us to sin, which perhaps was the injury; but such
exceptions must be determined by a director. (7) It seems to be
contrary to justice if injuries are not punished. This is true, but we
must not judge in our own case. (8) Contrary to nature to forgive.
Yes, but sin and redemption (see above, 2). (9) This is what this age forgets
when it speaks in favour of revenge. (10) Men do not believe in
redemption, nor that they are sinners. Hence Mahomet. (11) Do {182} I
put forgiveness [merely] as a condition [of obtaining
forgiveness for ourselves]? No, one who believes in what Christ has
done has no heart for revenge. (12) Onesimus—Christ says 'forgive
me' by the lips of the fellow-servant. (13) Man's duty to pray for
injurers. (14) Pray to meet them in heaven, (15) when all angularities
will be rubbed off, and we shall be able truly to love them. (16) We
and they are sinners; let us help each other.
April
5, 1863 (Easter Day)
[Silent Joy]
'I sat down under His shadow whom I desired, and
His fruit was sweet to my mouth (gutturi).' [Note
5] So says the Spouse in the Canticle.
Aggeus ii. 8, 'The desired of all nations shall
come, and I will fill this house with glory.'
Malachias iii. 1, 'And presently the Lord whom
you seek, and the angel of the testament whom you desire, shall come
to his temple.'
And therefore the Bride sat down, as Mary at
His feet. And so it is, whether in great joy or sorrow, we are
silent. Each emotion, when profound, produces a calmness. Thus Job's
friends, Job ii. 13, 'And they sat with him on the ground seven days
and seven nights, and no man spoke to him a word: for they saw that
his grief was very great.'
Thus in Christ's death and resurrection.
Look in the gospel and you will see that it is no
peculiarity of ours, of our race, of these times, but {183} it is a
deep characteristic of our nature. Who is it that speaks in the
gospel, from the time when Mary poured the alabaster box to the time
when Jesus ascended into heaven? [Note
6]
And so as regards our Lord—read the whole
account—it is not the disciples who speak, it is Jesus—Jesus in
the supper, the Last Supper, the garden, the Passion, the
Cross, the Resurrection.
It is the wicked who speak—they speak who speak
to sin—Chronista, Christus, Synagoga [Note
7]—all [speakers except Christ] grouped under that word [Synagoga].
Judas, chief priest, false witnesses, Pilate, the multitude.
Exceptions: Pilate's wife, centurion.
Even apostles—as Peter who denied Him.
Two speakers alone—( 1) when proper? (2) who is
it? [Note 8]
Thus fulfilled, Psalms xiii. 3 [Note
9].
Nay, a time came when even the wicked were
silent—'that every mouth should be stopped'—and the Lord alone
spoke. He spoke His seven last words amid the silence: only one
exception—the penitent thief.
Thoughts good and bad ... His resurrection. 'My
Lord and my God.' 'Lord, what shall this man do?' And Acts i. {184}
April
12 (Low Sunday)
[Faith]
1. INTROD.—In
today's epistle and gospel which I have just read, we have brought
before us what is one of the great lessons of this sacred season, viz.
the necessity of faith as the foundation of the Christian life.
Last week we considered the Passion and Resurrection, today the faith
by which we receive them as by a channel.
2. Contrast faith and reason. No great work done
by mere reason, even in this world.
Not that they are opposed, but faith has the
power of anticipating, and arrives at first at what reason scarcely
guesses at at last—St. Peter and St. John in Keble's poem [Note
10].
3. Therefore, since Almighty God works by human
means, He chose faith as the faculty which does great things.
4. Natural and supernatural faith. It is often
what we mean by genius in Nature, which sees what others see not, etc.
We believe in the existence of God, though it can be proved also; and
so of Christ, etc.
5. Hence the multitudes converted, etc., etc.
6. Quote passages from epistle 1 John v. 4-9 [Note
11] Cf. 1 Peter ii., then the gospel of yesterday [John xx. 1-9;
St. Peter and St. John coming to the Sepulchre]; {185} then gospel of
the day, John xx. 19-31 [Note 12],
in which faith and reason are contrasted and the superiority given to
faith.
7. And lest faith should be confused with
enthusiasm, general notes are given to steer us, viz. the very effect
of faith, 'Who is he that overcometh the world?'—and so, 'Who is he
that overcometh the flesh?' 'Who is he that overcometh the devil?'
etc.
8. This first, before faith we see on a
large scale in the world.
9. After faith we see the effects in our
heart—the justifying by reason what we have done by faith.
January
3, 1864
St. John the Saint of the Time, of the New Year, etc.—
Old Year Ending, New Year Beginning, etc.
1. 'Canst thou drink of the chalice?' [Note
13] etc. 'What shall this man do?' [Note
14]
You see how little they knew, as we. The prospect
quite dark. {186}
2. So sanguine and eager to serve his Lord, yet
how differently from what he thought! The throne on right hand and
left were deferred till the next world. So we, and we shall find at
the end that God is faithful and gives us our wish, but how
differently from what we expect! 'Commit thyself to God, and He will
give thee the desires of thy heart,' yet in His way, not ours. Thus
Jacob who said 'few and evil,' [Note
15] yet speaks of the Lord who had been with him from the
beginning to this day, etc. [Note 16]
So Solomon naming God's mercies, 'Thou hast not failed,' yet how
differently!
3. He is the saint of the longest lived; he
covers all length of life. He is the saint of the young, the
middle-aged and the old. Hence the appropriate addresses, 'Little
children,' etc.: 1 John ii. 1, 'My little children, these things I
write'; ib. 18, 'Little children, it is the last hour'; ib.
iii. 7, 'Little children, let no man deceive you'; ib. 18, 'My
little children, let us not love in word, nor in tongue; but in deed
and in truth,' etc. And what is his experience? 'The world lieth in
wickedness.' 1 John ii. 15-16, 'Love not the world, nor the things
which are in the world. If any man love the world, the charity of the
Father is not in him. For all that {187} is in the world is the
concupiscence of flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the
pride of life.'
July
24 (Tenth Pentecost)
[The Pharisee and the Publican]
1. INTROD.—'God
be merciful to me a sinner.'
2. In these words is contained the essence of
true religion.
3. Why? Because they refer to conscience
as leading the mind to God.
4. All men have a conscience of right and wrong,
Rom. ii. 14.15 [Note 17].—the
conscience accusing, etc. But it does not lead them, when they
transgress it, to God. They are angry with themselves. They
know they are wrong, and are distressed, but it does not lead them to
religion; at the utmost it leads them to understand a sin against
their neighbours—as cruelty, etc. But when it leads the soul to
think of God, then that soul may be very sinful, but at least it has
something of true religion in it.
5. 2 Cor. vii. 10-11 [Note
18]. And so 'to Thee then only have I sinned, and done evil before
Thee.' Ps. 1. {188}
6. Hence in the text the reason why the publican
was more justified, because he understood that his offenses
were against God.
7. But see what comes from this. Directly a man
realises that what he does wrong is against God, then he feels how
much more extensive it is, viz. of the thoughts.
8. And how much more intensive, viz. as against
the Highest. He calls it sin.
9. Then he grows in his notions. As blows don't
pain at first, so sin may pain hereafter.
10. Thus he sees it is an offence against the
moral nature of God.
11. Hence all diseases are but types of sin.
12. Hence idea of guilt.
13. Hence need of a cleansing.
July
31 (Eleventh Pentecost)
[On the Gospel of the Sunday—
The Healing of the Man Deaf and Dumb]
Various maladies which our Lord cured, typical of
various sins.
1. Blind.—Those that have not faith, and do not
apprehend doctrine.
2. Deaf.—Those that are without devotion and
cannot hear the songs of angels.
3. Dumb.—Those who through cowardice or pride
do not confess the Gospel, though they believe in it.
4. Without taste (and smell).—Those who have a
dull, unsensitive conscience.
5. Lame.—Those who are slothful. {189}
August
7 (Twelfth Pentecost)
[Love of God]
By contrast—love of God. Luke x. 27, 'Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole
soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind.'
Love of God—emotion not necessary; straw burns
out quicker than iron.
1. Desire of His exaltation.
2. For His own sake, not ours: (1) complacentia,
(2) ad majorem [Dei] gloriam.
3. Yet with our own personal interest in it, as a
mother or sister follows the history of a son or brother with
sympathy, though without personal gain, etc.
Loving God for His own sake. None can be saved
without love.
August
7
The One Sacrifice
1. Christ a sacrifice. We keep the feast at
Easter: 'Christ our Pasch,' etc.
2. What is meant by sacrifice?—offering,
killing, eating. Objects—(1) worship, (2) thanksgiving, (3)
propitiation, (4) impetration.
3. Heathen sacrifices, 1 Cor. x. 20, 'The things
which the heathen sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to
God.' Taurobolium, etc.; human sacrifices, etc.
4. Jewish sacrifices, Lev. ix., x., xvi. {190}
5. Fulfilled in Christ. Two things—death and
intercession. Therefore the Aaronic priesthood and bloody sacrifice
fulfilled in one act and time by our Lord in the flesh. Scripture
speaks of our Lord as not only fulfilling a bloody sacrifice (which is
once for all), but besides this of a sacrifice according to
Melchisedech, that is, bread and wine.
6. Superiority—once for all; all sin.
7. His mercy in continuing the sacrifice, that it
might not be a mere matter of history.
8. This is the Mass; which is His sacrifice
reiterated, represented, applied, as He continues it in heaven. Mal. i.
11 [Note 19].
9. Order of Melchisedech.
10. One priest, one victim, one sacrificing,
everywhere.
11. From the first—various liturgies—points
in common. Detail of rites as in the bloody [sacrifice on Mount
Calvary]—as our Lord taken before Pilate, etc., etc.
12. Arguments for apostolicity of the Mass.
August
14 (Thirteenth Pentecost)
[Love of God]
1. INTROD.—I said last
week that no one can be saved without love of God. This the
awful truth. {191}
2. In fact this is plain, but considering the
state of the case—the immortal soul—how tired it will get of
everything in eternity, except of something which is infinite. God in
Himself a world; His attributes infinite.
3. Yet how can we love Him? See how much
against our nature it is. We take delight in things of the world,
etc., etc., in science, in literature, etc. These are our aims; but to
love God is an aim above our nature.
4. Granted it is so. However, God does not
command impossibilities.
5. Therefore He gives us grace to raise us above
our nature. Even angels need grace.
6. What is grace? and what does it do for us?
7. Let us pray God for it.
August
21 (Fourteenth Pentecost)
[The Life of Grace]
1. Nothing is more common than to think that
natural virtue, what we do by nature, is sufficient for our salvation.
The state of most men is sin, but as to those who
go the highest [it is] natural virtue. Put it in the way of an
objection. Why is not this enough? Two things confused with each
other—the improvement of things in this world, which natural virtue
can do, and the salvation of the soul by grace.
2. What most men consider enough is this—if
they follow what they think right, if they do the {192} duties of
their station, if they do what their conscience tells them, and so
live and die. As to prayer, the best prayer is to do their duty here;
they think the next world may take its chance.
3. Now most men do not get so far as this. They
live in sin; but the utmost they think of is to be saved mainly by
their own strength, and by doing the common duties of life without
thinking of religion, though they may acknowledge that on great
occasions God helps them, within or without, but is it when dignus
vindice nodus [Note 20].
They do not see the necessity of thinking of God, but they say that
the best service is to do those duties which come before them.
4. Particularly at this day. When men think that
religion is unnecessary, that the world will advance merely by its own
powers.
5. On the other hand, the life of grace—virtues
through grace.
6. Natural virtues bring on the world—doubt1ess
social science, political economy, science of government, etc.,
etc.—but I want to be saved.
September
18
[The Mass]
The Mass is to be viewed in two aspects—(1) as
it regards our Lord; (2) as it regards us. As it regards Him, it is
the great act of sacrificial atonement. As regards us, the great act
of intercession. Texts, {193} Rom. viii. 32 [Note
21]; Heb. vii. 22-25 [Note 22],
ix. 15 [Note 23] and passim;
1 Tim. ii. 5-6 [Note 24].
1. He is the great High Priest who is ever
offering up His meritorious sacrifice, and the Mass is but the earthly
presence of it.
2. While He offers it above, the whole Church
intercedes. (1) Mary on high, and the saints with her. Thus a heavenly
Mass is now going on above. (2) Below—not a light benefit that we
may intercede.
We have indeed a hope within us that God will
hear us for ourselves, but will He hear us for others? It is only
through His wonderful meritorious sacrifice that we have this power,
and therefore fitly in the Mass is the intercessory gift exercised.
Therefore the very privilege of Catholics above others is intercessory
prayer; it is the imputation and the imparting to their prayers the
merit of the sacrifice. Therefore St. Paul says, 'Pray without
ceasing.' St. James, etc. All intercessory prayer all over the whole
world, e.g. litanies, the priest's office, the {194} breviary,
is as it were in presence of the Mass. It is the great act of
communion, etc.
January
1, 1865
[Eternity]
1. All days are the beginning of new years, but
we have especially reason to place the first day in this time, for the
season in which it comes is the beginning of a new year, because it is
the beginning of a new revolution in this world's course. The earth is
asleep, and I may say dead; and as man's extremity was God's
opportunity, when things are at their worst they begin to mend. The
sun stays in its downward course—it turns back, the days become
longer, etc., etc. The year awakens, and human thought and activity
with it—the farmer because of the ground; the navigator looks for
favourable weather and the right wind; the warrior opens his campaign;
parliaments, etc., etc.
2. MOTION.—Such
is this wonderful world, in which all is motion—begins, goes on,
increases, and dies again, year after year, and man in detail, day
after day, goes on to his work and his labour till the evening.
3. CHANGE.—Such
it is with us, and with an end. What does it end in? We pass in the
course of 365 days the day of our death—like walking over our
gravestone. What does it end in?—a state in which time ceases, or
rather time, it may be said, stops. Time in this world is marked by
motion. Motion, or what is commonly called change, is the very
fulfilment of this state of things.
4. END OF
CHANGE.—But the day will come
when {195} time brings with it no changes—(past, present, and future
because [there is] change)—when all is the same—day after day, age
after age—in short, when time stops—an eternal now. This we
call eternity.
5. TIME WITHOUT
CHANGE IS
ETERNITY.—Properly time cannot
stop; it runs on as I am speaking. There is nothing to end it; but as
soon as there is no change in it, it is eternity. All our thoughts,
ideas, etc., will stop: they will be fixed and one and the same. As
they are good or bad, it will be heaven or hell.
March
5 (First Lent)
[Sin]
1. INTROD.—At
this time of year, 'Come let us reason together; argue with me, saith
the Lord.'
EXPOSTULATION.—Isa.
i. 2 [Note 25] and xliii. 21-26
[Note 26], Mic. vi. 1-2 [Note
27].
God, most blessed from eternity, created us, not
for any good that we could do to Him. He would not be happier,
stronger, etc., by creating us. On the other hand we are wholly
dependent on Him. {196} The axe does not depend on the carpenter for
beginning of [existence], nor the son on the father for continuance of
life, but God made the dust, out of which we are, out of nothing, etc.
He sustains us, etc. We are entirely His work and property, and should
do His service. Yet we have cast off His yoke.
2. But again, He made us in order to bless
us. He knows of what we are made. He knows what will make us happy.
Yet we have refused to be blessed; we have sought our own happiness.
3. Two claims—duty and interest. Let us
confess. We have preferred to be our own masters; we have refused to
believe that sin is an evil. We will not believe what an evil sin is;
we have no loathing or horror of it.
4. But now consider what sin is. God is infinite.
It is the one thing which may be said to be of an infinite nature
besides God. It is inexhaustible, irremediable; it is greater than
angel or archangel, a rival infinity to God—'against thee only have
I sinned.' According to the person injuring [injured?], so is the
injury, e.g. insulting a superior. Sin is the lifting up the
hand against the infinite benefactor.
5. He will leave me to myself. What will become
of me?
6. Save me from myself.
December
2, 1866
[Omniscience of God]
1. INTROD.—Omniscience
and omnipresence of God—knowing the heart; incomprehensible;
millions {197} of men, yet He knows all that goes on in the heart [of
each one] and remembers.
2. [Incomprehensible] yet familiar to children [Note
28].
3. Scripture—1 Kings xvi. 7 [Note
29], 1 Paralip. xxviii. 9 [Note
30], 2 Paralip. vi. 30 [Note 31],
Jeremias xvii. 10 [Note 32],
Apoc. ii. 23 [Note 33]. Future
judgment—Rom. xiv. 10 [Note 34],
1 Cor. iv. 4-5 [Note 35], Heb.
iv. 12-13 [Note 36]. {198}
4. Suitable to this time of year—the particular
and general judgment.
5. The keenness of the judgment—as above, Heb.
iv.—magnifying-glass, the wonders of the microscope, a new world,
diseases. Hence we must feel we do not know ourselves. Therefore
1 Cor. i., 'judge nothing before the time.'
6. Most awful, but different way in which good
and bad take it.
7. The bad dread it. Adam and Eve in the garden.
'And then shall they say to the rocks, Fall upon us,' etc., etc., Luke
xxiii. [30] [Note 37], Apoc. vi.
[16] [Note 38].
8. The good desire it—to be known to God, Ps.
cxxxviii [Note 39].
Purgatory—willing victims.
9. This is one test whether we can bare our
hearts before God.
March
20, 1870
On the Gospel of Third Lent
1. INTROD.—The
diseases which our Lord cured were typical of sins. The dumb spirit,
who is he? One who will not go to confession, or who cannot, who has
not the opportunity. I wish I could describe him and his misery.
2. Time was, before the Gospel, there was no
personal individual confession. It is one of the great gifts of Christ's
coming. {199}
3. Christ came to fulfil all the needs of
man—to give him hope, peace, strength, joy, and all virtues and
blessings. Now let us see what is one special need of his nature.
4. Man is a social being. The instrument of
society is the great gift of speech.
Begin thus [2nd scheme].
(1) Man is a social being.
(2) Speech the great tie and bond of society; dumbness and deafness
generally go together. It is said that blind men are more cheerful
than deaf and dumb, because society is a truer world than the
physical.
(3) No man is sufficient for himself—the voice is an outlet. No
greater misery than to be shut up in oneself—speech is the great
relief. How dull it is to see beautiful things without
companions to speak to. We must say all that is in our heart. As the
pleasant things, so also the painful. Difficulty of keeping a
secret, or of not speaking to others when we have been ill-treated.
(4) Nay, Almighty God not by Himself, but with His Son and Spirit.
From eternity love, and not power.
5. The devil alone is solitary—and evil
spirits—this the worst misery of hell.
Begin thus [3rd scheme].
(1) From this dumbness we may gain a great
spiritual lesson.
(2) Social nature. Whatever we feel we bring out. Praise and prayer.
(3) And so all angels. One society in heaven. Praise and prayer.
{200}
(4) And so God Himself.
(5) Evil spirits and evil men on the contrary.
(6) On all our affections and passions relieved by words.
(7) Keeping secrets, etc.
(8) Confession one kind of speech.
(9) Those who from want of opportunity, from pride, from despair, do
not confess.
(10) Comfort of confession.
(11) Those who don't are like the evil spirits.
(12) Happy all Catholics, if they knew their happiness.
April
3
Gospel for Passion Sunday
1. INTROD.—We
veil our crosses. On the various gospels descriptive of our Lord's
hiding Himself.
2. He hid Himself from the Jews because they had
refused the light.
3. He is the light of the world and the light of
the soul.
4. Abraham had first 'seen' Him—on Moriah—and
the other prophets, as if mounted on high. And all the Jews, though
they had not seen Him, had heard of Him and expected Him. He was the
'expectation of the nations.'
5. At length 'He came unto His own,' etc. 'The
light shineth in the darkness.'
6. A warning to all of us lest we receive the
grace of God in vain. A yearly warning.
7. We cannot be as others. We have had great
{201} opportunities. We mix with Protestants. They have their own
views. They argue and conclude on their own basis. They are sharp and
clever men of business; good politicians; on their own
principles right. No wonder they think so differently, for the great
bulk of them have not seen what we have seen. But Luke x. 23-24 [Note
40].
8. O let us beware lest we ever get blinded. Isa.
vi. 9-10 [Note 41].
9. 'Strive to enter the strait gate: for many, I
say to you, shall seek to enter, and shall not be able,' Luke xiii.
24.
April
24 (Low Sunday)
[Faith]
1. INTROD.—Hope—Christmas;
love—Pentecost; faith—Easter.
2.Because there was at first so much doubt, etc.
(1) The first blow was that our Lord should die—this seemed
impossible. (2) That He should rise from the dead.
3. Hence on Low Sunday epistle and gospel.
Now under these circumstances it seemed
reasonable {202} that our Lord should give them the testimony of
sight, touch, etc., for, unless some one saw Him again, how were the
apostles, how was the world to know it.
4. But a deeper lesson. Sight could not be given
to all, because our Lord was going to heaven, and those who did not
see must believe on the witness of others. Now the Gospel was to last
to the end of the world. Therefore He in His love determined that one
of the apostles should be away and not see Him.
5. This was Thomas, who, being in the state of
confusion which they all were in before they saw Him, persisted in
that unbelief which at first they all had. When the women testified,
the apostles would not believe. When the apostles testified, Thomas
would not believe.
6. We all know what happened. Our Lord graciously
granted, etc., but He said: 'Blessed are they that have not seen and
have believed.'
7. This is one lesson. Our Lord speaks to us.
Thomas thought it hard he had not the evidence the rest had. He was
not content with what was sufficient. This the great lesson.
Doubtless sight is more than the witness of other men.
8. Let us take the Gospel of St. John. There are
miracles more wonderful than in the other gospels, i.e. those
addressed to the intellect, not the imagination, etc.; and he
testifies to the truth, and so do the Christians around him. John xxi.
24, 'This is that disciple who giveth testimony of these things, and
hath written these things that we may know that his testimony is
true.' The early Christians had no greater evidence than we have,
{203} but they believed it more vigorously; hence they went through so
much.
May
8
Patronage of St. Joseph
1. INTROD.—'Yet
a little time, and ye will not see me,' etc.
2. That time when Christ came to each apostle,
was at the death of each. He says the time was short of this
life—and though He was going they would go soon; and He only went
before them to prepare a place.
3. Yet though their life was short, how long it
seemed by being so full of suffering.
4. St. Paul's sufferings (though greater,
perhaps): 2 Cor. xi. 24-28 [Note 42],
Acts xx. 22-23 [Note 43], 1 Cor.
iv. 11-13 [Note 44]. {204}
5. And so of all Christians then. They were tried
with long unsettlement and uncertainty—their lives in their hands;
persecution any day—inscription in the catacombs—'O wretched we,'
etc.—'If in this life only.' [Note
45]
6. And so of all the saints—confessors,
ascetics, etc., etc.—they are all in trouble; and when we think of
them we think of pain, penance, etc.
7. This is what supported them, hope, viz. that
Christ comes again, that their sufferings would end with this life;
that they would be rewarded by being with Him.
8. Hence heaven was their patria, their HOME—Family,
Father, peace—all was trouble here.
9. There is but one saint who typifies to us the
next world, and that is St. Joseph. He is the type of rest, repose,
peace. He is the saint and patron of home, in death as well as in
life.
10. Let us put ourselves under his protection.
August
7 (Ninth Pentecost)
[The Omnipotence of God and Man's Free-Will]
1. God is almighty, but still this does not mean
that He can do everything whatever, for if so He could do
contradictions. There are some things, of course, which are impossible
to Him because the very thought of them is an absurdity, e.g.
He can never cease to be holy; He can never wish to cease to be holy,
etc., etc.
2. And so again, much more when He created, {205}
He Himself, as it were, put obstacles in the way of the exercise of
His omnipotence—things which once were possible ceased to be
possible. He made a sort of covenant with creation in creating. He
forthwith made Himself a minister to His creation, which could not
stand of itself.
3. And much more when He created rational beings,
who can exercise a will of their own, and do right or wrong, He can't
do what He would. We say, 'Thy will be done.' It is difficult to
conceive how. When God had once created a being who could do right and
wrong, He suspended His own prerogative of 'His will being done.'
4. Especially when He makes a covenant, for then
He is bound by its terms. And further, such beings bring His
attributes into operation and they seem to contradict each other—as
justice and love.
5. I come to this conclusion: that men who rely
on the boundless mercy of God do not understand how the matter stands.
He has other attributes, and they act according to the case—'Let me
alone,' [Note 46] power of
intercession. God chose the Jews, etc. They are an example of what I
mean. He willed their salvation. He did all things He could [Note
47] for them, and He cast them off. How awful is this—His will
was not done! By creating beings who could have a will of their own,
He circumscribed His own power.
6. Now I am led to these thoughts by the epistle
and gospel of the day. {206}
7. Go through the epistle [Note
48] and gospel [Note 49].
Isa. vi. 10, 'Blind the heart of this people, and make their ears
heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear
with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted,
and I heal them.' Matt. xiii. 14 [above passage quoted], John xii. 40
[same passage quoted], Acts xxviii. 26 [same quotation].
8. Our last [end]—our 'enemies may come about
us,' etc. God forbid.
August
28 (Twelfth Pentecost)
[God Our Stay in Eternity]
1. The lawyer asks, 'What shall I do?' etc. Our
Lord refers him to the duty of loving God.
2. Now that this is our plain duty is clear. It
is the condition of heaven. But it is more than that—I wish
you to see that it is the nature of things.
3. We all wish to live a long life. We are all
fears and awe at death. Why? Well, partly because it is the loss of
life; but more, because it is leaving what we know and going to what
we do not know, and for judgment. This world our home—it is
going into a strange country. This is the main reason.
4. Men (especially Protestants) talk vaguely of
going to glory, etc. Now let us contemplate what it is, going into a
strange country. What will be our happiness there? Let us look at it
in a common-sense way. What is to constitute our happiness? What is to
occupy us in eternity? Why, even of this world men get tired!
You hear of old people {207} who are ready to die, not because they
like death but because they are tired. Now if many men are tired of
eighty years, supposing they were to live on till two hundred, would
not they be tired then? The world, too, would get more and more
strange to them—solitary. Much more eternity.
5. Some men say, 'We shall see the wonders of the
universe'—curiosity gratified. And they will take us a long time
certainly, and memory will fail, so that we may begin again when we
forget. But how soon we get tired of sight-seeing! We long to get
home.
6. Home, that is it; what is our home?
7. God and the love of God.
8. Thus necessitate medii.
Christmas
Day
[The Advent of Christ Foretold]
1. INTROD.—There
are many subjects in which we have nothing in common and cannot
sympathise with each other. But if there is a day which puts us, high
and low, rich and poor, on a level, it is this. Angels at Nativity,
Resurrection, and Ascension, are above us even in their nature and
speech.
2. Fall—the Evil One getting usurped possession
of the earth.
3. But deliverer promised from the first, and
even the time of His coming, though long after, determined.
4. Therefore expectation of freedom all through
the East, and in the West. {208}
5. No event thus known beforehand. God's
providences in the natural world are generally sudden—a great man
arises accidentally; great discoveries—and wars, as the present
[Note 50]. How sudden—and so
end of the world.
6. But this contrasted to them. It was as well
known beforehand as many of the calculations of science, like the
eclipse we had a few days ago—all upon deep principles of law.
7. And so now that He is come, though the time of
His second coming is not determined as the first, let us be sure that
all is decreed, and goes upon fixed laws in its season, though His
coming is put off again and again, and we are deceived. Thus in the
physical, terrestrial world all is confusion at first sight—the
earth rises and falls, water rushes in, the face of the land changes,
but all on law.
8. So, whether the temporal power is established
or falls—
9. Only let us be ready for His coming.
June,
1871 (Trinity Sunday)
[Mysteries]
1. INTROD.—Our
happiness consists in loving God. And we cannot love Him without
knowing about Him. And we cannot know about Him, ever so little,
without seeing that He is beyond our understanding, i.e.
mysterious. These are thoughts for today.
2. What do we mean when we speak of God? {209}
The Creator. Well, how could He make all things out of nothing?
3. Or again, our Judge, who speaks in our conscience;
and yet, how can He read our heart?
4. Or again, Providence. Yet how can He, in spite
of the laws of Nature, and the separate wills of ten thousand minds,
turn everything to good for each of us?
5. Union of justice and sanctity with mercy;
power with skill.
6. Thus to be religious at all, to know and
believe anything of God, we must believe what we cannot understand, i.e.
mysteries. It is as our Creator, Judge, Providence, having being, and
upholding good that we love Him.
7. And so of revealed religion. The Holy Trinity,
the Incarnation, why are these revealed?—to give us reason for
loving God.
8. Show how they lead us to love God.
9. But why need we love God?—because we are to
live after death. And then, where shall we find ourselves if we have
not love of God?
10. Those things here—(1) sensible comforts,
(2) activity, (3) affections.—where are they then?
July
2
(At St. Peter's)
[The Visible Temple]
'Whether you eat, or drink, or whatsoever you do,
do all to the glory of God,' 1 Cor. x. 31.
1. What do these words mean? What do they enjoin
upon us? {210}
2. We have our duty towards God, our neighbour,
and ourselves. Now we may in a certain way fulfil these duties without
doing them to God's glory.
3. E.g. we may do our duty to God from
mere fear, or from habit, or from human respect; from expedience, e.g.
going to Communion once a year, saying prayers, keeping from
particular sins—being respectable—this right, but not enough. To
our neighbour from pity, from benevolence, from family
affections—this too, good, but not enough. And so to ourselves. We
may be virtuous, and proud or self-conceited. That is, we may do
things good, and in a certain sense be good in doing them, yet not
to the glory of God, i.e. because not from love.
This is one thing, then, that is meant by the text.
4. Then again, what is meant by doing all
things? We have only rare opportunities of doing our duty. How can
we eat and drink to [the glory of God]?
5. (1) Eating and drinking. (2) Use of the
tongue—bad conversation. (3) Reading—curiosity. (4) Amusements in
kind and in reason [Note 51].
(5) Work—idleness, justice. (6) Sickness. (7) Punishments and
penances.
6. Thus the whole day—'Pray without
ceasing'—Matt. v. 16 [Note 52],
Phil. iv. 8 [Note 53].
And so especially the worship of God. God has
told us to pray. Now let us apply this to the {211} service of God. To
pray together, and publicly. This implies, of course, rites of
religion, and buildings to perform them in. How can these be done to
God's glory? Now, I can understand men saying, 'No religious rites, no
common worship; religion is private and personal.' But I cannot
understand [them] saying, 'It is common and public, it has rites, it
has houses,' and not to bring those houses under the commandment of
glorifying God, being edifying, etc.
7. Now how do we glorify God in religious houses
or churches? In making them devotional. No matter what
architecture, etc., devotional is the end, towards God and
towards men.
8. And costly ('of that which cost me nothing,'
etc. [Note 54]) as a means of
expressing devotion—Aggeus i. [Note
55], Isa. lx. [13] [Note 56],
Apoc. xxi. [Note 57]. Hence
David, 1 Par. xvii. [Note 58]—Ps.
cxxxi. (memento Domine, David); 1 Par. xxix [Note
59].—[his] zeal for the house of God; his singers, his psalms—i
Par. xxv [Note 60]. This made
him according to His own heart [1 Kings xiii. 14].
9. Now you know what this tends to. Why is it
that I come before you today? It is because I felt a profound
appreciation of the work in which your {212} priest was engaged, and a
true sympathy in his exertions. I recognised in him a zeal for the
honour of God's house such as that of David, whose spirit was troubled
that his God had no abode fit for Him. I knew that for years and years
his spirit chafed within him that he could not perfect in this place
that idea of solemnity and beautifulness in the visible temple which
he had in his mind. Twenty years and more, to my knowledge, has this
idea occupied his mind. Then, too, he honoured me by asking me to take
here some part in promoting his work, which he has committed to me
now. Then he did a part—and now, by his persevering zeal, and the
munificence of pious men, he has been able to do more; and he urges
you, through me, to take part in, and to complete his service of zeal
and love. And in the next place he calls [you] to a religious act in a
religious way. He appeals to you on a Sunday, not on Monday, Tuesday,
etc. He has taken the legitimate ecclesiastical means of asking for
your contributions, which is possible on a Sunday. He does not take
means of raising money which are not possible on a Sunday; he does a
sacred work on a sacred day.
[Further], his object has special claims from the
circumstances of this church. It is the mother church of Birmingham.
It is dedicated to St. Peter. In subscribing to it you are testifying
your loyalty to the Holy See in its troubles. Lastly, on the feast of
the Visitation, when all Nature rejoices and Mary sings the Magnificat—2
Cor. viii. 7 [Note 61]. {213}
July
30 (Ninth Pentecost)
The Jews—[Christ Weeping over Jerusalem—Luke xix. 41-47]
1. Only one nation thus selected.
2. And that from its very root.
3. Two thousand years before our Lord, i.e.
four thousand nearly from this time.
4. This people has had records, not traditions
only.
5. It is a specimen of God's governance, in the
midst of prevailing confusion, all over the earth.
6. Two cautions: (1) Children suffering for their
parents.
7. (2) Tower of Siloam.
8. Mercies, rejection of mercies, punishment.
August
6 (Tenth Pentecost)
The Divine Judgments
I said last Sunday, 'Jews suffering for the sins
of fathers.' Is not this condemned by today's parable, in which
Christians will be behaving like the Pharisee? Answer. (1) Not
by private decision. (2) Not individually, but nationally.
1. I mentioned last week the subject of the Jews,
but I could not continue without explaining clearly about judgments.
To continue, first there is judgment in the next world—yes,
but in this also. In one sense all suffering is a judgment of
sin—in one sense consequence of Adam's sin; (1) individuals,
(2) nations. {214}
2. But it does not therefore follow that we
can say what are judgments and what not.
3. This is what religious men are very apt to do
by their private judgment. Irreligious men scout the idea [of divine
judgments].
4. Some indeed force themselves upon us, because all
feel this, e.g. (1) if a man were struck dead for lying, [or]
(2) if he committed sacrilege against the Holy Sacrament, stealing,
etc.
5. But (1) if in party matters, in which good men
are on both sides, if in political, he uses his private judgment, he
is wrong.
6. Yet how often this is done! a death, a
misfortune is interpreted our own way.
7. Again, (2) national judgments. First, this
does not show that the suffering nation is worse than others. Tower of
Siloam—Pharisee and publican.
8. Nay, nor that the people of that time are
worse, for they may be suffering for the sins of the fathers.
9. Thus we come again to the Jews. They may be in
judicial blindness, but not by the fault of this generation.
10. They were taken without the merit of
individuals into covenant, and now they are put out. And since no one
can say, 'Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Spirit,' therefore, as
Protestants are blind but without their fault, so the Jews.
Rather thus:
INTROD.—The
Pharisee judged the publican. Thus I am led to the subject I touched
on last week. Instances: to say a man is wicked because
unfortunate—Job's friends; to say sudden death is a sign, etc.; to
take party or political views; to say {215} nations are special
sinners who suffer—as France—Tower of Siloam.
Censoriousness is judging by our private opinion.
But certainly there are judgments. What is on record? What God says,
either by revelation, or the voice of mankind, or by the Church. E.g.
a case of lying followed by death—for vox populi, etc.; a
case of blasphemy or insulting the Blessed Sacrament. Then as to
nations, there is only one case revealed, the Jews, and even in that
case we do not judge individuals—(explain).
Charity thinketh not evil—quote 1 Cor. xiii.
August
13 (Eleventh Pentecost)
Continuing the Subject [of Divine Judgments]
1. INTROD [Note
62].—We have in the Old Testament, but we have nowhere else, an
unveiling of God's providence. It is not so now. The fortunes of the
Church and of the Holy See are not commented on now unerringly. Then
there were inspired prophets and inspired books: but there are none
such in these times. Thus Scripture is once for all.
2. Interpretation of the history of the
Israelites and the nations around, especially Israel—always
against their own will, Ezek. xx. 32 [Note
63]. No nation on earth has so great a history as the Jews; none
has so great a future. {216}
3. Worldly prosperity does not go with true
religion now, as it did then. Then, in order to show that there was
a God, He wrought in a special way—[also] in order to show
that He did work; and it is our evidence of a Providence till the
end of time [Note 64].
4. God has given us the greatest evidences in the
fact of the Jewish people.
5. Three great visitations: in Egypt; in Babylon,
taken from their land; and now in the world at large.
6. Moses' prophecy: 'Ye shall not be as the
nations.' They were so unwilling to be a special people.
August
20 (Twelfth Pentecost)
[Divine Judgments Continued]
1. INTROD.—Epistle
and gospel are on formality of Jews. This brings me to the subject
which I wish to continue.
2. Prophecy, if disobedient, idolatrous, to be
scattered, Lev. xxvi., Deut. iv.
3. This fulfilled in the first captivity and
dispersion—few returned, etc.
4. But return they did. And then a second and a
worse dispersion to this day.
5. Now why? For they boasted to keep the
law; no idolatry.
6. It is clear that they must have committed a
grave fault; and it was this—they kept the law only in the letter,
not in the spirit. {217}
7. 'Neighbour' in today's gospel, and so external
purity, etc. 'I fast twice a week,' etc.
8. The prophets had warned them in vain. 'I will
have mercy and not sacrifice.'
9. Consequently they understood no part of the
true meaning of their Scriptures. As they made precepts formal, so
they made prophecies of the Messiah carnal.
10. And it ended in their being blind, and
rejecting the Saviour when He came.
11. This then the great sin—greater than any
former—the crucifixion of our Lord.
12. 'His blood be upon us and on our children.'
So unto this day.
13. This then why they are without homes, without
honour, and without spiritual light.—from that curse which they
invoked upon themselves.
14. You will say that no one can really suffer
for the sins of others. True, they will be judged according to their
light. But the reason they have no more light is because their fathers
sinned.
15. Let us beware, for we at least can ruin
ourselves.
August
27 (Thirteenth Pentecost)
[Divine Judgments Continued]
1. INTROD.—One
out of ten lepers returned thanks, and he a Samaritan; an election.
Thus reprobate were the Jews.
2. In consequence they cast off their Saviour,
and were in consequence cast off by God. {218}
3. Now it will be observed they have from the
first been wanderers more than other people—in Abraham's time, in
Egypt, in the wilderness—but still unsettled. In unsettled times
some stay necessary.
4. Hence their Temple as a pledge, 2 Sam.
vii. 10 [Note 65]. A pledge of
the gathering together of the people.
5. Hence it was so beautiful, etc.
6. While it remained, they remained. When it
fell, they were scattered.
7. Hence in early times holy men believed and
predicted that it never could be rebuilt.
8. Hence Julian attempted to rebuild. Who Julian
was.
9. The more wonderful because it was the notion
of the Fathers that Antichrist will rebuild Jerusalem.
10. What happened.
11. They never will be able to rebuild this
temple till they get back into their land—never to get back till
they become Christians—and then it will be a Christian and not a
Jewish temple which they will build.
12. I end as I began when I spoke on this subject
first. It is a wonderful proof of the providence of God. And He
will not desert His Church or frustrate His word now, though perhaps
not by miracle. {219}
September
17 (Sixteenth Pentecost)
[Divine Judgments Continued]
1. INTROD.—I
have lately been speaking of the wonderful history of the Jews, which
bears so much on the conviction which we have of the truth of
Christianity. We read in today's gospel of the Jews, and so
continually, and we know our Lord was a Jew, our Lady a Jewess, etc.
Yet how little do we know about them, etc., etc.
2. The Jewish history is the beginning of
Christianity and of its evidences. The mustard seed. Abraham the
mustard seed, the father of the faithful. God has founded one church,
and that from the beginning. Slow, as geological formations. As
we cherish a plant—in the hothouse, etc.
3. It was the divine purpose that that seed, as
existing in Abraham, should fill the earth. He meant gradually to
train the people, his descendants, till at length the Christ or
Messias should be born among them, and in His name they should [go]
forth, etc.
4. He did not use them in order to cast them off.
The gifts and callings, etc. [Note
66] Jerusalem instead of Rome, etc. [Note
67]
5. But when the time came, they would not—they
thought God could not do without them. 'Stones—children of Abraham.'
'Many shall come,' {220} etc. Parable of the great supper and the
vineyard. 'Lo we turn to the Gentiles.'
6. This is a warning to all Christians. It is a
warning to the Roman people who seem to have cast off the Holy See,
for it is not certain that the Pope might not change St. Peter's see,
and it is quite certain that he might simply leave Rome as Jerusalem
was left.
7. It is a warning to each of us.
Continue
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Notes
1. 'Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother sin
against thee, reprove him; and if he do penance, forgive him. And if
he sin against thee seven times, and seven times a day be converted
unto thee, saying, I repent; forgive him. And the apostles said to the
Lord, Increase our faith.'
Return to text
2. 'Then came Peter unto him,
and said, Lord, how often shall my brother offend against me, and I
forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith to him, I say not to thee,
Till seven times: but, Till seventy times seven times.' And thus our
Lord takes the opportunity to follow out and complete the great
evangelical doctrine which He had begun to declare in the passage
recorded in St. Luke. St. Peter asked if seven times would be enough,
and our Lord answered, 'I say not,' etc., etc.
Return to text
3. 'I say to you, Whosoever
is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment: and
whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the
council: and whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of
hell fire. If therefore thou offer thy gift at the altar, and there
thou remember that thy brother hath anything against thee; Leave there
thy offering before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to thy
brother, and then coming thou shalt offer thy gift.'
Return to text
4. These words were added in
pencil. It is not clear whether they belong to (3) or to (4).
Return to text
5. Cant. ii. 3.
Return to text
6. The rest of the sermon is
from a slip of paper pasted in the book, apparently the notes which
the preacher took with him into the pulpit.
Return to text
7. The three deacons of the
Passion on Palm Sunday.
Return to text
8. The meaning of this is not
clear.
Return to text
9. 'Their throat is an open
sepulchre: with their tongues they acted deceitfully; the poison of
asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of cursing and
bitterness.'
Return to text
10. See Note
15, p. 341.
Return to text
11. 'And this is our victory
which overcometh the world, our faith. Who is he that overcometh the
world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? ... If we
receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater.'
Return to text
12. 'Jesus saith to him,
because thou hast seen me, Thomas, thou hast believed: blessed are
they that have not seen, and have believed.'
Return to text
13. 'Then came to him the
mother of the sons of Zebedee with her sons adoring, and asking
something of him. Who said to her, What wilt thou? She saith to him,
That these my two sons may sit the one on thy right hand, the other on
thy left hand, in thy kingdom. And Jesus answering said, You know not
what you ask. Can you drink the chalice that I shall drink? They say,
We can. And he saith to them, My chalice indeed you shall drink: but
to sit on my right or left hand is not mine to give, but to them for
whom it is prepared by my Father.'—Matt. xx. 20-23.
Return to text
14. 'Peter, turning about,
saw that disciple whom Jesus loved following; who also lent on his
breast at supper, and said, Lord, who is it that shall betray thee?
Him therefore when Peter had seen he saith to Jesus, Lord, what shall
this man do? Jesus saith to him, So I will have him remain till I
come, what is it to thee? follow thou me.'—John xxi. 20-22.
Return to text
15. 'The days of my
pilgrimage: ... few and evil.'—Gen. xlvii. 9.
Return to text
16. 'The God that feedeth me
from my youth until this day.'—Gen. xlviii. 15.
Return to text
17. 'For when the Gentiles,
who have not the law, do by nature those things that are of the law,
these, having not the law, are a law to themselves: who shew the work
of the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness
to them, and their thoughts between themselves accusing or also
defending one another.'
Return to text
18. 'For the sorrow which is
according to God worketh penance steadfast unto salvation: but the
sorrow of the world worketh death. For behold the selfsame thing, that
you were made sorrowful according to God, how great carefulness it
worketh in you, yea defence, yea indignation, yea fear, yea desire,
yea zeal, yea revenge! In all things you have shewed yourselves
undefiled in the matter.'
Return to text
19. 'For from the rising of
the sun even to the going down, my name is great among the Gentiles,
and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to my name
a clean oblation: for my name is great among the Gentiles, saith the
Lord of hosts.'
Return to text
20. 'Nec Deus intersit, nisi
dignus vindice nodus, Inciderit.' Horace, Ars Poet., 191-2.
Return to text
21. 'He that spared not even
His own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how hath he not also
with him given us all things?'
Return to text
22. 'By so much is Jesus
made a surety of a better testament. And others indeed were made many
priests, because by reason of death they were not suffered to
continue: But this, for that he continueth for ever, hath an
everlasting priesthood, whereby he is able to save for ever them that
come to God by him: always living to make intercession for us.'
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23. 'And therefore he is the
mediator of the new testament, that by means of his death, for the
redemption of those transgressions which were under the former
testament, they that are called may receive the promise of eternal
inheritance.'
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24. 'For there is one God,
and one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave
himself a redemption for all.' ...
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25. 'Hear, O ye heavens, and
give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have brought up
children and exalted them, but they have despised me.'
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26. 'This people have I
formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise. But thou hast not
called upon me; neither heat thou laboured about me, O Israel ... I am
he that blot out thy iniquities for my own sake, and I will not
remember thy sins. Put me in remembrance, and let us plead together:
tell me if thou hast any thing to justify thyself.'
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27. 'Hear ye what the Lord
saith; Arise, contend thou in judgment against the mountains, and let
the hills hear thy voice. Let the mountains hear the judgment of the
Lord, and the strong foundations of the earth: for the Lord will enter
into judgment with his people, and he will plead against Israel.'
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28. See Note
16, p. 342.
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29. 'And the Lord said to
Samuel, Look not on his countenance, nor on the height of his stature;
because I have rejected him: nor do I judge according to the look of
man; for man seeth those things which appear, but the Lord beholdeth
the heart.'
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30. 'And thou, my son
Solomon, know the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect
heart and a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and
understandeth all the thoughts of minds: if thou seek him, thou shalt
find him; but if thou forsake him, he shall cast thee off for ever.'
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31. 'Hear thou from heaven,
from thy high dwelling place, and forgive, and render to every one
according to his ways, which thou knowest him to have in his heart;
(for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men).'
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32. 'I am the Lord who
search the heart, and prove the reins; who give to every one according
to his ways, and according to the fruit of his devices.'
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33. 'I am he that searcheth
the reins and hearts: and I will give to every one of you according to
his works.'
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34. 'For we shall all stand
before the judgment seat of Christ. Therefore every one of us shall
render an account to God of himself.'
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35. 'For I am not conscious
to myself of anything; yet am I not thereby justified: but he that
judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore judge not before the time, until the
Lord come, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness,
and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts.'
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36. 'For the word of God is
living, and effectual, and more piercing than any twoedged sword, and
reaching unto the division of the soul and the spirit, of the joints
also and the marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of
the heart. Neither is there any creature invisible in his sight: but
all things are naked and open to his eyes.'
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37. 'And they shall begin to
say to the mountains, Fall upon us; and to the hills, Cover us.'
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38. 'And they say to the
mountains and the rocks, Fall upon us, and hide us from him that
sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.'
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39. 'Domine, probasti me,
etc.
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40. 'Blessed are the eyes
which see the things which you see: for I say to you, that many
prophets and kings have desired to see the things which you see, and
have not seen them; and to hear the things which you hear, and have
not heard them.
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41. 'Go, and thou shalt say
to this people, Hearing, hear and understand not; and see the vision,
and know it not. Blind the heart of this people, and make their ears
heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear
with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted,
and I heal them.'
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42. 'Of the Jews five times
did I receive forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods,
once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I
was in the depth of the sea; In journeying often, in perils of waters,
in perils of robbers, in perils from my own nation, in perils from the
Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in
perils in the sea, in perils from false brethren; In labour and
painfulness, in much watchings, in hunger and thirst, in fastings
often, in cold and nakedness. Besides these things that are without,
my daily instance, the solicitude for all the churches.'
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43. 'And now, behold, being
bound in spirit, I go to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall
befall me there: Save that the Holy Ghost in every city witnesseth to
me, saying that bonds and afflictions wait for me at Jerusalem.'
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44. 'Even unto this hour we
both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no
fixed abode; And we labour, working with our hands: we are reviled and
we bless; we are persecuted and we suffer it: We are blasphemed and we
intreat: we are made as the refuse of the world, the offscouring of
all until now.'
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45. 'If in this life only we
have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.'—1 Cor. xv.
19.
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46. 'Let me alone, that my
wrath may be kindled against them … And Moses besought the Lord,'
etc.—Exod. xxxii. 10-11.
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47. This 'could' is a
preacher's word; it must not be theologically pressed. See Note
17, p.
342.
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48. 1 Cor. x. 6-13.
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49. Luke xix. 41-47.
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50. The Franco-German War.
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51. Perhaps 'season.'
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52. 'So let your light shine
before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father
who is in heaven.'
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53. 'For the rest, brethren,
whatsoever things are true, whatsoever modest, whatsoever just,
whatsoever holy, whatsoever lovely, whatsoever of good fame; if there
be any virtue, if any praise of discipline, think on these things.'
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54. 'Neither will I offer
burnt offerings unto the Lord my God which cost me nothing'—2 Kings
xxiv. 24.
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55. Where the people are
reproved for neglecting to build the Temple.
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56. 'The glory of Libanus
shall come to thee ... to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I
will glorify the place of my feet.'
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57. Description of the New
Jerusalem.
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58. David's purpose to build
the Temple.
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59. David, by word and
example, encourageth the princes to contribute liberally to the
building of the Temple.
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60. The number and divisions
of the musicians.
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61. 'That, as in all things
you abound in faith, and word, and knowledge, and all carefulness;
moreover also in your charity towards us, so in this grace also you
may abound.'
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62. Marginal note against
Introduction: 'This should be at the end.'
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63. 'Neither shall the
thought of your mind come to pass by, which you say, We will be as the
Gentiles, and as the families of the earth, to worship stocks and
stones.'
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64. There is a note which
was apparently intended for insertion in this paragraph, enumerating
the different kinds of inspired prophetical writings—history,
psalmody, ethics, predictions.
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65. 'And I will appoint a
place for my people Israel, and I will plant them, and they shall
dwell therein, and shall be disturbed no more.'
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66. 'As concerning the
gospel, indeed, they are enemies for your sake; but as touching the
election, they are most dear for the sake of the fathers. For the
gifts and calling of God are without repentance.'—Rom. xi.
28-29.
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67. If the Jews had not
rejected Christ, Jerusalem would have remained the Holy City.
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