39 chapters
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39 chapters
SERMON I. HOW TO KEEP PASSION WEEK
SERMON I. HOW TO KEEP PASSION WEEK
( Preached before the Queen .) Philippians ii. 5-11. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above e
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SERMON II. THE DIVINE HUNGER AND THIRST
SERMON II. THE DIVINE HUNGER AND THIRST
( Preached before the Queen .) Psalm xxxvi. 7, 8, 9. How excellent is thy loving-kindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light. This is a great saying. So great that we shall never know, certainly never in this life, how much it means. It speaks of
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SERMON III. THE TRANSFIGURATION
SERMON III. THE TRANSFIGURATION
( Preached before the Queen .) Matthew xvii. 2 and 9. And he was transfigured before them. . . . And he charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of Man be risen again from the dead. Any one who will consider the gospels, will see that there is a peculiar calm, a soberness and modesty about them, very different from what we should have expected to find in them. Speaking, as they do, of the grandest person who ever trod this earth, of the grandest events which ever happened
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SERMON IV. A SOLDIER’S TRAINING
SERMON IV. A SOLDIER’S TRAINING
Luke vii. 2-9. And a certain centurion’s servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die. And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant. And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this: For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue. Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friend
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SERMON V. CHRIST’S SHEEP
SERMON V. CHRIST’S SHEEP
Mark vi. 34. And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things. This is a text full of comfort, if we will but remember one thing: that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever; and, therefore, what he did when he was upon earth, he is doing now, and will do till the end of the world. If we will believe this, and look at our Lord’s doings upon earth as
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SERMON VI. THE HEARING EAR AND THE SEEING EYE
SERMON VI. THE HEARING EAR AND THE SEEING EYE
Proverbs xx. 12. The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made even both of them. This saying may seem at first a very simple one; and some may ask, What need to tell us that? We know it already. God, who made all things, made the ear and the eye likewise. True, my friends: but the simplest texts are often the deepest; and that, just because they speak to us of the most common things. For the most common things are often the most wonderful, and deep, and difficult to understand. Th
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SERMON VII. THE VICTORY OF FAITH
SERMON VII. THE VICTORY OF FAITH
( First Sunday after Easter .) 1 John v. 4, 5. Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory which overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? What is the meaning of ‘overcoming the world?’ What is there about the world which we have to overcome? lest it should overcome us, and make worse men of us than we ought to be. Let us think awhile. 1. In the world all seems full of chance and
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SERMON VIII. TURNING-POINTS
SERMON VIII. TURNING-POINTS
Luke xix. 41, 42. And when Jesus was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. My dear friends, here is a solemn lesson to be learnt from this text. What is true of whole nations, and of whole churches, is very often true of single persons—of each of us. To most men—to all baptized Christian men, perhaps—there comes a day of visitation, a crisis
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SERMON IX. OBADIAH
SERMON IX. OBADIAH
1 Kings, xviii. 3, 4. And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly: for it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.) This is the first and last time throughout the Bible, that we find this Obadiah mentioned. We find the same name elsewhere, but not the same person. It is a common Jewish name, Obadiah, and means, I belie
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SERMON X. RELIGIOUS DANGERS
SERMON X. RELIGIOUS DANGERS
( Preached at the Chapel Royal, Whitehall, 1861, for the London Diocesan Board of Education .) St. Mark viii. 4, 5, 8. And the disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness? . . . How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. . . . so they did eat and were filled; and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. I think that I can take no better text for the subject on which I am about to preach, than that which the Gospel f
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SERMON XI. BLESSING AND CURSING
SERMON XI. BLESSING AND CURSING
( Preached at the Chapel Royal, Whitehall, Ash Wednesday , 1860.) Deuteronomy xxviii. 15. It shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee. Many good people are pained by the Commination Service which we have just heard read. They dislike to listen to it. They cannot say ‘Amen’ to its awful words. It seems to th
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SERMON XII. WORK
SERMON XII. WORK
( Twenty-fourth Sunday after Trinity .) Proverbs xiv. 23. In all labour there is profit. I fear there are more lessons in the Book of Proverbs than most of us care to learn. There is a lesson in every verse of it, and a shrewd one. Certain I am, that for a practical, business man, who has to do his duty and to make his way in this world, there is no guide so safe as these same Proverbs of Solomon. In this world, I say; for they say little about the world to come. Their doctrine is, that wha
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SERMON XIII. FALSE PROPHETS
SERMON XIII. FALSE PROPHETS
( Eighth Sunday after Trinity .) Matthew vii. 16. Ye shall know them by their fruits. People are apt to overlook, I think, the real meaning of these words. They do so, because they part them from the words which go just before them, about false prophets. They consider that ‘fruit’ means only a man’s conduct,—that a man is known by his conduct. That professions are worth nothing, and practice worth everything. That the good man, after all, is the man who does right; and the bad man, the man w
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SERMON XIV. THE ROCK OF AGES
SERMON XIV. THE ROCK OF AGES
( Ninth Sunday after Trinity .) 1 Corinthians x. 4. They drank of that Spiritual Rock which followed them; and that Rock was Christ. St. Paul has been speaking to the Corinthians about the Holy Communion. In this text, St. Paul is warning the Corinthians about it. He says, ‘You may be Christian men; you may have the means of grace; you may come to the Communion and use the means of grace; and yet you may become castaways.’ St. Paul himself says, in the very verse before, ‘I keep under my body
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SERMON XV. ANTIPATHIES
SERMON XV. ANTIPATHIES
( Tenth Sunday after Trinity .) 1 Cor. xii. 3, 4, 5, 6. Wherefore, I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. We are to come to the Communion this day in love and c
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SERMON XVI. ST. PAUL
SERMON XVI. ST. PAUL
( Eleventh Sunday after Trinity .) 1 Cor. xv. 8. Last of all he was seen of me, also, as of one born out of due time. For I am the least of the Apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. You heard in this text (part of the epistle for this day) St. Paul’s opinion of himself. You heard, also, in the Second Lesson for this day, the ninth chapter of Acts, the extraordinary story of his conversion. And what may we learn from that story? We may lea
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SERMON XVII. THE BROKEN AND CONTRITE HEART
SERMON XVII. THE BROKEN AND CONTRITE HEART
Isaiah, lvii. 15-21. For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made. For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was
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SERMON XVIII. ST. PETER
SERMON XVIII. ST. PETER
Matt. xvi. 18. Thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church. This is St. Peter’s day. It will be well worth our while to think a little over St. Peter, and what kind of man he was. For St. Peter was certainly one of the most important and most famous men who ever lived in the whole world. You just heard what our Lord said to him in the text. And certainly, from those words, and from many other things which are told of St. Peter, he was the chief of the apostles—at least till St.
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SERMON XIX. ELIJAH
SERMON XIX. ELIJAH
( Tenth Sunday after Trinity .) 1 Kings xxi. 19, 20. And thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou killed, and also taken possession? and thou shalt speak unto him, saying, Thus saith the Lord, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine. And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord. Of all the grand person
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SERMON XX. THE LOFTINESS OF HUMILITY
SERMON XX. THE LOFTINESS OF HUMILITY
1 Peter v. 5. Be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. This is St. Peter’s command. Are we really inclined to obey it? For, if we are, there is nothing more easy. There is no vice so easy to get rid of as pride: if one wishes. Nothing so easy as to be humble: if one wishes. That may seem a strange saying, considering that self-conceit is the vice of all others to which man is most given; the first sin, and the last sin, and that which is said to
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SERMON XXI. THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
SERMON XXI. THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
( Trinity Sunday .) John v. 19. Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. This is Trinity Sunday; and on this day we are especially to think of the mystery of the ever-blessed Trinity, and on the Athanasian Creed, which was read this morning. Now there is much in this Athanasian Creed, which simple country people, however good the
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SERMON XXII. THE TORMENT OF FEAR
SERMON XXII. THE TORMENT OF FEAR
( First Sunday after Trinity .) 1 John iv. 16, 18. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. The text tells us how to get one of the greatest
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SERMON XXIII. THE FLESH AND THE SPIRIT
SERMON XXIII. THE FLESH AND THE SPIRIT
( Eighth Sunday after Trinity .) Romans viii. 12. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh; for if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. What does walking after the flesh mean? St. Paul tells us himself, in Gal. v., where he uses exactly the same form of words which he does here. ‘The works of the flesh,’ he says, ‘are manifest.’ When a man gives way to his passions and appetites—when he cares only about enjoying his own flesh, and the pleasures which h
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SERMON XXIV. THE UNRIGHTEOUS MAMMON
SERMON XXIV. THE UNRIGHTEOUS MAMMON
( Ninth Sunday after Trinity .) Luke xvi. 1-8. And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. I am resol
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SERMON XXV. THE SIGHS OF CHRIST
SERMON XXV. THE SIGHS OF CHRIST
( Twelfth Sunday after Trinity .) Mark vii. 34, 35. And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain. Why did the Lord Jesus look up to heaven? And why, too, did he sigh? He looked up to heaven, we may believe, because he looked to God the Father; to God, of whom the glorious collect tells us, that he is more ready to hear than we to pray, and is wont to giv
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SERMON XXVI. THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA
SERMON XXVI. THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA
( Twelfth Sunday after Trinity , 1856.) 2 Kings xviii. 9-12. And it came to pass in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, came up against Samaria, and besieged it. And at the end of three years they took it: even in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that is the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken. And the king of Assyria did carry away Israel unto Assyria, and put them in Halah and in
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SERMON XXVII. THE INVASION OF THE ASSYRIANS
SERMON XXVII. THE INVASION OF THE ASSYRIANS
( Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity, Morning .) 2 Kings xix. 15-19. And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord, and said, O Lord God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the Lord, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, Lord, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God. Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and
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SERMON XXVIII. THE TEN LEPERS
SERMON XXVIII. THE TEN LEPERS
( Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity .) Luke xvii. 17, 18. Were there not ten cleansed, but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. No men, one would have thought, had more reason to thank God than those nine lepers. Afflicted with a filthy and tormenting disease, hopelessly incurable, at least in those days, they were cut off from family and friends, cut off from all mankind; forced to leave their homes, and wander away; forbidden to enter
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SERMON XXIX. PARDON AND PEACE
SERMON XXIX. PARDON AND PEACE
( Twenty-first Sunday after Trinity .) Psalm xxxii. 1-7. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my tra
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SERMON XXX. THE CENTRAL SUN
SERMON XXX. THE CENTRAL SUN
( Sunday after Ascension, Evening .) Ephesians iv. 9. 10. Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things. This is one of those very deep texts which we are not meant to think about every day; only at such seasons as this, when we have to think of Christ ascending into heaven, that he might send down his Spirit at Whitsuntide. Of this th
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SERMON XXXI. CHRISTMAS PEACE
SERMON XXXI. CHRISTMAS PEACE
( Sunday before Christmas .) Phil. iv. 4. Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice. This is a glorious text, and one fit to be the key-note of Christmas-day. If we will take it to heart, it will tell us how to keep Christmas-day. St. Paul has been speaking of two good women, who seem to have had some difference; and he beseeches them to make up their difference, and be of the same mind in the Lord. And then he goes on to tell them, and all Christian people, why they should make up
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SERMON XXXII. THE LIFE OF THE SPIRIT
SERMON XXXII. THE LIFE OF THE SPIRIT
( First Sunday after Christmas .) Isaiah xxxviii. 16. O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit. These words are the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah; and they are true words, words from God. But, if they are true words, they are true words for every one—for you and me, for every one here in this church this day: for they do not say, By these things certain men live, one man here and another man there; but all men. Whosoever is really alive, that is, h
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SERMON XXXIII. THE UNCHANGEABLE ONE
SERMON XXXIII. THE UNCHANGEABLE ONE
Psalm cxix. 89-96. For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth. They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants. Unless thy law had been my delight, I should then have perished in mine affliction. I will never forget thy precepts: for with them thou hast quickened me. I am thine, save me; for I have sought thy precepts. The wicked have waited for me to destroy me:
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SERMON XXXIV. ΕΝ ΤΟΥΤΩ ΝΙΚΑ
SERMON XXXIV. ΕΝ ΤΟΥΤΩ ΝΙΚΑ
( Good Friday , 1860.) 1 Corinthians i. 23-25. But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. The foolishness of God? The weakness of God? These are strange words. But they are St. Paul’s words, not mine. If he had not said them first, I should
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SERMON XXXV. THE ETERNAL MANHOOD
SERMON XXXV. THE ETERNAL MANHOOD
( First Sunday after Easter .) John xx. 29. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed; blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. The eighth day after the Lord Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared a second time to his disciples. On this day he strengthened St. Thomas’s weak faith, by giving him proof, sensible proof, that he was indeed and really the very same person who had been crucified, wearing the very same human nature, the very same ma
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SERMON XXXVI. THE BATTLE WITHIN
SERMON XXXVI. THE BATTLE WITHIN
( Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity , 1858.) Galatians, v. 16, 17. This I say then, Walk in the spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. Does this text seem to any of you difficult to understand? It need not be difficult to you; for it does not speak of anything which you do not know. It speaks of something which y
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SERMON XXXVII. HYPOCRISY
SERMON XXXVII. HYPOCRISY
Matthew xvi. 3. Oh ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times? It will need, I think, some careful thought thoroughly to understand this text. Our Lord in it calls the Pharisees and Sadducees hypocrites; because, though they could use their common sense and experience to judge of the weather they would not use them to judge of the signs of the times; of what was going to happen to the Jewish nation. But how was their conduct hypocritical?
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SERMON XXXVIII. A PEOPLE PREPARED FOR THE LORD
SERMON XXXVIII. A PEOPLE PREPARED FOR THE LORD
Ephesians iii. 3-6. How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery (as I wrote afore in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto the holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the Gospel. This day is the feast of the Epiphany. Epiphany, as many
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SERMON XXXIX. THE WRATH OF LOVE
SERMON XXXIX. THE WRATH OF LOVE
Psalm cvii. 6. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. If I were asked to give a reason why I believed the Old Testament to be an inspired and divine book, as well as the New, I could not do better, I think, than to lay my hand on this 107th psalm, and say,—This is my reason for believing the Old Testament to be inspired. I have hundreds of others: but this one is enough—this one psalm. It contains an account of God’s dealings with men, s
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