Part 7

Man is sent into this world to do some good to others, to fill some social gap, and to educate his mind, discipline his body, and cultivate his soul. But luxury bids him distract his mind from serious pursuits, and seek distraction as an end. Luxury, instead of bracing, enervates the body, and it neglects the soul, if it does not cover it with stains.

4. Gross indulgence in luxury, and long continuance in luxurious living degrades the heart. The heart is rendered incapable of responding to noble thoughts.

It blinds the mind to Divine things. As the pure in heart see God, the impure have their understanding darkened to Divine things.

It chokes the spiritual life. To the luxurious prayer gives disgust, religious counsel irritates.

It hardens the heart, it leads from sin to sin, till sin becomes a habit, and habit becomes impenitence. Then the grace of God leaves the soul entirely, and spiritually the soul is dead.

Sixth Friday in Lent.

_ENVY._

1. Envy is a sadness which affects the mind on the contemplation of advantage accruing to a fellow-being, and which we resent as though what was his good was our ill. Or else it is a gladness which we feel when we see or hear of some disadvantage happening to a fellow-being. Or again, it may be a dissatisfaction at his having some natural gifts or divine favours accorded to him which we are without, or a satisfaction at his having certain natural defects, faults, or infirmities.

2. There is no sin in the feeling of the heart when we are sad at the success of another, which has not fallen to us, so long as it does not embitter us, and so long as it serves to spur us to activity. _Emulation_ is not sinful. On the contrary, God allows of inequalities, in order to stimulate us to use our energies, and exercise our faculties to the utmost. Emulation is only sinful when with it goes loss of charity.

There is no sin in the feeling of the heart when we are sad or wrath at persons obtaining advantages which they do not deserve. This is _Indignation_, and springs out of a wounded sense of justice. But such indignation must not prompt us to disparage, backbite, and injure those who have succeeded without just cause for success.

There is no sin in the feeling of the heart when we are disconcerted at certain persons obtaining positions of trust and authority which we believe they will misuse. This is _Fear of Evil_, and is legitimate. At the same time, as we cannot see the hearts and measure the understandings of others, it is possible we may undervalue them, and that they will do better than we have thought probable.

There is no sin in the feeling of the heart when we feel glad that a person whom we deem unworthy has failed to obtain, or has lost an employment for which he was incapable.

Nor is there anything wrong in the feeling of satisfaction at the punishment of an evil-doer.

3. Envy is that gall of the heart which is the reverse of charity. Envy is bred of self-esteem, and it hates to see others better, happier, more esteemed, more prosperous than self. It is _selfish egoism_, desiring to possess all advantages itself. It is a _baseness of the soul_, which cannot endure to see anything superior to its own mean self. It is a _falsity of judgment_, for it interprets awrong everything done by the person it envies. It is _hypocritical_, for it knows the despicable quality of its emotions, and veils them under all kinds of disguises.

4. It is the most distressing of spiritual maladies. It is to the soul what rust is to iron, canker to a tree, corroding and destroying all happiness, brightness, amiability.

It poisons the entire life.

It is, moreover, the fruitful mother of many sins.

It produces (_a_) slander, backbiting, malicious words, (_b_) uncharitable and cruel acts of animosity and vengeance.

It is a vice most hateful to God. "Envy," says Solomon, is "the rottenness of the bones." (Prov. xiv. 30.) "Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing," says S. Paul. (1 Cor. xiii. 3.) It is one of the works of the flesh that excludes from the kingdom of God. (Gal. v. 21.) "If ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not ... this ... is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work." (James iii. 15, 16.)

5. One belief among theologians is that the Devil fell through Envy; when he knew for what God had created man, he was filled with jealousy of man, and therefore revolted. As charity is the greatest of virtues, and sweetens and glorifies the whole life, and is that virtue most near to Christ, so is Envy the greatest of vices, souring and darkening the whole life, and bringing most into likeness to the Devil.

Sixth Saturday in Lent.

_GLUTTONY._

1. Gluttony is the vice of greedy love of eating and drinking beyond measure. If it be a love of eating too much it is _greediness_; if a love of eating and drinking only choice and palatable things, then it is _daintiness_. Now God requires us to eat and drink what is necessary for our life and health, and He gives to us a sensation of pleasure in eating and drinking in order to encourage us to eat and drink what is good and healthful.

Gluttony is the opposite vice to the virtue of temperance.

Some people are particular not to drink fermented liquors, but gorge themselves with food. They are quite as guilty of excess in one way as those who drink beyond measure. The gifts of God are bestowed to be used, and used in moderation. To despise and reject any gift of God as in itself bad is to sin against God. So S. Paul speaks of those who forbad meats, and so nowadays some intemperate advocates of temperance forbid all fermented liquors as in themselves bad. Sin does not exist in eating and drinking, but in eating and drinking immoderately.

2. There is sin when (_a_) one eats and drinks in excess of what nature requires, merely for the sake of the pleasure of eating and drinking.

(_b_) One eats or drinks with daintiness, picking and choosing, and disparaging food or drink if it be not quite what suits our pampered tastes.

(_c_) One spends too much time, or thought, or money, over food and drink.

(_d_) One disorders the health, and confuses the mind, through overmuch eating and drinking.

3. There is a virtue in self-denial in eating and drinking. Our Lord Himself exhorts to fasting (Matt. vi. 16), and Himself set us the example to fast. It must, however, never be done to excess, so as to injure the health. And as it is well to abstain from food, so is it well to abstain from intoxicating drinks, if done merely as an act of self-denial, and to avoid scandal.

4. Gluttony or Drunkenness is the fruitful mother of several evil children.

(_a_) The _degradation of the superior faculties_, which are weakened by surfeiting and drunkenness. The mind is abased, and the soul smothered by excessive eating and drinking.

(_b_) _Forgetfulness of Salvation._ The soul becomes so lost in the grossness of the life led by the glutton, and the gourmand, and the drunkard, that it does not care for the things of the life to come.

(_c_) _Laxity of Morals._ When the thoughts are given up to pampering the animal man in one particular, the power to resist temptation to indulge the animal appetites in other particulars is weakened, if not lost.

(_d_) _Passion._ The glutton and the drunkard are liable to give way to explosions of rage and anger, to quarrels and discords. Self-restraint being sacrificed in one quarter is lost in another.

Palm Sunday.

_ANGER._

1. Anger is an agitation of the heart against persons or things that displease us, impelling us to reject them and injure them. It urges us to avenge ourselves on them for the wrong they have done, or that we imagine they have done to us.

Anger is not necessarily in itself sinful. It is legitimate when it is just, when the feeling is moderate, when the desire of punishment is proportioned to the offence, and when it is soon passed.

It is sinful when it is _unjust_, _excessive_, _vengeful_, and _lasting_.

We feel angry when we see a wrong done, the weak oppressed, the truth spoken against, religion mocked. Such a feeling is right, it is _righteous zeal_. But Anger must not be allowed to get the dominion over us. That is what the Apostle says when he bids us, "Be ye angry, and sin not."

2. Anger is criminal in its _object_, when it seeks vengeance on a person for a wrong he has not really done, or in excess of his deserts.

Anger is criminal in its _means_, when it goes about to avenge a wrong by some illicit means, as by slander, by bringing hurt upon the person who has given the offence in a secret, underhand way.

Anger is criminal in its _motive_, when it pursues the offender remorselessly, even though he deserves punishment.

Anger is criminal in its _motions_, if they be allowed to pass the bounds of moderation, and obscure the judgment, that is to say, if it become a blazing passion.

Anger is criminal in its _expression_, when it impels to extravagant, insulting, false words, or violent acts.

3. Let us now return to the consideration of the four qualities of Anger that justify or condemn it.

(_a_) It is sinful if it be _unjust_, and lawful if _just_. We must, therefore, be very careful not to allow our eyes to be blinded by passion so as to judge wrongfully. We are very liable to mistake, and may suppose a thing is done against us intentionally, when it has been done accidentally. We must, therefore, not be impulsive in our Anger.

(_b_) It is sinful when _excessive_. We must not give way to the feeling of Anger, so as to allow it to grow out of indignation at the sense of wrong done into a hot personal passion that, like a whirlwind, will sweep us away with it.

(_c_) It is sinful when _vengeful_. God says, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay." We must seek only the redress of the wrong, not the injury of the wrong doer. We must seek his good, not his hurt, in the exercise of punishment. That makes all the difference between retribution and revenge.

(_d_) It is sinful when _lasting_. "Let not the sun go down on your wrath," is S. Paul's rule. If we bear anger and malice in the heart, the longer we harbour it the more unreasonable it grows. Anger must be soon over, ready to die out at once when the opportunity presents itself for forgiveness.

Monday in Holy Week.

_SLOTH._

1. Sloth is that love of indolence, or dislike to exertion, which induces man to neglect his duties.

The will is given to man as a determining faculty to impel him to action in the right course, and to hold him back from activity in the wrong direction. Sloth is that inertness which holds back the will from forming a determination, and therefore usually holds man back from fulfilling his duties. It may hold him back from doing what is wrong, and so may be of a negative advantage, and yet it so saps the life of the will as to make it incapable of doing any good, that it would in some cases be better in the end for a man to have chosen what is wrong, and to have repented, than to have remained inert in the presence of a question set before him to decide upon.

It cannot be sufficiently impressed on Christians that they have _positive_ duties, that they are not called on to be a kind of moral jelly-fish, but to a life of activity, and of activity healthy and well-directed. It is in order that they may live this life of healthy, well-directed activity, that Conscience is given them. Nor can any man _shirk his duties_ without mortal sin, for he is going contrary to the Will of God, and frustrating the intention of God in sending him into the world. There is a place for every man, there is work for every man, a line for every man to walk along, and Conscience to direct, and will to determine, are given to every man to enable him to take his place, do his work, follow his course. He may take the wrong place, do the wrong work, and follow the wrong road, and he sins when he so does. But he also sins, and sins quite as gravely, when he refuses through indolence to take his proper place, and fulfil his predestined duties.

2. Every man has faculties of some sort, and for some end. He has intellectual powers, manual dexterity, a sensitive eye or ear, and so on, and it is the duty of every man to come early and clearly to a perception of what his special abilities are, and then to cultivate them to his utmost. So is he fulfilling God's will. But if he says, "I am a man of private means, there is no occasion for me to exert my intellect to acquire knowledge, to work at painting, study music, follow mechanics," and so he does not develop his natural gift, he sins against God, he is _wasting his talent_, through sloth.

Again, no man is justified in half doing what he is set to do. A good many men and women are content to obtain a smattering of knowledge, and to dabble in the fine arts, to trifle with science, merely so as to be able to chatter in society about these things. But if anyone has a faculty enabling him to do anything; if anyone has a task set him to do, he must do it thoroughly; do it "as unto the Lord, and not unto men." The servant must not half do his work, the tradesman leave the article he turns out unfinished off, nor the man of culture be content with a smattering of knowledge. All must alike _make full exercise_ of their talents. What their hands or minds find to do, they must do well, or they sin through the vice of sloth.

3. Sloth is hateful to God. "The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence," said Christ. The violent, _i.e._, the active, take it by storm. The _unprofitable_ servant is condemned because he did not put his talent to usury.

The barren fig-tree was cursed because it produced no fruit.

4. Sloth is the fruitful mother of vicious children.

(_a_) _Indolence_, and loss of time, and for the use of our time we must give account.

(_b_) _Cowardice_, which makes us shrink from doing what is right because we fear it will give us trouble or inconvenience.

(_c_) _Inconstancy_, which is the changing about from one course to another, to avoid present discomfort, instead of acting directly in accordance with the principle.

(_d_) _Deadness of heart_ to God's calls.

Tuesday in Holy Week.

_THE SACRIFICE FOR SIN._

1. We have considered Conscience as the faculty by which we discern between Good and Evil, and then have considered Sin itself.

Now we will briefly turn our attention to the Sacrifice offered by Christ in expiation for the Sins of the World.

If Christ had not come to release us of the _guilt_ of sin, and to strengthen us to overcome the _weakness_ produced by sin, we could have no hope of salvation.

2. It is not a matter on which we will tarry, to ask, Why it is so, but we will accept the fact that by God's Will, _transgression of His Commandment carries with it guilt, and can only be expiated by suffering_. That it should carry with it guilt is indeed not a matter to perplex us, for guilt is the sense of transgression and the privation or stain that attends it, together with the sense of alienation from God. But that sin can only be expiated by suffering, is a law of God concerning which we will not now argue, but accept it. We see that a sense of sin has ever impressed on mankind consciousness of guilt before God, and a conviction that only through suffering could that guilt be done away.

The SACRIFICES inexplicable in themselves and even absurd, find their signification in the consciousness of guilt: men felt that they were alienated from God, sinful before God, and they sought by Sacrifice, _i.e._, by suffering, to atone for their guilt.

The _idea of Sacrifice_ contained in it these elements:

(_a_) It must be one of _blood_. Suffering and the shedding of blood was considered expiatory. "Without shedding of blood was no remission." (Heb. ix. 22.)

(_b_) It must be either a _human_ sacrifice, or it must be the sacrifice of that which was most useful, essential to man: not of a wild beast, for instance, but of a tame beast of domestic utility.

(_c_) It must be _innocent_ and pure, without defect or spot. It was sometimes the first-born lamb or calf.

(_d_) It must be, if possible, _voluntary_. A Sacrifice was thought to lose half its efficacy unless it were a free-will offering. Among Greeks and Romans, water was poured into the ears of oxen brought to sacrifice, to make them nod their heads, and so give an appearance of consent to their death.

(_e_) It must be in part consumed by the fire, in part by the offerer. The fire was the symbol of God accepting; the participation in the sacrifice showed the man who offered that he received the benefits of the Sacrifice.

3. Sacrifice was not only expiatory, but it was also _vicarious_; that is to say, from the beginning man saw that the innocent might die for the guilty. Now this could only be so seen because indistinctly the human Conscience looked to the One Sinless Victim Who would by His Sacrifice of Himself, put away the sins of the world. But for this it would have been unreasonable.

It was, however, an universal belief that the just might suffer for the unjust, the blameless for the guilty, and that was why the sacrificer sought out the spotless victim as the victim.

This belief also was the occasion of numerous sublime heroic acts of self-devotion in the heathen world, when one man offered himself for the fault of all the people: as when Codrus died for his people, Curtius plunged into the gulf in the Forum, Decius offered his breast to the weapons of his enemies.

It was this belief which caused sacrifices to be multiplied, and yet it was certain that these numerous sacrifices never really took away the sense of guilt that weighed on mankind. "The law, having the shadow of good things to come, and not the very image (_i.e._, reality) of the things, can never with these sacrifices which they offered year by year continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered, because that the worshippers once purged should have no more conscience of sin. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance (or recapitulation) again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins." (Heb. x. 1-4.)

Wednesday in Holy Week.

_THE SACRIFICE OF CHRIST._

1. As the sin of the world was infinite, it was not possible that any sacrifice that man could offer could put away the guilt of sin.

Therefore our Lord Jesus Christ came down from Heaven to make a full, perfect, and sufficient Sacrifice for sin. He died the Just for the unjust, the Sinless for the guilty, to reconcile us to God by the taking away of the guilt of our transgression.

2. Christ sacrificed for this purpose everything that He had, withholding nothing, so that the oblation might be complete. In the Garden of Olives He yielded up His Soul to sorrow even unto death, feeling the natural shrinking from death; endured the revulsion and loathing that accompanied the sense of the vileness and hatefulness of the sins He took upon Him; and by the sense of pain that the presence of sin brings on the soul.

He suffered the bereavement of friends, their cowardice and desertion; the betrayal by Judas, the denial by Peter.

He suffered the privation of His liberty, for He was made fast, and was dragged away by the soldiers and servants.

Before His judges He suffered in His honour. He was buffetted and mocked, and smitten in the face, and spit upon, and exposed to the multitude as a criminal.

He suffered in His reputation. The robber, Barabbas, was chosen in His place.

He was publicly condemned as a criminal. He was made to bear His Cross, and was crucified between two thieves.

He suffered in His Body. He was scourged. He was crowned with thorns, and then smitten over the head. He was tormented by the driving of the nails through His hands and feet. He was tortured by suspension on the Cross; by thirst and fever.

He was despoiled of His garments, and exposed in nakedness to the derision of His enemies.

He was deprived of the succour of His mother, and of His faithful friends in the agony of death.

Finally, He gave up His life, when He had suffered in every way He could suffer, and with a loud cry died.

3. Our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross by His suffering _expiated_ our guilt.

Our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross died as a _vicarious_ sacrifice for us.

Thursday in Holy Week.

_THE EFFECTS OF CHRIST'S SACRIFICE._

We will consider Christ's Sacrifice in its relation to God and in its relation to man.

1. In relation to God, it was a full and sufficient sacrifice satisfying the Divine Justice.

A satisfaction is, in general, the voluntary reparation made to one who has been injured or wronged. It may be equivalent to the wrong, when the reparation is equal in degree to the offence. It may be suitable when it is proportioned to the powers of him who offers the atonement.

The satisfaction due to God from man could never have been equivalent to the injury or wrong done; therefore Christ made atonement, and His Sacrifice is equivalent, for it is in proportion to the offence; as the offence is infinitely great, so is His satisfaction infinite in its greatness.

An offence is more or less grave according to the exaltation of the person offended. And an expiation is more or less full and perfect according to the dignity of the person who offers expiation. Now God was offended by man's sin; and it is the God-Man Who makes atonement for that sin.

The distance between God and man was so great that no man could possibly, even measurably, have approached God and made satisfaction for his grave offence. Moreover, the sum of offences was so great that nothing in the world could atone for it.

2. Our Lord Jesus Christ by His Sacrifice for sins became our _Expiation_. "When He cometh into the world, He saith, Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not, but a Body hast Thou prepared Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin Thou hast no pleasure: Then said I, Lo, I come to do Thy Will (to make a free-will offering), O God. Above when He said, Sacrifice and offering ... Thou wouldest not ... which was offered by the Law; then said I, Lo, I come to do Thy Will (to make a free-will offering), O God. He taketh away the first (the symbolic Sacrifice) that He may establish the second (the full, perfect, free-will Sacrifice of Christ)." (Heb. x. 5-9.)

He became our _Substitute_. "Christ hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." (1 Pet. iii. 18.) "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us--He took it out of the way, nailing it to His Cross." (Col. i. 14.)

He became our _Redemption_. "Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold--but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." (1 Pet. i. 18, 19.)

3. Thus we see that Christ, by His full and voluntary Sacrifice of Himself, by His incomparable sufferings and death, made atonement to God for the transgressions we had committed against Him, thus removing the barrier that stood between the just and righteous God and man. That He suffered in our place; a vicarious victim enduring the wrath of God, and the pains due to us for our transgression of God's law. And that He paid the price whereby we were bought back out of servitude to evil, and set at liberty to serve God in freedom.

Good Friday.

_THE EFFECTS OF THE PASSION._

(CONTINUED.)

1. The satisfaction offered by our Lord Jesus Christ was perfect.