Chapter 6

But just think for a moment of this laughter of your friends. How long is it likely to last? and when it is over (for it must end some day), what is there to follow? Think of that when you are tempted by ridicule to turn aside from doing what is right. It would be hard indeed if you could not bear a laugh for Christ, Who could bear death for you!

Some time ago a very young boy went to school for the first time. He was a mere child, only eight years old, and he had never seen so many boys together before. The boys slept in large rooms, about fifteen boys in each room, and when he came, he was put into one of these, without knowing a single boy in the room. Now this child had been carefully and religiously brought up, and before the little fellow left home his mother had talked to him about the school to which he was going. Amongst other things she had told him never to forget to say his prayers. So, accordingly, the first night the boy got to school he knelt down to pray. No sooner, however, was he on his knees than the whole room was in an uproar. Some of the boys threw their slippers at him, some laughed, some shouted, or hissed, but still he kept on his knees. At last he rose and the tears stood in his eyes, for remember he was only a child. The next night he knelt down again, with the same result; boots and slippers were thrown at him, but still he persevered. For many nights this went on, until at length one night a little fellow came and knelt beside him, and said, "Mother told me to say my prayers too, but I was afraid." And so for some nights the two knelt side by side, and got an equal share of the slippers and the laughter. But at length a change came over the room. The good example had borne fruit, and one after another the boys in that room knelt down regularly and said their prayers.

I have read of the greatest victories by land and by sea. I have read accounts of the Duke of Wellington's campaigns, and of Nelson's battles; but nowhere have I read of a greater victory, won under more trying circumstances, than that child's victory over his companions' laughter. And will you be beaten by him? Will you, a strong man, give in, where a weak child of eight years old would not? Will you deny Christ, and break your Confirmation and Baptismal vows, because you can't stand the laughter of a few? Just look on a few years ahead--it may be only a few hours. You will be standing before a great white throne, while on it will be sitting your Judge. Around that throne stands the noble army of martyrs--men who laid down their lives in torture and pain for the sake of Christ crucified. The charges against you are read out, charges of carelessness and neglect of God and of His Sacraments; and then the Judge turns to you, and asks you if you have any excuse to make. And you answer Him, "Yes." And then God turns to you again, and He looks at the martyr band, and thinks of all that they have suffered, as He asks you--"What?" And then I fancy I can hear you saying that you made good resolutions, and that you intended to keep straight, but your companions laughed at you, and you fell away. Do you think Almighty God would be satisfied with such an excuse. I think not. Do you think that you would deserve a place in the same kingdom as that in which the martyrs of Jesus rest?

Reader, go to Christ when the world laughs at you, and ask Him to strengthen you against temptation. He is well able to do so, for when He was on earth, men "laughed Him to scorn." He suffered the rebukes of many, for "He bare the sin of many. He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed[#]."

[#] Isaiah liii. 5.

*THE BIBLE.*

"There is a Book, who runs may read, Which heavenly truth imparts; And all the lore its scholars need, Pure eyes and Christian hearts." _Keble._

There is no book that is so frequently given as a present as the Bible. It has been translated into every tongue, and carried to every shore. In the king's palace, and in the lonely hut, from one end of the world to the other, wherever Christianity is preached, the Bible is read. I have often seen a picture of a lady reading a book intently. She is represented as sitting near a table, with a shawl thrown loosely round her, and a widow's cap upon her head. That lady is the Queen of England, the greatest woman in the world; and the book she is reading is the Bible, the Word of a greater than she. Underneath is written, "The Secret of England's greatness." Yes, the Holy Bible, or rather the study of the Bible, is indeed the secret of England's greatness, just as drunkenness is the secret of England's weakness. It is not because the Queen of England alone reads the Bible, but it is because the Bible is read in so many English homes.

Now there are several ways of reading the Bible. It is quite possible for a very clever man to read the Bible, and not understand it; and it is quite possible, too, for a poor unlettered man, if he have faith, to read, and understand. Some people read the Bible as a history, and a very good history it is, and so they get what they want. Some, again, read it to try to find fault with what they read. Some read it to try and draw out words in support of their own peculiar views, and if they can get only a few words, which they can so twist as to satisfy their easy consciences, then they are quite content that their religion is right, and all else wrong. But some there are, quite different from any of these, who read the Bible, not to make out some new doctrine, or plan of salvation, but as the Word of the Living God. To these, every word they read is as the voice of God, and every text a guide on the way which ends in Christ. Instead of picking put texts and founding a new sect upon them, and so adding to the already too numerous divisions amongst us, they diligently "search the Scriptures[#]," and by them they make proof of their religion. Love to Christ as their Head, and obedience to His laws, these are their two great doctrines; and these shall inherit the promises, and "sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven[#]."

[#] S. John v. 39.

[#] S. Matt viii. 11.

Yes, depend upon it, there is no book to take the place of the Bible. It has brought comfort to the souls of many, who could find no comfort elsewhere. It has soothed the pillow of the dying, and its holy words are repeated over the dead to comfort the mourner. It is read and accepted by men, who cannot agree on many other points. Its plain homely truths are suitable for all, rich and poor alike. But it is eminently the working man's book. "It is chiefly the inspired sayings and doings of working men; from David the shepherd, and Amos the herdsman, Peter and John the poor fishermen, up to One chosen out of the people, of Whom it was said in contempt, "Is not this the carpenter?"

Reader, you will find as you go on in life many books and other things to interest you. You will find companions gather round you, and make much of you, and some perchance may try to turn your heart away from Christ and His Word; but the day will come when you will grow tired of the books, delightful though they may appear now; and the day will come when the companions will drop off or die, and you will find that the only companion you have left will be the old Book; the Book out of which in early childhood you first learnt the lessons of life--lessons of a warfare with evil, lessons of a Saviour's love. And oh! what a comfort is the Bible in the long weary hours of sickness and of sorrow. I have known men who have lived godless lives, and never opened their Bible, or thought of their Saviour; I have known such, at the very first touch of sickness, send for a person to read to them something from the Bible. The Christ they had neglected all their lives through, was only sought for on the bed of death, and the unopened Bible plainly bore witness how little they cared while in health for their Saviour's words. We should think but little of a child who was in the habit of receiving money and clothes and frequent presents from his father, and who, when that father wrote to him, put his letters regularly by unopened. Reader, you are ready to blame the child; are you quite as ready to blame yourself for neglecting to read the letters of your heavenly Father, which He has written in His holy Word?

*THE HOLY SPIRIT.*

"Our blest Redeemer, ere He breathed His tender last farewell, A Guide, a Comforter bequeathed, With us to dwell.

And every virtue we possess, And every victory won, And every thought of holiness, Are His alone." _Harriet Auber._

We say in the Belief, "I believe in the Holy Ghost." And we need to think often of what these words mean, for many hardly stop to think who He is, in Whom they here profess to believe. People know of God the Father, and His love to sinners. They can speak of Jesus as the Saviour of a lost world. But the name of the Holy Spirit rarely enters their thoughts, and seldom perhaps occurs in their prayers. But is this right? Is not the Holy Spirit quite as much God as Jesus Christ is? It is His special office and pleasure to help mankind. With what loving care He does this the lives of individual men can shew. When a sinner is converted to Christ, a lost sheep restored to the Fold, it is the work of God's Holy Spirit. When we feel that we want to lead better or holier lives, when we feel grateful to Christ for all He has done for us, when we seek to please God, or to deny self, this again is the work of the Holy Spirit. At Holy Baptism He is present at the font; He washes away sins in the Blood of Jesus; He gives a new heart, and a right spirit to the repentant sinner, and leads our feet into the way of peace. Sometimes we see a man who has been leading a life of sin suddenly turn from his evil ways and become a consistent, God-fearing Christian, and we wonder at the change, and say how extraordinary it is; and we ask each other if it will last--and if it does last we wonder still more, never thinking for a moment that it is only an instance of the power of the Holy Spirit of God.

I have spoken of how very near the Holy Spirit is to us at Holy Baptism. He is near us always; He hears every word we speak, and notes down every thought of our heart; but there are special occasions on which He is specially near us: Holy Baptism is one of them, Confirmation is another. He is present when a young man or young woman kneels before the Bishop to be confirmed. He loves to hear and answer the prayer, "Defend, O Lord, this Thy child, with Thy heavenly grace, that he may continue Thine for ever, and daily increase in Thy Holy Spirit more and more, until he come unto Thine everlasting kingdom." Yes, young man, He was with you at your Confirmation, and heard and noted down the promises made by you then--promises to give up "the devil and all his works, the carnal desires of the flesh," not to "follow or be led by them;" promises to "keep God's holy will and commandments, and walk in the same all the days" of your life. And though you may have forgotten that you made those promises, He has not. And He, too, promised something in return. He promised that God's "Fatherly Hand should ever be over you," and that He Himself would ever be in you, as you travelled onward on the road to heaven. In Holy Matrimony, again, the same Holy Spirit is ever near. He joins the man and woman in an unseen union, as a great and good poet has it--

"A high mysterious union Which nought on earth may break."

And when at Ordination the white-robed priests and deacons of our Church pass up to kneel before the Bishop, the Holy Ghost is there. And, lastly, at the bedside of the dying Christian, while weeping friends stand round, the Holy Ghost is there. He is above all things _the Comforter_, and He loves to comfort those that mourn. With His gracious influence He cheers the dying spirit, pointing away from earthly things and earthly dwellings to a "Paradise of God," where "there is no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying," and where "the former things," that is the things of earth, "are passed away, and all things have become new."

*GOD'S MINISTERS.*

"Lord, pour Thy Spirit from on high, And Thine ordained servants bless; Graces and gifts to each supply, And clothe Thy Priests with righteousness.

So, when their work is finished here They may in hope their charge resign, So, when their Master shall appear They may with crowns of glory shine." _James Montgomery._

What is a Minister? The word "_Minister_" means "_a Servant_"--and the ministers of God are God's servants. Now, of course every Christian man and woman is a servant of God. But ministers are men who are specially set apart, by His Holy Spirit, for their high and holy work.

Just as in the days of the Apostles, the Holy Spirit told the Church to separate Barnabas and Saul for the work of the ministry, so now the principal question in the Ordination Service is that of the Bishop, who asks the candidate--"Do you trust that you are _inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost_, to take upon you this office?" And that is only another way of asking--"Do you think you have really received a call from the Holy Spirit?"

There is no work on earth so noble as the minister's work--the work of taking care of souls. Just as a doctor cures the body, by giving proper medicine to the patient at the right moment, so it is the duty and privilege of the Christian minister to give the right medicine to the soul.

Now if you will take your Prayer Book, and turn to the Service for the Ordering of Priests, you will find that the first words spoken by the Bishop to the Archdeacon, who presents the candidates, are these, "Take heed that the persons, whom ye present unto us, be apt and meet" (that is to say, well fitted) "for their learning and godly conversation to exercise their ministry." So you see that two things are required of those who come up for ordination,--1. that they should be well-instructed; 2. that they should be godly men.

Of the first of these it might be and has been objected--"What is the use of having a learned clergy, so long as they have the love of God in their hearts?" To this objection, I would simply answer, that while doubtless it is far more important to have a godly than a learned Ministry; still the Bible has given us two special instances of great learning among the servants of God. In the Old Testament, "Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds[#]." While in the New Testament S. Paul was "brought up at the feet of Gamaliel[#]," a doctor of the Law. And surely I need not attempt to prove from Scripture that God's ministers must be godly men. Experience and common sense alike teach us that unless they are godly, their learning can profit them but little. For if God's ministers are to do God's work, the work of doing good to others, it is most important that they should set a good example in their daily life. A man may preach the very best of sermons; he may draw together immense congregations; his services may be reverent, beautiful, impressive; but unless his daily life aims at strict accordance with his Sunday teaching, that man's religion is vain.

[#] Acts vii. 22.

[#] Acts xxii. 3.

And now, having spoken on the duty of God's ministers, let me say a few words as to the duty of the flock towards their clergyman. First to respect and reverence him as "the Servant of the living God[#]." We do not indeed respect the man himself more than he deserves, but we respect God's minister, on account of his office, and for the reverence we feel for the Master at whose hands he holds it. Secondly, if we really respect the office, we shall readily obey the advice God's minister gives; we shall gladly and frequently go to church, and frequent the Holy Communion--we shall listen with care to his sermons, and act upon the advice contained in them; and thus we shall find ourselves daily growing more and more fit for joining the Church in Heaven. Thirdly, we shall do all in our power to help him in his work. Everybody can do something. Some no doubt can do more than others, but all can do a little. If you hear things said of him, which you know to be untrue, say so. When God's minister stops to speak to you, shew that you are glad of the opportunity of speaking to him; for if we will, we can always get some good from the words of a good man. And then if you get into any trouble or difficulty, go and ask his advice. There can be no doubt as to this being the right and proper course. God's minister has been set over your parish, as a person found "meet for his _learning_ and godly conversation" to exercise his ministry. In some parishes the Vicar is the only person of education, and by going to him for advice in a difficulty, instead of to the publican or the nearest neighbour, a great deal of trouble might be saved.

[#] Dan. vi. 20.

But perhaps you will ask, "How is it that we see some of the clergy leading evil, or even immoral lives?" Reader, I understand your difficulty; it is one I have often felt myself. But just ask yourself this question. Is there any profession on earth, of which it can be said, that _every single member_ is living up to what he professes? I do not for one moment defend immorality or evil-living among the clergy. It is terrible indeed to think that they to whom we might most reasonably look for example should be setting a bad example, and poisoning instead of curing the souls that Jesus died to redeem. But these men are few and far between. And thank God, there is another side to the picture. The greater number of the clergy of the Church of England, are men leading high, noble Christian lives; many of them men who have given up wealth, comfort, and a happy home, to serve Christ and His poor in our crowded cities, or in our country villages; men who have learnt Christ as "the truth is in Jesus[#]," and whose one desire is to give that precious truth to others also.

[#] Eph. iv. 21.

As to the others, it is not for us to pronounce their doom; we may safely leave them in the hands of that God Who has said, "Woe be to the shepherds that do feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks[#]?"

[#] Ezekiel xxxiv. 2.

And I am quite certain that if we do not help God's ministers in this work, God will require a reason from us for this. How many of us I wonder ever pray for our ministers, and yet the prayers of the people are one of the greatest helps the ministers of God can have. Then again we can help him in his choir, and in many other ways besides. The young men of a parish especially can help the parson. He looks to them as having been trained in his schools (baptized it may be by him), to fill up the gaps in his church, and above all to set a good, manly, Christian example when they are out of his sight.

There are a great many people, especially in country villages, who are always speaking against God's ministers, and do all they can to hinder their work. But the day of sickness comes, and they are laid by for a time, and money and victuals get scarce, the very first place they send to is the Vicarage, and the man from whom they ask help is the minister they have abused. And very rarely is this help refused. For though it is often given with a heart, heavy at the thought of the little thanks he is likely to get, and the little good it is likely to do his Master's cause, it is yet given ungrudgingly, for he remembers his Lord's words, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me[#]."

[#] S. Matt. xxv. 40.

Oh! then think kindly of God's minister whom He has set over your parish. He thinks of you and of your wants, and of your troubles, more often than you suppose. He is more frequently at the Throne of Grace, asking God to bless His people, than you may think; and in that day when the secrets of all hearts shall be revealed, it will be known how many souls owe salvation to the prayers, frequent and earnest, of the ministers of God, and how many jewels by their means will shine for ever in the Master's crown.

*PRAYER.*

"Prayer is the soul's sincere desire, Uttered or unexpressed, The motion of a hidden fire That kindles in the breast." _Montgomery._

What is prayer? Prayer is the uplifting of the soul of man to heaven, in silent communion with its God. Prayer is the telling out of our wants, of our weaknesses, our temptations, and failings to our Father in heaven. It has been known ere now to bring down marvellous and unexpected answers to the children of men. Homes have been saved from destruction; armies delivered from slaughter; sinners converted to Christ--by the power of prayer. As John Keble has taught us, in his beautiful morning hymn--

"New mercies each returning day, Hover around us while we pray; New perils past, new sins forgiven, New thoughts of God, new hopes of heaven."

You remember the answers to prayer recorded in the Bible. Elijah prayed that it might not rain; and God withheld the showers. On another occasion, he prayed that fire might come down on his sacrifice, and fire came down. Hezekiah prayed for an increase of days; and we are told that "there was added unto his life fifteen years." In the New Testament again, our blessed Lord, we are told, spent whole nights in prayer to God. In the history of the Early Church too, there are many instances of answers to prayer. There is the beautiful story of St. Augustine, who after leading a wicked and immoral life, was brought to Christ through the prayers of his mother. But why quote more? You and I, reader, I trust know and value this power of prayer. To be able, in the midst of the most pressing business, or the hardest toil, to retire into the secret chamber of our heart, as it were, and there tell to God our most urgent needs in prayer is one of the greatest comforts of our life.