Chapter 9

"Fain would I my Lord pursue, Be all my Saviour taught; Do as Jesus bids me do, And think as Jesus thought: But 'tis Thou must change the heart, The perfect gift must come from Thee: Meek Redeemer, now impart Thine own humility.

Let Thy Cross my will control, Conform me to my Guide; In Thine Image mould my soul, And crucify my pride; Give me, Lord, a broken heart, A heart that always looks to Thee: Meek Redeemer, now impart Thine own humility." _Toplady._

Reader, do you know what humility is? It is quite possible to be very proud indeed, and yet seem quite humble. Indeed, humility is often made the cloak of pride. And yet nothing can be more different than these two. Pride enters so much into the hearts, even of the very best of us, that there is but small place left for humility. We often hear it said of a person, "Oh! he feels _proper pride_ about such and such a matter." But is there any such thing as _proper pride_? I can't find it in the Bible. I do find, indeed, written there a great deal about pride and proud people. "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble[#]," for instance. I turn again to my Church's Prayer Book, and I find nothing there about _proper pride_; but I read there that the Church teaches her children to ask God to deliver, or save, them "from all pride, vain glory, and hypocrisy." I find that in the prayer, to be used in time of war, we ask God to abate our enemies' pride. But neither here, nor anywhere else, can I find _any sort_ of pride commended to Christians. And so I have come to think that we have got hold of the wrong word, and that the word we ought to use is _delight_. It is quite right that a man should be delighted with his children, or his garden, or his goods. It is quite wrong that he should be proud of them.

[#] S. James iv. 6.

Now humility is just the very opposite to all this. Pride makes a man put forward his own opinions, and hold to them, good or bad. It makes him think all his possessions better than those of other people. Humility, on the other hand, makes a man ever ready to listen to the opinions of others, and to take advice. And humility teaches him that the best possessions earth can give, are but poor compared to those of Heaven. Just as in a cornfield the lightest ears of corn stand up straight and attract attention, while those which carry most grain hang down and are kept concealed by their weight, behind the others; so, too, is it with humble-minded men. They shrink back from the gaze of men, behind their comrades; and because they are quiet, and seldom speak much, men think but little of them.

I have somewhere read a story of Benjamin Franklin, who once went to call at a friend's house. On his leaving, his friend told him he would shew him a shorter way out. They passed down a narrow passage, talking to each other, when Franklin's friend suddenly cried out, "Stoop, stoop." "I did not know," says Franklin, "what he meant, until I felt my head hit against the beam." His friend, seeing what had happened, said, "You are young, and have to go through the world. Stoop as you go through it, and you will miss many hard knocks."

Reader, that was good advice. It is as suitable to you as to Franklin. Will you not take it? Never be ashamed of doing anything that humility calls upon you to do, and "you will avoid many hard knocks." Try and look upon all work, however distasteful and unpleasant, as work for God. If Jesus Christ had been proud, do you think He would have borne all the taunts of those thirty bitter years? If S. Paul had been a proud man, do you think he could ever have written down that glorious list of troubles and hardships, suffered by land and by water, in the eleventh chapter of 2nd Corinthians? How often we hear it said of a man, "He's a nice man, he's got _no pride about him_." And if pride in others doesn't please you, do you think if you shew pride it will be likely to please God? It was He who gave you that hatred of pride in others; but He gave it that you might correct it in yourself.

And the day will come when pride will be destroyed. It is one of the greatest sins. Other great sins are covetousness, lust, envy, gluttony, anger, sloth. And the virtues which are contrary to these are humility, liberality, chastity, gentleness, temperance, patience, diligence. Ask yourself to-night before you lie down to rest this question, "How many of these last virtues can I say I am practising? Am I humble? Do I give, as I am able, of my time, or my money, or my sympathy to help any of my neighbours? Am I thoroughly pure in thought, word, and deed? Am I gentle and kind to all around me? Am I moderate in eating and drinking, and temperate in my habits of life? Am I patient under suffering, sorrow, or misfortune? Do I do my best to serve God and man, working hard in that position of life to which Almighty God has called me?"

Reader, if you can say _yes!_ to all those questions when your conscience asks them, you need not have much fear of God's reckoning day. "In quietness and confidence shall be your strength." Trusting in Jesus for complete salvation, living in love and charity with your neighbours, you will pass the waves of this troublesome world, and land upon the everlasting shore, out of reach of the ocean waves. And down from the gates of the heavenly city will come to meet you, Jesus Christ our Lord, with the words which He has graciously promised to speak to all that humbly follow after Him here, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord[#]."

[#] S. Matt. xxv. 21.

*MARTYRDOM.*

"Not by the martyr's death alone The saint his crown in heaven has won; There is a triumph robe on high For bloodless fields of victory.

What though he was not called to feel The cross of flame, or torturing wheel: Yet daily to the world he died, His flesh, through grace, he crucified." _John Keble._

What is martyrdom? We sing every Sunday morning in Church the words, "the noble army of martyrs praise Thee;" we bless God every Christmastide for his martyr S. Stephen, and yet I suppose there are many people who regularly attend Church who have no idea of what a martyr is. Now I will tell you. A martyr is a witness! Any man, woman, or child, (for there have been children martyrs,) who bears witness to the truth, and suffers for it, is a martyr. If you or I, reader, bear ridicule; if our friends laugh at us for going to Church, or for staying for Holy Communion, then we are martyrs. The man who lives in an ungodly society, and by his life and example bears witness to the truth of Jesus, and suffers for so doing, he is a martyr. As I write these words I can recall a vast number of martyrs' names; for the martyrs, like the saints, are of every age and of every Church. Just as every cornfield has its poppies; just as every poor man's garden has its little plot set apart for flowers, so every Church has its martyrs. I can recall the name of Xavier, the great Indian missionary, dying alone upon the seashore, with the cruel blasts of a Chinese winter freezing his very bones. Or I think of Bishop Patteson, already mentioned in these pages, dying by the clubs of the natives, far off amid the Southern seas. I could tell you the now well-known story of David Livingstone, of his wonderful power over the African mind, of his noble conflict with slavery, and his patient death in his lonely hut at Ulala. But I will tell you one story of martyrdom which happened quite lately, nearer home than any of these, a story of how a boy, scarcely ten years old, gained the martyr's crown. About a year ago, a boat with seven young boys went out on the coast of Scotland. The boys rowed out from the shore some little way, until suddenly seeing something in the sea, they all rushed together to the side of the boat to look over into the water. The boat was upset, and they all went over into the sea. One boy alone could swim, and, one after another, that boy saved five of his companions; in trying to save the sixth, he himself became exhausted, and sank to rise no more. That night there was joy, the joy of recovery, in five happy homes; and I dare say the parents, in their joy at getting their boys safe back, hardly gave a thought to the brave little swimmer who had given his life for theirs. But I can imagine that his Saviour gave him a warm welcome in Paradise that night, and in return for his bravery, gave him the martyr's crown. For that child was a martyr! God had given him a brave spirit, and on a sudden He called upon him to shew it, and he bore witness for Christ.

Reader, your witness and mine may be very different to that. But it may nevertheless be as truly called martyrdom. If we are ready to confess Christ before men, He will not forget our names before His Father's throne. But if we are cowardly here below, and deny Him now, He will certainly not recognise us in His Father's kingdom.

Even little children can be martyrs. As the hymn says:--

"When deep within our swelling hearts The thoughts of pride and anger rise, When bitter words are on our tongues, And tears of passion in our eyes; Then we may stay the angry blow, Then we may check the hasty word, Give gentle answers back again And fight a battle for our Lord."

Under the Emperor Diocletian (A.D. 304) a great number of children suffered martyrdom. They were brought up and condemned to die, not for any sin they had committed, but because their parents had taught them to worship God.

A child called Hilarion was one of those who suffered. He was brought up before the Roman Consul, (a person with somewhat similar power to our magistrates,) and the Consul threatened to have him flogged; but the child only laughed at him. "I will cut off your nose and your ears," said the governor; but Hilarion answered, "I am a Christian still." And so he was led away to prison and to death.

Reader, do not the accounts of these brave and noble lives and glorious deaths make our own lives seem poor and selfish and wretched? Do they not make us feel how very much grander and nobler these kind of lives were than anything we can shew nowadays? I remember seeing a book once, called, "Is life worth living?" I never looked further than the title-page, but the title struck me. Look round at your neighbours, look at our country villages, look at the overflowing public-house, and at the empty church, and then ask yourself, "Is life worth living?" And the answer must be, No! But look once more at your own life, look at those good people who are labouring among Christ's poor in our crowded cities, look at the holy lives of many of our clergy, and then ask again, "Is life worth living?" and the answer must be, Yes!

You may not be able to live among the poor in our large towns, it may not be your calling to be a minister of Christ, but still it is quite possible to be a martyr, to bear witness for Christ in the station in which He has placed you. The clerk at his desk, the mechanic in his workshop, the labourer in the field, the sailor in his ship, the servant in his situation, all can shew that they are martyrs. The greatest battles are not those fought on the battle-fields of earth, but in the secret chambers of the human heart. There is many a brave man who will face a horde of savage foes on the field of battle and die bravely like a soldier, but who dare not and will not face his own evil heart; and there is many a poor creature, with a suffering body and a feeble mind, who cannot bear a harsh voice or an unkind word, and yet who has gained the greatest possible victory, the victory over self.

*REPENTANCE.*

"There was a soul one eve autumnal sailing Beyond the earth's dark bars, Towards the land of sunsets never paling, Towards Heaven's sea of stars.

And as that soul went onward, sweetly speeding Unto its home and Light, Repentance made it sorrowful exceeding, Faith made it wondrous bright." _Mrs. Alexander._

What is repentance? The word which in our New Testaments is so often translated "Repentance," means "a change of heart." Yes, that is what repentance really is, and not merely a desire to serve God; not an anxious longing to lead a new life, but actually leading that new life, and treading new ways by the help of God's Holy Spirit. Many people believe and teach the doctrine of instantaneous conversion, as it is called. And by this is meant that the heart of man is changed in a moment from a state of sin to a state of holiness; that all the old desires pass suddenly away, and new affections take their place. Thus some men will tell you that they can name the day and hour of their conversion, and that whatever they may do in the future, they will eventually be found in Christ. We do not by any means deny that there are such things as instantaneous conversions; but we say that they are few, and that what seem to be such are often neither lasting nor real. True repentance is no easy road to tread. Very often it takes a man his whole lifetime, and even then his repentance may not be complete.

I have spoken of what repentance is not, now let me say a few words as to what true repentance is. First, then, you will feel, if you have truly repented of your sins, a true desire to give up the whole of your heart to Christ. I cannot dwell too strongly on the necessity of giving up _the whole_ heart. Christ will not take less. He never will reign there, while Satan holds a part of it; He will have _all_, or none. In your own strength you cannot do this; the world, the flesh, and the devil will try hard to prevent you. Of himself the Ethiopian cannot change his skin, nor the leopard his spots, "neither can ye do good which are accustomed to do evil." But if your repentance is real, the desire to give the whole heart to Christ will be so strong as to shut out all other claims. Another sign of true repentance will be a distrust of self. There will be an increasing desire for guidance other than your own, the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Need I add that this guidance, without which it is impossible to go right, is never kept back from those who ask it of God in prayer, for His dear Son's sake.

One more sign of a real repentance is perseverance in the face of failure and backsliding. If your repentance is real, the new life will seem so far better to you than the old, that you will persevere in it, in spite of failure. "No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God[#]." And no sinner, who has once repented of his sin, and then is frightened at his failures, or discouraged by his difficulties, can call his repentance real.

[#] S. Luke ix. 62.

And the last sign of true repentance that I shall give you is trust in God's love for Christ's sake. Your perseverance will depend entirely on your faith or trust in God. In common life we know that as we put a greater distance between ourselves and any object at which we may be looking, it becomes less and less distinct; whereas, the nearer the eye approaches any object, the more distinct that object becomes. So is it with man in his relation to God. The further he wanders from God by sin, and the greater distance he puts between himself and his Maker in this way, the less he knows about Him, and the less he is able to trust Him. But the nearer man comes to God in true repentance, the more he learns of that great Being, and the more he learns to trust God's love to him for Christ's sake.

Reader, may you and I learn such true repentance as this, and having learnt it, may we "bring forth fruits meet for repentance." May we cultivate a sense of our own nothingness, and of God's greatness; and may we put a generous trust in our good Lord, Who has done so much for us. "May we never indulge unworthy thoughts, measuring our Lord's tender mercies by ours; but let us in every trial and temptation, nay, even in the hour of surprise or sudden fall, yet cling the closer to Him, Who is the true Refuge of sinners, and Who is ever willing to receive those who in sincerity return to Him."

*FAITH.*

"Faith is the Spirit's sweet control, From which assurance springs; Faith is the pencil of the soul, That pictures Heavenly things.

Faith is the lamp that burns to guide Our bark when tempest-driven; Faith is the key that opens wide The distant gates of Heaven." _John Burbidge._

I spoke in the last chapter of faith being one of the signs of true repentance. Repentance, as I then showed, was that grace whereby we forsake sin; faith, on the other hand, is the grace whereby we believe and trust in the promises of God, made to us in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Now it is not always an easy matter to exercise faith in God. Many people believe in God's judgments, and when these are in mercy sent upon them, they are quite ready, like Ahab of old, to humble themselves before their offended Master. But take away the punishment, stay the uplifted rod, and let them receive instead of judgments, mercies, and then where is their faith? It is no easy thing to believe in God! to believe, that is, that prosperity and adversity are alike gifts of the same Father. To believe Him as Abraham believed Him, whose faith "was counted unto him for righteousness." To believe Him as Job did, so that not even the loss of worldly goods, or terrible pain inflicted on the body, or even the advice of her he trusted and loved more than all other on earth, could cause him to blaspheme. To have such faith in Christ as the Apostles had, who "left all and followed" Him; nay, more, such faith that one of their number could exclaim, "I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for Whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, ... but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith[#]."

[#] Phil. iii. 8.

Yes, reader, that is the kind of faith you and I shall need when sorrow and troubles come upon us; that is the only kind of faith which can carry a man peacefully through life, and bear him up in death, till his eyes rest upon the everlasting city.

But there are many people who have faith, but only a very little. Their faith is like S. Peter's. It is strong enough to make them desire to be with Jesus, but not strong enough to carry them to Him. Just as St. Peter tried to walk over the dark waters of the sea of Galilee to go to his Lord, so these try, and often try hard, to walk over the waters of sin to go to Christ. But when temptations arise, or doubts arise, they begin to sink, as it were, that is to say, their faith begins to fail, and they cease to please God. St. Peter's fault was not that he had no faith, but that he had _too little_. That he had some, who can doubt, for if he had not, he surely would never have left the ship, and his companions, to walk upon the water to Christ. And so it is with us. Many of us have God's great gift of faith: sufficient faith to leave the world, and start to go to Christ, but we find that our failures are frequent, that when we would do good, evil is present with us, and so, like St. Peter, we begin to sink, it may be just as we are nearing Christ. What we want, then, is more faith, and we must ask God for this, for He alone can give it.

But what shall I say of those who have no faith at all; those who never start on the journey whose end is Christ? Are they not, think you, in a dangerous state? True, they may be living happily enough _now_, but the end must come one day, and _what an end that will be_! Think of that, reader. Think if it be not better to suffer the Master's rebuke for having _little faith_, than to receive no rebuke at all, because you have _no faith_. Once more, faith is necessary to those who would live godly lives, because there are certain mysteries in religion which are left to faith, and which we must accept as facts, though we cannot understand them. For instance, we are told that there are three Persons in the Blessed Trinity--the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost--and yet though there are three distinct Persons, there is but one God. We cannot understand that, but we must believe that it is so. Just as in nature there are many things we cannot understand, but which we accept as true; and if we do so in matters relating to man, are we not equally bound to do so in such as bear reference to God? It is such a common thing nowadays to hear silly people, who wish to be thought clever, say, "I won't believe anything I cannot understand!" But there are many things which these very people accept as true, but which they in no way understand. For instance, I suppose they all believe that the grass which is eaten by geese, by cows, or sheep, will by a process of digestion turn to feathers on the geese, to hair on the cows, and to wool on the sheep. But do they understand how this happens? No, they do not; but though they cannot understand it, they nevertheless believe it.

And, reader, there are many who cannot understand many things in God's world of nature, and they do not want to, for they accept them as matters of faith. But if there is anything in religion they cannot understand, they must needs disbelieve it at once, or else be guilty of seeking to pry into "the deep things of God."

Learn, then, this one lesson from these few words on faith; namely, that there are things which Almighty God has purposely hidden from the sons of men, both in the Church and in the world; many things of which it is written, "What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter[#]."

[#] S. John xiii. 7.

*THE SHORTNESS OF LIFE.*

"Brief life is here our portion; Brief sorrow, short-lived care: The life that knows no ending, The tearless life, is _there_. The morning shall awaken, The shadows shall decay, And each true-hearted servant Shall shine as doth the day." _S. Bernard._

The ancients had a saying, "Whom the gods love, die young." By which, I suppose, they meant that the best men, and those whose lives were of the greatest promise, died in early youth. Whether this is true or not, I cannot pretend to say. Certain it is that many die in early youth, long before we have had a chance of seeing what they were likely to turn out. And indeed the shortness of life is evident to us all. From the child who dies in infancy, to the old man whose grey hairs are brought down to the grave in sorrow, all have experience of the shortness of life.

And what is life? What does the Bible say of it? "It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away[#]." "Vanisheth away;" yes, reader, just like the steam which issues from boiling water; just like the mists which cling for a while to the hillsides, before they melt into nothingness, so is life. We see it for awhile, a little while, and then like a morning mist, life vanishes away.

[#] S. James iv. 14.

Life has often been compared to the sea. At times the sea is ruffled by the winds which pass over its surface; and then again, the wind drops, and the sea is calm and still again. And so is it with life. The winds of passion or of discontent pass over it, and angry temper ruffles the calm of life, and then by degrees the peace of God comes down upon us, and life is once more happy. But true happiness, in life or in death, is only to be found in Jesus. He is the only sure haven of rest, the only hiding-place from the storm, and in Him alone can we find rest until we pass the waves of this troublesome world.