STACK 
 
 ANNEX 
 
 s 
 
 025 
 831 
 
 SERMON 
 
 IN WORDS 
 >F ONE SYLLABLE
 
 Ex Libris 
 C. K. OGDEN
 
 EIGHTH EDITION. THIRTIETH THOUSAND. 
 
 A LITERARY CURIOSITY, 
 
 A SERMON 
 
 WORDS OF ONE SYLLABLE ONLY. 
 
 BY 
 
 A MANCHESTER LAYMAN. 
 
 PRICE ONE PENXY. 
 
 MANCHESTEE : 
 
 JOHN HETWOOD, 141 AND 143, DEANSGATE. 
 
 LONDON : F. PITMAN, PATEBNOSTEB Kow. 
 
 1871.
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 The Sermon is orthodox in doctrine and very well worth the money. ManchetUr 
 Couritr. 
 
 May be fairly placed among our literary curiosities. The author has shown him- 
 If to be earnest in the cause of truth, and how it may be presented to us in a form 
 best adapted to an extended circulation. Manchtiter Examiner and Tinwt. 
 
 It is time for the priests of our church to look round them, when those who are 
 no priests at all take it into their heads to show them how to preach and what to 
 preach, which is the case with the tract now in our hands. At the same time, we 
 think it well that our priests should see that short words have more force in them 
 than some seem to think, or they would not go out of their way to use such long and 
 such hard words when they speak to their flocks, or write tracts or books for them to 
 read in their homes. Englith Churchman. 
 
 Many a sound and learned divine finds his productions to be a "drug in the 
 market," yet here is a monosyllabic discourse which has reached its tenth thousand 
 [now 30th thousand]. It fully answers to its name of "a literary curiosity," for a 
 curiosity it is, both as a literary production and as coming from one who spent his 
 early youth in a cotton factory. We must pronounce the Manchester Layman to be 
 much more orthodox than the majority of tract writers, for, with the exception of an 
 expression or two seeming to imply a belief in the total depravity of man, and a denial 
 of his possession of free will, there is not a word in the whole Sermon to which we 
 cannot subscribe. The happy tone of the Manchester Layman in expressing his ideas 
 in the right words, leads us to think he might successfully devote a portion of his 
 time to the production of a little book for children. Clerical Journal. 
 
 Rightly termed " a literary curiosity." If the reader were not told that it con- 
 tained only monosyllables, he would not suspect it, so vigorous is the style and so 
 complete the arguments. Salford Wtekly Next. 
 
 Apart from the " curiosity," a sound, clear, and useful Sermon it is. It will 
 have, as it well may, a large sale, and we doubt not will do much good. Gospd 
 Magazine, 
 
 This is something far better than "a literary curiosity." for there are many 
 curiosities, both literary and non-literary, which, however suitable for a museum or a 
 glais-case, are very unfit to show their faces in the church of God. This Sermon is a 
 Htrong testimony to the simplicity of truth itself ; to the form it has pleased the Holy 
 Ghost to reveal the mind and will of God in the Scriptures ; to the witdom and grace 
 given to the translators in using such simple language in our noble English version ; 
 and to the example thus afforded of the benefit and blessing of setting forth the truth, 
 by mouth and pen, in the plainest, simplest form. Thus we may learn a profitable 
 lesson, if we are willing to bo taught, from the very simplicity of this Sermon, in 
 which there ia not a single word of more than one syllable. Goptl Standard.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE Author of this little Sermon in little words has seen with 
 regret a growing disposition in many ministers of religion to 
 use long and high-sounding words, and in some cases to coin 
 new words, in their exposition of Divine Truth. There will be 
 no doubt on the minds of serious and experienced Christians as 
 to the evil tendency of these innovations upon the simple but 
 sublime language of our Saviour and His Apostles, which ought 
 to be the model of all preaching. This Sermon, in words of not 
 more than one syllable, is offered to the public \vith the view 
 of showing that at least big words are not necessary for the 
 conveyance of great truths to the minds of the people. The 
 production of a Sermon under the severe restriction the Author 
 has imposed upon himself will probably be deemed somewhat 
 novel ; but beyond this he makes no pretension to originality 
 of thought, and indeed he disclaims any special merit in his 
 treatment of the doctrines enunciated. His early youth was 
 spent in the exhausting ,Jabour of a cotton factory, before the 
 enactment of a Ten Hours Bill, and before the institution of 
 Public Parks, Free Libraries, &c. The period since that time 
 has been one of uninterrupted and anxious toil; so that his 
 
 1063486
 
 IV. 
 
 opportunities of mental cultivation and making literary attain- 
 ments have been very limited. He has, however, an ambition 
 to prove that, in the advocacy of religious truth, very plain, 
 simple, and old-fashioned words have not yet lost their original 
 force and significance. At the same time it should be borne in 
 mind that he does not wish to inculcate the universal propriety 
 of monosyllabic preaching ; but, by proving what can be done 
 with words of one syllable, to show in a strong light the inex- 
 pediency of those hard and almost unintelligible some of 
 them indeed, almost un-English words too much adopted by 
 some preachers ; and to exhibit, in the measure of his ability, 
 the strength and richness of our old Saxon monosyllables, which 
 he fears are too much out of fashion in the present day. If he 
 has achieved this, and especially if in addition this publication 
 serves to awaken thought in the minds of the unconcerned, and 
 In the smallest degree to strengthen the faith of the people of 
 God, he will not only be quite satisfied, but will be abundantly 
 repaid for the labour it has incurred.
 
 S E II M O N . 
 
 "ALL THY WORKS SHALL PRAISE THEE, o LORD; AND THY 
 
 SAINTS SHALL BLESS TUFA-.." Psalm Cxlv., 10. 
 
 HE who wrote the Psalm in which our text is found, had great 
 cause to both bless and praise God ; for he had been brought 
 from a low state to be a great king in a great land ; had been 
 made wise to rule the land in the fear and truth of God ; and 
 all his foes were, at the time he wrote, at peace with him. 
 Though he had been poor, he was now rich in this world's 
 goods ; though his youth had been spent in the care of sheep, 
 he now wore a crown ; and though it had been his lot for a 
 long time to hear the din of war and strife, peace now dwelt 
 round the throne, and the land had rest. But great and good 
 as these things were, they were but one cause of the praise in 
 those grand old Psalms that he wrote, and which have so long 
 been a source of joy to the church of God. He who first wrote 
 the words of our text felt that all these things had come from 
 God, who gives all that is good in this world, and that praise 
 was due to Him at all times ; but he felt too, that in the sight
 
 G 
 
 of God he was still poor ; that iu the view of the world to 
 come he was still a fool ; and that he could not by his own 
 strength quell and put down sin, his first and great foe, that 
 kept up a war in his own breast. He knew the plague of his 
 own heart ; he felt how prone he was to break God's law ; and 
 that this was sin ; and that the end of sin was death. God 
 had shown him this; and had He shown him no more than 
 this, we should not have had this Psalm of praise to speak 
 from ; for to be rich, to be wise, and to be a king in this world, 
 will bring no joy, nor peace, nor praise, if a sense of sin lies on 
 the soul. But God did not leave him here. God does not, nor 
 will He act in this way. God had shown him that in due time 
 He would send His own Sou to this world, who would take on 
 Him the form of man and die for the sins of man. He who 
 wrote the words of the text had felt that Christ the Son of God 
 would die for his sins. The thought of this made his heart full 
 of love aud praise ; and he wrote a great deal to show good 
 men to the end of all time how much cause there is to praise 
 and bless God. How glad we, in this age, ought to be, that 
 God put it in his heart to write so much and so well to the 
 praise of God ; and how ought we to prize that Book in which 
 these Psalms are found and which God has kept so long for our 
 use. Our text forms part of a Psalm sung by one who felt that 
 God had been good to him at all times and in all ways. Let 
 us try to gain some good while we dwell for a short time on 
 this part of God's word. 
 
 The text states two truths, on each of which we will say a 
 few words.
 
 "ALL THY WORKS SHALL PRAISE THEE." 
 
 Some one may ask, do all God's works praise Him 1 Do 
 war and strife, pain and want, praise God 1 Do death and all 
 the ills that flesh is heir to praise God 1 Does man, poor, weak, 
 frail man, with all his sin, praise God ? Yes ; strange though 
 it may seem, all these do now, or shall at length, praise Him ; 
 for God will take care that all things shall praise Him. To look 
 round, and see the sin, and pain, and death on all hands, some 
 of us may at times doubt the strict truth of this; but the eye 
 of Faith can see that " the wrath of man shall praise Him." 
 But those things that do not now seem to praise God are in 
 one sense not God's works. God did not make one thing that 
 was not good ; and the things that in our view are not good, 
 are man's work or the fruit of them. God has told us in His 
 word what His works are. Let us look at them. At first this 
 earth was dark and had no form, and was void. God said, 
 " Let there be light ! and there was light." This was the first 
 day's work : God saw it and said it was good. Then God made 
 a space in which man, when he \vas made, could live and move, 
 and air which he could breathe, this was the next day's work : 
 God saw it and said it was good. Then God brought the earth 
 to shape, and made the sea and the diy land, and said, " Leb 
 the earth bring forth grass, and herbs, and fruit," for the use 
 of man ; and it was so, this was the third day's work : God 
 saw it and said it was good. Then God made the sun, and 
 moon, and stars ; to be for signs, and for days, and years ; and 
 to rule the day and the night, this was the fourth day's work:
 
 8 
 
 God saw it and said it -was good. Then God made the fish, and 
 the fowls, and beasts of all kinds, for the use of man. But 
 God kept the best work for the last day. On the sixth day, 
 God made man, for whose use all else had been made. We 
 may with truth say that the sixth day's work was the best ; for 
 it is said, God made man like God. All these six days' work 
 are good. They all show how wise and good is that God in 
 whom we live and move, and they all praise Him day by day. 
 All things that God has made praise Him, from the least fly 
 that is born one day and dies the next, to the huge bird that 
 lives more years than now fall to the lot of man. All praise 
 Him, from the least fish that swims in the sea, to the great 
 whale whose strength is not known. All praise Him, from the 
 mounds in which are shown the strength and skill of the ant, 
 to the high hills that cast forth fire and smoke. All praise 
 Him, from the small sand on the sea shore, to the vast 
 mounts whose tops are out of our sight. All things praise 
 God ; from the stars that give light by night, to the sun 
 that gives light by day. 
 
 But how much more would have been the praise of all God's 
 works, if man had not come in with his works to spoil the 
 works of God. Man, though made at first like God, fell from 
 bis first state by sin. God gave him a law, and told him 
 to keep it. God said, keep this law, and live break it, and 
 die. Man, at this time, could keep this law or break it, at his 
 own will that is, if he had what we call free will and a bad 
 and vile use he made of it, for he chose to break the law which 
 was like Him who made it wise, and just, and good. Thus 
 did man fail to keep his first pure state ; but God's word did 
 not fail, for in that same day death came on all. God had 
 told him it would be so, and yet he chose to do that which has
 
 brought sin and death, war and strife, pain and want, on all 
 that have since been born. Man has had since the fall to 
 gain his bread by the sweat of his brow. A curse came on the 
 ground for his sake, which now, for the first time, brought 
 forth weeds and thorns in the place of fruit and herbs. A 
 curse came, too, on the beasts of the field, which were all fit to 
 be of great use to man ; now they were wild and fierce, and 
 would not let man rule them as they did at first. In fact, a 
 curse came on all for the sake of the sin of man. 
 
 But the great curse is, that man lost by the fall his choice 
 to do good or ill. He lost his love to God by sin. His will is 
 now all in that way which leads from God. Man left to his 
 own will now hates God, hates His ways, His word, and all 
 His laws, and would, if he could, take the throne from Him. 
 All that he can do, or all that God will let him do in this way, 
 he does ; for all that he can touch, he spoils and taints with 
 sin. What a state sin has brought man to ! What a wreck 
 man has made in the world ! and yet how good God still was. 
 In the same day that man fell from his first state, which was 
 pure and good, God told him that in due time He would send 
 His own Son to this world, who would take on Him the form of 
 man and die for the sins of man. Some one must die for sin, 
 else God would not be just to His law, which must be kept, if 
 not by man, by some one else for him. In due time which 
 was God's time Christ His own Son did come, and did die on 
 the cross for the sins of man, and all those from the first man 
 that God made, down to the last man that shall be born to 
 whom God shall give grace to take His Son's death in the place 
 of their own, shall live here in hope and faith of what Christ 
 has done for them ; and when that part of them which came 
 from the dust of the earth shall die, their souls, which is the
 
 10 
 
 breath of God, shall still live with God in joy and peace, free 
 from sin, and pain, and want. 
 
 All men are born dead in sin ; and so great is the curse that 
 lies on us, that no one can see his lost state till God gives him. 
 new life and light. When God shows him his sin ; shows him 
 the wrath to come ; and shows him what Christ has done, he 
 flees to Christ, takes hold on him by the arms of faith and love, 
 and rests his all on Him, both for this life and for that which 
 is to come, this is God's work of Grace. By this work God 
 gets most praise of all His works. Of His own will God made 
 man, by His grace He saves him. When God makes a man 
 feel and know that for his own sin he ought to die, but that 
 the death of Christ frees him both from sin and death, he will 
 not cease both to praise and bless God. This leads us to the 
 next part of our text, 
 
 II. 
 
 " THY SAINTS SHALL BLESS THEE." 
 
 What is a saint 1 ? A saint is one set on one side to do a 
 work that no one else can do, and that work is to bless God. 
 The saints are those who in God's mind and will were set on 
 one side ere the world was made, to bless and praise God when 
 the works of this world shall be burnt up with fire. How do 
 the saints bless God? To bless God is more than to praise 
 Him. A thing with no life may praise God ; for in it is shown 
 that God is wise and good, a beast, a bird, a fowl, with life, 
 can praise God, but none of these can bless Him. It is for 
 man to do this ; it is for man with a soul, once dead in sin, but 
 to whom new life is come by the grace of God, to both praise 
 and bless Him, both in this world and that which is to come.
 
 11 
 
 How do such men bless God ? They bless Him in their 
 lives, which are spent for Him. They bless Hun in their 
 death, for their souls go to Him. They bless Him in their 
 thoughts and speech, which are of Him. If rich, they give to 
 the poor for the sake of Him who though rich for their sakes 
 was made poor. If poor, they look to Him for help. If they 
 sing, it is to His praise. If they mourn, it is for want of Him. 
 If they pray, it is to Him. If they have joy and peace, it is in 
 Him; and if grief, it is that He hides His face from them. 
 Day and night do they call on Him to guide them to all truth ; 
 and for most of all do they pray that they may not be left to 
 their own strength. Thus all they do, and say ; and think, is 
 to Him, of Him, and in Him ; and their last breath will be 
 His, for with it they will cry, " Christ my all and in all." 
 
 Why do the saints bless God] None but saints can do 
 this. All God's works can praise God, but none but saints can 
 bless Him. Those who are not saints do not bless God ; they 
 hate Him, they hate His reign, and will have none of Him. 
 But the saints bless Him, and why ] 
 
 First, They bless God for they feel that all their sins were 
 laid on Christ the Son of God ; and the thought of this, as it 
 sinks in the heart, is so sweet, that they break out in a new 
 song of love to the Lamb of God which sits on the throne. 
 The thought of this keeps them from sin. Faith works by 
 love ; and when they think that all their sins are laid on Him 
 who knew no sin of His own ; love to Christ, who bore their 
 sins on the cross, keeps them from that which cost the Son of 
 God so much; they bless God for these thoughts, and pray 
 that their hearts may be full of them. 
 
 The saints bless God for His word, which they take as " a 
 light to their feet, and a lamp to their path ; " in which they
 
 12 
 
 read His will ; in which they find that which warns them from 
 sin, keeps them in the way which leads to God's right hand, 
 and shows them the path in which they should go. In this 
 Book of books they find that which is a safe guide in all things. 
 This is the chart by which they steer their course in this life, 
 and which leads to the life of joy and peace that is to come. 
 
 The saints bless God for a good hope through faith, that 
 when they have done their work on this earth they shall dwell 
 with Him in that world which has no end ; where no pain, nor 
 want, nor sin, nor death do come ; and where all is peace, and 
 love, and praise. This helps them through this world of sin 
 and pain. This cheers their hearts in the midst of grief; and 
 though at times they may cry out, " How long, Lord," when 
 God speaks to them in a still small voice, they can say with 
 truth, " Thy will be done." 
 
 The saints bless God for a time in which they may, on this 
 earth, work for Him, and "speak good of His name." How- 
 glad are their hearts, if by a word they may say, or an act they 
 may do, men may be led to fall at the feet of Christ, and flee 
 to Him from the wrath to come. What joy then is theirs, and 
 how do they then bless God, that He sees fit to make them the 
 means of grace to but one who was lost ! 
 
 The saints bless God that they can feel sure that sin, their 
 first and worst foe, shall not tread out the life of God in their 
 souls. Their past life, spent in sin, they look on with grief; 
 but they feel sure that though sin is still with them, it will 
 not so rise as to crush their new hopes ; but that in all times 
 of need God will come to their aid, and keep them in that way 
 which leads from death and to life. They bless God for all the 
 means of grace, for the day of rest, for the courts of His praise, 
 where He is wont to be found ; and, in the last place,
 
 13 
 
 The saints bless God that His love in Christ will not fail in 
 one case ; but that He will at length bring all, for whom Christ 
 shed His blood, from all climes, out of all lands, of all names, 
 of all sects, and through all doubts and fears, to that rest 
 which is the lot of all those on whom He has set His love. 
 Thus they feel safe and sure, for their hope is in God, and their 
 feet are en the Rock Christ, This calms their fears, clears 
 their doubts, and makes them both praise and bless God. 
 They feel, too, that all that God has done, and all that He will 
 do for them, springs from free grace on His part. They feel 
 that they have no hand in this good work of grace, but that 
 it is God that " works in them to will and to do." Thus, they 
 do not flag in the work their hands find to do ; for those who 
 best feel that it is God who works in them will work the best. 
 
 And now let us try to bring the words of the text home to 
 each of our hearts. We are the work of God's hands. Do we 
 praise Him ? We do not ask this of that part of us which God 
 made of earth, and which is so full of the skill of God. Spoil 
 this as we may, and as some of us do, it will and must still 
 show forth His praise. But does that part of us which comes 
 from God praise Him 1 ? Do our souls praise Him? Do the 
 words of our mouth, the thoughts of our heart, and the acts of 
 our life praise Him 1 If not, why not 1 The food we eat, the 
 clothes we wear, house, home, and friends, all come from God. 
 Life, health, and wealth, are all the gifts of God, and to none 
 of these can we lay the least claim. Why do we not praise 
 Him] Shall the seas, and the fields, and the trees, as they 
 bring forth their fruit, praise God, and man be dumb ? Shall 
 the birds, as they see the dawn of day, send forth their chants 
 to Him who made them, and man not speak His praise ? 0, 
 let man be the first, to praise God, for He is good, and does
 
 good at all times. Let his praise be both loud and sweet ; for 
 he, of all that God has made, has the most cause to praise Him. 
 
 But the great thing we have to ask is, have we cause to 
 bless as well as praise Him ? Has God put a new heart in us ? 
 Has He shown us that He will pass by and think no more of 
 all our sins, for the sake of His Son who bore them on the 
 cross 1 Has he made us to hate sin 1 Can we say with truth, 
 and in the sight of God, that though at one time we had a love 
 for sin, now we hate it 1 All men have one of two marks oil 
 them they hate sin, or they love it. He who loves sin is a 
 bad man ; he who hates it is a good man. All men do that 
 which is sin, and will do as long as this life lasts ; but here is a 
 sure tesl^that will try us as to which class we are of. The bad 
 man does that which is sin, and Joves it ; whilst the good man, 
 though at times left to sin, hates it and grieves for it. To the 
 bad man, sin is the rule of life ; to the good man, sin is the 
 thing he most dreads for which he is on the watch, and with 
 which he is at all times at war. Are we at war with sin 1 If 
 so, we have been taught of God, and know what is meant by a 
 neio birth. 
 
 Some one may say that he does not know if God will save 
 him, and is full of grief to think of his state. To such an one 
 let it be said, God knows your heart, and if you grieve for sin, 
 you may be sure that your grief comes from a love to God, and 
 that a work of grace is in your heart, which will go on till you 
 are out of the reach of sin, in that place where God is, there 
 to dwell with Him in that joy and bliss which has no end. 
 You shall in clue time both praise and bless God. No one 
 who has a wish to know, and love, and serve God will be 
 shut out of that place ; for Christ has said, " All that He 
 gives me, shall come to me ; and he that comes, I will in no
 
 15 
 
 wise cast out." It is true that we do not know who will come, 
 and who will not. It is true that all have not come, and that 
 all will not come. It is true that God knew from the first who 
 would and who would not come. But let us dwell most on this 
 truth that Christ will in no wise cast out those who come to 
 God by Him. Let us stand by that which is plain, and not 
 fret our minds with that which is not so clear, but is more or 
 less hid from our sight. God's thoughts are not as our 
 thoughts, and His ways are not as our ways. If our minds are 
 dark let us ask for more light. God can as soon say, " Let 
 there be light ! " in our souls, as He said, " Let there be light " 
 on this earth. Let us search the deep, rich mines of wealth 
 that is found in that Book in which we can at all times read 
 the will of God to man. And, more than all, let xis try to take 
 God at His ivord. This is faith, which, it is true, is the gift 
 of God ; but it is like all God's gifts, it gains and gives strength 
 just as it is made use of. May God grant us grace to use the 
 means which are in our reach. May He guard our feet, set a 
 watch on the door of our lips, and cleanse the thoughts of our 
 hearts. 0, that all men would praise God for and by his 
 works ; and if it is God's will, may all those who may read or 
 hear these few plain words be of those saints who shall both 
 praise and bless God, both in this wc\rld and in that which 
 is to come. 
 
 John Heywood, Printer, Excelsior Works, Hulme Hall Koad, Manchester.
 
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