TttE lire Worm tfviKC JMISSIOfsl SEI^MOfJS H. 7. WiLMOT BOXTOX 'igi illpl | for the founding , Yes, now; your King cometh unto you, He is standing outside the fast-closed door, do you wish Him to enter ? " Now then do it." Determine by God's help, to give up the sin which bars the door against Jesus your King. As long as that bar is there, Jesus will not come to you. Do not be satisfied with wishing for a better life. Do not say, I wish I could break with these bad companions ; I wish I could give up that bad habit ; I wish I could give up swearing, or telling bad stories, or frequenting the tavern. If you do really wish this, Now then do it:' Be brave, and give up for Christ's sake what you know to be wrong. Deter mine nowM But you say, there is so much wrong with me, I wish I were a better man, then Jesus would come 188 3SeSuS at the JBoor. to me. My friends, do not stop till you are better, you never can be better till Jesus comes to you. If you were to go into a dark room, where the shutters were close shut on a sunshiny day, you would not say, "I'll let the darkness go away before I open the windows and door." No, you would throw open the windows and door, and let in the sunshine, and there would be no more dark ness. " Now then do it." Open the door of your heart to Jesus Christ, cast down the bar of pride, or coldness, or self-righteousness, which has been shutting Jesus out. Go down on your knees now, and tell Jesus about your sin. Confess to Him that other lords have been rulers over you. The world, the flesh, the devil, sinful lusts and pleasures, have found the home of your heart swept and garnished for them, now ask Jesus to come and reign in your heart, and cast out those usurpers. Say to the dear Lord now, " So long I have shut Thee out of my heart, out of my home, O forsake me not utterly ! I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof, but at last with shame and sorrow I open now the door — enter, dear Jesus, and abide with me, for it is towards evening, and the day is far spent. Forgive my former coldness, remember not past years " Oh ! speak to Jesus now from your hearts, and He will come to you like sun shine flowing into a darkened room. Your eyes will be opened to see your sin, and you will be able to cry, "Whereas I was blind, now I see."i- Hear what Jesus promises, "If any man hear my voice, and open the 3eSuS at the JBoor. 159 door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with Me."- O blessed assurance of pardon ! If we open the door of our hearts to Jesus, if we repent truly of our old sin, He will come in to us, and we shall sup with Him. Here in His Holy Church, here at the Blessed Altar, He will give us His Flesh and Blood, saying, " My Flesh is meat indeed, and my Blood is drink indeed." Yes, here for a time shall we feast with Him by Faith, and hereafter be partakers in Heaven of such good things as pass man's understanding. I have read a legend of two little children, who loved God's holy Church, and spent most of their time within its walls, engaged, like the child Samuel, in pious offices. After a while they noticed that a Stranger Child was often with them, One whose Face and Form they knew not The children asked the Priest of the Church who their companion was, and he, surprised at their story, bade them ask the Stranger to let them sup with Him. They did so one day, and the Stranger Child answered, " You shall sup with me on Thursday." Now it was Holy Week, and when the people came to Church early in the morning of Thursday, they saw the two children lying dead on the Altar steps, clasped in each other's arms. The holy Child, Jesus, had kept His promise, "If any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me." SERMON XXI. THE MESSAGE OF THE BELLS. Rom. x. 18. "Their sound went into all the earth." These words were spoken of the message of the Gospel which was to be preached to every creature, but I think we may venture to use them in reference to our church bells. It is true of every Christian country, that of all sounds the music of church bells is most familiar. In the streets of London, full of activity and money-getting, and hurry, and excitement, is heard the sound of church bells, so calm, so gentle, so different from the other sounds around us, and yet heard above all, bringing a message of life and death, a message high and solemn, above the sordid Che JiHcSSage of the Bells. 161 traffic, and sin and selfishness of the street. I have often been struck with this contrast when walking in the street towards S. Paul's Cathedral. All around are the sights and sounds of life, the merry laugh, the careless jest, the sob of sorrow, the cry of a broken heart. One great crowd is passing eastward, another westward, all are intent on the things of this life, — that work, that speculation, that pleasure, that sin I Suddenly the bells of S. Paul's begin to chime, calm, and clear and musical, above all, calling our thoughts away from the rush of the outside world, to that peace which the world cannot give. And not only in the busy towns aud quiet country places of England do the voices of church bells come. In far off lands where lately the heathen knelt before his idols, is heard the sound of the church-going bell. Beneath southern palm and northern pine, the same sweet sound rings out — " the music of the Gospel leads us home." For many years I ministered in a little Mission Church by the waterside, and when we had visited one of the emigrant ships which so often anchored off our mission wharf, and had spoken words of comfort and warning to the people, the mission bells chimed forth a farewell, and the ship as she went her way would dip her flag in answer to the bells. And so as the emigrants left the old country with the message of the Gospel in their hearts, and the music of church bells in their ears, it might be truly said of the bells that " their sound went into all the earth." 162 cfjc Message of the Bells. But now let us think of our own church bells. They have a message for all, " In sorrow or sadness, In pleasure and gladness, Now softly stealing, Now loudly pealing, The bells have a message for all." They are preachers lifted up on high, near Heaven, and they send forth their voice, yea, and that a mighty voice. Oh ! that we who have ears to hear would hear ! It was a common practice in olden times to give names to bells ; sometimes they were called after some Saint, sometimes after one who had given them to the church. Let us think of some good names for our bells, which may help us to understand their message better. Let us call the first bell Faith, and the second bell Hope, and the third bell Charity, and the fourth Prayer, the fifth Praise, and the sixth Thanksgiving. Let the first bell bid us to have faith in God ; faith in the love and mercy of the Father, faith in the salvation of the Son, faith in the help and comfort of the Holy Ghost When the dark times of trouble come, when our eyes are blinded by tears, in the evil days when the sun and the light, and the moon and the stars are darkened, and the clouds return after the rain ; when all things seem wrong with us, '' and all the foundations of the earth are out of course," then listen to the bell's message, — " have faith in God, He will never leave thee, nor forsake thee, all things work together for good, for those who fear God, — have faith in God." Che Message of the BeHS. 163 Let the second bell bring to you a message of hope, let it whisper : — " Why restless, why cast down my soul, Hope still and thou shalt sing The praise of Him who is thy God, Thy health's eternal spring." Let the bell teach you to help yourselves, and to hope on for better times ; let it warn you that life is real and earnest, not to be spent in doubting and fearing, and murmuring, but in earnest endeavours strengthened by faith, and brightened by hope. And let the third bell speak to you of Charity, of love ; of God's love for us, and the love which we ought to have for Him, and for each other. You know that if the bells are not rung in proper time and tune, the result is a discord, an ugly, distracting noise. So it is with men and women in a parish. Unless they live in harmony, in tune with one another, the whole place is filled with discord, with jang ling and wrangling, and unlovely sounds. Well, let the third bell speak to you of love, and let all the bells speak of harmony in your lives. " Behold how good and joyful a thing it is, brethren, to dwell together in unity." Try to rule your temper, try to restrain your tongue, and to keep from saying unkind things one of another. Let the message of the bell be to you, "brethren love one another, for God is love."' The fourth bell speaks of Prayer. Daily that bell summons you to pray in God's Holy Church, and reminds you of your prayers at home. My Friends, does not that daily prayer bell sound often as 161 Che JHeSSage of the Belts. a reproach to some of you, who, living quite close to the church, could so easily come to pray here every day, if you chose ? Do you think it is enough to pray to God in Church on Sundays ? God's Church is not a Sunday Church, it is a place of prayer and praise for every day. Believe me, you would be better, and gentler, and holier, and happier people if you were to give up a few minutes to God every day in Church. You would go forth to your work, and find it come all the easier, because God's blessing would be on it, you would find your temptations easier to conquer, because you had prayed about them. A friend of mine was once at the University boat-race with many other Clergymen, and they were cheering the Oxford boat which was ahead ; a man in the crowd seeing this, said, " Ah 1 the religious people always win !" What he said perhaps as a sneer, was the actual truth. Religious people always do win in running the race which is set before them. If you really believed in the power of prayer, you would lose no opportunity of praying to God. I wish you could have taken part in an Intercession Service which I was lately holding during a mission. I had asked those people who had any requests to make for prayer, to write their peti tions on a slip of paper, and to put it in a box at the Church door. Well, I received so many papers, that I was obliged to hold the service three times instead of once. Each person in the vast congregation was praying not only for himself, but for every one else ; and as the piteous Che dWeSSage of the Belts. 165 petition went up for old men and maidens, young men and children, for sorrowful sinners, for widows and orphans, for the sick and suffering, the prayer came forth from that kneeling crowd as from one voice, — " hear us Holy Jesu 1 " Those people believed in prayer. Let me tell you a story of intercessory prayer. There was once in the old days a famous mission preacher, whenever he preached he was accompanied by a little blind boy, his brother. As the great preacher stood on chancel step, or in pulpit, and the people wept or trembled at his words, close by would be the blind child, with his sightless eyes turned upward, as though watching his brother. One night the preacher saw a vision in Church, he thought an angel touched him and pointed to the blind boy. Then he saw a stream of light from Heaven shining on the sightless eyes, and he understood now that it was not the eloquence of the preacher, but the prayers of the blind child which wrought such wonderful results. My brethren, pray for one another, and when the bell calls, say with truth, " I was glad when they said unto me, ve will go into the House of the Lord." The last two bells speak to us of Praise and Thanks giving. They cry to you " praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits." For this they summon you to Church. Remember it is not so much the fact of your coming to Church, as the reason why you come, which is important. It were better for us to be away from 166 Che Message of the BelTS. Church, than to be there for a wrong reason. Unless you come to worship God present here, with holy fear and reverence, your presence in Church is useless, and even sinful. Your being present in Church is worthless if you have left your heart behind. Do you think that when God sees lounging, it may be sleeping, bodies in Church, careless faces, or lips which never open in prayer and praise, He accepts those things as Service, and that with such service He is well pleased ? Not so. If you come to Church at all, come from a right motive, come to give glory to God, the honour due unto His Name. Try to think less of yourselves in Church, and more of God. You who are Communicants, who have found strength and peace and joy at that Altar, remember that there especially your praises and thanksgivings should be given to Jesus, there so very near to you. But the bells have other uses besides that of calling us to worship. They ring a merry peal for those whom Holy Church has made one. Ah 1 my friends, I only wish that marriages always continued as they began, sanctified by holy words, and musical with happy bells. Too often we see mar-ied life made miserable by selfishness, by ill- temper, by want of forbearance and love. There is no music in them, only the discord of passion, " like sweet bells jangled, out of tune and harsh." Believe me, only those marriages are blessed which begin and continue in God, In these miserable days of civil marriages at registrar's offices, people seem to have forgotten what Holy Che Message of the BcTtS. 167 Matrimony means. I say only those marriages are blessed which " are undertaken soberly, reverently, and in the fear of God." Those marriages which are defiled by lust, and undertaken from motives of necessity, or shame, can have no blessing on them. And once more, there is the message of the death belL Be we never so careless and thoughtless now, the time must come when the bell will toll for our death, and that service be read in which we can take no part. Many a time you have heard the death bell toll for others, has it never brought a warning to you ? you who are living carelessly, it may be in sin, is there no warning for you in that tolling bell, which seems to say, " it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment ?" If in life the message of the Church-going bell has been disregarded, the death bell will be for us as the bell of doom, each clang will seem to utter the sentence, " too late, too late 1" There stands at Boscastle, over-looking the wild Atlantic, a Church whose tower is known as the Silent Tower of Bottreaux. It has always stood silent, whilst the neighbouring Church of Tintagel, has a musical peal of bells. Long years ago a peal of bells was cast for Bottreauir Church, and a ship sailed with them for the Cornish coast. The vessel came within sight of the shore, and as the pilot heard the sound of his native Tintagel bells ringing over the sea, they seemed to his ears to say — Clje Message of the EellS. " Come to thy God in time, Youth, manhood, old age past, Come to thy God at last." The pilot knelt down on the deck, and thanked God for their safe journey ; but the captain roughly bade him thank the good ship and her captain at sea. Suddenly the vessel struck on a rock and all except the pilot went down in the sight of shore. The bells which were to have hung in Bottreaux tower were buried many a fathom deep, and now when the storm rages on that wild coast, the legend says that men can hear the sound of the buried bells bringing the message, — " Come to thy God in time, Youth, manhood, old age past, Come to thy God at last.'' My brothers, when the death bell tolls for you and me, may it be said with truth, "So He giveth His beloved sleep." SERMON XXII. A SONG OF REDEMPTION. Psalm cvii. 2. * Let them give thanks whom the Lord hath redeemed, and delivered from the hand of the enemy." There is no song so joyful as that of the captive set free. The bird escaped from its cage sings the blithest of any in the woodland ; the prisoner whose chains are struck off, or whose prison door is open, knows the sweet est of all joy, the joy of freedom. This hundred and seventh Psalm is the song of captives set free, of exiles going home. It was the song of Israel when the news came that their captivity was over, and that they were to weep no more beside the waters of Babylon. Cyrus had published a decree giving the people permission to return 170 a Song of Beoemption. to their own land, and rebuild the temple of their God : and the words of the Psalm point to the time when the people were assembling from every part of the Empire of Cyrus, probably to Babylon, to prepare for the homeward march. How the old men and maidens, the young men and children must have rejoiced together ! At first the news must have seemed too good to be true. Well might Israel say, " When the Lord turned again the captivity of Sion, then were we like unto them that dream." Could it be that they were free ; that they should see once more the wild hills of Judah, and walk round Sion, and mark well her bulwarks ? Should they really see again the hills that stand round about Jerusalem ; should the sturdy mount aineer once again look on his native Bethlehem, and watch the fields white with harvest round the House of Bread ? Might the fisher delight his eyes again with the bright waters of the sea of Galilee ? It must have appeared like a dream, even as it seemed a dream to Peter when the angel opened his prison door. But when the news was confirmed, when on all sides the people were saying — " Father, mother, we are going home. Children, you shall see the home of your fathers, your feet shall stand in thy courts, O Jerusalem," — then Israel broke forth into singing, " Then was their mouth filled with laughter, and their tongue with joy," then they sang a song of deliver ance, " O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is gracious, and His mercy endureth for ever ; let them give thanks & Song of Beoemption. 171 whom the Lord hath redeemed, and delivered from the hand of the enemy, and gathered them from all lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south." , Now I look away from the Jew singing his song of redemption, and I look at the Christian singing his song of redemption. This Psalm was of course written for the Jews, but it is just as precious to the Christian. The Jews sang a song of deliverance from Babylon, the strange land of captivity ; we sing of our redemption from the dark land of sin and death, " since the Lord hath visited and redeemed His people, and hath raised up a mighty salvation for us ; and He hath devised means that His banished be not expelled from Him." Every word of this Psalm applies to the Christian Church.' " O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is gracious, and His mercy endureth for ever." Is not that true for us ? Is not the Lord gracious to us to-day, though we have rebelled against Him, and have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts, and offended against His holy laws, and done those things which we ought not to have done, and left undone those things which we ought to have done? The Lord has not forgotten to be gracious ; the same gracious Lord Who lay in the rude manger among the hills at Christmas-time, Who fasted in the desert, Who died on the cross, Who rose from the sweet Easter garden, loves us and helps us to-day. This same Jesus Who said to the weak woman " go, and sin no !72 a Song of Beocmptiou. more," sa ys the same to us feeble folk to-day. This same Jesus Who opened the blind man's eyes long ago, says to us blind people to-day, "receive thy sight." This same Jesus Who cheered the dying thief, says to the dying Christian now, "to-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise." The world has changed, countries and manners and customs have changed, but sin and sorrow remain the same, and " the old, old fashion that came in with our first garments, and will last unchanged until our race has run its course, and the wide firmament is rolled up like a scroll, the old, old fashion — death." And Jesus remains unchanged, to help the sinner, to comfort the sorrowful, to raise up the dead. " O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is gracious, and His mercy endureth for ever." Now look at this Psalm again. " Let them give thanks whom the Lord hath redeemed, and delivered from the hand of the enemy, and gathered them from all lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south." Is not this true of us? Whom hath He redeemed but His holy Catholic Church, at the price of His precious blood ; the one Church over all the earth, though gathered out of all lands into one fold, where the Lord maketh men to be of one mind in an house, "Where there is one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all, Who is above all, and through all, and in you all." Yes, Jesus has gathered His redeemed & Song of Beoemution. 173 out of all lands ; from the east, the land of dawn, He has redeemed the little child just entering into life. From the west, the land of the setting sun, He hath redeemed the dying patriarch. From the cold frozen north He hath redeemed those who were living in ' the winter of their discontent,' and from the south land, or the land of tho troubled sea, He hath redeemed those who were tossed to and fro by storm and tempest But this Psalm is not only true of the Church at large, it is true of its individual members. It is true of you and me, and I want you to take its truths to your hearts, and to be able to say, " Is it not true that Jesus hath redeemed me, and delivered me from the hand of the enemy ?" Is it not true of each of you that the Lord is gracious now, and that His mercy has endured for you in spite of your many sins against Him ? Jesus has not only redeemed you once by dying on the cross for your sins, and by rising again for your justification, but He is your Redeemer now, and will gather you out of all landii He will gather you out of the gloomy sad land of trouble and sorrow. From that land where your feet stick fast in the deep mire, and where you are weary of crying, and your throat is dry, and your tears have been your meat day and night, Jesus will redeem you, and you shall say with holy David, "I cried unto the Lord in my trouble, and He heard me." My brethren, there is only one who can gather us out of the dark land of sorrow, even He Who bore our griefs and carried our sorrows. I don't say you 174 % Song of Beoemptioii. shall not know sorrow in this land which is very far off from home ; but I do say you shall have strength to bear it, and that your sorrow shall be turned into joy. Jesus is, we know, the Conqueror of death, yet death comes to every home. One of the greatest sorrows which we have to bear is to see our dear one fade away as a flower ; to miss the merry laugh and the kindly voice and the cheery smile ; to find all our interest centered in one room, the sick room ; to watch the doctor's face growing graver and graver day by day; to look up to Heaven for one bit of blue sky to cheer us, and to find the skies darker day by day ; to notice the whispers of friends and their pitying glances ; to be called to the bedside, and to hear from the dear one's lips the fatal sentence — "I must leave you, our pleasant days here are over, I am going on the long journey, God bless you, farewell;" to watch the awful change as death lays his hand on the sweet face, and the light fades out of the eyes ; to see the blinds drawn down, and to find the house hushed and silent, as the form in which we delighted is borne for the last time over the threshold; to feel the home blank and empty; as "There cometh a mist, and a weeping rain, And the world is never the same again.'' — all this is hard indeed, and without Jesus it would be unbearable. But, my friends, all is not dark if Jesus be with you. He will teach you to look beyond the grave. He will bid you not to seek the living among the dead. He will show you that death has come to your dear one & Song of Betremption. 175 as the angel came to thfc Apostle of old, opening his prison door, and bidding him arise and follow. Above the sob of sorrow you shall hear the voice of Jesus whispering, " I am the Resurrection and the Life, the maiden is not dead but sleepeth." And you will know that" your lost one, as you wrongly call her, is not lost, but is just as near to you as ever ; loving, and feeling, and caring for you as of old. The body is safe beneath the flowers of God's acre, the soul is safe in the Paradise of God. The whisper of the Redeemer comes to you once more. " Thy brother — thy sister shall rise again. O believe me, Jesus will gather you out of the sad land of sorrow. Again, Jesus will gather us from the misty land of doubt. The Christian knows in whom he has believed, there is no doubt about the matter for him. The heathen of old asked. " What is truth?" and got no answer. Many of them had a longing for a clearer light, for better, purer views of life, and knew not where to turn. The poorest child to-day, who can look up faithfully into Heaven, and say, " Our Father," is better off than Zeno, or Socrates, or the wisest of them all. Too often in these days we find people refusing to believe, because they are afraid to believe. There is something wrong in their own lives, and they fear to believe God's sentence on their sin ; just as the man who has ruined his health is afraid to meet the doctor, who will pronounce his doom. We who believe should pray for those who do not. We know 176 f[ Song of Briremption. not what wonderful results may come from an earnest prayer for another. I heard lately of a farmer who had tried hard to convince a certain blacksmith in his parish, who was living a Godless life, and sneering at religion. The farmer seemed to make no impression on the man, yet he persevered. One day he prayed very earnestly that he might be able to convince the blacksmith, and started full of hope, thinking over what he would say. When he found himself in the man's presence, the farmer found that he could say nothing to the purpose, in spite of all his trying, so he only shook the blacksmith's hand, saying, " I am very anxious about your soul," and turned away disappointed. The blacksmith was struck by the earnestness and reality of the farmer's manner, and going to his wife, he said, " If the farmer is so anxious about my soul, it's time that I was anxious about it myself." The man began to think, and in time began to pray. Thus the farmer's prayer, which seemed all wasted, bore fruit in the end. But again, Jesus will gather us out of the black midnight land of sin. Yet we see sin in every hideous form around us, the newspapers are full of stories of crime, and the misery which comes from crime. There are sins too which are never mentioned in the newspapers, sins in high places, but none the less vile, since sin in satin and sin in fustian is just as ugly. The streets of our great cities were never so shameful at night as they are now, and heathen Rome, or Pompeii, were little worse, if worse a Song of Beoemptton. 177 at all, than Christian London. If we look into the country, we see men and women sinning against purity, and bringing up their children as shameless as themselves, living without God in the world, and never mentioning Him, except to blaspheme His Name, and speaking cruelly and despitefully of their neighbours. When we see these things, and we do see them every day, we are tempted to ask, can it be true that Jesus has redeemed, and will redeem us out of the land of sin ? Yes, it is quite true, in spite of the prevalence of sin. These sinners against their own souls won't accept redemption. Remember Jesus won't save you against your will. If a kindly man were to pay a price for a slave, and redeem him from a cruel master, and make him free, and if the slave refused his redemption, and chose to remain with his master, then the price of his redemption would be useless. So Jesus offers you freedom, and offers to de liver you from the slavery of the task-master Satan, having paid for you with the price of His Blood ; but if you won't accept His offer, if you prefer the slavery of sin to the glorious freedom of the sons of God, it is your Own fault. If a man sick of a deadly disease refuses tc follow the physician's advice, the doctor is useless. In spite of the advance of medical science, thousands of people die annually of curable diseases, because they will sin against the laws of health and purity. So thousands live and die in sin, because they won't do what Jesus, the Good Physician bids them 178 a Sang of Broemptfan. The man who thinks there is nothing the matter with him can get no good from the doctor. And the man who knows there is something wrong with him, yet will not follow advice, is in the same position. Now there are some of two classes of people probably here now, who get no good from the redemption of Jesus Christ. There are the self-righteous people, who are blind to their sins, whose eyes Satan has closed, and who think they have no need of pardon. These will not go to Jesus, and find redemp tion out of the dark, desert land of sin. Then there are the people who know that they are on the wrong road, yet will not turn back. Their conscience speaks to them in vain. Like the crowd at Calvary, they look on the cruci fied Saviour, and turn away to their own homes, and their old evil way. For you who see no need of a Saviour because you don't see your sin ; and for you who don't see your need of a Saviour, because you don't want to give up your sin, the redemption of Jesufl is useless. If you choose to remain in the prison-house, when Jesus offers to open the door, if you choose to be slaves, when you may be free, then your doom is of your own making. There are many of you, I trust, to whom the Lord has been gracious, He has shown you the wickedness of your sin, and you have through the grace of repentance found pardon and peace. A friend of mine told me that whilst assisting in the London Mission, he endeavoured to bring to the Service a fallen woman from the notorious dancing rooms close to the Church. The 91 Song of Beaemption. 179 woman came dressed in the showy livery of her sin, carrying a little lap dog under her arm. The service seemed to produce no effect on her, and she left. Enter ing a cab at the Church door, she had only gone a few yards when a collision took place, in which the little dog was killed. Within five minutes of her leaving the Church, the woman had returned, and flinging herself on her knees before the Missioner, in the sight of all the people, she cried, " O save me, save me now /" At the moment of danger and of threatened death, her eyes were opened, and she longed to be redeemed out of the prison of her old lifec O you who know that you have sinned, and done wickedly; who have wandered in the wilderness out of the way, the dry, barren land of sin where no water is ; and have found no city to dwell in, no home of peace and rest ; who have been hungry and thirsty, because you have fed on husks instead of on the Bread of Life ; who have sat in darkness, and in the shadow of death, being fast bound in misery and iron ; in the darkness of sin, where no light from Heaven comes, in the shadow of the death of sin here, which ends in the death eternal ; fast bound in misery, — for say what you will the way of trans gressors is hard, — and in the iron of your own iron will ; Oh ! cry unto the Lord in your trouble, and He will deliver you out of your distress. He will lead you by the right way, the way of repentance, which will conduct you to the way of holiness, and the city of peace. He will iso a Song of Beoemption. bring you out of darkness into light, and will break your bonds in sunder. Those who, like the woman in the Gospel, Satan hath bound, lo, these forty years, shall be made free. O friends, those of you who are in earnest now, call unto the Lord while He is near, and He will send His word and heal you ; and " the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs, and everlasting joy upon their heads ;'' and you whom Jesus hath redeemed shall learn " to praise the Lord for His goodness, and to declare the wonders that He doeth for the children of men." SERMON XXIII. A COMMON SIN S. Luke xiv. 18. "And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The making of idle excuses is the oldest, as it is the commonest of sins. It began with Adam in Paradise, and ever since that time men have, m"re or less, con tinued with one consent to make excuse. When a man does wrong, instead of getting to his Lord right humbly, and confessing his sin, and finding pardon, he begins to excuse himself. The devil takes the honest confession out of his naouth, and puts an idle excuse there. Truly says the Italian proverb, " He that does amiss never lacks excuse ;" and Shakespeare writes — 182 % Common Sin. 1 Oftentimes excusing of a fault Doth make the fault the worse by the excuse." Let us look at some of these excuses fairly in the face. You have made them over and over again, either openly, or to your own hearts and consciences. Some people try to deceive others with excuses, some try to deceive themselves, but no one ever yet deceived God, " To Whom all hearts be open, all desires known, and from Whom no secrets are hid." First, let us look at some excuses which people make for putting off repentance. Very few people would be bold enough to say that they have absolutely nothing to repent of. If you begin to think for a minute, while I speak, you will remember something not quite right ia your life; something which you have done which you ought not to have done, or something neglected which you ought to have done, or something which you have said in a moment of passion or irritation which is wrong, not true, or unjust, or cruel. Or you will remember some thought, secret, unknown to all except God and yourself, which is wrong, impure, unclean, or false, or deceitful. Think now, while I speak. Can you remem ber none of these things ? You can, I feel sure. * You admit that all is not right with you. Then why do you not repent, and amend your lives ? Because you have got into the bad habit of making excuses. The devil, who would keep you in slavery, holds you back, and puts SI Common Sin. 183 an idle excuse in your mind. He does not tell you that you must not repent, he is careful not to frighten his victims by appearing in his true colours, so he urges you to put off repentance. Thus when a man is asked why he does not repent, his answer is, " I intend to repent, but just now I have no time, my business occupies me so fully." Yes, " repent, but not now" is the devil's advice, whereas the voice of God says, " Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation." If a d/unkard were to say, that after another week of excess he would reform ; or if a thief were to promise, that having made a certain sum of money by robbery, he would become honest, would you believe in their repentance? So with those who put off repentance from day to day, it is not real. They love the taste of their sin too well to leave it, they want to fill their pockets with the stolen fruit of the world before they turn back to Paradise. The devil often deceives people in the very matter of repentance, leading people to think they are penitent when they are not. Wherever there is much good money, there is sure to be some bad, so Satan gives us idle excuses, base metal, instead of the honest gold of true repentance. My brethren, don't trifle with God. It is an awful act of sin and presumption to say, "I ought to repent, and I will by-and-by, but not now." Let me tell you of a story of repentance delayed too long. During a mission held some years ago, a lady was much impressed by the services, and one night, when she had come home from Church, she wrote on a piece of paper 184 & Common Stn. these words, " I determine to give myself to God this day six months." Afterwards she put her pen through the words six, and substituted three. Presently that word was altered, and the writing stood thus, " I determine to give myself to God this day month." That very night her soul was required of her ! she died, and she had not repented, and the terrible proof lay in her own handwriting on the dressing table. Now listen to the story of one who repented late, but in time. During the London Mission, a lady, one of the Church workers in a certain parish, noticed a young girl lingering one night by a Church door, where the mission service was about to commence. She invited the girl to enter, but she excused herself on the plea that she had no Bible. The lady offered her own, and accompanied the girl into Church, where" she was evidently much affected. On leaving the Church, the lady begged her companion to accept the Bible, in which her own name was written, and the girl passed out of her sight. Next morning the lady visited a hospital, where she was accustomed to read to the patients, and a nurse informed her that they had a Bible bearing her name which had been brought in on the previous night. The young girl, after leaving the mission service, had been run over, and taken mortally injured to the hospital, carrying the Bible with her, She died the same night, and her dying words were these, " Thank God, it was not before last night." A preacher once told his hearers to be sure to repent the day before they died. When a Common Sin. 185 one of the hearers objected that a man's dying day is uncertain, the preacher bade him repent every day, and then he would be sure to do so the day before he died. Another common excuse for delaying repentance is this, " I am no worse than others." I was speaking lately to a mother about the sin of her daughter, and she excused her on the plea that she was no worse than others in a higher position, and instanced a lady who had sinned in the same way. But, my brethren, surely sin is none the less a sin because it is committed in the company of others. Whether we do wrong in solitude, or follow the multitude to do evil, the wrong remains. It would be a very foolish excuse for a drunk ard to say that he was no worse than others, because there are many drunkards among us. Because your neighbour swears, or steals, or lies, that is no excuse for you. We all have the same pattern for our life, the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not for us to say, " I am no worse than others," but to ask whether we are honestly trying to follow the example of our Saviour Christ ; and if not, we have need to repent and amend at once. Again, people excuse themselves by saying, " It is so hard to repent." But it is still harder to die in our sins, and receive the wages of sin, whichis death. It is hard to give up bad habits, but it is harder still to be ruined by them. The longer we persevere in a wrong way, the 186 Sf Common £>in. more difficult is it to get out of it. " The way of trans gressors is hard," and when a sinner turns from his evil road, he cannot expect to escape from the foul path of sin without soiling his feet. But if you want to repent, God will help you : you cannot repent, any more than you can do anything else, without His aid. If you only really want to get out of the old bad way, Jesus will take you by the hand, and will lift you up, and strengthen the feeble knees, and the tottering feet which are just begin ning to go right, and will show you that his grace is suffi cient for you. But you must do your part, you must not expect your repentance to be done for you. God will not take you out of the way of sin till you wish it. Do not make idle excuses about the hardness of repent ance, if you have eaten of the dead sea fruit of sin, you must expect to find a bitter taste. The slothful man, when urged to try a new path, says, " there is a lion in the way," — but the lion 'is yourself, your own wilful, sin ful temper hindering you from repentance. Now let us look at another class of excuses which people make for staying away from Church a One of these excusers says, " Church-going will save no one." That is quite true. You may come to Church in a wrong state of mind, or from an unworthy motive, and no good will come out of it. Those who attend Church merely from habit, and are glad when the service is over ; those who behave irreverently, whispering, or laughing in the very presence of God ; those who are so indifferent that SI Common Sin. 187 they sleep through the service, or never take any part in it, either in prayer or praise, these people get no good, rather positive harm by Church-going. Attendance at Church is a means of Grace, not Grace itself. If rightly used it is a means of placing us in the way of salvation, and of keeping us there. If you get into a railway car- raige at the Station, the mere act of doing so will not take you to London, but if you do not first get in, the train cannot carry you there. Another self-excuser says, " Church-going is a mere form and show ; pure religion is not outside, but inside one." It is perfectly true that pure religion is inside, and not outside. But surely we must show outside what we feel inside. Suppose that your landlord were to reduce your rent twenty per cent, because of the bad times, and were to give your children a handsome present as well, you would, I think, go up to his house to thank him, and you would not consider it a mere show. You would not leave him to imagine the gratitude inside you. Well, one of the chief reasons why we come to Church is to thank God for His goodness, and to openly declare " the won ders that He doeth for the children of men." Listen to another excuse. " There are too many forms and ceremonies in Church for me, too much standing up and sitting down, and ringing of -bells, I can say my prayers quietly at home when I feel inclined." Now listen," mostpf you are employed at the great house here, 188 <& Common Sin. or by the- farmers. Some of-you-may ifavcseen a faetory or ee^ton-milL in-other--pariijiL_the—ccaintry. Well, you know that there are regular times for beginning and end ing work, a bell rings to summon you to meals, and every man and woman has a certain portion of work appointed for each day. But supposing that every one were to do as his fancy led him ; supposing that at eleven o'clock in the morning, in the midst of cutting a lawn, or rubbing down a horse, or working at a- spindle, a man were to say " I think I shall go and get some dinner, I feel inclined for it ;" would it be possible for the work of that estate, or that factory to go on ? Of course not ; yet the habit of saying your prayers, or attending to religion at odd times, when the fancy takes you, is very much the same as snatching food at irregular hours, without plan, or order. No system can go on without system and plan, and those who tell us they can say their prayers without* heing warned by a bell, generally forget to say them atalL "But," argues another self-excuser, " Sunday is a day of rest, I work hard all the week, I like to rest on Sunday." Yes, Sunday is a day of rest from everyday work, the same God who gives you work to do, and strength to do it, gives you rest on His day. But sloth and selfish in dulgence are not rest. The man who lies in bed half Sunday, and rises only to eat and drink, is simply dis honouring God and himself. There is never an excuse for sloth. If we really love God we should find the truest rest in the worship of His Church. The true a Common $>in. 189 meaning of all these idle excuses is just this, petple do not love God. When we truly love any one we like to be in his company, to do as he wishes ; so if we really love God, we should be able to say with truth, " I was glad when they said unto me, we will go into the House of the Lord." But again, there comes the pitiful excuse, "Sunday was so wet and stormy, I could not come to Church." But Saturday is often just as wet and stormy, yet no one stayed away from market. The food was bought and sold for the body, that body which will be in the Church yard before long, and the soul which lives for ever was starved, because it rained ! Another tells us, " I live such a long way from Church." That is indeed a disadvantage, but you never find the road too long to the town and the shops, and the distance is never too great from your work. Another meets us with the old, old plea, " I was not very well on Sunday." It is a curious fact that more people are unwell on Sunday than on any other day of the week. They are quite able to attend to business on Saturday, and are quite fresh, and ready for work on Monday, but they are poorly on Sunday. I am afraid the disease is one of the will," rather than the body. There is no will to come to Church, and consequently there is no way. Yes, the secret of all these excuses is that some of us love ourselves better than God. We take all we 190 ft Common Sin. can get from God's hand, and give Him nothing in return. I will only speak of one more excuse, as common as it is foolish. "I don't go to Church myself," says a man, " but my wife goes." So much the better for the wife, so much the worse for the husband. You cannot do your duty by deputy, and you cannot save your soul by deputy. Every one of us must answer for himself. There is an old legend of a man who never attended Church, but whose wife went regularly. Both died, and when they came to the gates of Paradise, the woman passed in. But when the husband presented himself, the keeper of the gate said, " Your wife worshipped God for both of you, now she has gone into Paradise for both of you, you cannot enter here." My friends, you who have been trying to excuse yourselves from doing what is right, think on these things. SERMON XXIV. WHAT SOCIETY WANTS. Proverbs xii. ig. " The lip of Truth shall be established for ever." It is remarkable, if we study the Bible with the words and works of the world around us acting as a commentary, how wonderfully unpractical the inspired writers of Scrip ture appear. Here we have Solomon, the type of wisdom, and of worldly wisdom too, speaking as a fool, if we judge him by nineteenth century ethics. Ask the man of busi ness, ask the election agent, ask the advertiser, in a word, ask Society, what their code of morals is, what their shibboleth, their watchword is ; and they will not tell you that their code is Spartan in its strictness, that to have an 192 OTfjat Sorietrj BWantS. honest report among their fellow-gentiles is the end and aim of their toil and moil, that their shibboleth is " great is Truth and it shall prevail, Truth at any price;" no, they have, like the arithmetician, reduced the matter to its lowest terms, and their watchword, their key-note, the open sesame of their hearts is ' ' will it pay ?" Expediency the test, it may be wrong to deceive one's neighbour in the food we sell him, and in the money transactions in which we engage him ; but it is the way of the world. If my next door neighbour adulterates his goods, and makes vast profit, why should I make a martyr of myself and lose money for the sake of knowing myself to be honest? I might be praised, but I should starve, ages ago that ver dict was passed by a heathen, ' virtue is praised and starves.' No, we must go with the stream, there is a great an almost overwhelming commercial immorality about us, it is deplorable, but individuals cannot stem the current, we are no worse than our neighbours at all events. What miserable reasoning is this. Worldly wise you call it, worldly wise, but Heavenly foolish ; " no worse than our neighbours" — no, and no better, all alike tainted with the same plague spot, all alike branded in the forehead with Mammon's signet, where another name ought to be written ! By the side of such reasoning as this, Solomon may well speak as a child, as an old-world mentor out of date : if a man believes in his ledger as his gospel, and learns how to live from the money article of the newspaper, the salt of the gospel may well have lost its savor for him, and BBJfjat Sorietjj 8®autS. 193 the holy lessons which suited Jewish fishermen, or Saxon peasants, or ignorant savages may well appear obsolete to such a one. It has been lately said that had the Revelation of Jesus on earth been delayed till now, we should have failed to hail the Messiah in the carpenter's Son of Nazar eth, and I believe it, had He come preaching the same unworldly and unpractical gospel ; but not because of the weakness of the Revelation. But from our own utter blindness, our own miserable want of Faith. We work round to the inevitable rock on which we make shipwreck of ourselves ; want of faith in the incarnate Son of God, God made flesh and dwelling among us. It was the same faithlessness, or half faith, which stayed the hands of Messiah from doing many mighty works, which mocked at Him before Pilate, which crucified Him on Calvary ; it is precisely the same want of faith, or possession of half faith which makes us believe in the world and its sins, and not in the power of Jesus, Who has overcome the world ; which makes ushold thatthedevil is the rulingpower in men's hearts, not God, and that consequently deceit and fraud must be met by deceit and fraud, lying by lying, selfishness by selfishness. Whereas we know that Satan is but a crashed serpent, with power to wound certainly, but crushed and wounded mortally by the seed of the woman, and that instead of allowing the world to overcome us, as we do when we hold this pessimist's creed of wick edness universally being successful, we should over come the world, overcome evil not with evil, but with 194 fflTOjat Society SKSantS. good : " and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our Faith." And we have not this Faith, most of us ; we have some kind of faith, of course, but it is too often vague, unsatisfactory, we do not know what we be lieve, our Faith is a fair-weather blossom which will not stand the rough usage of a tempest. We do not make enough of the Incarnation of our "Blessed Saviour; when we see men so wicked, so selfish, so utterly worldly, it staggers us, and we are half inclined to doubt the doctrine of the perfect Manhood of Jesus, a Manhood assumed in order that all men might imitate it. But if we would only believe we should see the glory of God worked out in this point, if we would only believe in the capability of man for all that is high, and holy, and noble, a capability given him through the Manhood of Jesus, if we would believe this instead of believing in man's baseness, selfishness, venality; in every man having a certain price, and no man acting from high and disin terested motives ; we should then be able to counteract the low morality of the age, the world would be regener ated, society would learn to look higher for its motives, not to look to the world for its springs of action, but to seek them in that pure fountain undefiled, the Manhood of the God Christ Jesus. You tell me, and you tell me truly, that honesty, truth, strict moral dealing between man and man does not succeed : that another power, call it deceit, call it by a more common and expressive name, rules every action, and ensures success : that the lying ©Hfjat Sacietn EJIaiitS. 195 advertisement, and the highly-coloured account, make a commercial article sell, that in our dress, our habits, our amusements, and alas ! too often, in our religion, we are artificial, false, not what we profess to be, not truthful. You may tell me all this, and I would answer it is true, but it is not inevitable, it is because we have forsaken our first love, God, and become enamoured with the siren charms, the false Delilah-like blandishments of the world of Godless society ; men need not be hypocrites to suc ceed in this world, if only they would remember what they are : that a man is ' the noblest work of God,' that he bears the Creator's image and superscription, that he is meant to be Godlike, God's vicegerent on earth, and that God, whose he is, is a God of Truth. If any of you who love crooked paths, who to turn money would leave the straight, honest road, who to gain fame, or honour, or place (gone all of them in a few years) would stoop to a lie, or a perversion of the truth, remember what you are — men ; men for whom Christ died ; men for whom Christ left His throne in Heaven, and became obedient unto sorrow and pain and death, even the death of the Cross ; men clothed with the like humanity which Jesus wore ; men who as men may claim as a brother the Man Christ Jesus Think of this, you men of business, and you men of pleasure, think of it.O my brothers and sisters in the Lord, think that you were made one with Christ in Bap tism, that your worldly nature ought to have been buried with Him, without hope of a resurrection, since the new man 196 SHSfiat Societa ©Hants. now only should be raised with Him, and then ask your selves if it is right, if it is possible, for believers in Jesus to be fraudulent, hypocritical, false, or whether those miserable sins of Satan's sowing can flourish if men would only remember their true character, and act as Christians, as Christ's children, and not the Devil's bondmen. Society can only be regenerated when Christian men and women combine together and fight against sin ; when the Church learns that the fight is the part of the laity as well as of the clergy, when all Churchmen stand shoulder to shoulder, and overcome the evil of the world by the good of the Church, which is the holiness of the Church's Head, Christ Jesus. Are these idle dreams of mine, my brethren, cannot such things be ? Believe me, they could be, if we had but faith as a grain of mustard seed. Whenever I look upon a multitude of people in Church, I never know whether a feeling of pleasure or of pain predominates. I think the sad thought conquers. It is a sight full of joy and encouragement to see you all assembled in God's temple, but the question comes, how much of this service is real, honest seeking after God's Truth ; the multitude is here in the body, but of how many congregations may the sad words be spoken, " this people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me ?" Here is a goodly company with intelligent faces, decent attention, fair outsides : but what if the parable of the whited sepulchres apply to us : what if the fair outsides cover dead or dying men's bones, and all HlShat Societs ©Hants. 197 corruption ! You are here in God's House, but is love to God the motive which has brought you ? " Are your minds set upon righteousness, O ye congregation?"- Are you here as fainting pilgrims, " weary with the march of life," hungering and thirsting after righteousness, or is it merely an interlude in the drama of your lives, a Sunday task, a Sunday parade ; what are the thoughts of your hearts ? If God were to echo the words of His servant Jehu, and say, " Is thine heart right, as mine heart is with thine heart?" could each one of you, could one in twenty among you, say truly, " yes ?" Methinks as I gaze on this con gregation I see as it were the vision of Fzekiel the prophet, and I feel constrained to ask as was asked of him, " Can these bones live ?" Can these bodies and souls now living, live for ever? And in my perplexity I find comfort in the faithful prophet's modest answer, " O Lord God, Thou knowest." God knows those who are His, but we do not, and hence our great anxiety. But one thing we know, we must know it if we have ears to hear, and eyes to see, that wherever God, speaking by the mouth of Solomon and David, and all the holy men which have been since the world began, tells us that truth is the one thing to be sought as silver, and to be prized above rubies, the world speaking through the brazen mouthpiece of Society says that Truth as a fact does not answer, and practically is a mistake. It is so, my brethren, it is a mistake practically in the world, but what a world that is which makes it so ! Is it a world for Christian men 198 aSHfjat Societn ©Hants. and women to live in with their hands upon their mouths ? Will none take up their parable against it ? Will none go forth among their fellows, men and women, as Apostles to Society ? We are fond of sending District Visitors and Mission men and women to our poorer neighbours, we tell them of their faults and follies often enough, rightly so, of course ; but in common reason, in common mercy to the souls of the upper class let us have Missions to them, let us ask God's blessing on the leavening of the whole lump of Society, lest the story of Dives and Lazarus be repeated over and over again ; and the rich men go to their place without even hearing Him who for their sakes rose from the dead. It is the blind obedience which Society pays to itself, its rules and customs and superstitions, which keeps it down in the dungeons of Doubting Castle, which leads it captive after the multitude to do evil. Let Society be free, free from all the myriad forms of cant, and custom, and conventionality ; let its members remember their individuality, let them remember that they are individual men and women, whose religion is a personal matter, whose salvation is an individual boon ; it would seem that the ideal of modern English Christianity is purely con gregational ; people come in crowds to Church as soldiers to Parade, they imitate one another in Church and out of Church, they pray when others pray, they believe, or think they do, what others believe ; hence it is that a large congregation is more or less a sad sight, hence it is that ©Hhat Societs ©Hants. 199 our worship is so utterly inconsistent : we come to Church on Sunday and leave the Church tenantless all the rest of the week. Again, the crowd comes to Sunday Service, and the crowd goes away after the sermon, leaving the few to par take of the Blessed Sacrament : here is the second incon sistency; why should we follow the multitude manifestly to do evil in this case? Why does not each one of us ask himself the simple question, " do not I stand in as sore need of spiritual strength as those few worshippers yonder ? Do I not find the world as rough a journeying place as they, did not my Saviour give Himself for me as well as for them?" If people would ask themselves such ques tion, and seek a satisfactory answer from God, then and then only, inconsistency in worship would disappear, then the lip of truth would make itself heard instead of the chatter of conventionality, then we should get rid of the monstrous absurdity of Churchmen and Communicants being different classes of people. To sum up the whole matter in a few last words : is our life pitched according to the key note given by the world, by Society ? If so, it is in a false key, in too low a key, you must try a higher note ; and by so pitching it, you will draw the voice of Society after you, there may be a little discord at first, but in the end Society will rise, if the individuals rise, the mass will rise also. The morality of Society is low. because it believes in the badness of the 200 ©Hhat Sotietfi ©Hants. old Adam, and does not give credit to the perfection of manhood displayed in the second Adam. .-Let our part be, brethren, to regard things not from the worldling's point of view, but from the Christian, to feel that as very mem bers incorporate of Christ's Holy Body, something more than worldliness is possible for us, that as the Man Christ Jesus triumphed over sin, fraud, lying, selfishness, so we in His strength, and by His grace may do so likewise. Believe this, and the force of Solomon's words come out: he spoke as God taught him, and he says, ' ' the lip of truth shall be established for ever;" try the experiment, meet lying with truth, meet doubt with faith, meet deceit with frankness, meet commercial trickery with plain honesty, and verily you shall have your reward. Here, here on earth the lip of truth shall prevail and be established, for Christ is here on earth, even unto the end : and in Heaven, in God's presence, before Him Who is Truth, Who hateth a lie, can we doubt that there the lip of truth shall be established for ever? Methinks I hear some of you echo the scoffing Roman's query, ' And what is truth ?' And I answer, go to the Gospel and read the life of Jesus Christ the Righteous, and you are answered. Model your ways, your works and words by Gospel precepts, not by those of Fashion, Cant, Hypocrisy, Expediency. Throw off the miserable chains of Society, stand free as individual Christians for whom Christ died, stand clothed with Faith and in your right minds. Come home like the prodigal from the far country and come to yourselves, ©Hhat SotietD KSantS. 20 1 cast away your idols to the owls and bats, break down the Dagon of formality, stamp into powder the golden calf of Mammon, be followers of God as dear, simple, trusting children, for it is written, " Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." SERMONS by the kev. S. BARING-GOULD VILLAGK PREACHING FOR A YEAR. By the Rev. S. BARING-GOULD. A collection of 65 specially- written Short Sermons for All the Sundays and Chief Holy- days of the Christian Year, Missions, Schools, Harvest, Club, etc. ; with a supplement of Twenty Sermon Sketches. This most complete and excellent Series of Sermons forms a perfect storehouse of Teaching, Illustration and Anecdote for the Whole Year, and will be found an invaluable aid to the Preacher in Country Towns and Villages. Complete in 2 vols, elegant cloth, 10/-, by post 10/7. Vol. I. separately, from Advent to Whit-Sunday, 5/-, by post 5/4 Vol. II. separately \ Miscellaneous, from Trinity! ., , -.. to Advent, also 20 Sermon Sketches J °/"> °VPm °/4 "Thoroughly excellent, and admiraoly calculated to excite the interest of a village congregation, while the great doctrines of the Christian .Faith are clearly and boldly set forth." — Guardian. "They are exquisite, most suggestive, and among the most remarkable sermons of the day." — Literary Churchman. " Sound in doctrine, vigorous aud telling in expression, devout in feel ing, yet abounding in illustration and anecd >te." — John Bull. "We strongly recommend them to the Clergy, who will gather from them many a hint how to make use of anecdote, illustration, scraps of personal experience, &c, in their pulpit teaching Always interest ing and effective." — Church Times. " Short, sketchy, and wonderfully graphic — model sermons." — English Churchman, " These brilliant sermons will be really valuable to the Clergy, they suggest innumerable novel trains of thought, and their illustrations ara lavish and singularly beautiful."— Church Quarterly. VILLAGE PREACHING FOR SAINTS' DAYS. A specially-written set of 21 Short Plain Sermons for all the Saints' Days. One volume, fcap. cloth, price 4/-. Uniform with the same Author's "Village Preaching for a Year," to which it in fact forms the Third and Completing Volume. The Publishers are glad by the issue of this Volume to comply with the numerous requests they have received for the Saints" Day Sermons to complete Mr. Baring-Gould's former vols, of Village Preaching for the Sundays. SERMONS TO CHILDREN. A specially-written Series, Twenty-Three in number, including a Set of Six on Children's Duties and Faults (Tidiness, Idleness, Wilful ness, Obedience, Perseverance, Idle Talk, etc.), and also a Set of Four on the Seasons of the Year. The very practical lessons for everyday life, combined with the picturesque language, the rich store of anecdotes, and the unflagging interest of these Sermons, will render them not only useful in Church, but most valuable and instructive for School Readings, or Prizes, or for Birthday or other Home Gift Books for children of all ages and classes. Cloth, price 3/6, by post 3/10. 3B|> tlje 3fcc&. $. Uannfl*<80uITj, (continued). THE PREACHER'S POCKET. A Volume of Sermons. Cr 8vo, cloth, price 5/-, by post 5/4. The Author has specially endeavoured in each one 0/ this Collection of Sermons to provide some material really calculated to net people thinking. He trusts that they will serve the country Clergy with ideas which their own opinions of the wants of their people will enable them to adapt to even the most homely requirements . " Will serve country clergy with ideas which they can adapt to even their humble requirements, and will prove of assistance to hard-worked town clergy, who cannot do better than take these sermons on the whole as a model for their own compositions." — Church Times. " We commend most heartily these sermons, as being models of a lucid style, of poetic language, of definite arrangement and distinctness of teaching. Few books will be more helpful and suggestive to the over worked pastors of our town parishes."' — Ecclesiastical Gazette. THE MYSTERY OF SUFFERING. A Course of Lectures. (1. The Mystery of Suffering. *. The Occasion of Suffering. 3. The Capacity for Suffering. 4. Suffering Edu cative. 5. Suffering Evidential. 6. Suffering Sacrificial.) Third edition. Square crown 8vo, cloth, price 3/6, by post, 3/9. " Striking and admirable in a very high degree. If any reader desires to find this great problem treated with boldness, and yet with reverence ; with scientific knowledge of fact, and with the happy perspicxiity that amounts to poetic genius, he cannot do better than seek it in these lec tures." — Literary Churchman. 41 Those who heard these sermons will welcome the opportunity now given them of again studying truths, whose nobility and depth were at the time almost obscured by the extreme beauty of the vesture in which they were clothed. Very seldom indeed are beauties, as many and varied, to be found in large folio volumes as are here united in one little book." — John Bull. Ss Brb. $. 3- SK&tlmot Button. Price 5/-, by post 5/4, A volume of Short Plain Sermons. THE LORD'S SONG, and other Plain Sermons, consisting of Twenty-Two Sermons suggested by well-known Hymns, including several for Children's Services. The Sermons mainly follow the course of the Church's Seasons. Among the Titles we may mention The Long Journey— The Bright Morn ing—The Dark Evening— The Warfare— The Wanderer— The True Friend. It is hoped that these Sermons will be welcome, and useful in suggesting some novelty for Parish Preaching. 33» &fb. B* 3- TOlmot SBujrtOU, {continued.) MISSION SERMONS FOR A TEAR, including Sixty-Eight Short Plain Sermons, for every Sunday, a few Saints' Days, Harvest, Missions, Funeral, Dedication Festival, &c. Price 7/6, by post 8/2. Messrs. Skeffington belie ce that these specially written Sermons will be found to be characterized by the same warmth earnestness, and simplici y of style, the same originality of thought, anecdote, and idea, and by that excellent Church tone which have rendered Mr. Buxton's former Sermons at once so interesting and so useful. " In this volume the same beauty and vigour of language, happiness of metaphor, and strikingness of application are apparent on a larger scale, as in his Children's Sermons. The village congregation is, indeed, ex ceptionally favoured in its possession of so powerful a preacher."— Church Review. "We find the idea so well carried out that wo cannot but hope that the volume will be widely used. There is something so definite, striking, and even piquant in every sermon, that they cannot fail to be service able," — Church Quarterly. " These sermons are excellent in matter and in style, simple and pure in diction, and perfectly intelligible, withont being thin or shallow. They are excellent Sunday morning sermoDS for almost any kind of con gregation."— CAu/cA Bills. MISSION SERMONS, First Series, containing twenty Plain Sermons. Price 3/-, by post 3/2. (This volume is at present out of print. ) MISSION SERMONS, SECOND SERIES. Thirty Plain Sermons. Besides many on General and Miscellaneous subjects, the volume also includes Sermons for Advent, Christ mas, Lent, Easter, Trinity, Harvest Festival, Autumn, &c. Third Edition. Cloth, price 4/6, by post 4/9. SHORT SERMONS FOR CHILDREN, including a few for Young Domestic Servants, A Series of Twenty-Three. Price 3/6, by post 3/8. (The Second Edition of these most successful Sermons.) " Deserve the greatest praise. Concise, earnest, and affectionate, are epithets which may truthfully be applied to every sermon." — John Bull. "Very earnest and powerful, and full of evidence of the wide sympa thies and cultivated taste of their author. In style they are almost faultless-; simple words, short sentences, straightforward constructions — all that sermon style should be. In short, whilst they are most unpre tending, they are sermons of a very high mark indeed., and we would commend them to the younger men among the clergy as models for their own pulpit addresses." — Literary Churchman. "Short and telling sentences, full of illustration and anecdote, with the charm of poetry about them, they are altogether well suited to catch the attention of their hearers." — Church Times. ' " Capital little Mission sermons, full of varied illustration from all sourees. The clever selection of texts is one of the happiest features of this volume " — Union Review.