Part 8 (1/2)

It is enough for G.o.d that we are all men and women bearing the flesh, and blood, and human nature which His Son Jesus Christ wore on earth. If we are baptized, we belong to Him: if we are not baptized, we ought to be; for we belong to Him just as much. Every man may be baptized; every man may be regenerate; G.o.d calls all to His grace and adoption and holy baptism, which is the sign and seal of His adoption; and therefore, what is right for the regenerate baptized man, is right for the unregenerate unbaptized man; for the Christian and for the heathen there is but one way, one duty, one life for both, and that is the life of G.o.d, of which St. Paul speaks in the text.

Now of this life of G.o.d I will speak hereafter; but I mention it now, because it is the thing to which I wish to bring your thoughts before the end of the sermon.

But first, let us see what St. Paul means, when he talks about the Gentiles in his day. For that also has to do with us. I said that every man, Christian or heathen, has the same duty, and is bound to do the same right; every man, Christian or heathen, if he sins, breaks his duty in the same way, and does the same wrong. There is but one righteousness, the life of G.o.d; there is but one sin, and that is being alienated from the life of G.o.d. One man may commit different sorts of sins from another; one may lie, another may steal: one may be proud, another may be covetous: but all these different sins come from the same root of sin; they are all flowers of the same plant. And St. Paul tells us what that one root of sin, what that same Devil's plant, is, which produces all sin in Christian or Heathen, in Churchman or Dissenter, in man or woman-- the one disease, from which has come all the sin which ever was done by man, woman, or child since the world was made.

Now, what is this one disease, to which every man, you and I, are all liable? Why it is that we are every one of us worse than we ought to be, worse than we know how to be, and, strangest of all, worse than we wish and like to be.

Just as far as we are like the heathen of old, we shall be worse than we know how to be. For we are all ready enough to turn heathens again, at any moment, my friends; and the best Christian in this church knows best that what I say is true; that he is beset by the very same temptations which ruined the old heathens, and that if he gave way to them a moment they would ruin him likewise. For what does St. Paul say was the matter with the old heathens?

First he says, 'Their understanding was darkened.' But what part of it? What was it that they had got dark about and could not understand? For in some matters they were as clever as we, and cleverer. What part of their understanding was it which was darkened? St. Paul tells us in the first chapter of the Epistle to the Romans. It was their hearts--their reason, as we should say.

It was about G.o.d, and the life of G.o.d, that they were dark. They had not been always dark about G.o.d, but they were _darkened_; they grew more and more dark about Him, generation after generation; they gave themselves up more and more to their corrupt and fallen nature, and so the children grew worse than their fathers, and their children again worse than them, till they had lost all notion of what G.o.d was like. For from the very first all heathens have had some notion of what G.o.d is like, and have had a notion also, which none but G.o.d could have given them, that men ought to be like G.o.d.

G.o.d taught, or if I may so speak, tried to teach, the heathen, from the very first. If G.o.d had not taught them, they would not have been to blame for knowing nothing of G.o.d. For as Job says, 'Can man by searching find out G.o.d?' Surely not; G.o.d must teach us about Himself. Never forget that man cannot find G.o.d; G.o.d must show Himself to man of His own free grace and will. G.o.d must reveal and unveil Himself to us, or we shall never even fancy that there is a G.o.d. And G.o.d did so to the heathen. Even before the Flood, G.o.d's Spirit strove with man; and after the Flood we read how the Lord, Jesus Christ the Son of G.o.d, revealed Himself in many different ways to heathens. To Pharaoh, king of Egypt, in Abraham's times; and again to Abimelech, king of Gerar; and again to Pharaoh and his servants, in Joseph's time; and to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and to Cyrus, king of Persia; and no doubt to thousands more.

Indeed, no man, heathen or Christian, ever thought a single true thought, or felt a single right feeling, about G.o.d or man, or man's duty to G.o.d and his neighbour, unless G.o.d revealed it to him (whether or not He also revealed _Himself_ to the man and showed him _who_ it was who was putting the right thought into his mind): for every right thought and feeling about G.o.d, and goodness, and duty, are the very voice of G.o.d Himself, the word of G.o.d whereof St. John speaks, and Moses and the prophets speak, speaking to the heart of sinful man, to enlighten and to teach him. And therefore, St. Paul says, the sinful heathen were without excuse, because, he says, 'that which may be known of G.o.d is manifest, that is plain, among them, for G.o.d hath showed it to them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things which are made, even His eternal power and G.o.dhead; so that they are without excuse.' 'But these heathens,' he says, 'did not like to retain G.o.d in their knowledge; and when they knew G.o.d, did not glorify Him as G.o.d, and changed the glory of the Incorruptible G.o.d into the likeness of corruptible man, and beasts and creeping things.' And so they were alienated from the life of G.o.d; that is, they became strangers to G.o.d's life; they forgot what G.o.d's life and character was like: or if they even did awake a moment, and recollect dimly what G.o.d was like, they hated that thought. They hated to think that G.o.d was what He was, and shut their eyes, and stopped their ears as fast as possible.

And what happened to them in the meantime? What was the fruit of their wilfully forgetting what G.o.d's life was? St. Paul tells us that they fell into the most horrible sins--sins too dreadful and shameful to be spoken of; and that their common life, even when they did not run into such fearful evils, was profligate, fierce, and miserable. And yet St. Paul tells us all the while they knew the judgment of G.o.d, that those who do such things are worthy of death.

Now we know that St. Paul speaks truth, from the writings of heathens; for G.o.d raised up from time to time, even among the heathen Greeks and Romans, witnesses for Himself, to testify of Him and of His life, and to testify against the sins of the world, such men as Socrates and Plato among the Greeks, whose writings St. Paul knew thoroughly, and whom, I have no doubt, he had in his mind when he wrote his first chapter of Romans, and told the heathen that they were without excuse. And among the Romans, also, He raised up, in the same way, witnesses for Himself, such as Juvenal and Persius, and others, whom scholars know well. And to these men, heathens though they were, G.o.d certainly did teach a great deal about Himself, and gave them courage to rebuke the sins of kings and rich men, even at the danger of their lives; and to some of them he gave courage even to suffer martyrdom for the message which G.o.d had given them, and which their neighbours hated to hear. And this was the message which G.o.d sent by them to the heathen: that G.o.d was good and righteous, and that therefore His everlasting wrath must be awaiting sinners. They rebuked their heathen neighbours for those very same horrible crimes which St. Paul mentions; and then they said, as St. Paul does, 'How you make your own sins worse by blasphemies against G.o.d! You sin yourselves, and then, to excuse yourselves, you invent fables and lies about G.o.d, and pretend that G.o.d is as wicked as you are, in order to drug your own consciences, by making G.o.d the pattern of your own wickedness.'

These men saw that man ought to be like G.o.d; and they saw that G.o.d was righteous and good; and they saw, therefore, that unrighteousness and sin must end in ruin and everlasting misery. So much G.o.d had taught them, but not much more; but to St. Paul he had taught more. Those wise and righteous heathen could show their sinful neighbours that sin was death, and that G.o.d was righteous.

But they could not tell them how to rise out of the death of sin, into G.o.d's life of righteousness. They could preach the terrors of the Law, but they did not know the good news of the Gospel, and therefore they did not succeed; they did not convert their neighbours to G.o.d. Then came St. Paul and preached to the very same people, and he did convert them to G.o.d; for he had good news for them, of things which prophets and kings had desired to see, and had not seen them, and to hear, and had not heard them.

For G.o.d, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke to the fathers by the prophets, at last spoke to all men by a Son, His only-begotten Son, the exact likeness of His Father, the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person. He sent Him to be a man: very man of the substance of His mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, at the same time that He was Very G.o.d, of the substance of His Father, begotten before all worlds.

And so G.o.d, and the life of G.o.d, was manifested in the flesh and reasonable soul of a man; and from that time there is no doubt what the life of G.o.d is; for the life of G.o.d is the life of Jesus Christ.

There is no doubt now what G.o.d is like, for G.o.d is like Jesus Christ. No one can now say, 'I cannot see G.o.d, how then can you expect me to be like G.o.d?' for He who has seen Jesus Christ, as His character stands in the Gospels, has seen G.o.d the Father. No one can say now, 'How can a man be like G.o.d, and live a life like G.o.d's life?' for if any one of you say that, I can answer him: 'A man can be like G.o.d; you can be like G.o.d; for there was once a man on earth, Jesus, the son of the Blessed Virgin, who was perfectly like G.o.d.'

And if you answer, 'But He was like G.o.d, because He was G.o.d,' I can say, 'And that is the very reason why you can be like G.o.d also.' If Jesus Christ had been only a man, you could no more become like Him than you can become clever because another man is clever, or strong because another man is strong: but because He was G.o.d The Son of G.o.d, He can give you, to make you like G.o.d, the same Holy Spirit which made Him like G.o.d; for that Holy Spirit proceeds from Him, the Son, as well as from the Father, and the Father has committed all power to the Son; and therefore that same Man Christ Jesus has power to change your heart, and renew it, and shape it to be like Him, and like His Father, by the power of His Spirit, that you may be like G.o.d as He was like G.o.d, and live the life of G.o.d which He lived; so that the Lord Jesus Christ, because He was a man like G.o.d, showed that all men can become like G.o.d; and because He was G.o.d, Very G.o.d of Very G.o.d, He is able to make all who come to Him men like Himself, men like G.o.d, and raise them up body and soul to the everlasting life of G.o.d, that He may be the firstborn among many brethren.

Now what is this everlasting life of G.o.d, which the Lord Jesus Christ lived perfectly, and which He can and will make every one of us live, in proportion as we give up our hearts and wills to Him, and ask Him to take charge of us, and shape us, and teach us? When we read that blessed story of Him who was born in a stable, and laid in a manger, who went about doing good, because G.o.d was with Him, who condescended of His own freewill to be mocked, and scourged, and spit upon, and crucified, that He might take away the sins of the whole world, who prayed for His murderers, and blest those who cursed Him--what sort of life does this life of G.o.d, which He lived, seem to us? Is it not a life of love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, patience, meekness? Surely it is; then that is the likeness of G.o.d. G.o.d is love. And the Lord Jesus' life was a life of love--utter, perfect, untiring love. He did His Father's will perfectly, because He loved men perfectly, and to the death.

He died for those who hated Him, and so He showed forth to man the name and glory of G.o.d; for G.o.d is love. The name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is love; for love is justice and righteousness, as it is written, 'Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.' And G.o.d is perfect love, because He is perfect righteousness; and perfect righteousness, because He is perfect love; for His love and His justice are not two different things, two different parts of G.o.d, as some say, who fancy that G.o.d's justice had to be satisfied in one way, and His love in another, and talk of G.o.d as if His justice fought against His love, and desired the death of a sinner, and then His love fought against His justice, and desired to save a sinner.

No wonder that those who hold such doctrines go further still, and talk as if G.o.d the Father desired to destroy mankind, and would have done it if G.o.d the Son had not interposed, and suffered Himself instead; till they can fancy that they are Christians, and know G.o.d, while they use the hideous words of a certain hymn, which speaks of

'The streaming drops of Jesu's blood Which calmed the Father's frowning face.'

May G.o.d deliver and preserve us and our children from all such blasphemous fables, which, like the fables of the old heathen, change the glory of the Incorruptible G.o.d into the likeness of a corruptible man, which deny the true faith, that G.o.d has neither parts nor pa.s.sions, by talking of His love and His justice as two different things; which confound His persons by saying that the Son alone does what the Father and the Holy Spirit do also, while they divide His substance by making the will of the Son different from the will of the Father, and deny that such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost, all three one perfect Love, and one perfect Justice, because they are all three one G.o.d, and G.o.d is love, and love is righteousness.

Believe me, my friends, this is no mere question of words, which only has to do with scholars in their libraries; it is a question, the question of life and death for you, and me, and every living soul in this church,--Do we know what the life of G.o.d is? are we living it? or are we alienated from it, careless about it, disliking it?

For, as I said at the beginning of my sermon, we are all ready enough to turn heathens again; and if we grow to forget or dislike the life of G.o.d, we shall be heathen at heart. We may talk about Him with our lips, we may quarrel and curse each other about religious differences; but let us make as great a profession as we may, if we do not love the life of G.o.d we shall be heathen at heart, and we shall, sooner or later, fall into sin. The heathens fell into sin just in proportion as their hearts were turned away from the life of G.o.d, and so shall we. And how shall we know whether our hearts are turned away, or whether they are right with G.o.d? Thus: What are the fruits of G.o.d's Spirit? what sort of life does the Spirit of G.o.d make man live? For the Spirit of G.o.d is G.o.d, and therefore the life of G.o.d is the life which G.o.d's Spirit makes men live; and what is that? a life of love and righteousness.

The old heathens did not like such a life, therefore they did not like to retain G.o.d in their knowledge. They knew that man ought to be like G.o.d: and St. Paul says, they ought to have known what G.o.d was like; that He was Love; for St. Paul told them He left not Himself without witness, in that He sent them rain and fruitful seasons, filling their hearts with food and gladness. That was, in St. Paul's eyes, G.o.d's plainest witness of Himself--the sign that G.o.d was Love, making His sun s.h.i.+ne on the just and on the unjust, and good to the unthankful and the evil--in one word, perfect, because He is perfect Love. But they preferred to be selfish, covetous, envious, revengeful, delighting to indulge themselves in filthy pleasures, to oppress and defraud each other. Do you?

For you can, I can, every baptized man can take his choice between the selfish life of the heathens and the loving life of G.o.d: we may either keep to the old pattern of man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful l.u.s.ts; or we may put on the new pattern of man, which is after G.o.d's likeness, and founded upon righteousness and truthful holiness.

Every baptized man may choose. For he is not only bound to live the life of G.o.d: every man, as the old heathen philosophers knew, is bound to live it: but more. The baptized man _can_ live it: that is the good news of his baptism. _You can_ live the life of G.o.d, for you know what the life of G.o.d is--it is the life of Jesus Christ. _You can_ live the life of G.o.d, for the Spirit of G.o.d is with you, to cleanse your soul and life, day by day, till they are like the soul and life of Christ.

Then you will be, as the apostle says, 'a partaker of a divine nature.' Then--and it is an awful thing to say--a thing past hope, past belief, but I must say it--for it is in the Bible, it is the word of the Blessed Lord Himself, and of His beloved apostle, St.