Sermons

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S1KI0B8

BISHOP MATTHEW SIMPSON

OF THE

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SERMON PAGE

I. LIVING FOR CHRIST. (Phil. i. 21) * 3

II. THE ELEMENTS OF CHRISTIANITY. (1 Tim. i. $) . . 19

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fitting fur Ctirist.

LIVING FOR CHEIST.

"For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." — Phil. i. 21.

The words selected present the thought of the great apostle to the Gentiles in view of his afflictions, his imprisonment, the work which God had assigned to him, and his faith in a glorious immortality. He states that his mind was not fully decided what was best — whether he should live or whether he should die. For he adds, "If I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor" — that is, if he were to live, he must go on preaching, he must have persecution, bonds, and imprisonment; and the fruit of his labor must be toil and sorrow and suffering. " Yet what I shall choose I wot not. For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ ; which is far better : Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you." Thus we find him, in view of impending death, scarcely knowing himself what was best — having, in his heart, rather a desire to go ; in his judgment, a conviction that it was better for those about him that he should stay; and thus, almost equally balanced, he was perfectly willing either to live or to die. This is the true Christian frame of mind, and the subject has been selected that we may take a just estimate of human life, its mission, and the feelings with which each one of us should regard its duties, responsibilities, and end.

The words are certainly very singular: "For to me to live is Christ." How is it that " to live is Christ ?" If the great apostle could say these words, may you and I? "Was the apostle's life to represent Christ ? Was he, in some sense, to be a Christ on earth? If so, may you and I, in our lives, represent Christ? May we be to the world, in some sense, a Christ ? Is it possible for us to have such a grand conception of life — its mission, its duties, its responsibilities ?

The Christian's life may be said to be of Christ in this — that it is purchased through his death. "We live because Christ died; and hence, the life which we live is not of ourselves, but is through Christ and of Christ. In this view, for us to live is to testify to the goodness, the grace, and the mercy of Christ. We have sinned, and we deserve to die. Not one of us is here because of his merit or of his deserts. Every one of us has wrought such folly and wickedness that he deserves to have died. Take the past few days only, or the past few months, and leave out of sight all the rest of our lives, and what wickedness, infirmity, foil}'', and wrong have characterized our actions or have mingled with our thoughts? That we live is an indication of the mercy, condescension, and compassion of Christ. In this sense, in living we show forth his glory- But it may be said, is not this true of the wicked as well as of the good. I answer, all alike live through Christ. " In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die," was the warning given to man. Very possibly but for the proffered atonement the race had been extinguished. God hath given us a life probation through Christ, and the wickedest man on earth, as well as the holiest, in this sense, lives through him. In this view, what are the obligations under which we are laid? The profane man receives the breath which he expends in profanity because of Christ's death and mediation. The man who employs his time in wickedness, who is planning deceit, fraud, and iniquity, is spending the strength, time, power, intellect, and opportunities which he receives through the mediation of Christ; for he is our intercessor. The sword of justice is suspended over our heads ; the voice has gone forth, " Cut him down ; why cumbereth he the ground?" and yet, before the throne the great Mediator pleads : " Spare him yet a little longer. Bear with him a little further. Let there be other exhibitions of grace manifested to him. Let him be borne with, visited by the Holy Spirit, entreated, wooed, that he may turn to Christ and live." The mercies of the past and mercies of to-day are evidences of Christ's mediation in our behalf, and of his desire that we should live henceforth to his honor and glory.

" But," it is said by some one, " surely he cannot love the ungodly so much." I answer, if he did not love the ungodly, you and I would have no hope of salvation. It was in our sins he loved us, and " we love him because he first loved us." The depth of his love is set forth in his inimitable last prayer : " That the world may know that thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me." The great All -Father, bending from his throne, loved us as he loves his own Son — he loves the world, the whole world, the whole human family. Not that he loves our folly, or our guilt ; not that he loves our weakness, or our sins; but he loves us — yearns to save us from our sins, and to save us with an eternal salvation. So that our living may be said to be of Christ. This applies to all of us. Whether we are Christian believers, or whether we have never named the name of Christ, all are equally under obligation to the Saviour for his amazing mercy in prolonging life.

There is a sense, however, in which the Christian may be said to show forth Christ in his life, which will not thus apply to all the world. " For to us to live is Christ," further signifies that, in living, we receive into our hearts the spirit of Christ. " If any man have not the spirit of Christ," the apostle says, " he is none of his." If we belong to Christ we" have the spirit of Christ — that is, we have a mind like to his mind. Was he amiable ? So are we. Was he meek? So are we. Was he patient? So are we. Could he bear with the perversity of others? So can we. Could he bear to be reproached without becoming angry? So can we. Was he long-suffering ? So are we. Could he endure persecutions unmoved ? So can we — that is, if we are Christ's ; for all true Christians have in them the mind which was in him. It is true, with this mind, we have temptations, and we have peculiarities of disposition which those temptations influence ; we are liable to be thrown off our guard ; we need constant watchfulness ; but, just so far as we are Christ's, we have the mind that was in Christ. Again, "for to us to live is Christ," in this — that we show to the world how Christ would live, how Christ would labor ^nd toil and suffer and act,- were he

-in our place. Thus wo show to the world that we are his. We stand up before the world, to point out to the world what is Christ-like; what are Christ's dispositions as manifested to that world. If, then, you are set in this world to show to all around you how Christ would have lived, in what a responsible place has Christ put you ! What a vast responsibility rests upon you if you stand to represent him in your temper, words, and actions ! Do you say that this is making the Christian so united to Christ that it seems to be a perfect oneness ? I answer, that is just what the Bible prom ises; that is just what the Saviour prays for — "that they all may be one ; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us " — one with Christ.

But, again, there is another view, and that is a personal indwelling, a personal presence of Christ in the heart. The apostle speaks of this when he says : " Christ in you, the hope of glory." Christ, by his personal presence, dwells in every Christian ; and the personal presence of Christ with us is that which gives us a strong hope of glory. If you look into your own hearts, and ask why you hope for immortality, you have no ground in yourself. You are full of imperfection, you are mistaking your way and wandering; you have no claim for anything you have in yourself to a glorious immortality; but if Christ be in you, then, through him, you have hope. Christ will live on ; you will live on with Christ's life.j If Christ be in you, you can overcome death and the grave, for he overcame death and the grave. He is a conqueror. He has all power in heaven and in earth, and if he be in you, he can bear you aloft out of the midst of dangers and above all enemies. If Christ be in you, he can bear you clear to the throne of God. And therein is the hope of glory — Christ in you. Now, if Christ be in our hearts, if his spiritual presence be with us, there must be some sense in which that presence will be manifest ; and the life which we live will not be of ourselves, but by the faith of the Son of God. That is, the Christian will have a joint life — his own spirit, the divine Spirit ; and just as his own spirit can control his thoughts and purposes and movements, so, if Christ be ever present, he also can control those same faculties of the heart and mind and will ; and as Christ is stronger than we are, he can overrule all to his own glory. And if we can take in the great thought that Christ dwells in us, can we have any hesitation as to his ability to direct our way ? Is there any great difficulty in our doing right, in our conquering what is wrong? We may be weak; Christ is strong. We may be ignorant ; Christ is our wisdom. We are helpless ; Christ is almighty, and all that we need is his perpetual presence, his strength, his wisdom ; and this will assure our glory. If Christ be in us, will not that life of Christ shine out of us? Will there not be a change in the character? Is it unreasonable to say : " Old things are passed away ; behold, all things are become new ?" If Christ be in us, he can mould our characters ! he can change the current of our thoughts ! he can wield these powers for the advancement of his own kingdom ! he can make out of us instruments for the accomplishment of great good ! In all these significations, I think, for to us to live is Christ.

I think we may proceed still further, and say that, in a modified sense, every one of us stands in the relation of Christ to society. I say, in a modified sense. Have you ever marked the apostle's language, " Now then, -vfe are ambassadors for Christ ; we pray you, in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God ?" That is, the apostle was standing in Christ's stead; was talking Christ's words; was pleading as though Christ did plead. Some of yon, young women, know what it is to jcall upon friends to bear your mother's kindly regards, to say for her what she would say were she there ; you go to represent your mother. You know what it is, young men, thus to represent some society; to be that company, in that matter, before the world ; you are selected office-bearers. Now, Christ places us in this position. We are in Christ's stead. We stand before the world to exhibit Christ's loveliness ; to do Christ's work ; to live Christ's life on and on. He has gone up to heaven. He sends his Spirit into the world. The Spirit dwells in Christian hearts, and works out through Christian agencies to accomplish the good o SERMONS.

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that is accomplished. It is true the Spirit works on the hearts of the children of disobedience ; but it is to convince them of righteousness and of judgment to come. T-he-Spirit works through the hearts, through the lips, through the hands, throusrli the minds, of Christian men and women in accomplishing the good that is accomplished in the world. Here is a reform society, a society to care for the poor, for drunkards and lunatics, for the disabled, for the aged — that is doing Christ's work; but the work is done through Christian men and women. They are carrying out Christ's plans. And it is because Christ lived that these agencies live and nourish. And while we are doing this, it is Christ that is working in us to will and to do for his own glory ; and we work amid the world in Christ's stead, and stand before the world to represent Christ's person.

Sometimes I think Christians are a little confused on this point, because they say : " Why, Christ's mission was to die for sin, to make an atonement." That, I admit, was the great end for which he came into the world ; but Christ's vicarious mission was ended when he died. He arose from the grave ; he had made an atonement for the sins of mankind, he had risen again for our justification, though he had not yet ascended to send forth the Holy Spirit. And now, suppose that, after his death, Christ had risen from the grave and had never ascended to heaven, what would have been his mission ? Not to die for sin ; that was over; but to be a teacher and a laborer—to help every living person to become better, to become purer, to become happier ; that would have been all Christ could have lived for. He would have lived to whisper down the winds, and step gently on the waves and bid them be still ; to give bread to the hungry ; to give eyesight to the blind ; to take the lame by the hand ; to go to the couch of sickness and gently raise up the sufferer; to step into the house and say, " Peace be unto this house ;" to take the little ones in his arms ; to soothe old age ; to stand by the bedside of the dying, and sweetly point out the way to everlasting life. Oh ! what would Christ have been could he have lived right on in this world, walking over its hills, passing through its valleys, going into its crowded markets, sitting down by the wayside, by the well, to meet the lonely one who came to draw water?

What would Christ's mission have been, but simply a life of doing good, an exemplification of all that is beautiful and holy, and a putting forth of all possible efforts to ameliorate the condition of humanity? Yon and I are placed in this world to carry out Christ's great purposes. And hence "to us to live is Christ;" to be like Christ — nay, I speak it with reverence — to he Christ. " For to me to live is Christ." You are to be Christ to your fellow-men in this sense : you are anointed of God for this mission, and you are to perform it. Why is it that superior intellect is given you ? To teach, to shed light. Why are large means given you? To afford comfort, joy, consolation. Why is superior position given you, but to help some one up? Society may be likened to men ascending a pyramid. They who have risen a step higher should stoop down and take by the hand those who are a little lower, pointing to the highest summit, as each one struggles onward. I shall never forget the feelings I had once when climbing one of the pyramids of Egypt. When half way up, my strength failing, I feared I should never be able to reach the summit or get back again ; I well remember the help given, by Arab hands, drawing me on farther, and the step I could not quite make myself, because too great for my wearied frame — the little help given me, sometimes more and sometimes less — enabled me to go up, step by step, step by step, until, at last, I reached the top, and breathed the pure air, and had a grand lookout from that lofty height. And so in life's journey, we are climbing.. We are feeble. Every one of us, now and then, needs a little help, and if we have risen a step higher than some other, let us reach down for our brother's hand and help him to stand beside us ; and thus, joined hand in hand, we shall go on conquering, step by step, until the glorious eminence shall be gained. Ah ! how many need help in this world — poor, afflicted ones; poor, sorrowing ones; poor, tempted ones; who have been overcome ; who have been struggling, not quite able to get up the step ; trying, falling ; trying, failing ; trying, desponding ; trying, almost despairing. Oh! give such an one help, a little kindly aid, and the step may be taken, and another step may then be taken, and, instead of dying in wretchedness at the base, he may, by a brother's hand, be raised to safety, and, finally, to glory. Your mission is to be Christ to such, to take such by the hand. " For to you to live is Christ.'"

Oh ! what a glorious privilege it is to be Christ to the fallen, to save the vicious, to come to the rescue ! There are some who are perishing in the waves. You have the lifeboat— get it out and man it : they are struggling ; you have the plank — throw it in : they are sinking ; you are near them — reach out your hand and save them. Then are you Christ just to that extent; and "for to you to live is Christ." Was not this the apostle's feeling ? Christ, to do good, spared not himself; he hungered, he thirsted, he prayed all night on the mountain-top. When the disciples were in jeopardy, he was down upon the sea and in the storm. Not his own interests did he care for, but the interests of others. The apostle, I say, was like Christ in this : he cared not for himself. See how he suffered ! It was not because he was very old that he was careless about dying. It was not because he was free from the imperfections of youth or middle age that life had no attractions for him. He was a very young man when Stephen died ; for it is said that they laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. He was a young man when Christ met him near the gate of Damascus, and took him captive. He had been about thirty years preaching ; he was yet in middle life — strong, vigorous, able to visit the churches, to go through the world from place to place, preaching Jesus wherever he went. It was not because his life was worn out, his energies gone, that he was willing to die. While still in the prime of life, and yet preferring to be with Christ in heaven, he was willing to live as Christ — to be Christ in the world.

It may be said that this presents a very different view of human life from that which we generally cherish. So be it. Is it not the apostolic view, and is it not that which gives

LIVING FOR CHRIST. H

grandeur to humanity, to take in the conception that we are not in this world for ourselves? Do you not hear the apostle crying out : " Ye are not your own : ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's " ? You are not your own ; you are Christ's. Be Christs in the world. Do I not hear him crying out : " None of us liveth unto himself, and no man dieth unto himself: whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord : so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's"? Do we not hear Jesus saying in his last prayer: "As thou hast sent me into the world, even so also I have sent them into the world " ? Christian man, Christian woman, you have been as much sent of God into the world as Christ was sent into the world. As he was sent into the world on a mission of mercy, so you have been sent into the world on a mission of mercy. As he was sent to raise the world nearer to heaven, so you have been sent; and your mission must be a mission of mercy and love. But I look at society and see the multitudes sent from God here to be angels, and oh ! how many of them have turned to be demons ! Sent of God to bless the world, how many come to curse the world ! Sent of God to extend smiling peace, and they spread frowns and anguish in the midst of God's works ! Oh ! what would this earth be if every human being was to feel the grandeur of his mission, and would set out at once and forever to work simply the works of God.

I think I hear some of my audience saying : " We would be only too willing to engage in such work as this. We would like to be as Christ in the world. But, we are so weak, how can we represent the Master?" My friends, Christ has made you just as you are. He has given you just the stature, and the temperament, and the circumstances, and the place, and the opportunities you have, and he only requires you, under these circumstances, to be like him. If you are prostrated by illness, and never again can be permitted to set foot out of doors, he only requires you to be like Christ sitting in your chamber or lying on your bed. If you suffer, you are to be like Christ in suffering — to be meek and lamblike; and little do you know how much you may accomplish even in sorrow and suffering. The dairyman's daughter, sitting in her arm-chair; the poor girl who had been at service — when heart and flesh were failing, and she was sinking in consumption — talked so sweetly of Jesus and of heaven that the minister visiting her wrote her words down, and published them in the tract known as " The Dairyman's Daughter." To-day there are in heaven multiplied thousands who were awakened and converted through the words of that poor servant-girl, speaking of Jesus in her dying-room. Little thought she when dying that the world would care for her words, that she could do anything ; but Jesus saw she was doing what she could. She was Christ in her position — that is, in the attitude of Christ to others.

And now, what are your circumstances? where are you? how situated? among whom do you associate? with whom have you any influence? on whose heart may your words drop? who may see your spirit? Just such as God designs you to influence, and to be to them instead of Christ, beseeching them to be reconciled to God ; and your work is in your sphere just where you are. You may say : " If I could preach, then I would be as Christ. If I could talk eloquently, if I had millions to give, if I could do some great thing, I would." Ah ! not the great events merely move the world ; the smaller do also. It was the little Israelite maid who directed Naaman, the Syrian prince, to the prophet. The sphere of usefulness for any of us is marked out by the opportunities God has given us. But others may say again : "If I should try, I may fail." I ask, how do you know? Can't you do something more for Christ than you have done? Xow, there is this peculiarity in trying to be Christ to some one: wherever a man attempts to be in the stead of Christ to his fellow-men, Christ draws near to him, joins himself to him, and gives him additional power. "Lo, I am with you always," were the words of Jesus. That promise was not a promise to be with the Christian in indolence and negligence and ease, but he said : " Go into all the world. Lo, I am with you." It is when we are going that Jesus joins the march ; it is when we are working that Jesus adds the power ; it is when we are attempting something for Christ that Christ draws near. Look at the history of the good works done for our race. They have been begun by the comparatively feeble — but, just as men went, somehow Christ opened the door. Look at the "Life of Faith," by Miiller. Read his story of the Orphan House in Bristol. See how he began without money to gather two or three orphan children together, and now see how God sends him bread as though the windows of heaven were open, and he has hundreds and hundreds of orphan children around hi to ; how he went out to do good, and Christ went with him. He attempted to work, and Christ worked through him ; he attempted to bless the world, and Christ sent a blessing down. Look out wherever you go. Who started the Sunday-school, or the raggedschools, and who gave out the words of mercy ? There never seems to be a fairly open door until the work starts.

My object in making these illustrations is this : when you have taken it in your heart to do a good work for society, do not be afraid that you will not succeed. If you think Christ would do it if he were here upon earth, do you do it. Go forward in Christ's name. Be sure the work is one that he would approve, and then, in Christ's strength, go forward. Just in proportion as you attempt to work for Christ will he approve your work, and you will grow stronger and stronger. And now, if there is one here this morning who is not a Christian, a struggling man who has tried an hundred times to conquer himself, and failed ; if there is one here who feels that it is almost impossible for him to be a Christian because of his temptations, let me say to you, my friend, while you are trying to conquer your own heart, set about some work of mercy for others. It will do you good. If you will select some poor miserable wretch who ought to be saved, and undertake his salvation, while attempting to save him, God will save you. Just try to do good to some one else, and you will find that while you are trying to be Christ to him, Christ draws near to your own heart.

I have no time to dwell upon the latter part of this subject l± SERMONS.

— uto die is gain." That might befit another discussion. What I aim at is this: "To live is Christ;" to be Christ in the world, to be like Christ, to be of Christ, to be in Christ's stead, to show Christ's presence, to do Christ's work. This is the great object of life; and often I think I would be glad to live on, and on, and on, and on — to live for the world's sake, to live for my friends' sake, to live for the purpose of doing a little more good in the world ; but if God sees fit to say we have stood in Christ's stead long enough, come up higher, there will be no anxiety, no fear. We are willing to depart and be with Christ if we are joined to him, indissolubly in body and soul; and the great secret of not being afraid to die is, to have Christ in the heart, and to be working for him. And if we live for him, we know that we shall live with him hereafter. Death loses its terrors ; we shall be willing to go hence. Care, anxiety, sin, suffering, we must have here, and we shall be willing to be released from them — to depart. The word " depart " signifies to set out, to sail, to let go. It is as if a vessel were fastened to the dock ; the cable is firmly bound to the shore. Just loose the cable, unfurl the sails, set the vessel free ; the winds are bearing it out into the open sea. Here we are now, working, toiling, but, if God will let the cable unloose, we shall sail out into the wide sea of eternity.