Silence, with other sermons

Front matter

Shelf ISSB 5

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

WITH OTHER SERMONS

Contents

xi

XI. THE EXILE OF SIN.

PAGE

I. Silence

"And when He had opened the seventh seal there was silence in Heaven about the space of half an hour."

— Rev. viii. 1.

S. John from his lonely watch in Patmos beheld. m the spirit the visions of the Kevelation. With wonder and awe had he seen the Book of Divine Counsel with seven seals, which no man was found worthy to open, taken by the Eternal Lamb of God, who alone was " found worthy to loose the seals thereof." Mystery after mystery had been then disclosed, and after the opening of the sixth seal, he beheld the multitude of the redeemed "clothed in white robes and with palms in their hands," and his ear caught the loud outburst of their joyous song " salvation to our God that sitteth upon the Throne and unto the Lamb." The Angel Choir round the Throne, with the Patriarchs and Living Creatures, joined in that great act of worship, and made Heaven ring with that Hallelujah Chorus. And now the echoes of the jubi-

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lant hymn have died away, and, as he gazes upon the opening of the seventh seal, " there was silence in Heaven for the space of half an hour " — the hush of an awful anticipation, while the seven angels were preparing to sound the trumpets of Divine Purpose.

Brethren, I am not here to discuss one or more of the interpretations of this mystic chapter, but I shall strive to dwell upon a truth herein disclosed which we may with profit consider. There are so many great thoughts and deep lessons connected with Advent that it is not easy to select one. We may rightly think of the first Advent in humility, of the second Advent in glory, of the particular Advent by which Christ Jesus comes and knocks at the door of every heart. But, if we are to enter upon and use this new Christian year with profit, we must have " the right Spirit within us." As we look round the Christian world to-day, and ask what it seems to lack most in order to fit it to welcome the coming of the Saviour, may we not say it is the gift of that heavenly space of " silence for about half an hour " ? The very air is white with the whirling leaves of books, pamphlets, papers, tracts; the very ear-drum dulled by the babel of sounds which go up from the arena of religious declamation or controversy ; so that the trembling, spiritually minded, earnest soul is tempted to cry out with the Psalmist,

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" keep me secretly by thine own Presence from the strife of tongues."

" There was silence in Heaven about the space of half an hour."

Let us apply this thought of silence in Heaven to silence on earth, and; see how it may help us to prepare to meet our God.

1. Silence within and without is the condition of true, intelligent, receptive listening.

If we are to listen with ease and with a retentive heart, one of the essential conditions is freedom from outward disturbance, and this in proportion to the depth and grandeur of what is heard. We are seated in a concert-hall listening to delicate and superb strains of some work of musical genius, when lo ! we discover that our neighbours immediately behind us or in front have apparently patronized the concert out of a sense of duty, and are now indemnifying themselves by very audible conversation, whispered it may be, yet fully as disquieting to the nerves of an appreciative listener as a stentorian shout. Our pleasure is spoiled, our enjovment of the music is marred, and we are robbed of half the value of the anticipated delight from lack of Silence. So again Silence must be the inward accompaniment of true hearing. Mark the concentrated attention and absolute silence of the student who is

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straining to hear and remember the words of some learned lecturer. Note the silence as some piece of vital evidence, which may tell for life or death, is being given in a court of law — you might hear a pin drop ! Contrast the stillness and motionless attitude of the lover of music with the restless movements and whispered comments of the frivolous habituee, and we see how the really listening ear implies Silence.

" Hear O Heavens and give ear O earth," cries Isaiah, " for the Lord hath spoken." He hath spoken indeed, brethren, "spoken unto us by His Son." Nay, He still speaks through His mouthpiece to men in these days. He calls to each one, for each He has the Message of Life, of Hope, of Guidance, of Wisdom ; the message full enough to fill the Heavens and the earth, yet gentle and direct enough to reach the ear of the young child.

Through the Book of Nature and through the Church God still speaks. How shall we listen ? If we are to keep the Divine Lessons in our hearts, if we are to write them indelibly in our minds, we must say " Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth," and there must be silence in our hearts, that the " still small voice" may not be drowned by the outcries of the world, or misinterpreted in the volubility of our own garrulous surmisings.

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2. Silence, too, is a necessary condition of true contemplation, of deep purposeful thought. It is related of the poet Whittier that when his mind was at work upon some original conception, knowing the frailty and delicacy of such a train of thought, and how easily it may be broken and lost, he would break from his accustomed habit of genial courtesy, and pass by even a well-known acquaintance in silence.

Are we, under pressure of the nineteenth century system of education, which clamours for smartness and readiness, and confidence of statement, (even in the young where our ancestors required modesty, deference, and silence,) are we in danger of losing the power of thinking f

One is struck sometimes in conversation to meet positive expressions of opinion, or statements of fact, where, if one takes the trouble to press the matter home, there seems an incapacity for real grasp of the matter in hand or of the weight of argument.

How common is the expression, " You may tell me this but I don't think so." You ask, why, and you prick the poor bubble, and discover that there has been no thought or reasoning at all, only a glib and parrot-like repetition of some sentiment read or overheard.

With our conventions and convocations and conc

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gresses — political, scientific, religious ; our guild meetings, club meetings, and lectures, there seems to be left no time for thought, no time to digest what has been said or to translate it into action ; no time, for the platform is thronged again. If there could be a cessation for one year : no more books, no more speeches, no more advertisements, shall I say no more sermons ? — for one whole year of golden silence to think over what has been written and spoken, to winnow out the chaff, to digest and act upon the divinely true, would it not be a relief, an enrichment to life ? Only, I fear, by the end of that space of silence we should have learned to find it so lovely, soothing, and elevating that we should be ready to impose a forfeit upon the first whose voice broke the stillness, and threatened to arouse the old babel of voices !

If the angel could say to the world, ay even the religious world, " You must cease for a while your babbling, your, ' I think this,' and 6 do not think that,' your opinions of a day, that are the very froth upon the river of time, and you must be dumb, 'not speaking for a season,' because of your lack of faith," it would surely be as great a blessing to us as it was to Zachariah. Those mute moments hindered him from talking foolish nothings, and consigned him to the guardianship of gentle Silence, the mother of thought.

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" Mary kept all these sayings and pondered them in her heart." Would that Christian souls would follow her example. The good old practice of readingand meditating upon a few verses of Holy Scripture is now so little followed that the faculty of continuous devout thought is sadly weakened. It has been well observed that people in the present day like to have their thinking done for them, from dislike of the trouble involved. Hence, among other things, the cry for short and interesting sermons on popular topics w^hich shall voice the preconceived ideas of the hearers. Hence the not unnatural indignation with the setting forth of any Church doctrine which may run counter to popularly received notions, for this shakes the unfortunate listener out of the luxurious repose of contented endorsement, into the disquieting effort to think out the new topic on its own merits.

Too often the easier and more popular course is to cry, '' That cannot be true, because I have never thought so."

To listen, then, to the still small voice of the Spirit in reverent awe, to ponder the teachings of the Church in our heart, in the silence of our chambers and be still, w T ould seem to be essential steps to a real hearing and understanding what " the will of the Lord is."

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3. Silence, again, is in many instances the condition and character of the strongest and deepest emotion and action. " Still waters run deep," says the proverb. I was told by a man who remembered hearing one of the first locomotives invented by Stevenson, that you could hear its snorting for miles away. The mighty eighty-ton engines that will whirl along vast trains afc sixty miles an hour run smoothly, easily, and with comparatively very slight sound. The deepest and strongest natures are commonly the most silent : the deepest emotions and purposes are those which affect us at times when we have gone aside from the noise and dust of work. Our Blessed Lord prepared for His ministry in the wilderness, for His cross in Gethsemane. Our worship is the converse of the soul with its Maker and Saviour, the lifting up of the heart in adoration and praise, the intercession for souls, the renewed dedication of ourselves to the Lord's service in the Lord's house. What acts can be more deep, more solemn, more real ?

" The Lord is in His Holy Temple, let all the earth keep silence before Him." "Be silent O all flesh before the Lord," says Zechariah (ii. 13). It would, my friends, be a real help in cultivating within ourselves this spirit of recollected devotion, and religious purpose, if we would strive to make times of worship in

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God's house like that heavenly space of silence. I mean of silent concentrated effort on our own part to attain a spirit of sincere prayer and devotion. I have seen with pleasure that some now occupy the time before service in prayer, or in reading the Prayer-book or Hymnal. Much more might be done in the way of putting off conversation until after we have left the church, and ending it as we pass the sacred threshold. The good old church practice of kneeling at once when we enter our seat, and praying for a spirit of devotion, and a blessing upon the service, should never be omitted.

There may be said to be three stages of religious education. The elementary, or handshaking stage, when the church is regarded as a social club and people stay away because they are not welcomed by the clergymen every Sunday and invited by the church families to all the social entertainments.

Second comes the sermon stage. In this people call the clergyman " the preacher," and regard the sermon as practically the onkv reason for attending church. The Rev. W. E. Heygate well says, in one of his addresses to candidates for Holy Orders, " I would protest against the multiplication of sermons. The religion of England, [may we not say of America too ?] is a religion of hearing not of worship." He goes on to

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express the wish that one sermon a week in ordinary seasons were the rule, with special courses in Advent and Lent. The third stage, however, is the stage of devout Christian worship when people go to church as naturally as they sit down to their daily meals, because it is a real part of their life and they would not be well or happy without doing so.

And now for simple practical but valuable suggestions let me exhort you —

1. Never to fail to kneel down on entering your place in church and say the Tenth Collect after Trinity, and such other prayers as you desire — striving to accustom yourself to remain on your knees in private prayer.

2. To keep a Bible in your seats and follow the lessons in it. This will give you a more intelligent interest in what is read.

3. To find the Psalms for the day before service begins and read them through if you have time.

4. To use a manual of devotion when you come to the Holy Communion. I can recommend the " Muscatine " manual recently published by the Young Churchman Co. These books are intended not for a mere reading over but for habitual use, and we should use them in our preparation and bring them with us for the service.

It is a sign, I trust, that the spirit of true religion is

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growing that many of you love to join in the church service on Friday evenings, and daily in Lent, when there is no sermon. It is one of the blessings of our Three Hours Good Friday service, with its pauses for silent prayer and thought, that it does help to train the soul in habits of independent devotion, in acts of prayer and meditation, which it can carry on in silence by itself, without depending on the priest to pray for it, or the preacher to exhort it.

To sum up then, dear friends, these hints on golden silence. That we may hear reverently, that we may ponder God's words in our hearts, that our religious life of prayer and action may be deep and strong, let us guard the precious silence of God's house, and keep at least, some time of daily retirement for prayer and thought at home.

II. " The Interpreter Of Holy Scripture."

" And Philip ran thither to him and heard him read the Prophet Isaiah, and said ' understandest thou what thou readest ;' and he said ' how can I except some man should guide me ? ' Then Philip . . . began at the same Scripture and preached unto him Jesus."

—Acts viii. Parts of 30, 31, 35.

S. Paul in the Epistle for to-day defines the object for which Holy Scripture was given to be that through it we might possess and hold fast " the Hope," that is the belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the Saviour of the World. S. Paul was writing primarily to his own people, the Jews; and the Scriptures to which he referred were of course the Old Testament books. From the reading of those Scriptures in the synagogues every Sabbath day the fire of hope in the Messiah to come had been fed and fanned. The same truth, he urges, now holds good of converts to Christianity; the Scriptures are God's instrument for strengthening and encouraging their belief and hope. Then, in most significant tones, he goes on to pray that God may make them unanimous iD their Christian belief and practice, so that " with one mind and one mouth they may glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." This was to be the outcome of the reading and learning of the Scriptures, a unanimous confession of faith, a unanimity of mind and heart. The Christian Church, embracing in her Canon the Old Testament and her own supplement, the New, applies the Apostle's words to the Bible and gives them to us as her authoritative teaching on this Bible Sunday.

The Old Testament was to maintain and cherish the hope of ancient Israel, the entire Scriptures are to do the same office for the spiritual Israel, the Church of Christ throughout the world.

The Apostolic purpose and prayer was, that from the studj^ and hearing of Holy Scriptures Christians might be one in their thoughts, one in their confession of faith, one in their hearts, taking one another by the hand in unity of mind, mouth, and heart, to the glory of God.

S. Paul then, and the Church since, regards the Holy Scriptures as an organ of vast and varied power, designed to yield rich music. This organ is to accompany, to bear up, to supplement the Living Voice of the Choir, to blend all notes into a strong, sweet harmony in the Household of Faith. That this Apostolic use of the Bible was not universally followed, that " men were not of one mind in the House," that the Scriptures, instead of being the spring of harmony, have too often seemed to cause and augment discord is unhappily an indisputable fact.

" Even the devil can quote Scripture " is but a vulgar expression of the well-known historical fact that the most extravagant and mischievous delusions of ignorant or fanatical theorists have been bolstered up by quotations from the Scriptures. This brings us directly to the point which should be understood at the outset, viz.: that there is a right and a wrong use of the Bible, a true and a mistaken conception of what Holy Scripture and its uses are. The wrong view and use has made Holy Scripture an instrument of despair and discord. The right view and use of it has made it the minister of hope and harmony.

The mistaken view is that the Old Testament or 'New Testament were ever intended by Almighty God to be put into the hands of any uninstructed person, in order that he or she, by their own mere reading and thought, unassisted by the guidance of God's own interpreter, might find out all truth for themselves. This error, existing even in Apostolic times, gained a wide popularity among the wilder spirits of the Eeformation era, when " the Bible only,"

and " Private judgment" became watchwords of controversy. The source of this error may be traced to a misunderstanding of our Lord's promise: " The Holy Spirit shall guide you into all truth," which He addressed to the College of Apostles, and the body of the faithful. This has been construed as a promise that any individual shall infallibly, by searching, thought, and prayer, discover all doctrinal truth ; a position which would be as unwarranted in reason as it has been proved false in fact. It is as if the reasonable belief that the American Nation, through its qualified and authorized courts, will always interpret the laws and constitution according to their original true meaning and intent, were taken to imply that any citizen, educated or not, with or without legal training, might consider himself as rightful and competent a judge of the constitution and laws, and interpret them for himself as infallibly and authoritatively as the Supreme Court of the United States ! The result of such action would be legal and judicial chaos; the result of the same folly as regards the Scriptures has been heresy, schism, and woeful waste of power.

This abuse of Scripture is expressly condemned by the Apostles. When S. Paul is rebuking the divisions among the Corinthians he denounces this individual attempt to use the Holy Scripture as a private weapon.

" When ye come together," he says severely, " everyone of you hath a Psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying."— 1 Cor. xiv. Just as emphatically does S. Peter denounce the attempt to make private judgment in Holy Scripture a standard of doctrine. " No prophecy of the Scripture," he says, "is of any private interpretation." — 2 Pet. i. 20.

And, again, most clearly and to the point is his remark about S. Paul's epistles " in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction." 2 Pet. iii. 16.

Had this apostolic rebuke been remembered, how many heartburning controversies, how many unsound and mischievous theories, would have been spared to the world !

What then is the right view and reasonable practice ? It is the simple historical view, which was held in Israel of the Old Testament, and in the Christian Church of the New Testament, that the Scriptures are the sacred books of the Divine society, and are meant, not for primary instruction, but for witnesses and tests of the truth of the doctrines taught.

" The books of the New Testament " says a leading theologian of our communion, " bear upon the face of them the evidence that they were not intended for primary instruction. They were addressed to men who were already Christians, and had received oral instruction in the fundamental doctrines. It is a matter of historical fact, that Christian teaching was not at first written clown, but was committed to the Church to hold and teach as a rule of faith." From that day to this the living Church has been in the world teaching the Christian faith. The Bible has been in the Church as her proof, witness, and test, as to the fidelity of her teaching. " The Church to teach, the Bible to prove " says the above writer, " has been generally recognized as the Anglican view, as it unquestionably is the view of the ancient Church." Hence, while for devotional reading, moral and spiritual comfort and edification, the Holy Scriptures are given as an inexhaustible well to the very humblest and least learned of the faithful and devout disciples of Christ, it is an entire and fatal misuse to regard them as intended, (apart from the continuous guidance of the living Church, the divinely appointed interpreter,) to teach individuals the Christian faith. The Eunuch's cry as he read Isaiah: "How can I understand except some man guide me ? " is the natural expression of an average humble-minded reader. And Philip, sent by

God directly as the interpreter, " to preach from the same Scripture Jesus," does not act as a mere man giving his opinion of the passage and its meaning : he acts as a mouthpiece, an authorized representative of the teaching Church of Christ, God's own appointed guardian and interpreter of Holy Writ. Philip taught just as Paul or Peter or John or Titus would have taught. " The Creeds, then, in the view of the ancient Church, are simply summaries of the original Christian faith, as it is set forth in Scripture. They are the summaries and guides, which are necessary as a key to the study of the Scriptures, and which always refer us back to the Scriptures for proof."

The Church of Christ has never encouraged the magical or superstitious use of the Scriptures, as if the mere distribution of so many copies, among ignorant, unbelieving, or even heathen people, must work some charm, and lead men to Divine Truth. Too often she knows that an ignorant or perverted use of Holy Scripture, by the uninstructed, fanatical, or sensual, has been made the pretext to excuse schism and unbelief ; the fierce bloodsheddings of fanatics, or the fantastic imbecilities of dreamers.

And now that the world has the Bible, and its God-appointed interpreter, the living Church, her creeds and formularies, is it not strange that men will

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still take to themselves guides, dreamers, self-constituted interpreters, who are veritably blind leaders of the blind ? Yet so the Apostles foretold : " There shall come false teachers and false prophets." So in every age it has been. And while each age laughs at the crank and the craze of its grandfather's days, it runs with itching ears to its own pet novelist, lecturer, prophet !

Meanwhile the Teaching Church, like her Lord, the same yesterday, to-day, and forever, holds the Bible in her hand, and cries "Come ye children, hearken unto me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord. You do not understand what you read, come to me. Come, and from it I will preach unto you Jesus, and the truth as it is in Him." Look back and see how men have misused the Bible ! In every age there have been false teachers, false guides, who have left Christ's teaching, and led multitudes into error — Simon Magus, Arius, the Nicolaitans, Zwingle, Calvin, Knox, Bohler. They had their day, they founded systems, they distorted the Gospel, but men have found them out ! The world is coming back to realize that the Church's old teaching is the truth. Will men abide in truth ? Alas the specious theorist, clever writer, glib orator, comes forward with his theory of Christianity, " preaching another doctrine "

(false teachers they will be proved and foolish in a short time), but meanwhile, as S. Peter foresaw, " many shall follow their pernicious ways."

Let us not ignore the harm that has been done by this misguided use of the Scriptures. It has been the fruitful parent of heresies and divisions in the past. It has led many, and still leads many, into sadly maimed and distorted views of the Christian faith and life. This rejection of the God-appointed guide and interpreter, leaves us a prey to the self-constituted tribunal of our own judgment, or the conflicting speculations of blind guides. This has been the most potent foe to the fulfilment of S. Paul's prayer that Christians " might with one mind and mouth glorify God." True, we do not now fight and persecute, but think of the fearful loss of power entailed by division and guesswork, where there might be unity and confidence. See a nation which is split up into little factions, like Germany was at the beginning of this century. Each little town or state with its own petty aims, its own government, king, theatre and politics. The state was at the mercy of Napoleon I. See the same Germany, thrilled with one common love of Fatherland, leaping to arms as one man with one common aim. She is irresistible !

The disciples of the One Lord might to-day in unity and unanimity convert the world, be such a force for good, for purity, honesty, and soberness, that the powers of darkness would not prevail against them. 4 How much of Christ's own evangelizing power is dissipated through the friction of unhappy divisions! And what is more responsible for these than the fact that men, as they ride in the chariot of life, and read the Books of Nature and Grace, will not invite the divinely-appointed interpreter to mount beside them, and humbly say, " How can I understand except thou guide me? I desire to learn, not what is this opinion, or that, but what does the One Catholic and Apostolic Church of Christ, the Pillar and Ground of the Truth teach me of Jesus and His faith."

To sum up the matter practically, if perplexed or in doubt about the teaching of Holy Scripture, or any point of religious discussion, let us ask the question, not " what do I think, or what do you think," but " what is the authoritative interpretation of the living Church of Christ?"