Daily Thoughts Part 3

True rest can only be attained as Christ attained it, through labour.

True glory can only be attained in earth or heaven through self-sacrifice. Whosoever will save his life shall lose it; whosoever will lose his life shall save it.

_All Saints' Day Sermons_. 1870.

The Coming Kingdom. January 30.

There is a G.o.d-appointed theocracy promised to us, and which we must wait for, when all the diseased and false systems of this world shall be swept away, and Christ's feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives, and the twelve apostles shall sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel! All this shall come, and blessed is that servant whom his Lord when He cometh shall find ready! All this we shall not see before we die, but we shall see it when we rise in the perfect material and spiritual ideal, in the kingdom of G.o.d!

_Letters and Memories_.

Christ's Coming. January 31.

Christ may come to us when our thoughts are cleaving to the ground, and ready to grow earthy of the earth--through n.o.ble poetry, n.o.ble music, n.o.ble art--through aught which awakens once more in us the instinct of the true, the beautiful, and the good. He may come to us when our souls are restless and weary, through the repose of Nature--the repose of the lonely snow-peak and of the sleeping forest, of the clouds of sunset and of the summer sea, and whisper Peace. Or He may come, as He comes on winter nights to many a gallant soul--not in the repose of Nature, but in her rage--in howling storm and blinding foam and ruthless rocks and whelming surge--and whisper to them even so--as the sea swallows all of them which _it_ can take--of calm beyond, which this world cannot give and cannot take away.

And therefore let us say in utter faith, Come as Thou seest best--but in whatsoever way Thou comest, Even so come, Lord Jesus. Amen.

_Last Sermon_. _MS._ 1874.

SAINTS' DAYS, FASTS, & FESTIVALS.

Since we gave up at the Reformation the superst.i.tious practice of praying to the saints, Saints' Days have sunk--and, indeed, sunk too much--into neglect. We forget too often still, that though praying to any saint or angel, or other created being, is contrary both to reason and Scripture, yet it is according to reason and to Scripture to commemorate them. That is, to remember them, to study their characters, and to thank G.o.d for them,--both for the virtues He bestowed on them, and the example which He has given us in them.

_MS. Sermon_.

JANUARY 6.

The Epiphany, Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles.

On this day the Lord Jesus was first shown to the Gentiles. The word Epiphany means "showing." The Wise Men were wors.h.i.+ppers of the true G.o.d, though in a dim confused way; and they had learnt enough of what true faith, true greatness was, not to be staggered and fall into unbelief when they saw the King of the Jews laid, not in a palace, but in a manger, tended by a poor village maiden. And therefore G.o.d bestowed on them the great honour that they first of all--Gentiles--should see the glory and the love of G.o.d in the face of Jesus Christ. G.o.d grant that they may not rise up against us in the Day of Judgment and condemn us!

They had but a small spark, a dim ray, of the Light which lighteth every man who cometh into the world; but they were more faithful to that little than many of us, who live in the full suns.h.i.+ne of the Gospel, with Christ's Spirit, Christ's Sacraments, Christ's Churches,--means of grace and hopes of glory of which they never dreamed.

_Town and Country Sermons_.

JANUARY 25.

Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle and Martyr.

How did St. Paul look on his past life? There is no sentimental melancholy in him. He is saved, and he knows it. He is an Apostle, and he stands boldly on his dignity. He is cheerful, hopeful, joyful. And yet, when he speaks of the past, it is with n.o.ble shame and sorrow that he calls himself the chief of sinners, not worthy to be called an Apostle, because he persecuted the Church of Christ. What he is, he will not deny; what he was, he will not forget; lest he should forget that in him, that is, in his flesh--his natural character--dwelleth no good thing; lest he should forget that the good which he does, _he_ does not, but Christ which dwelleth in him; lest he should grow careless, puffed up, self-indulgent; lest he should neglect to subdue his evil pa.s.sions; and so, after preaching to others, himself become a castaway.

_Town and Country Sermons_.

February.

. . . Every winter, When the great sun has turned his face away, The earth goes down into the vale of grief, And fasts, and weeps, and shrouds herself in sables, Leaving her wedding garments to decay; Then leaps in spring to his returning kisses.

_Saint's Tragedy_, Act iii. Scene i.

Out of the morning land, Over the snow-drifts, Beautiful Freya came, Tripping to Scoring.

White were the moorlands, And frozen before her; Green were the moorlands, And blooming behind her.

Out of her gold locks Shaking the spring flowers, Out of her garments Shaking the south wind, Around in the birches Awaking the throstles, Love and love-giving, Came she to Scoring.

_The Longbeard's Saga_. 1852.

Virtue. February 1.

The first and last business of every human being, whatever his station, party, creed, capacities, tastes, duties, is morality; virtue, virtue, always virtue. Nothing that man will ever invent will absolve him from the universal necessity of being good as G.o.d is good, righteous as G.o.d is righteous, holy as G.o.d is holy.

_Sermons on David_. 1866.

Happiness. February 2.

G.o.d has not only made things beautiful; He has made things happy; whatever misery there is in the world there is no denying that. Misery is the exception; happiness is the rule. No rational man ever heard a bird sing without feeling that the bird was happy, and that if G.o.d made that bird He made it to be happy, and He takes pleasure in its happiness, though no human ear should ever hear its song, no human heart should ever share in its joy.

_All Saints' Day Sermons_. 1871.

A Dream of the Future. February 3.

G.o.d grant that the day may come when in front of the dwellings of the poor we may see real fountains--not like the drinking-fountains, useful as they are, which you see here and there about the streets, with a tiny dribble of water to a great deal of expensive stone, but real fountains, which shall leap, and sparkle, and plash, and gurgle, and fill the place with life and light and coolness; and sing in the people's ears the sweetest of all earthly songs--save the song of a mother over her child--the song of "The Laughing Water."

_The Air Mothers_. 1872.